Chapter 2

Ava finally got to her workplace, after a long unnecessary speech about traffic safety at the traffic court. 

She was pissed, to say the least. 

She was having a bad day, and it wasn't even 12pm yet. 

For the first time in a long time, she ignored the greetings of everyone at the entrance of The Quinns Co and just headed straight for the elevator. She wasn't in the mood for any interactions whatsoever. 

"Hold the elevator!" She heard a voice call out from afar. 

Bruce was ecstatic. 

He had initially come for a job interview at The Quinns Co very early in the morning, but he was told the hiring manager wasn't on seat.

Fortunately for him, he met with the Vice President, Mason Quinn. 

"Exceptional! This is wonderful, Bruce." Mason had told him with a happy smile as he pursued his resumé. 

"Thank you." He gave Mason a curt smile.

"Well, as impressive as your resumé is, I'm still going to have to ask you some questions because an executive assistant is a pretty big role in this company."

"I understand." Bruce retained his curt smile, not faltering once. 

"It says here that you've had five years of experience as an executive assistant, is that correct?"

"That is correct."

"So how do you handle a demanding supervisor?"

"Well—"

He got the job. 

Mason was so impressed that he gave him the job on the spot. 

He was excited, but also hungry. He left his house so early in the morning to make a good impression that he forgot to eat. 

Since the CEO wasn't around yet for him to meet him or her and begin working, he decided to go get something to eat. He didn't take any time there though, so they wouldn't change their minds. 

"Hey!! Please hold the elevator!!" He called out, seeing a young lady getting into the elevator alone. 

The building had many floors and he didn't want to have to wait for almost twenty minutes for the elevator to come back down. 

Bruce was taken aback when he saw the lady press the button hurriedly. 

Ava didn't want to. She didn't even want to ride in the elevator with anyone else, so she quickly clicked the button for the top floor and smiled internally as the elevator doors began to close. 

Upon seeing this, Bruce ran faster. Unfortunately for her and fortunately for him, he put his hand through the tiny crack left between the elevator doors, causing it to slide back open. 

Ava rolled her eyes as Bruce walked in smugly. He wasn't even panting from the run he just had. 

"Wow! Just wow!" He turned to her with a scorn on his face. 

Knowing where he was going with the conversation, she immediately told him, "Save it!"

"No! I will not save it! You're a rude person, you know that? Has anyone ever told you that? How hard would it have been for you to just hold the elevator?" Bruce quarreled. Though he tried to maintain it, Ava was quite annoying to him.

Ava was stunned. Did he not know who she was? 

"Excuse me?" She exclaimed with a frown.

"Yeah, excuse your terrible manners." Bruce ended the argument, leaving Ava speechless. 

The elevator kept going up for what felt like forever and the silence between them was anything but comfortable. 

Suddenly, Bruce began to sniff the air. He put his palm over his nose as he turned to Ava with wide eyes. 

"Did you just fart?" He asked.

"What?!" Ava pretending not to notice anything.

"Wow! Just wow. So, you not only have terrible manners, but you're also classless. That's quite irritating!" Bruce glared at her with judgmental eyes. 

"Hold on! I've been watching you say all of that bullshit about me, but not this time. Are you crazy? Who the hell do you think you are?" Ava spazzed out. 

"Who the hell do you think I am? I'm certainly not the one who farted in the elevator. But, with just two people in it, who among us didn't do that?" Bruce asked with a raised brow.

"I did not even fart. Do you have some kind of mental illness or something?" Ava throws her hands in the air from frustration. She wasn't going to lose to some stranger.

"No, but I'm sure as hell you do. Maybe not mental, but you're sick! Especially if your fart smells like that! What did you eat? Rotten eggs mixed with sour pickles and sewage juice or something?" He asked.

"Shut the fuck up! Can you do that for just a second?" Ava has gotten tired of the whole thing.

"Well, you shut your butt up!! Can you do that for one second?" He mimicked her. 

"Oh my goodness!! Why do I have the worst luck today?" Ava groaned in frustration. 

"You have the worst luck? You think? You're not the one having to inhale gangrene, you skunk."

"Did you just call me a skunk?" Ava turned to him fully with her hands crossed over her chest. 

"Your fart sure does give your secret identity away, doesn't it?" Bruce rolled his eyes. 

"Now I've watched you talk all that smack about me. What exactly is your problem, dummy? Are you stupid? Did you get hit in the head this morning or something? Is this some kind of prank or joke?" Ava was genuinely confused. 

"If this is a prank, your prank stinks!" Bruce concluded, taking his palm off his nose and breathing in fresh fartless air again. "Finally! You would have killed me with that."

"What the hell is even going—" Ava let out another slightly louder fart again and turned her face away in embarrassment. 

Not your day, Ava. 

"Oh wow!" Bruce laughs dryly. "Go ahead and deny it this time, you classless hooligan." He turned to her, but the smell hit him right in the face. "Oh my goodness!" His face contorts into one of disgust.

"Just… shut up, okay? I've had enough of your nonsense." Ava said.

Fortunately, the elevator door opens and Bruce rushes out, leaving Ava in the midst of her smelly fart. 

"It is just not my day, is it?" Ava walks out and straight to her friend and office manager, Roxie. 

"Ava! What's going on? You look different?" The redhead pointed out. 

"Way to point out the obvious! Like you didn't ruin me last night!" Ava glared angrily at her friend. "Besides, how are you so put together this morning and with heels on?" Ava wondered. "Do you have some kind of restoration potion at home or something?"

"Well, I didn't shoot shots like you and the girls did. Honestly, I didn't even expect you to come to work today." Roxie giggled. 

"I can't miss a day of work. There's so much to be done. Like hiring a new executive assistant." Ava leaned on Roxie's desk, positioning her head in her palms. 

"A new executive assistant? Oh well, Mason already did that for you! Less stress!" Rolxe said and Ava's face turned red.

"What?!" 

"Yup! He's actually been waiting for you." Rolxe understood the tension between them. Mason and Ava are never in good condition. They fight like dogs and cats.

"Again, what?!" Ava felt there were more and so wanted Rolxe to continue.

"I know, right? I initially told him to go home and return tomorrow because you wouldn't be coming in to work today, thank goodness he didn't listen to me." Roxie's eyes twinkled. "Also, he's such an eye candy, you'd thank Mason for making the decision for you." Roxie bit her lip.

"What?!" 

Chapter 3

Ava hurried to her office, only to see Mason already waiting.

"What are you doing in my office?" Ava frowned.

" Boss lady, I only came here to show you the new ex..." Ava interrupted.

" But why..." Ava stopped as someone familiar stepped in.

"You?" Ava screamed in shock.

"You?" Bruce looked more surprised than Ava. 

"What the hell?!" Ava suddenly looked furious.

The pair faced each other, their faces red with anger as everyone around them watched them recall the details of when they first met. 

"You mannerless creature." Bruce cursed use nose. He was so annoyed to see Ava again. 

The company is big and yet, he was called into the office by the crazy lady he met earlier at the elevator.

"What is he doing here?" Ava too is so shocked. 

Someone she never wished to meet again.

"Um.. somebody explain what's going on?" Roxie broke the silence, as she looked from Ava to Bruce to Mason. 

"I don't know and I don't care." Mason answered and began to walk out of Ava's office. 

"No! You, come back here right now! You are going nowhere." Ava called him back. 

In as much as he didn't want to answer her, she was his boss regardless. He turned around and walked back to the trio, staring Ava dead in the eye. 

"What is this?" Ava asked him, pointing at Bruce. 

"This? What do you mean ‘this’?" Bruce glared at her. 

"Well, ‘this’–" Mason gestured to Bruce, "is your new executive assistant. Did you not hear the explanation Roxie gave you or have you suddenly gone deaf?" He made a mockery of her.

"Mason, you may be my cousin but I will not hesitate to fire you if you ever think you can speak to me in such a manner, especially in front of this–" she turns to give Bruce a vile look, "–this thing!" She was obviously upsetting Bruce.

"You may be the CEO of this company, but kindly refrain from calling me names, because I will not hesitate to call you out online and make sure this company doesn't exist anymore." Bruce threatened. He wanted Ava to know he's got what it takes too.

"It might actually be in your best interest to not say anything right now. And do not interfere in their family drama." Roxie advised Bruce. 

"You said, you wanted a new executive assistant after Durant got fired for attempted embezzlement and I got you a new executive assistant, what the hell is your complaint this time?" Mason frowned. He was already getting fed up with Ava.

This was his reason why women should not be given power. Because Ava is currently taking the whole thing too far.

"You cannot hire an assistant for me in my absence or without informing me about it first." Ava countered. 

"Well, if you did your job properly as CEO and came to work early today, I wouldn't have had to hire somebody in your absence, now would I, huh?" Mason asked and rolled his eyes. He hated the unnecessary argument.

"Don't you have a phone? Or did technology pass you by? What stopped you from calling me, Mason?" Ava asked.

"And what makes you think I care enough to do that? Maybe you should take your job more seriously, and if you can't do it properly, quit and let someone else do it for you." He was actually referring to himself. Only if Ava would agree to step down for him.

"There's a reason why I was voted in as the CEO of this company and not you, Mason. If I were you, I'd watch my mouth, because it would really suck for you to go from Vice President to Account Officer, now wouldn't it?" Ava retorted. With the silence, Ava knew she won Mason.

Mason walked out in anger. 

He hated Ava. 

He had a burning, passionate hatred for her. And he hated his father even more, because he was the only reason the stupid Ava could even talk to him like that. 

"Hi Mason." A voice from behind him. 

He ignored the sultry call of the office slut and got into the elevator. He didn't care where he was headed to, but he knew he had to get out of there. He was too angry to be in the workspace. 

He got in his car and drove to the gun store. Just five blocks away. 

Mason usually goes to the gun store whenever he is angry, to take out his anger at the shooting range. He would imagine the target was whoever made him angry and with every shot he took, he would slowly get relieved of his anger. 

Mason would never shoot anyone in real life though. He didn't have that mind or zeal to do that real.

It was just his way of relaxing and it worked very well for him. He would rather do that than take his anger out on anybody. 

He got in, greeted the receptionist and paid for the regular. He was handed the loaded gun as he got to the shooting range and the target was brought up. 

He fired the first shot angrily, landing it right in the center of the target's head. Headshot kill point. 

"Why did you have to be such a terrible person?" He asked as fired the second shot. 

Mason's father had founded The Quinns Co alongside Ava's mother. The two were siblings who decided to start the business and manage it together. His father put in his all in the company, thriving alongside Ava's mother to make it the best. 

But life happens. 

Eventually, Mason's father got introduced to alcohol after his wife's death. He started drinking and abusing drugs. That was enough grounds to exonerate him from the company as a co-founder.

Even though the board of directors agreed to exonerate him, his sister—Ava’s mother, fought for him to be left in the company; with a promise that he would change, this was all a phase for him to deal with his loss. 

But he didn't. 

Instead, he got worse. 

He began using drugs in the office and his office became a storage space for drugs. It got too much and the board decided to get rid of him for good, in fear that he might attract the police department into the company but Ava's mother still insisted on letting him stay. 

She got him professional help, booked therapy for him and did everything she could do to assist him, but nothing worked. 

At one point, it seemed like he was getting better, but the board carried out intensive research on his files in the company, and it was discovered that he had been embezzling the company's money. 

Ava's mother had gone to confront him about it, but unfortunately, he ran away with a lot of cash, leaving her to fix his mess. 

She knew where he was, but he was wanted by the police for embezzlement, and in a bid to protect her brother, she kept the secret and ran the company all by herself. 

When she heard that her brother passed away from drug abuse, she was heartbroken. She wished she could turn back time; she didn't know what she would've done differently, but she wished she could. She wished it didn't end that way for her brother. 

Mason was still a young boy when all of this happened and he didn't understand any of it back then. 

All he knew was that Ava's mother was the villain in his father's story. 

Ava's mother died after many years and handed the company down to her only inheritor, Ava. Because of this, Mason despised Ava, even though she had employed him as the Vice President of the company. 

He was supposed to be the CEO, not Ava. 

And he would stop at nothing to get what he wants. Except killing anyone.

Chapter 4

Though Mason employed a new important staff without her acknowledgement, she wasn't going to just sack him. What were the other staff going to think of her?

The company wasn't her private life where she would behave anyhow.

But why on earth does it have to be the stranger she met in the elevator.

Trying, her day was cursed.

Everything gave her a headache.

Ava looked up at Bruce with disgust. Their first meeting wasn't okay and sacking him might give up the wrong message. And if he tells everyone what she had done, social media won't haste.

"Can I have your papers?" Ava requested but Bruce's frown has become his new mask.

"I hope you know, all documents are being submitted so, they should be on your desk." Bruce said angrily. 

" What is your name?" Ava asked as she flipped through some documents.

Even Roxie wanted to act because she didn't understand why her friend was being harsh to the new staff. She wondered but only kept staring suspiciously.

Ava on the other hand, searched the desk and came across Bruce's name written on a file. It was on top of the new staff list. She immediately grabbed hold of it and then glared at Bruce.

"Your name is Bruce?!" And he nodded.

"I must admit, you are not totally stupid as i have thought. You do have an impressive file " Ava uttered while going through the files.

Finally, she had to agree.

"Should I thank you?" Bruce asked and Ava rolled her eyes.

" The job is yours to keep, but I will watch your every move in this company." Ava threatened but Bruce smiled and left the office without taking permission.

"How dare he walk out on me like that?" Ava was about going crazy. She was boiling with rage.

" I won't blame him for leaving in such a manner. You were quite harsh and rude. Do you not think it is too much for him as a new staff member?" Rolxe asked 

Ava eventually realized her friend was still in the office too.

"I just don't like him." She said but didn't want to talk about the embarrassment she underwent.

"Have you two met before?" Rolxe asked. Ava didn't want to give a response.

"Not really. Just don't feel relaxed around him." Ava lied. She only felt angry because the guy she embarrassed herself in front of, got a good position and would be working alongside. She was scared he might expose her. If she had fired him, questions would be asked.

"What happened last night?" Ava intentionally changed the topic. 

Rolxe raised her brow, noticing what Ava was trying to do.

" You drank so much, got so drunk and even vomited in the taxi. I had to pay up some extra cash." Rolxe chuckled as if mocking Ava.

" I won't be following those kinds of parties anymore. This is the reason I still have a severe headache and keep farting in the elevator." Ava didn't know what she spilled out until she heard her friend.

"What?" Rolxe exclaimed while trying to suppress the laughter.

"He was in the elevator too." Ava spilled out again.

" Who?" She asked.

"Bruce. He was in the same elevator." Ava finally confessed. It was too embarrassing that she didn't look Rolxe direction but all she could hear was a never ending laughter.

"You have got to be kidding me, girl. Now I get it. The sudden harshness too on the new staff. You really have got to chill. It's not his fault that you farted."  Rolxe said, admitting laughter.

" Not just once but three times." 

"Ooops... No, that's not good. What did he say?" Rolxe kept asking to know like some sort of uncover spy.

"Exchange words." Ava said and focused on the papers on her desk.

Rolxe wouldn't stop laughing.

"Even so, you shouldn't have been that harsh on your cousin. You need to calm that tiger inside you." Rolex finally said as she folded her arms while staring at her friend.

"My head is aching. And I'm famished. Can you hear it grumbling?" Ava asked as she just couldn't focus on what she was reading. 

The drink she had the previous night still had an effect.

The words on the documents had different shapes and sizes. Her head felt like it was exploding.

If only she knew the right thing to take at the moment, to feel better. 

Mason, after his shooting exercise, he drove back to the company and went straight to his office. At least, he was calm and well relaxed. He sat on his seat and sighed heavily like a tired man.

Ava wasn't able to hold her hunger so, she finished the necessary things at her office and rushed down to the cafeteria.

Luckily for her, they do have a cafeteria in the company. She is a foodie and so, always wants it near her. Thinking of the time she'd take to drive down to the street. Even when she suggested it. Everyone agreed with her. Having a cafeteria was her best decision since she became CEO. Maybe, not totally.

As she walked majestically, "Thank God I didn't wear heels. Would have been crawling or walking about without a shoe on." She muttered to herself as she walked pass other staff that came to have one or two things. 

 And just when she was closer, she heard tummy grumble again.

"Please, coffee first." She said to the woman before searching for an empty table.

Her eyes caught one but, on one side there was a cup of juice and tray of half eaten food.

It seems someone didn't finish.

She sat down and waited patiently for the waitress to bring her coffee.

Just then, a figure approached the table she sat on. Catching her red handed stealing chips.

She took two chips again and turned to check around when her eyes saw the owner of the food, staring furiously at her. 

"Why are you a load of trouble?" He asked with furrowed brows and a squeezed face.

Bruce had just left his food to attend to someone at the entrance. He told the waitress not to clear his table since he won't be taking more than three minutes. Just for him to come back, and see someone stealing his chips. Not just someone, it was his annoying bitchy boss. Though he tried to calm himself down but deep down, he was exploding with anger. 

"What's your business with that?" Ava responded not minding she was caught but what she didn't know was that Bruce owns the food.

"Here is your coffee, Madam. What would you love to have?" The waitress asked not minding the awkward staring the duo gave.

Ava is still pretending, "Get me my regular!" She said dryly and just as the waitress turned, Ava stretched her hand and took four more chips even as Bruce stood beside her.

"What the fuck!" Bruce exclaimed. This time his pretty crystal eyes were darker and he gave her a cold stare.

He hates her already. Not up to two days and his boss was making things unbearable. He just couldn't hold it anymore, not when he heard.

"What are you just standing there for? Go back to work. I wonder why Mason let you get the job. I'm sure if I were to be the one, I would have found more capable people for it." Ava said after eating the last she carried.

Bruce looked at his tray and his chips were almost finished.

"Though you are my boss. You definitely don't have the right to eat my breakfast and even show no remorse. Is that how it is done in the company?" Bruce asked with his thick brows almost touching while Ava's eyes almost popped out.