Chapter 5

"Though you are my boss, You definitely don't have the right to eat my breakfast, and you 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.

Ava felt so embarrassed because Bruce was already dragging everybody's attention. "I'm so sorry, so sorry," Ava says, apologizing while closing her eyes and chewing on the chips she stole. Bruce was taken aback when, for the first time, he witnessed Ava admitting she did something wrong. For the first time, he noticed how beautiful her blue eyes were, and her brown hair suits her so well. Bruce felt as if a whole different person was in front of him.

But he didn't show it; he kept a serious face, and Ava thought he was going to create a scene, and she definitely didn't want that to happen.

"Okay, I owe you a lunch treat," Ava said. "I'm just so hungry that I couldn't wait for my breakfast to be ready." Bruce saw how honest she was, so he laughed. "Okay, we have a date then, and I get to choose where and when we should go." Ava nodded in confirmation of what Bruce said. She was so embarrassed and definitely didn't want to create a scene.

Ava took her breakfast and left for her office. She thought to herself, "I can't believe how rude he can be; I even apologized, and he still kept a serious face like he didn't care; he was just so concerned about his food, and that attitude he gave after I offered him a lunch treat, GOSH!!!" She said out loud, "Could this day get any worse?" She sighs.

Her loud ringing tone blared across the room as she instinctively reached out to check the caller ID. Ava picked up her phone and answered. It was Mason on the phone, and an impromptu meeting has been fixed. She quickly finished her meal and went for it.

After the meeting, Ava bumps into Bruce, and Bruce tells her he's ready for that lunch she promised, and it's not going to be in the cafeteria. “Le Bernardino,” he said. “Le Bernardino?” she repeated after him, sounding a little bit confused because she had never heard of it. "Yes, Le Bernardino" is my favourite place in the whole of this city.

Surprisingly to him, Ava didn’t object to his request; she just told him to wait a moment so she could go get her bag and car key. She went into her office and breathed in. She felt so suffocated around him, but she couldn’t show it as she had promised to treat him to lunch. Then she wonders why he keeps calling it a date.

She got her keys and met Bruce already waiting at the parking lots. She opened the car, and they both entered. When she started driving, she was avoiding saying anything to him, so she connected Google Maps to her steering; then there was no need for her to ask him for directions.

It was awkwardly silent in the car, and the journey seemed as if it were never going to end. “Why is this your favourite place in the city so far?” She said it almost like she was complaining. “Well, there was a shorter way to get there, but since you refused to say anything, I let you have your way.” He laughed mockingly.

Ava cursed her day even more and prayed that it was going to end very soon; at one point, she thought that her day had been jinxed because she could no longer understand why she had had so much bad luck in one day. She finally arrives at the restaurant.

She was so surprised at how fancy the restaurant was. “You really have nice taste, I must admit," she smiled. A waiter directed them to their seats; Bruce had already booked a reservation for them. The table was beautifully decorated with flowers; it was one of the nicest things she has seen in the whole of the week. "Well, my day was jinxed after all." She smiled again.

The waiter walked up to their table with a menu and asked them to select what they wanted. Ava was a bit confused on what to order, and Bruce noticed and asked if she would let him choose for her. She didn’t refuse. He told the waiter to get him their specials. The waiter smiled and complimented them, saying that they looked good together.

While waiting for their meal to be served, Bruce asked, “Are you always like this, or do you just act this way to me?” She sighed and apologized. “Sorry we started on a bad note," she explained how terrible her day has been from the hangover she had and waking up late with a splitting headache, then the issue with the police, and how late she already was to work.

“What about the elevator?” Bruce interrupted, "Well, I had gas issues due to the alcohol I consumed last night; that’s why I didn’t want anyone with me in the elevator, but clearly, you didn’t understand, so those dreams happened." "And I was so embarrassed to admit to it,” Ava said this time, her cheek turning red. She felt as if the earth would open and swallow her.

Bruce just giggled a bit and said, “Do you want to know a secret?” He said, “When I was 13, I peed on my bed and blamed the dog just to avoid being laughed at.” Ava laughed out loud; she felt much more comfortable around him, and he finally got to see her smile. They continued spilling secrets about the most embarrassing moments they have had, and she denied it.

The waiter walks in with their meal; it was pork chop casserole with tomato gravy. Ava, being a foodie, couldn’t wait to get a bite of it; her mouth was already salivating from the food's aroma. She digs into the food; “wow, I must admit the food there is really nice, and you really have a nice taste,” she says, continuing to eat her food.

Bruce smiled and watched her eat. He smiled and wondered how someone would show two sides of her character in the same day. They are and continued talking and giggling as if they were couples. “We should go out more often; I must admit I really enjoyed your company," Ava said. "Yeah, we should, and next time you could come up with where and when we should go out.”

Chapter 6

Lunch was fun. Both Ava and Bruce had a great time. If given the opportunity both of them would prefer to continue the day elsewhere. Sadly they didn’t have that option as they were to return to the office. 

Ava’s company was one to envy after. Some even said the company ran itself. In reality, it was all due to Ava’s inbred leadership skills. She’d often be overlooked and undermined but what people couldn’t deny was the effect of her efforts.

Ava took the company to the next level after her father handed it over to her. From that level, she took it even higher. 

So she had to be there as often as possible, to remind people that she was the boss. Still, an afternoon out with Bruce did her good. The conversation and light humor helped her loosen up and clear her head.

Heavens knows she’s been choked at work. Bruce on the other hand looked giddy, to say the least. From the way he walked, you could tell he was happy. He normally struts around with a sense of importance but now his movements were less rigid and his replies were more forgiving.

He enjoyed being around Ava. Some days he wished he didn’t have to hide who he was from her. It felt bad having to keep such a secret from someone he cared for so deeply. He often wondered how she’d react if she found out. 

He knew finding out wouldn’t make her that upset. What would send her over the edge would be finding out from a different source, from a source that wasn’t him. Her trust would be broken. 

He couldn’t afford that to happen but still, he knew it was too early to let her in on his true identity. They arrived at the office and he rushed to get out before her.

“Don’t get up.” He said as he rushed out of the car. Ava stared and wondered what has gotten into him and what he was planning. 

He came out of the car and rushed over to her door. He gently grabbed her door handle and pulled it open. He held out his hand and gestured at her to take it. She did and came out of the car.

She was beyond pleased. At first, a smile spread across her face then she giggled and then he smiled. They were both very fond of each other at this moment.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Ava said trying to keep her smiles under control. 

“I know I didn’t have to do it I simply did it because I wanted to.” Her smile returned this time with more force than the last. She liked how nice he made her feel. 

“Such a gentleman,” Ava told him. Bruce tried to play it cool but he couldn’t deny how good I felt. 

They stepped into the building and just as if a light switch was flipped everything changed. Ava was used to a heavy workload but this was unreal. As soon as she stepped into the office she was swarmed by clerks and other office personnel. 

each of them with a file or two in hand. She needed to review them all and have them approved or rejected. Her brief more of peace was gone now. Bruce did the best he could grabbing as many folders as he could. He became her wall. He stood in front of her and made sure no one could get to her. 

As soon as they were inside her office she turned cold. She had been smiling only moments ago but now she was in work mode. 

“Hand me those folders and you can go.” Her words were direct and without emotion. Her hand was held out, she was waiting on him. 

“No.” Ava was stunned. What did he just say and why did he say it? Had she done something wrong or were they on bad terms and she was oblivious? 

“What did you say?” She asked.

“I said no,”

“What do you…”

“I’m not leaving you here to do all this work on your own.” Ava was left without words. Her confusion soon turned to glee. Her heart felt warm and her smile came back. 

“Thank you so much, Bruce,” 

“No need to thank me it’s what I’m here for. Now let’s get started.” He passed her a file and took a couple more from her desk. 

They spent the next couple of hours going from file to file and reviewing different projects. She had two meetings but postponed them to the next day. The workload was crazy. 

Still as consumed as she was in her work she was also invested in Bruce. The man had had her in his palm at this point.

She kept on looking at him. Every chance she got she stared at his beautiful face. She had a thing for thick eyebrows and his fit the description. Her eyes kept wandering all over his body. 

He seemed so fit. She concluded he had a tight workout regimen. His physique couldn’t just be natural. A body like that took time and dedication. Bruce seemed like the kind to be very dedicated. 

He also seemed passionate. She wondered if he was also a dedicated lover. If he brought the same level of attention to his romantic relationships. She knew she shouldn’t have been thinking about those things but she couldn’t stop herself. He was beautiful.

Soon the day had come to a conclusion and the pile of folders that lay on her table had soon evaporated. She had Bruce to thank for it all and thank him she would. 

“Once again I’d like to say a big thank you to you, Bruce,”

“Stop it. You know I’m here to help you in any way I can,”

“Still it’s not often one goes out of his way to help the way you do.”

“Well, it should be more often then,”

“but it’s only your first day,”

“Exactly. I have to give you a reason to want to keep me around. 

They both stared in silence. It felt like they both had something they needed to say to each other but they just didn’t know how to. 

“I think we’re the only ones left here. We better get going it’s getting late.” Ava lead the way and Bruce followed. He offered to take her home but she protested, saying she had a driver and that he had done his share 

Her car pulled up and she hopped in. 

“I owe you another treat Bruce,” she said with her window rolled down.

“You sure you doing it for me or you?”

“ I guess we’ll find that out later.” Her window went up and her car zoomed out of the office building. 

Chapter 7 

When Ava got home, she was very tired and thirsty. She went straight to the kitchen to get some water. She grabbed a glass cup and filled it with chilled water from the refrigerator. She gulped the whole glass down and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator which calmed her nerves and relaxed her a bit. She did a lot of work today and needed lots of sleep and rest.

   She went straight to her room, took a bubble bath and fell on the bed like a log of wood and immediately fell into deep slumber.

**The next morning

She woke up feeling energized and better, she slept for about 9 hours. She took a bath and dressed up. Ava wore a white shirt which had a little black lining along her arm , with a black knee level skirt and a black blazer then sprayed herself with perfume, looked at herself and the mirror and posed, “Perfect” she said.

She just ate a few slices of bread before she grabbed her car keys and left the house on her way to the company which was just 30 minutes away.

She got to the office and the employees noticed she looked better and smelled better than the day before. Bruce walked over to her as soon as he saw her. He wakes with her, “someone looks better than they did yesterday” he said teasingly and they both laughed it off since they both knew the reason why. They got into the elevator to Ava’s office.

They went to her office to begin work for the day. They had a lot of scheduled meetings to attend so they prepared for them. The first meeting they went for was by 9:00 am, it went smoothly but tiring and boring,they had more meetings to attend so they braced themselves. 

By the third meeting Ava looked worn out and extremely tired since she talked and presented along with Bruce in two of the meetings . Bruce looked like he hadn’t done anything which made Ava surprised, “You’re not tired?” She asked as they went to her office, “A bit but I don’t make it look as visible as you do” he replied and she shook her head. They got to her office and she slumped on the chair, “why did I wear heels today” she said with an exhausted tone and Bruce just laughed. She was too tired and hungry to even retort back so she just glared at him. 

It was already 2:00 pm which meant they skipped lunch. “You have another meeting to attend at 2:30 and that’s the last one” Bruce said and she sighed, “How did my life end up like this” she said and Bruce just shook his head. They had 30 minutes more before the meeting started. She grabbed a bottle of water from her bag and drank half of it at a go. “That’s unladylike” Bruce said teasingly and Ava shot him a glare and he zipped his mouth. 

They were at the meeting and Ava looked like she was ready to doze off. Bruce was close to laughing right there and then. Avas mind wasn’t even focused on the meeting , she just wanted to eat since they skipped lunch and she just had a measly amount of breakfast this morning. The meeting ended and everyone went back to their various workspaces. “Today’s schedule has been cleared,done for today” Bruce said, “Finally,” she said and sighed. Avas stomach made a loud growl and she just frowned while Bruce just chuckled. 

Ava was about to leave when Bruce suggested they eat somewhere before going home. They went to a restaurant nearby. Ava ordered Chinese rice with sauce and turkey, Bruce just ordered spaghetti. They sat down and waited for their food, when it arrived Ava dug in and she ate like she hadn’t eaten in days, that’s when she noticed a girl staring at her and she looked away embarrassingly. Bruce just stared at her as she ate and chuckled. 

“What’s so funny?” she asked, “The way that girl looked at you because you have fish sauce on your cheek” he said and he took a napkin and reached out to clean the sauce off her cheek. Because of his gesture she just smiled, “Thank you” she said politely and she continued eating.They finished their meal and paid,  Ava looked full. They left the restaurant and walked a bit to the car. 

He opened the car door for her, “Thank you” Ava said and he winked at her, “Cheeky” she said and he laughed and so did she. He got in and they drove off. “I don’t even know why I was present at the second meeting, it’s not like i said anything” Ava complained, “You have a huge role in the company so you have to be present” Bruce replied and Ava just rolled her eyes.

 “The food at the restaurant was delicious” she said  since she didn’t want the car to be quiet, “it was” Bruce replied. Bruce left the car since he had gotten to his house and Ava took over the wheel.“Goodnight bossand drive safe” Bruce said, “Goodnight and there better be no meeting tomorrow” she said and Bruce chucked and waved his hands before he turned around to get into his house, she waved back and smiled before she stepped on the gas.

She drove off to her house which was just 20 minutes away. It wasn’t late when she got home and she was bored. She wasn’t too  tired since the food she ate a while ago quenched her tiredness somehow so when she got to her house, she removed the heels she wore and her leg ached a bit. She walked around a lot today since the meetings were on different floors. She had a bath, but she didn’t eat since she already ate at the restaurant. She lied down on her bed and slept.