19 Clara's Office (1)

Clara couldn’t stop thinking about Sebastian, from the cute way he smiled to the intense way he looked at her. She could not forget how he flirted with her the last time they were together. In the elevator, where she almost kissed him willingly, his green eyes hypnotizing her. Then inside his car, when they were sitting side by side. How she could still feel his breath, or maybe his lips when he whispered in her ear. She shuddered just thinking about it.

She spent 2 hours exercising in the pool this morning to forget about him and it surprised her when it worked. Her workout had been so invigorating that she started tackling all the paperwork on her desk like she had a deadline.

But then, as soon as he showed up in front of her, she felt doomed. Her heart skipped a beat when she looked up and saw his smiling face right there in her office.

She should have known he was up to something when she didn’t receive any messages from him this morning. Then again, she was trying to avoid him, so she had intentionally avoided looking at her phone.

Then she remembered that she was still sitting cross-legged on her chair, ‘How unladylike,’ she thought. She drops her feet to the ground, trying to slide her feet into the sandals her feet couldn’t seem to find. ‘Ugh, where are my stupid shoes?’ she thought, annoyed.

He had been texting her for the past three weeks, trying to get her to talk, but she kept ignoring him. Come to think of it, he had even threatened to come and visit her office if she didn’t write back, so that’s probably why he was here.

Sebastian chuckled when he saw what she was trying to do. She couldn’t find her shoes, and it really amused him to see her like this. Miss icy CEO was not as organized and collected as he thought she was. It was nice to learn that she had a kooky side to her; it made her more approachable.

When she heard Sebastian chuckle, she gave up looking for her shoes and finally crossed her ankles and tucked them under her chair to try and hide them.

‘Why are you here? Is there a problem with the system? These bozos can help you with that. I have no time right now,’ she said dismissively, pretending to go back to her papers.

Sebastian replied, ‘Oh, I had a meeting with someone at the Embarcadero yesterday and thought I’d drop by to see you guys. Say hi,’ he looked at her intensely. His eyes seemed to say, I missed you.

‘I remembered you cycled, so I was going to invite you to show me the trail near your area. It looked very scenic. I remember Max saying it circled a lake, and your social media was full of them, so I wanted to experience it firsthand. Will you give me a tour?’ he asked boldly.

Max and Jeremy kept texting each other. Their phones were buzzing constantly, and it was starting to annoy Clara. They were betting on her again. Jeremy said she would say yes. Max said, not right away, but she would after a while.

‘Okay, so we’re betting on her first reaction, right?’ Max sent.

She glances up from her paper, looking into his piercing brown eyes, and says, ‘No, I’m busy right now. Max or Jeremy can take you,’ then stares both her brothers down because she knows what they were doing. Max won this round.

‘You idiots, stop betting on me,’ Clara texts both of them. They bet on whether she was going to say yes or no again. They knew Sebastian did not look like a man who took no for an answer. Max said he was going to bet on her saying yes this time.

Sebastian raised his eyebrow and looked at her, with a hopeful look on his face. He changed his tune, maybe this time around, looking pitiful would win him brownie points. ‘Please?’ he begged. ‘I drove an hour to get here. How about a few minutes around the area? I won’t bother you after this. Scout’s honor!’

Max knew he had the upper hand and an ace up his sleeve. ‘You have nothing on your calendar until after lunch. I checked.’

‘Why don’t you show him around, you know, to establish a relationship, so he could sign the contract for his office and shipping vessels early?’ Max said, winking at her, ‘After all, we need to have a good rapport with our clients, don’t we?’

‘Who told you to arrange my schedule for me?’ It irritated her that they were talking over her. She loved riding her bike around the lake, and she would have said yes anyway if these 2 were not egging her on.

She was taken aback when she looked at Sebastian, he had a very hopeful look on his face, like a puppy waiting for his treat. He pouted like a little cute kid, and she was a goner.

She raised her voice a little. ‘Fine, I’ll go with you, and you two get out of my office.

You two idiots have work to do. Why are you lounging around here, anyway? Are you getting paid to slack off? Let me give you more things to do. Finish my paperwork for me.’

Max stood up and slapped Jeremy on the back because he won twice today. ‘Okaaaay... Were leaving… have fuuuuun….,’ Max said, grinning.

Jeremy stood up and gestured for her to call if she needed anything.

He also gestured, ‘I’m watching you,’ to Sebastian, which made Clara smile. ‘He’s so sweet,’ she thought, ‘Always looking out for me.’

She tried to hide her smile from Sebastian. There was no need to make him think she was enthusiastic about doing this bike ride. ‘I’m doing it for the company and for this deal,’ she said to herself. Was she being truthful about this? Probably not, but nobody else had to know that, because for once in her life, she wanted to be selfish and see where this was headed.