Enamoured

Nessa let out a breath of relief when she checked her eyes in the mirror to see that her eye bag which looked really puffy as a result of binge watching a Korean drama, courtesy of Tori, had reduced.

I'm never binge watching a Kdrama on a work day, ever again! She thought. After spending some times to go over her presentation, since the subject was what she was familiar with, Tori convinced her to watch an episode with her, didn't know when they finished the whole series.

She dropped the steel spoons she used to cover her eyes some minutes ago and looked around her new office, the office she'll used for two years till the end of the project. Not liking how sparsely decorated the office is, she thought of redecorating it to her liking. She made a point to ask Ronald if it was okay to redecorate.

Glancing at the table clock, "time to get started" she muttered. She powdered her face mildly, applied a colourless glossy lipstick and packed her hair in a ponytail with the hair band on her wrist.

Dressed in a white sleeveless turtle neck and a white blazer on a white skinny jeans, she donned her gold rimmed glasses which she only uses when she knew she was going to spend a long time starring at a screen. She checked out her open-toe stiletto in gold colour, satisfied that her choice and colour of cloth brought out the effect she needed, she stepped out and headed to the conference room.

When Roarke stepped into the conference room, he was struck by two things;

How attractive she looked.

How she looked beautiful and classy .

How those glasses looked sexy on her!

How her shiny lips looked inviting!

How irritated he felt that she didn't let her hair down!

How confident she looked, presenting and not distracted by the sound of his entrance.

How she was able to capture her audience, seeing the amount of concentration they all had, showing on their faces.

Roarke shook his head vigorously, hoping those things he wasn't supposed to notice but noticed will erase permanently from his memory and be left with the last two.

He made his way to the CEO chair, glancing at Ronald who only acknowledged his presence by a quick raised of his eyebrows and return his attention to Vanessa.

He observed everyone, impressed at how Vanessa was able to capture her audience, he could detect that majority of them were awed by the subject matter and not only about the presenter.

Seeing the eagerness and the respected look on their faces when Vanessa asked them some questions. Even Jack, the jerkiest of all jerks whose hobby had always been to try to get in ladies' pants was engrossed with the project plan.

He looked back at Vanessa, guess you actually know your onions, after all, he thought.

He directed his attention back to the screen and listened to her explanation until he was once again distracted by Vannesa's long leg which was emphasized by the tight fitted jeans. Earlier it has been her fingers, how they wrapped around the projector remote with the gold nail polish, does she think she's going for a fashion show? He furrowed his eye brows in anger.

Not appreciating the distracting thought coming to his mind, he cleared his throat which drew everyone's attention to him, "do you have a question Mr. Stone?" He heard Vanessa asked.

Can I kiss you for a minute?

"What the hell?!" He said aloud in astonishment, he stood up suddenly when he realised that he had drawn his employees attention back to him once again.

"Excuse me?" Vanessa asked

"never mind" looking more angry than apologetic, he stood up abruptly and left.

Not surprised by their boss' behaviour, his employees paid him no mind while Nessa was confused.

Vanessa looked at Ronald and he gave her an apologetic smile on behalf of Roarke, she shrugged, what a psycho!

Nessa ended her presentation, satisfied that she had been able to identify those she wanted to work with, based on how they answered her trick questions, contribution and discerning eyes.

When the conference room thinned out, she approached Ronald, "hi", smiling politely to him.

'Hello Nessa, that was an enlightening presentation. I look forward to working with you"

"Thank you Ronald, I'm glad I could work with you as well. Would it be all right if I change some things in my office?"

When Ronald starred at her, not getting what she meant, she added "I mean, if I could redecorate "

Flashing a smile when he finally understood, "of course, it's your office after all".

*********

"If I didn't know better, I would say you were drooling over Miss Sloan" Ronald teased his brother, not caring about the sudden anger that appeared on his face, he smirked.

"Glad you know better then" Roarke retorted.

"Nobody would blame you, if you did. She's pretty"

Roarke scoffed, choosing to ignore Ronald, he searched his table for an imaginary file when he heard Ronald spoke again, "at least, she had proved that she was worth hiring"

Roarke nodded, "that, I agree"

"With the way everyone was mesmerised by not just her face but her expertise, I'm sure she'll be able to handle herself just fine"

"The 'everyone' doesn't include me, does it?" He quizzed

"Everyone", he repeated, "thought I didn't see you starring at her legs like a lost puppy? He asked.

"Should I be worried about your eyesight? seems you're going blind" Roarke replied, concentrated on whatever he was reading on his screen than look at his brother.

He didn't want to have the conversation with him anymore, "I have a conference call to make, scram" he brought out his phone and fake dialed a number.

Ronald put his hands in the air to show that he had surrendered and stepped out.

No way in hell was he drooling over Miss Sloan, feeling irritated and wanting to prove that he wasn't in any way infatuated, he picked his phone, "Miss Sloan, I'll like to see you in my office, now"!"

The sudden fluttering in his stomach like a a butterfly couldn't be because he would see Vanessa soon, could it?

He perished the thought, of course not! He's just excited that he has something to prove to himself and Ronald, that's all.