Chapter 14

The Doorman instantly recognized Jeff when they arrived at the Hotel. "Good evening, CEO Go!"

Jeff nodded and continued helping Ann out of the car gently.

The doorman couldn't help smiling a little when he saw his boss with a beautiful young girl, 'They sure look perfect for each other,' He thought.

It suddenly occurred to him that he knew that face, she's not very famous, but she stood out in any crowd.

His face lit up, thinking, 'If I can get a picture of them together, it would be worth a lot if sold to the right tabloid. But do I want to lose my job?' He decided against it.

Jeff saw the doorman's suspicious expression, he took action and hurriedly tucked and covered Ann with his coat, hiding her face from full view. 'It wouldn't be good if she gets some bad press about her. I need to do something about that doorman. Discretion is an essential virtue.'

They hurriedly went into his private elevator. As soon as the door closed, Ann wanted to be free from Jeff's arm hugging her.

Ann was still dizzy from all the alcohol she consumed. Their last interaction was too much for her to handle. 'I needed some distance from him. If not, who knows what will happen. I might jump him.' She thought to herself.

Jeff had other ideas though, he turned Ann to face him and just looked at her...staring..staring and staring some more...then...slowly inching, inching closer to her lips when he was about to touch the sweet red lips.

*DING!!* The elevator door opened, 'WTFFFF' Jeff sighed in frustration.

"What did I do to deserve this? Ahhhhh, I can't believe this, isn't four years long enough?" he muttered to himself loud enough for Ann to hear.

Ann took advantage of the situation and ducked from under his arms, escaping from him, and hurriedly got out of the elevator. With a teasing smile, "Aren't you coming yet?"

Jeff had no choice but to come out of the elevator unhappily. He followed Ann towards the living room of the penthouse in deep thought of how he would accomplish his goal.

Jeff hurriedly caught up to Ann, scratching his head like a teenager. "What now?" he thought.

Ann sat down on the sofa, waiting for Jeff to do the same.

Jeff did not sit down and instead went to the small bar in the room, "What would you like? Wine or a cocktail?" he asked.

"Just club soda, please, if you have any."

Jeff made himself a glass of martini, poured club soda for Ann, and then sat down next to her on the sofa.

He was nervous and excited simultaneously, and he was so enthusiastic that he spilled some of the club soda onto Ann's dress when he handed over the drink. "I'm sorry!... Sorry! Let's clean you up. I have a shirt you can put on for now, and we can send your dress out for laundry" (good move, Jeff)

"It's alright! I won't be staying that long anyway. I can have it cleaned myself when I get home. No big deal," Ann told Jeff.

'This won't do., I need to think of a way, ' Jeff thought.

"Ann"

"Jeff"

They had both said their names at the same time.

"You first!"

"No, you first!" Again at the same time.

Finally, Jeff spoke first. "About before..."

Ann interrupted him before he could finish his sentence.

"About what happened before, please! Think of it as if that never happened. Sure, when you left, I was upset at first, but that was just due to the shock of waking up and finding you were gone."

"What happened was....." Jeff was going to say something, but Ann interrupted him again.

"Let me finish first, ok!" Jeff nodded, and Ann continued, "As I was saying... we should let bygones be bygones. What happened between us was just an accident; we were both at the same place at the right time.I needed a fake husband and you..... I don't know.....?

We slept together, and the next day, we went our separate ways. Did I forget anything?" Ann's voice was starting to crack and getting lower and lower.

Jeff felt like a jerk, he deserved to be called a Jerk! With a capital J. He wanted to console her right now, hug her and tell her it was no accident; it was fate. But, he was afraid she would bolt and leave if he came near her right now.

He let her continue and waited until she was done before he said anything.

"So, you're telling me right now that it did not bother you one bit, that I took your virginity,you took mine too, you know, then left just like that, leaving only a note? You were fine with that?" Jeff asked her furiously.

"This is a first for me! Any other girl would have been..."

"But, I'm not any other girl!" Ann replied madly. "What happened is in the past. Can't we go on with our lives? You go your way, I go mine."

"What if I don't want to go my own way?" Jeff screamed back at Ann.

"What if I want to take responsibility for what happened! What if I say I want to stay married to you for the rest of our lives? What if I fell in love with you the first time I met you? Would you.... accept me? What if I want to make this official?"

Then Jeff knelt, and pulled out a ring and asked her one more time,

"WILL YOU BE MY WIFE FOR REAL THIS TIME?????"

===

Ann was so stunned that she was rendered speechless. 'Is this guy for real? I haven't seen him in four years, and when he finally shows his face, he pulls this stunt. What does he take me for?'

She stared at Jeff, who was still on his knees waiting for her reply. A minute passed, the clock was ticking like a time bomb. *Tic! Tac!*

Then suddenly she got up, grabbed her purse, took out her phone and called Lea to come and pick her up.

Jeff was still on his knees, "Aren't you going to answer me?" he asked in a low voice with a sad... sad...sad-looking face and tears forming in his blue eyes.

Ann, with her soft heart, couldn't take it anymore. She walked towards Jeff, squatted in front of him, looked him in the eyes, and said, "Give me some time, alright! Let me think about it."

She took the ring. "Let me hold on to this, alright?" I gave him a light kiss, then got up and walked out the door without looking back.

Jeff wasn't sure what had just happened; he stayed in the same spot for a while, then collapsed on the floor and started laughing hard.

"Hahaha, she said she would think about it, and she took the ring. Is that a yes? Ah, no matter what it is, at least it is not a no, Hahaha!"

In the meantime, Lea arrived at the hotel, went to the front desk, and asked what room Jeff was staying in.

The front desk clerk would not tell her, so she called Ann, who just happened to be walking out of the elevator looking entirely out of it.

She ran to Ann and handed her a pair of sunglasses and a face mask, "Are you crazy? What if someone recognizes you? Put this on quick, and let's get out of here."

As they were making their way to the lobby, a couple of guests came in. They were curious about the person with sunglasses and a facemask; they even stopped by the concierge and inquired about her.

However, no one could tell who the person was. Even if they knew who she was, they would never divulge it to anyone, knowing that the person just came out of the private elevator that belonged to their CEO.

===

The two guests that saw Ann were famous reporters of a public television station in Asia.

They knew that the hotel belonged to the Mega World International Group of Companies and the elevator where that person just came from was a private one. They couldn't wait to arrive in their rooms and report the news to their headquarters.

"Latest news: [An unknown woman wearing a facemask and sunglasses was seen leaving from the private elevator of CEO Jeff Go, in one of their hotels in America. Who is she? A girlfriend? Or a hidden mistress? For all the women out there hoping and wishing. It seems that the most eligible bachelor is now taken.]

The news anchorman said it with a straight face as if it was the end of the world for all women who were still hoping to become Mrs. Jeff Go.

The news became the talk of the town, especially with the elite class. Wherever there was a gathering, Jeff was the topic of their conversations. Especially those with daughters in their families and one of them was Ann's biological Mother, who had just acquired a stepdaughter.