The Encounter

It was already eleven in the morning when Mr. Clint ushered his son to his office, and within thirty minutes, the meeting started. Outside the conference room, the employees eagerly awaited the session to end to get a glimpse of the boss's son. They still can't believe what they are witnessing. Everyone is in awe.

"Have you seen him? Oh, God! I will give him my body for free," one female staff declared.

"Silly! Will he even look at you?" Then all of those who heard it laughed and agreed.

"It's unfortunate, Ma'am Ingrid isn't here now. I just want to see how she would react to the man who will replace her." Freya, Mr. Clint's secretary, remarked.

"But what I'm curious is, if she will be affected by his presence or not?" The other employee said teasingly. And in turn, they all laughed.

"I agree. We know how tough she is when dealing with men. Who will bow to whom? Besides, we don't have a chance with the boss' son, but… Ma'am Ingrid has…" another employee teased again.

"I wonder what will be Ma'am Ingrid's reaction will be. Is there a chance she will be attracted to Mr. Cliff?"

"We will be skinned alive by Ma'am if she hears us talking about her like this." Freya looked from both sides and checked the surroundings to see if Daisy was nearby.

"Daisy's not here. She's in her office, you also know her, the socially inhibited lady." And they laughed to mock.

….

It was already 2:30 in the afternoon when Ingrid arrived at the company. She parked her car and went directly to the elevator; she scanned her phone while waiting for the elevator.

When she reached her office floor, she walked oit without looking on her way, because she's used that no one's around on that floor. She was so focused on her phone that she did notice a man was also walking towards her.

The man stared at her, stopping at the exact time she bumped into him. Ingrid almost fell, but she was caught by the stranger, almost embracing her on her waist.

For the first time in her life, she felt held by a stranger and did not feel annoyed. Instead, she felt the warmth within. The manly scent woke her up from her reverie, and alarm bells rang in her head, sending signals to her senses to get away from his hold, which she immediately did.

The man then faked a cough to get her attention, which made her jerk in response.

'Just what am I thinking?! What a shame.' She scolded herself.

"Are you alright, miss?" when Ingrid heard the voice, she quivered within. Never in her life had she felt like that.

'Ughh that deep voice. It tickles my ears.'

Her mind was in chaos. She is unsure why, but her guts left her to look at the man she bumped into. She feared that her thoughts might be evident.

So, she shuts her eyes for five seconds and apologizes to the man. Still not looking at him.

"Ugh, yes, sorry, I was not mindful on the way. If you will excuse me…" she pretended to remain focused on her phone, yet her mind was still elsewhere. Feeling ashamed of what has been running through her mind.

Hurriedly, she walked pass him, not even giving the man a chance to utter a word.

'Shame..' the man thought.

But then he grinned.

'but I believe we'll still meet one day, again...'

Afterward, he walked away with a small smile creeping into his lips. An unusual display on his face.

On the other hand, Ingrid's heart was beating erratically, not because she walked so fast, but because of her thoughts. An unusual reaction from her. She never thought that she could feel or think something like that.

'Are you now perverted?' she felt terrible.

But her attention was diverted when she heard a knock on her office door; Daisy came in.

"Ma'am, are you alright? You look pale." Daisy came to her side immediately and touched her forehead.

"Yes, I am. Thank you, Daisy. Is there anything you need?"

"Uhhhmmm, yes, here are the documents that you asked me yesterday and these are the papers that need your immediate response or signature."

"Ahh yes thank you."

"And one more thing, I heard a rumor that the employees have plans to…." Daisy paused and pursed her lips. "it's nothing important anyway, I am going now, Ma'am."

"Is there something wrong, Daisy?"

"N-nothing ma'am. I'll go ahead." Then Daisy walked out hurriedly, avoiding her boss's stares.

When Ingrid was alone again, her thoughts returned to that incident, and she blushed profusely.

'Who is he?' then again, she moved her thoughts aside and focused on her work.

'Geez! Is this the effect of not having a man in my life that's why I have felt like that? Yuck!' she mumbled.

The next day...

When Ingrid went to her office, she noticed strange stares from her subordinates, the unusual and creepy smile the security guard showed, and the suspicious look from the receptionist.

'What is happening here? Why do I feel strange stares from these people?' her forehead creased as she walked, but then she shrugged it off, uncaring for her surroundings.

When she entered the elevator, a man hurriedly came in, and again she did not look at him. However, the male's fragrant smell was vaguely familiar to her. She was hunting in her mind where she smelled it, and like a bell, it rang in her mind. The scent reminded her of that bumping incident. She blushed upon remembering it. Immediately, she composed herself and showed a stoic face.

Unfortunately, she's battling inside whether to look at him? Or just ignore him? Despite her curiosity, she chose the latter. She blushed involuntarily for the second time, still aware of the towering and powering presence near her. She stared at the wall and pretended she did not care or was unaffected by his presence. Yet, she could feel the unknown force around them, which got on her nerve. She shivered.