Raven arrived at work the next day in a rotten mood. Her face was a mask of rage as she slammed her car door shut. She flicked her hair which she left wild over her shoulders sharply and walked towards the building. Her heels rapped hard on the ground as she sailed past the secretary at the lobby, not even bothering to respond to the young woman's greeting. The other workers made way for her as the stalked up to the elevator. No one tried to strike a conversation with her. They all knew Raven. When she was in her killer mood, they steered clear. They watched as she punched the button on the elevator that would take her to her office and everyone seemed to hold their breathes until the doors shut.
The elevator doors slid shut.
And everyone spoke at once.
"She's gonna erupt soon..."
"I wonder who ruffled her feathers..."
"So rude to everyone..."
"Maybe her boyfriend broke up with her..."
"She doesn't have a boyfriend..."
The large lobby was a riot of conversation as each worker wondered why the impeccable Raven Donovan was in such a furious state.
"Alright everyone, back to work",Stacy, the secretary said over the buzzing sound of numerous voices. The workers dispersed, still gathered together in twos and threes, exchanging the latest gossips about the assistant director.
Stacy looked towards the elevator, contemplating whether to approach Raven in her current mood or let her cool off first. She thought about waiting first because she didn't really want to be on the receiving end of her fury. She had known Raven for a long time and damn! That girl packed a whole punch of rage in her. Raven got annoyed at the slightest provocation and if you were not careful, you would get scalded with her bitingly sarcastic response. Stacy always used to say that Raven's fiery temper matched her hair and whoever created her took his time doing it.
"Silly",Stacy murmured and shook her head. She made up her mind and left her desk, heading towards the elevator.
"Hey Stacy",someone called. She turned, noticing Brian walking towards her.
"Yeah?",Stacy answered.
"Don't tell me you're heading towards the ice princess domain",Brian said, referring to Raven. 'Ice Princess' was what the other workers called Raven when they were sure she wasn't around to hear it.
"Be nice Brian. She's clearly upset about something",Stacy said, defending Raven as always.
Brian shrugged. "Okay, your choice",he said and handed a file to her. "These are the documents of the newly elected Director. He should be here today, according to the schedule".
Stacy took the documents and scanned it. Her eyes lit up. "Our new boss?",she asked with excitement in her eyes.
"Yup",Brian said and studied Stacy. "I have no idea why all you ladies are so excited. He would probably be another pompous bastard like the last one".
"Heyyy",Stacy protested and swatted his hand. "That's no way to talk about Master Jordan. Have you seen this man? He is a blazing ball of hotness".
Brian made a face as Stacy sighed deeply, her brown eyes twinkling with pleasure.
"I can't wait to work alongside him",she added and tucked the documents under her arm.
"Keep dreaming",Brian told her and dodged another incoming slap. "You will be subjected to your post everyday because the ice princess is actually going to be working alongside him. She's his assistant and I can't wait to see how that works out for her". He smiled smugly.
"Whatever",Stacy said and shoved him away. "Get back to work. If the new boss is arriving here today, I want everyone ready".
Brian left and she continued towards the elevator. Stepping in, she pushed in the button that would take her to Raven's office.
...
Raven sat scowling at the laptop before her on her desk. Her fingertips drummed on the table and her other hand was propped under her jaw. She didn't really see the headline that popped up on the screen from the news portal.
She was thinking of last night.
And she regretted her decision to go over to Wilson's apartment.
Friendly dinner her butt!
Her grandmother was right about him. He was such an asshole. She had decided to honour his dinner offer just this once since she always declined. Thinking it would be totally harmless, she had put on a simple free gown and scooped her hair into a ponytail. Through out the dinner which was tastily made by him, Wilson hadn't been able to stop staring at her. It got to a point and she began to feel uncomfortable about it. Thankfully, the dinner ended and she decided to stay a little while to watch a movie.
When Wilson sat close to her on the couch, she hadn't commented on it, thinking maybe if she ignored him, he would get the hint and move away. It turned out ignoring him gave him the wrong sign and the next thing she knew, his hand was on her lap, inching upwards slowly.
It boiled her just remembering it. Ripping his hand away from her laps, she had snapped at him, asking what the hell he was trying to do. And Wilson had yanked her closer to him and placed his wet lips on hers.
Raven snapped the pen she held in rage. She wished she had done more than slapping him and leaving in anger. That was what she got when she tried to be a little bit friendly. And this was the main reason why she never considered the offers she got from men. All they wanted was to feel up your dress and try to get to the treasure between your legs. Men! She despised the lot of them.
A knock sounded on the door and her fiery eyes snapped towards it. Whoever was out there could go to hell. She didn't want to see anyone.
The door opened and Stacy poked her head in.
"May I come in?",she asked tentatively.
Raven sighed. She couldn't possibly tell Stacy to leave. She didn't have the heart to do that.
"Come in Stacy",she said and sat up on her large executive chair.
Stacy opened the door further and stepped into the wide office. It was very spacious, painted white with long ground-to-ceiling windows that opened to a great view. There were two dark leather couches at the corners of the office and Raven's desk and chair was at the side of the large windows. Stacy took a sit on one of the chairs facing the table and dropped the file she held.
"Still furious?",she asked with a smile.
Raven smiled tiredly and stretched her limbs. She hadn't been able to sleep well last night due to her anger at what Wilson did. And when she managed to snatch a few minutes of sleep, she was plagued with dreams of a strange man.
"I'm sorry Stacy",she said apologetically. "Woke up at the wrong side of the bed".
"It was obvious enough. Want to talk about what happened?".
"Nah. Just some asshole that tried to grope me inappropriately",Raven said.
"Are you kidding me?",Stacy asked and leaned forward eagerly.
In the end, Raven ended up telling her everything that happened.
"I slapped him as hard as I could and left for my apartment",she ended.
"Such an asshole",Stacy said in annoyance.
"My point exactly",Raven said and sat back on her chair. Her eyes moved over to the laptop and the news headline caught her attention. She sat up and leaned forward, clicking on the icon that would take her to the news section.
The headlines was splayed boldly over the screen.
'RV Loan Firm Director elected successfully. Step aside people, Jordan Drake is here!'.
Jordan Drake? Raven frowned in thought. The name sounded strangely familiar.
"The Director has been changed?",she asked Stacy who was busy with her cellphone.
"Right. I forgot to tell you. We have a new boss now",Stacy said and almost jumped out of her seat in excitement.
"You seem excited",Raven remarked drily while she racked her head for where she had heard that name before.
"Of course I'm excited",Stacy gushed. "Master Jordan is the talk of the town. His name is on everyone's lips. And he's certainly a jewel in the eyes of the ladies".
"Not this lady",Raven said and dismissed the topic from her head. To her, all men were the same. And this one wouldn't be any different.
"That's because you haven't seen him Ray", Stacy said and clicked an icon on her phone. "Presenting the brand new Director of RV Loan Firm",she said and paused dramatically for effect. "Master Drake Jordan". She whipped her cell phone around and Raven felt her eyes widen in shock.
It was him!