16 15 Birthday

To say their presentation was a success was an understatement, it was a complete success. So far only 6 companies were able to impress other investors and CEOs, one of those lucky chosen ones were Azriel's company.

Nesryn let herself relax once they two were back in their hotel room. The peaceful silence was broken when her phone rang loudly. She went out of her bedroom balcony and answered the call

"Nesryn speaking…good afternoon sir…..yes, he's in….please wait a minute" the secretary went out of her just to come face to face with Azriel, just about to knock on her door.

She covered her phone's mic "2 of the company directors are in Singapore and wondering if you are free to have dinner with them" Azriel's eyebrows furrowed and hesitantly agreed

"We'll book a restaurant for you sir, I'll text you the details" and with that she hung up her phone and looked at her boss weirdly.

"I was hoping to get you for an ice cream at the park this afternoon" he mumbled but she clearly heard it, Nesryn raised an eyebrow whilst looking at him. Not wanting to see her boss's dejected face she thought of a way to cheer him up.

"How about this sir, once your dinner is done, let's stroll around the Marina Bay" she offered, his face immediately lit up and he nodded. Azriel left her alone for the rest of the time as he went back to reading some documents while Nesryn called a restaurant for their booking.

She texted the details to the two directors and told her boss about it.

Nesryn spent the rest of her time in the kitchen baking a cookie for her boss. She was in the middle of mixing the dough when she felt someone staring at her. She lifted her head to see Azriel, leaning on the kitchen door frame with his arms crossed.

"What are you making?" he walked over and went behind her, putting both his arms on the countertop, trapping her between him and the counter.

Nesryn tried to squirm away from him but it was no use, he's stronger than her. In the end she gave up and just let her boss be.

He pulled back and the two had a fun time baking more batches of cookies. A playful smile appeared on Azriel's face as he subtly grabbed a fistful of flour and threw it around her, some landed on her face, making her all white.

He fell to his knees as he laughed at her face and reaction "Oh bring it on!" Nesryn challenged as she threw him the baking soda on the spoon that she was about to put in the bowl.

A light-hearted laugh rang loud in the kitchen as she fell, clutching her stomach at the scattered baking soda on his face and clothes.

The food war started in the kitchen, flour was everywhere and it still flew around the kitchen. Two white bodies sprawled out on the floor as they both laughed to their heart's content. Nesryn reached her hand on the counter to help her stand, when she lost grip and slipped.

She let out a loud shriek and braced herself for impact, she felt a body catch her and looked up to see Azriel a couple inches away from her face, one wrong move and their lips would touch.

2 heavily-breathing guards came into the room, breaking the tension between the two of them.

Azriel helped her properly to her feet and they separated. The guards immediately relaxed upon seeing that it was just their two bosses and they were in no danger. Nesryn finished up the cookies and put in the refrigerator to cool it down.

He helped her in cleaning up the mess they made and went to their own bathroom to take a bath and remove the flour all over their body.

Nesryn was the first to come out of the bathroom, she dried her hair and put it on a messy bun. She wore gray sweatpants and her favorite pastel colored hoodie. She took out the cookies from the refrigerator and into the pre-heated oven.

She washed the used bowls and utensils and waited for the cookies to finish.

Azriel came out of his room, also wearing casual clothes that included a black sweatpants and a white plain tee. The two sat by the counter waiting for the cookies.

Nesryn scrolled through her iPad reading things as they waited. "Your dinner is at 7 pm in one of the best restaurants in Marina Bay, I've also sent the information to the directors"she informed him as the timer set off, she put on oven mittens and took out the tray and laid it down on the tabletop.

The two enjoyed the cookies once it cooled enough.

Nesryn accompanied Azriel in the restaurant as the hostess led them to a private room, the hostess stared towards Azriel, turned the air around Nesryn sour.

She placed herself between the two and would just raise an eyebrow at her direction whenever she attempted anything such as trying to touch his hand or show off her body.

Nesryn happily shut the door on her face once inside the room. Azriel seemed to notice her actions as he let out a silent laugh, he pulled out a chair for her.Nesryn thanked him and sat down, he pushed the chair in and sat down on his own chair.

Dinner started as the conversation turned into a pleasant one, slight mention of the on-going summit and other company matters but the rest of the dinner was spent talking about simple things.

The dinner ended at around 8 pm and as promised the two strolled around the Marina Bay, Nesryn watched in fascination as the famous Miran Bay Sands changed colors.

They were supposed to be booked there but due to the high demand, the organizer wasn't able to fit everyone in the resort.

Azriel and Nesryn casually strolled around, he stopped by at a store and bought ice cream for the two of them. They sat down on a bench and Nesryn stared at the water with a soft smile on her face, Azriel just watched her though.

"So beautiful" she whispered to herself, but he clearly heard her "Yeah, so beautiful" he said, still staring at her.

Once satisfied, they walked back to their hotel which was a walking distance from the Bay. Once home they retired to their own rooms with a satisfied air surrounding them.

~~~

Nesryn walked in Azriel's penthouse the day after they got back from Singapore with a handful of business deals and guarantees by other CEOs.

Since their stay in Singapore, Azriel lately brings girls over his house, making Nesryn worried deep down.

The two did their usual routine of boss and secretary all day, the only difference was Azriel taking her out for lunch personally, no drivers or anything and he used his own money, not the company's.

His gesture seemed weird for her but nonetheless kept silent about his behaviour. She decided to ignore those for today and reassure herself that it was just for the day.

But boy was she wrong!

The whole week, Azriel woke up early and would always be outside her room, all dressed up much to her surprise, they would eat breakfast at a cafe and then head to the office together with no drivers.

Azriel personally drove the car, he would also drive her home and would sometimes take her out for dinner whenever they had extra time.

Nesryn found her boss's actions weird but his grandmother certainly didn't see it like that when they met her at the tea shop again. A phone call took Nesryn away from the two and a smirk immediately appeared on the 70-year old's face.

"You like her don't you?" she asked as Azriel kept his gaze on the door, waiting for his secretary to come back.

"What do you mean grandma?!"

"You obviously like her"

"No I don't"

"Then why do you keep smiling whenever you hear her talk? Why does your focus always go to her even if I am the one talking earlier?"

"Huh? Really? I didn't notice"

"You obviously like her"

"Grandma for the last time, I don't like my secretary"

Asteria let out a laugh as she sipped her tea, staring at her grandson. Nesryn came back to the room minutes after and the 70-year old watched as her grandson fussed on Nesryn. A soft smile appeared on her wrinkled face.

"You can now rest easy Angelica, your son's in safe hands" she whispered to herself, as she watched the two. The afternoon tea finished, Azriel and Nesryn helped her in the car, Asteria touched Nesryn's cheek and went in the car.

Nesryn looked at her confused but brushed it off. The two went back to the company after that.

~~~

September 22, Azriel's 34th birthday. It was a busy day in the company but Nesryn made sure to not put too much workload on her boss's plate. She tried her best to do the rest of his paperworks and he only had to sign them.

Several of his past 'girlfriends' sent him gifts both at his penthouse and at the company, some called Nesryn and asked her for his new number but they were quickly blocked. Azriel ordered deliveries for each department in celebration of his birthday.

Nesryn was lost in her thought that afternoon, after finishing most of her task. A pen on hand as she wrote down whatever she could get for her boss as a token of appreciation and his birthday gift from him.

"No I can't give him this, he already has hundreds of this" she said to herself as she crossed out 'watch' from her list. She wasn't able to sleep well last night because she couldn't find a perfect gift for her billionaire boss, who already has everything.

She only worked on 3 hours of sleep, covering the dark bags under her eyes with some make up.

Azriel went out of his office when she didn't answer his call from the intercom for the 3rd time just to see her staring off into space. He looked around just to see them alone. He snapped his fingers a couple inches away from her face, taking her out of her daydream.

She immediately apologized but he just brushed it off. Nesryn hid the notepad under some files but this small movement caught his attention, he furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity but eventually let go when she didn't talk to him about it.