You can call me just Raymond

Raymond's gaze was fixed on her and some sort of mischief was lurking in his eyes. The moment she looked up and returned his gaze, he felt like he was getting lost in some unknown lands. So he decided to focus on his laptop. His heart was already racing like it was being chased by some unknown force.

He had stopped her randomly because his heart didn't want to allow her to go with Simon, but he was at loss of words. He didn't know what to discuss with her. But he had to say something quickly and something meaningful as well so that Akira would not think that he had stopped her just like that.

"Actually I just wanted to check if you are settled and everything is OK with you. Anyway we have a meeting post lunch where we can discuss everything, but just in case you have anything in your mind, you can let me know", he said and kept pretending that he was working on something on his laptop in parallel, to avoid looking at her.

Akira heard him and her heart just blushed like a million times. Since morning, she just wanted to have a glimpse of him. But during the meeting, her eyes met his like a hundred times. And as if that was not enough, he asked her now if she was OK. She felt like heavens were listening to only her. She had wished for a plant, but she got the entire forest instead. She tried to hide her smile but her dimples gave them away.

"Everything is just fine, Sir". Akira replied.

Raymond shifted his attention from his laptop towards her. He couldn't understand whether she was blushing or just smiling in general, but her dimples were super cute and her ears were already red like cherry tomatoes. He was fascinated by her, the way she responded to him, the way she smiled and the way she acted all coy. His heart was not ready to accept that she could be a money climber who used rich guys like money vending machine. But it was too soon to judge, so he stopped his mind from overthinking about everything. His heart wanted to start with a fresh slate but his mind thought otherwise.

"OK then, I will see you at 2 pm. You can go now," Raymond said and proceeded to leave the room.

"Sure Sir", Akira said and saw him leave.

He paused near the door for a while, and then turned back and said: "By the way, you can just call me Raymond".

"Huh", exclaimed Akira.

"I said you call me just Raymond. What I mean is we have a flat hierarchy here. No matter what anyone's position is, we call everyone by their names as we believe in equality", explained Raymond.

"Sorry Sir, I was not aware of it", said Akira apologetically. But the next moment she realized that she had addressed him as Sir again which he had exactly asked her not to do just a moment before.

"Oops my bad, I will keep that in mind", Akira said and then bit her tongue and slapped her forehead for making such a stupid mistake.

Instead of finding her activities annoying, Raymond found her cute and was amused to see her ways. She was very different from other girls. Not sophisticated or high-maintenance. Super sharp, intelligent yet there was a dulcet charm to her. He always felt that she gave out a vibe of genuineness. A smile was about to emerge on his face which he decided to stop.

"Ummm... Do you know the way to the cafeteria?" he asked.

"No," she said and shook her head.

"OK take a left from here and after that walk till you enter the lift lobby. Then take the lift to the 5th floor. After getting down at the 5th floor, take the second exit from the left corridor. There would be sign boards there to guide you to the cafeteria," Raymond said and then adjusted his tie which he always hated to wear.

It was too much information for Akira to process in a short while. She made a face like somebody was giving her instructions in Korean. She did not want to show him that she couldn't understand a bit as she was always bad with directions. So she faked a smile and said,

"I got it, thank you, Raymond Ssss....". She had to literally silence out the 'Sir' which was coming out of her mouth.

Raymond understood from the way she spoke that she didn't even get half the directions which he gave. He sighed and said, "Follow me".

Akira followed him quietly maintaining a one hand distance behind him. Just a few steps later, Raymond just couldn't contain his thoughts and said,

"Do you know that you are very bad at lying? Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Yeah, almost everybody does", and rolled her eyes. Her lips had slightly curved in a smile, but she tried to tame them in vain.

This time after hearing her speak, after seeing that brief curve on her face, Raymond couldn't stop smiling. Her childishness had started to get to him. He was falling for her even after knowing the baggage associated with her. But he had no way to escape from her charm.

Just when they were about to cross the reception area, and enter the lift lobby, the receptionist called out,

"Hello, Mr. Raymond. Is your health OK? I increased the temperature of the war room as requested by you. If you need a doctor's consultation then please let me know".

"No I am fine", replied Raymond in a very curt manner.

"I have never heard you requesting for this high temperature for the War room. So just wanted to know if you are OK. Have a nice day Mr. Raymond", the receptionist said and started blaming her stars for even attempting to talk with this living dead body.

Raymond didn't say a word and continued walking. The smile on his face had faded, and he walked ahead taking longer strides.

"Oh, so it was he who requested the war room temperature to be increased. Did he do that for me?" her wild thoughts kept screaming inside her head.