Chapter Three

"Hellfire and damnation!"

Wiping off sweat from his light face, Arnold Palmer urged his way into the elevator heading into her office. With a quiet welcoming sound in the elevator, afternoon air and thunder rumbling with heavy menace from deep within he cloud. But nature fury was nothing compared to the wrath burning inside Arnold.

What a long end of day.

First, his assistance left without notice, leaving him shorthanded just when he'd planned to send him to finalize the deal. Then, the minute he though of stepping out of the office, his seventy-five years old father decided at that moment to give him a call but actually Arnold knew why he was calling. He kept ringing it in his ear that he wanted a grandchild. Not to mention that he kept doing everything to get him married. Fixing up dates after the other for him.

To really top things off, the May storm that hadn't dropped so much as an ounce of rain decided to bless them with one today.

Despite the fact that Arnold was in his usual calm, soft-spoken American demeanor, he was a man with a lot of pride and right his patience was weaning out.

Grinding his teeth while waiting patiently for he elevator to get to it's destination, Arnold looked at his phone that was displaying an incoming call. He had arrived later than the anticipated time, he guesses that's why his phone was probably ringing now. By the time he decided to listen to his father long talk, time had already been fast spent and then the rain started. He couldn't blame his driver for driving slow. Everyone knew Arnold wasn't a nice man, one little mistake could land the person in deep shit.

"Finally", he said as the elevator stopped at the fifth floor.

He pushed open the glossy front door and stepped into a wide office. As many times as he had visited this office, seeing it again always kept him in awe. He was dressed in a pant and a suit which fitted his body perfectly. The suit clicked to his body tightly. Everyone knew Arnold to be a semi-god, some even wonder if he was an angel. Ladies were trying all it takes for him to even noticed then, at least for them to have a chat with him, but none couldn't. His family was the richest and no one dares compete with Palmer's Industry. They were the largest industry in the city of West B. On his feet was a shinny and glossy designer shoe which cost at least a million naira, and his watch was custom made for him. No one could get it from anywhere.

He glanced up as he stepped into the office. "Is she around?"

"No." the secretary answered while fidgeting. She has always been afraid of the this guy. Just a gaze from him could send someone to hell. She just kept wondering why Valentine refused to accept to his demands.

"I came a long way here just to hear this. Didn't you and my assistant schedule the time to 2pm, so why am I been told that she isn't around?

His voice contained a trace of anger even the secretary felt an explanation was called for. "Miss Valentine called in that she would be late because of something that came up. I tried getting in contact with your personal assistant, but he wasn't picking, out of desperation, I ended up calling you but you also didn't pick up. I apologize for any inconveniences that I might have caused."

He harrumphed, but whether he has accepted her apology or dismissed it, she couldn't tell. She was just relieved that he hadn't broken her head. His blue eyes were regarding her warily. Mabel could finally see what was making every lady to fall for him. The thirty year old guy had a blue eyes that could even wake up the dead. He was masculine with a perfect chest. It was quite evident that money speaks the best language.

"I wasn't sure what to expect to your coming, I would have called earlier," she said hoping to disarm him with her honesty

He gave her a once-over look that made her rethink of her decision to smile. Now she wished she had kept quiet

"Miss, I came a long way here, am I supposed to keep standing here while waiting for your boss, Miss Mabel."

His voice and remark more or less broke everything within Mabel. She had no idea that he even knew her name. Every organ within her kept popping out with joy.

"Miss," a stern voice called.

She looked up and was met with a stern look. She dropped her eyes down to avoid the look. "Oh. I'm sorry, let me lead you to the guest office."

"Guest office, I wouldn't stay in such. What happens to Valentine's office," asked a stern mascular voice.

Mabel knew she would be in a lot of trouble when Valentine gets to the office but the trouble staring at her right now was more than her friend's own.

"Sorry, Mr Arnold, this way," she spoke quickly while leading him into Valentine's office.

"Have a seat, Sir. Can I get you coffee?"

"Not, that would be all," Arnold answered while walking towards Valentine's desk.

"Okay Sir." a frightened Mabel walked out closing the door behind her.

Arnold raised his shoulders in a shrug, as he patiently glance around the office. His attention git drawn to the frame on the desk as he picked it up. He saw a woman who was full of life and carefree. She was beautiful. Actually that was what really drawn her to him. After trying everything possible to make her his own, it just seems all his effort were fruitless. The first day, he met her at the restaurant, he felt a bug leap in his heart and since then he had tried everything possible to get her. Countless times,he had instructed his personal assistant Toby to check up on her schedules and that's what finally brought them here. As much as he knew she was a strong willed lady, he is determined not to give up until she finally becomes his. In an effort not to caught staring at her picture,he forced his eyes off the frame and place it back on the desk. But not matter how hard he tried doing so, he couldn't take his eyes off the picture. They were already plastered into his mind.

And then he realized why his constant glancing at his phone every minute of the day had suddenly become a challenge to him. He was nervous, which was odd considering he had everything a woman would fall for. He had made a few adjustments just to accommodate her but she wasn't responding to him and his heart wasn't finding. it easy to stop thinking about her.

Now, that he had thought about it, getting here had almost been too easy. He had pulled every strings he could pull from his father and like a puppet clicked to it. He figured that no matter how long it takes she would definitely become his.