THE OFFICE (I)

Antonio woke up feeling good. He spent the weekend in his gym battling the urge to relapse, after waking up curled like a ball on the floor. It had taken all his willpower, and surprisingly the haunting image of Red to pull through.

He stepped out of his room, ready for work. He mostly worked remotely, but it was Red's first day at work, and he didn't plan on missing it. He pushed back the smile threatening to consume his face, and instead settled for a hum.

Walking down the stairs, his nose picked up the smell of food, and he salivated. The last time he had eaten a proper meal was a vague memory to him. Not even Edith, had been able to make him take a food break from his gym throughout the weekend.

"Sweetness, you're all dressed up already," Edith said, turning around at the sound of his footstep. "Come, sit and eat." She wiped her hands on a towel, and dragged him to the table in the kitchen.

She had spent the weekend trying, and failing to get him to eat. He willingly came to her now, and she planned to not stop until he was fully stuffed.

"Look how sunken your eyes are Antonio. Do you want to give me a heart attack?" She questioned stacking a pile of waffles on his plate.

"You know if you put any more of that waffle, I might combust." Antonio laughed.

Edith ignored him and focused on the task at hand. He was going to eat until she began to see his colour radiate again. She finished stacking the waffles and added chicken to the mix. She whipped out the butter and syrup combo, making sure everything was perfect.

"Now eat." She directed, placing her hands on her hips, and watching him with an hawk eyes.

Antonio chuckled, touched by her care. He had always felt blessed for having Edith in his corner. He felt lucky he had two set of parents, his birth parents, and his lovely Edith and Michael. Edith hovered around him until he ate up every last piece of his food. She smiled warmly at him when he was done.

"You look better already my child," She cupped his face into hers. "I don't want to see you sad anymore. Everyone that knows you, knows you're being set up. You respect women far too much to ever think of bringing harm to them, so stop being sad. The truth is never hidden in the shadows forever. It will eventually come out, and you my son, will be exonerated. Okay?" He nodded, and she wiped out the shin of tears moist in her eyes.

She wished she could take his pain away. She had read so much misinformation about him on the internet and it broke her heart. It wasn't enough they had labelled him the handsome, devilish scum of the earth. No one knew the details of what that boy had gone through save for the family, yet the media intent on making him out to be the spoilt, unhinged billionaires son drover her crazy. She missed her bright eyed Antonio. Her lively boy that cracked jokes, and had everyone in a chokehold with his effortless charms.

"It's okay Edith," he caught the single drop of tears from her eyes, before it hit the floor. "It's like you've said. I'll be fine. It's just silly gossip, really." Antonio, kissed her pale fingers reassuringly.

He looked at the once jet black hair that had completely turned grey. She was getting older but still insisted on taking care of him. He was touched by her kindness.

"Fine, you go ahead now. I don't want you to be late." she sniffed, and stepped away from him.

He gave her a quick peck on the cheeks, and waved her goodbye.

Antonio received a message from his cousin as soon as he alighted from his car in his personal office parking space. He hadn't heard from Rian since he said he was taking a short vacation to get over his heart break.

Typical Rian.

He strolled casually into the reception, all conversations immediately ceased. Everyone knew Antonio preferred to work from home, so him being physically present in the office twice in two weeks, left everyone speechless. They were all aware of the rumours circulating about him. However, it did not stop them from looking at him with admiration. Just like his father, his aura exuded so much confidence and pure male swagger. He was sexiness at its core and the way he walked, had the girls weak in the knees.

Antonio did not pay attention to the silence that ensued following his arrival. He had gotten used to being the center of attention every where he walked into, despite how hard he had always tried to maintain a low profile. He took his personal elevator to his office and the chatter resumed.

"How is one man so fine!" Karlie the head of customer service department whispered to her co-worker, and they both giggled.

Antonio stepped into his office and met Mariano taking pictures, no more like having a full on photo session. Antonio's personal assistant, Grace Mosaic, stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Antonio walk in. Mariano had literally forced her to take pictures of him in Antonio's office, and all her pleas to cajole him, fell on deaf ears. Antonio tried his best not to overreact. He had always been patient with Mariano.

"Can you kindly excuse us miss?" Antonio said, pleasantly impressed with how calm he sounded. Grace handed the phone to Mariano, and ran out of the room.

"Oh don't be a party pooper Toni, we were just having harmless fun." Mariano pouted.

"And my office was the best space for this harmless fun? Who the hell even gave you access to my office?" Antonio asked getting agitated.

He loved his cousin so much, but he could be such an irritant sometimes. Everyone knew how much Antonio adored his personal spaces. He hated when it felt like it was being encroached.

"Okay calm down Toni. The walls of your office fits just perfectly with the concept I had in mind. I mean it is bland and boring, but that's exactly how my life feels right now." he sighed, crossing his arm to his chest.

"Get out."

"Huh?" Mariano's eyes widened..

"I said get the fuck out of my office!" Antonio screamed.

His voice reverberated round the room causing Mariano to tremble in fear. He knew Antonio was going through so much but he never got this mad, especially not with him. Maybe he had crossed the line.

"Sorry Toni." Mariano hurriedly got up to leave.

"Wait," Antonio sighed. "That was too harsh. I'm sorry."

"It's okay Toni. I went too far this time. I didn't mean to make you upset. My life is just... is just so shitty right now." He broke down in tears, and Antonio was beside him in a moment.

He despised hurting Rian. He didn't have a sibling so he took Rian as one. They had been through so much together.

He shut his eyes recalling the day Rian came out to him. He had walked in on Rian and the gardeners son making out. While the poor boy fled, Rian begged Antonio not to tell anyone what he had seen. He remembered how he was scared of being disowned by his parents, an strict couple. Antonio had vowed from that day to always protect him, and that he did religiously.

"Look, forget about your ex. Anyone who is blind to the absolute gem you are, does not deserve you. So promise you won't cry because of that jerk again." Mariano nodded, and he patted his back.

"Good. Now get out of my office." Antonio said moving away.

"What? Didn't you just say you won't be mean to me anymore?" He scoffed.

"I changed my mind." Antonio walked to his desk, and sat down to begin the days work.

"Oh. Anyway, I bought these insane pair of boots from Tessy, in your name. Do well to pay okay?" Mariano said hurrying out of the office.

Antonio stared blankly at him wondering why he was so childish. He went back to his seat and continued scanning through his emails, when it finally hit him.

"What the hell Rian!"

Red paused at the entrance of the door she had been directed to. She had woken up unsure of what her day was going to be like. Sure she was excited with the endless possibilities of the world she was about to step into, but there was a part of her that felt very nervous. She had been assigned a personal driver, which she never expected. She was stunned when she stepped out of the house in hope of finding a cab that would transport her to company, only to see a brand new car pull up at the tiny space besides her house.

Even happier when Ms Won had stepped out to throw her trash, and saw her entering the car. Their eyes had locked, and Ms Won's, widened. She had smiled, and waved, leaving Ms Won even more speechless for the first time ever.

She reclined into her seat, more comfortable than ever. Now this was a car. Her mind drifted to Agnes, and she giggled. Then the other night crossed her mind, and she frowned.

"We have been informed that you have been hired to whitewash the image of the Lorenzo's. We know how ambitious you are, and also how you may have deluded yourself into thinking you have hit the jackpot. However, you haven't and for your own good, you should desist from thinking you have. We have an interesting information about your life that you will want to hear. We also have accurate details of your mother's address. You can choose to cooperate with us and be rewarded with this piece of information that is definitely of great value to you, or you could simply decline, and risk pitting your mother's life on the line. It's really your choice Miss Red. We'll give you time to ponder on whatever decision you will be taking. For your sake and that of your mothers, we sincerely hope you pick the right option. We will contact you with details of what we want you to do for us, later."

Red shuddered at the memory. She was tempted to tag it a silly prank someone was pulling on her, but the confidence in which the voice had spoken, gave her doubts. Something told her this was not something to play with. It was serious and should not be tossed aside. She thought to contact Agnes, but she didn't want to put her in harms way. Especially, if it proved to not be a prank after all.

She wondered what she was supposedly to find so interesting. She thought long and hard, but there was definitely no information about herself that she would be interested in. Asides that, she also wondered what they had planned in store for her. She had no doubt it had something to do with the Lorenzo's and Love struck. It didn't really matter though, because if it boiled down to putting her only surviving family's life in danger, she would gladly make a deal with the devil.

Red did a little breathing exercise to prep herself. She finally pushed open the door, but stopped dead in her tracks. Her hands flew to her mouth as she watched Antonio hold a blonde guy in a chokehold, while he struggled to break free. Was he assaulting someone? Had they employed her in the company to kill her? Was she going to be the next to have their neck broken after the hopeless guy?

"Oh my God!" Antonio let go of Mariano's neck at the sound of the voice.

They both turned around at the same time to see a confused Red, staring with her mouth hung loosely open.

His face flushed, as he hurriedly adjusted his suit, while Mariano tried to regain control of his breath. Just as he was ready to welcome her, Mariano brushed past him, and walked to her.

"Jesus! You are gorgeous!" He blurted out, giving her a once over. "Who are you?"

Red taken aback by his bluntness. In an instant, he had gone from a man fighting for his life, to this fascinating person. She decided she liked him already.

"Ignore him," Antonio said, just as she was going to reply. "He is about to leave anyway, right Rian?" Antonio raised a brow.

Her attention was momentarily drawn from the fascinating man, to Antonio, and once again she was taken aback, but by how beautiful be was.

"Bullshit! I will go nowhere without knowing the beautiful lady, and where she got this unique colour of hair dye. I need location, direction and I need it as soon as possible," her attention was once again painfully drawn from the beautiful man, to the fascinating man. "You know I've been thinking of dying my hair but was legit confused about the color to use. Then the good lord sent me this Angel who is now my utmost source of inspiration." He paced around her in awe.

He had seen many astonishing models and beauty queens, but no one came close to this woman. She had so many contrasting qualities that would look disjointed, and chaotic on any other person, but she made it look phenomenal. Especially her hair. He was enchanted by the color of her hair. Never had he seen first-hand a person with so much crimson in their hair. He almost couldn't believe that it was natural. There was absolutely no way it was.

"Stop being weird Rian, you're making her uncomfortable." He snarled.

"But she is a puzzle my dear Toni. Have you ever seen anyone that looks like this? On a scale of Cleopatra to Audrey Hepburn, she breaks the scale and creates her own category. She is a vision, and an absolute discovery!" He explained, frustrated with Antonio's lack of imagination.

"You th....."

"I guess this is bad timing. Your PA directed me here." She interrupted.

"Oh dear! You're Miss Red then?" Mariano thumped his feet, and clapped like he had just made a huge discovery.

"Yeah I am." She replied, fascinated by his fascination with her.

Antonio glared at Mariano for ruining his moment with Red. He saw how captivated she was, and frowned.

"OMG your hair! Is that why you were named Red?" Mariano threw his head back, and laughed at his own joke.

Antonio gritted and clenched his fist. Red chuckled, partly because she absolutely adored how completely self absorbed Mariano was, to the point of even laughing at his jokes, and also at Antonio's glare.

"I don't really know the backstory of my name. It is very possible my hair colour influenced it, which is lazy thinking, but an ironic outcome regardless."

"Exactly why we are going to be besties. Signed, sealed and delivered." He grabbed her hands in his.

"We'll have inside jokes that can be understood by only us, we'll party until we can't feel our legs, we can even piss of Antonio together from time to time." He squealed in excitement.

Red couldn't help the laughter that sprung from her, at his sheer excitement. Antonio who having heard enough of Mariano and his shenanigans, was walking towards him to push him out of his office, when the sound of her laughter stopped him dead in his track. He turned to study her as she laughed. She had transformed from this insanely, delicious sexy woman, to this cute, lovely lady. His heart skipped a beat. In that moment, he didn't understand, neither did he care. The only thing that registered, was that she knew how to laugh. It was neither pretentious, nor robotic. It was genuine and rich, and it reverberated round the room. She laughed with every part of her body.

Antonio Lorenzo stood transfixed, and watched Red laugh.