"Yes, absolutely."
"Great, let's head to the Conference Room and review it in detail. Other members from my legal team will be joining by nine am." He headed to the main door and gestured me to follow him. The office facility was extravagant, I thought S&M had a decent space, but Richmond headquarters was something else altogether.
We settled in our seats, and I took out my laptop and proposal file handing it over to Mark. We were so engrossed in work, I didn't realize when, but soon other members from the Richmond's legal team had joined us in the room as well.
"This is good work Emma; I am going to forward it to the Big Boss for him to review before the meeting".
"Big Boss?"
"Yes, our CEO Mr. Richmond. He would be joining us for the meeting too." He collected all the documents and got up from his chair.
"We are expecting BLK's Board of Directors along with their legal team to be here any minute. I have to go and receive them at the front office. Please feel free to make yourself comfortable".
"Sure, Thanks Mr. Hanly, umm I mean Mark."
He gave me a soft smile, and I could see his stare stuck on my face for a minute too long. He might have realised it too, as in the very next minute, he cleared his throat, and dodged eye contact.
"There is a small cafeteria down the corridor at the end. If you want, you can take a quick trip there while I am gone".
Mark looked like someone who was in his late twenties or early thirties. He appeared to be a dedicated employee and extremely loyal to his boss. He was handling everything with utmost professionalism and had managed the meeting agenda so well.
I was impressed by his style of working and felt like this was just the beginning and I could learn a great deal from people like him. He left and was back after fifteen minutes, soon the conference room started filling in with people. He made everyone settle down in their respective seats and headed back to his seat next to me. He took his phone and made a quick call.
"Boss, everything is ready. You are expected to be here in five minutes".
I was looking forward to see Mr. Richmond in person too, I felt too small sitting in a meeting full of highly experienced and professional employees and I was about to witness the youngest and most brilliant CEO in action who had made consistent headlines for his sheer business strategies ever since he joined office.
I was suddenly very nervous again, my heart beating so fast already.
There was pin drop silence, until an extremely gorgeous girl entered the room. Her heels rattled against the marble floor.
She could easily pass for a super model if not seen in this conference room wearing those fancy formal clothes. She was wearing a tight fitted skirt with a white blouse perfectly highlighting her curves, her blonde hair tied in a neat bun. She was most likely the secretary and following her entered Mr. CEO.
The moment my eyes fell on him, I think the world stopped and I forgot how to breathe. My voice got hitched in my throat, and my pulse was literally dancing in my veins.
"Jake?"
In front of me, was not Mr. CEO, but instead dressed in an immaculate grey suit, white shirt and the perfect blue tie- was Jake. The same Jake who I met in Corsica. Same icy blue eyes, I couldn't mistake them for anyone else.
The man of my dreams.
It seemed he got out of my thoughts and stood right in front of me. I could not believe my eyes and pinched myself to check if I wasn't imagining things. This indeed was real.
How could this be? He told me his name was Jake, same eyes, the perfect well-built body and his slicked back dark brown hair.1
My eyes went back to see him, he was now settled in the center seat of the vast round table. He scanned the people around him, nodded with a smile as sign of his greeting to everyone present. As soon as his eyes fell on me, he froze. He was still and staring in my direction as if his icy blue eyes were measuring every inch of my face. The pause was way too long for a comfortable glance.
By now, everybody turned in my direction wondering what took Mr. CEO's attention. I found a dozen eyes staring at me with confusion and curiosity. I wanted to melt in my seat and disappear from the face of this conference room. My temples and palms were sweating, and I bore my eyes onto my lap to avoid eye contact. Seconds later, he cleared his throat making a grunting noise, and greeted Mark.
"Good Morning everyone, Mark if you could spare me a second please?" Jake stated in a stern voice.
Mark who was seated next to me, quickly responded and the tension was diffused as everyone assumed Jake was looking at Mark and not me.
The meeting resumed once Mark attended to Jake. My head was still trying to wrap around the shocking revelation.
Did he have a twin or something? Jake and Jacob, could be?3
Thousand questions came to my mind, I felt an enduring restlessness seeing him in front of me after months. My heart was beating drums against my chest, somehow, I still managed to confirm one last time, before I totally freaked out.
"Who's that?" I whispered to Mark.
"He is the big boss, our CEO, Mr. Jacob Richmond."
Chapter 7
The Indifference
Emma
Richmond Headquarters
I kept looking at Jake, my eyes drew to his face after every passing minute, but his never left the projector screen. He did not
