Chapter 15

SILVANA

I walked out of my room dressed in black skirt, white shirt with suit jacket. It was Monday today, after working endlessly for the past week, even during the weekend, I was back to it now. As I walked down the last staircase, the door bell rang, which was surprising. I've had nobody visiting since I came here.

Nevertheless, I went to the door and opened it, to see a young lady.

"Good morning Miss Silvana." The girl said with a smile and my brows furrowed. How does she know me?

"Do you know me?" I said my thought out loud.

"Mr Gregory sent me here, for the housekeeping job."

"Oh, come in." I made way for her, and she walked in.

"Sorry for that, was not expecting you."

"Oh, please– no." She shook her head and I smiled.

"Have your sit. Do you care for a drink?" I asked dropping my bag to sit on a couch.

"I'm fine." The lady said as she also sat down opposite me.

"Okay, so I don't really need much. You only need to clean, cook, and maybe some other things. You can do it, right?"

"I can, will I live here though?" She asked, and I nodded, taking my bag. I stood up.

"I need to go now. You should get your things and start tomorrow. What's your name?"

"Cynthia." She replied and I smiled, motioning at the door. She nodded and we left the house together. She went her own way while I got into my car and drove out.

"Good morning Young miss." Mr Gregory said as I walked out of the elevator.

"Huh. Where you waiting for me?" I cocked my head as I walked to him.

"No, was about going in." He motioned at his office and I nodded.

"Okay then, see ya." I winked and made to go to my office but he spoke up, stopping me.

"The cosmetics department have submitted their ideas."

"Really?" I turned back to look at him.

"Yeah, I already set up a meeting with them. It's in thirty minutes." He replied and I smiled before entering my office.

At exactly thirty minutes, the heads of the cosmetics department showed up at the meeting room. I settled down with them and the meeting began.

They brought a new idea for a facial product which I totally agreed with. Most people had forgotten about our products so releasing a new product will surely cause some excitement. We talked about the use of the product which was for skin hydration. We also estimated the time of release to be two months later, considering the production process and getting it approved, well, that's after it gets approved by the board.

After finalizing everything, I ended the meeting and we all filed out of the meeting room.

"Mr Greg," I stopped to look at him, but he spoke up before I could continue.

"I would call for a meeting with the board."

"Great, make sure to inform Mr. James, and could you make the meeting tomorrow? Time is running out."

"Sure, I will inform them right now."

"Thank you." With a smile, I walked away.

Around 4pm, I was already rounding up for the day when Mr Greg walked in.

"Can I help you?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Mr. James won't be able to come for the meeting tomorrow." He said and brows furrowed. "Why?"

"I was not given any reason. Should we postpone the meeting?"

I sighed, taking my gaze to the files in front of me. Postponing the meeting is not an option cause we need to kickstart the production, but since he is not available, I have no choice but to do this.

"I would go instead, prepare a brief draft of the product."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep." I nodded and stood up, I took my phone and bag before turning to him.

"I might not come back today."

"Yeah, yeah. It's getting late already." He nodded.

Releasing a smile at him, I walked out of the office and out of the company. The drive to James company took about an hour. I asked to meet James when I went into the company, but the receptionist refused, saying I can't since I didn't make an appointment.

I had to text James about my arrival before I was let in. The receptionist led me to his office which was at the top floor.

"Silvana!" James called with a broad smile as I walked into his office. He stood up to meet me.

"You are acting weird." I couldn't help but say. He was acting overly happy to see me which shouldn't be happening after our meeting earlier. I still felt somehow and coming here, I was expecting an awkward situation, but James didn't even seem to care or maybe remember. That's not possible, he surely remembers.

"Huh?"

"Huh?" I looked at James who was staring at me with a confused expression.

"You said something just now."

"I did?" My eyes widened, did I say that out loud.

"Oh..it's nothing." Faking a chuckle, I waved it off.

"Have your sit please." He pointed at the chair in front of his table. I smiled and went to sit on it, but he sat on the second chair beside which I wasn't expecting. Anyways, that's not why I am here. I cleared my throat to speak up but he beat me to it.

"Did you come because you missed me?"

"What!" I shouted.

He chuckled and waved his hand. "I was just joking. I heard from Vince that you called me for a meeting. Sorry, I can't be there."

I nodded and was about asking who Vince was, but I figured he was his assistant, recalling what Mr Greg told me.

"I came here because you won't be able to come since it's urgent."

"What's it about?" He asked and I began explaining the new product to him.

"So what do you think about it?" I asked, looking up from the file only to see him staring at me.

"James?" I called and his eyes met with mine.

"Did you hear all what I just explained?"

"I did, and I support it."

"Are you sure?" I was not sure if he heard all what I explained and wanted to confirm, but he said he did and asked me for dinner instead. I didn't want to accept first at first, but he insisted, so I had to.

We both left the company for a restaurant. We had just ordered what we wanted when I heard my name being called. I looked up to see a lady.

"It's you. It's being a long time, Silvana." She smiled as she came to our table.

I looked at her for a while before nodding my head with a smile. "What's your name though, I can't seem to remember."

"Of course. You stopped meeting with I and the rest of the girls after you got married to Reed. By the way, I heard you got divorced." The smile vanished from my face as she kept talking.

"I heard he cheated on you. It's a pity, you loved him so much that I even fear you would ever get into a relationship now." She smiled, and I heaved, biting my lips.

"Who is this though? He is handsome" She turned to James.

"My business partner."

"Her boyfriend.”