26 - Gravy

**Charlie POV**

To say I was shocked in awe would be an understatement. I was shocked in awe when Aurora entered the dining room looking like a beauty queen, her golden dress shimmering like diamonds and it hugged her beautiful assets like a second skin. She was divine.

I was shocked in awe when I watched her eyes sparkle at the sight of her dinner. And needless to say I was shocked in awe when she interrupted my conversation with Jack and Bobby, two of my men. I was intrigued at what she was trying to explain.

Social media was not something new to our business but the way she put it, had me interested so I asked her “please explain further.” I put on my CEO face and waited for her to begin her proposal. The whole table was silent and watching her. The little cherub angel among giant demons and the devil himself.

She cleared her throat “well, your quarter two earnings report showed that Dupont’s customer base was lacking under the age of 35 in almost every sub company. The traditional marketing strategy you have is to push various advertisements, but they are boring and not eye catching to the younger population which would increase your profits about 43%. Most people under 35 spend more time on their social media pages. Instead of traditional commercials and sidebar advertisements, you could invest the extra earnings and push a rigorous campaign with 5-word pop ups and also invest in brand influencers.” She tried to play cool to hide her insecurities, but you could see her trembling.

The room was silent and looking around and the guys at the table there were lots of impressed looks. What she said made sense and I was interested in what she was saying. This woman has quite the brain on her. No wonder she got to the interview phase at my company. Jason and Ben were looking at her with such pride on their faces. Kai was smirking as usual.

I turned to my men and said “Jack, you heard her. I think she is on to something. I want a full model by next Monday. Get Cheryl’s team on board.” Jack nodded and started typing on his phone.

Bobby then spoke up saying “This could help solve the issue with laundering the new weapons orders too.” He was right. I nodded in acknowledgement. Our little princess may just have helped us with a five-billion-dollar headache.

Ben was quickly typing away on his phone and then spoke: “Jason, maybe Draco can help with the logistics for the latest exports too to help minimize our manpower. And

Charlie, I crunched the numbers, Aurora is on to something. We can invest one billion of the profit margins and that could increase the online traffic by twenty percent. If your team can push it correctly, by the end of next quarter we could potentially turn over fifteen billion white.”

Well damn, look at that! Seems like we have a little business minx on our hands. I looked at her with admiration, winked and smiled. I said to her “Good job princess.” And I meant it too.

The blush on her face was priceless and it was beautiful. She has a praise kink. Kai and I shared a little glance. He saw it too. Once again I was shocked in awe at her. She was just perfect.

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**Aurora POV**

I couldn’t believe he took my idea seriously. I was secretly really excited. I always loved business in school. When he said “Good job princess” I was overwhelmed. I know my heart started to flutter and I am sure my cheeks looked like a strawberry.

Dinner continued and soon ended. I kept to myself the rest of the evening and then Ben escorted me back to my room for the night. He waited for me while I changed into my pajamas which thankfully he let me choose. He secured my ankle chain before kissing me goodnight and I fell asleep watching Netflix.

The next morning I woke up and found my chain was already removed and some clothes were laid out on the bed and near the nightstand was a gold and silver three-tiered trolley with a silver dome lid. I walked over to the trolley and lifted the lid to find a full plate of waffles. There was also juice, water, a silver pot of hot coffee, various toppings in little crystal serving dishes with little teaspoons, and a bowl of fresh cut fruit in star shapes.

I went to the bathroom, took a quick shower, brushed my teeth, put my hair in a bun and got dressed for the day. A yellow sundress with sunflowers and a white cardigan sweater was the outfit of choice. I sat on the sofa and ate my breakfast.

I tried the door when I was done and to my surprise the door was open. There were still two armed guards that were tall like mountain trolls, but they did not follow me this time.

I decided to explore the mansion, might as well see where I was living. I

It took me a good two hours just to get to the other side of the second floor because I kept admiring the various artwork and tapestries along the walls. There were modern and historical art pieces. The historical pieces depicted lots of war events with intricate detail where the modern art was more abstract and had a moderate color pallet.

I found a staircase leading up to the third floor, but the guard at the stairwell told me that I did not have permission to go up there. I made my way downstairs and explored the larger-than-life rooms. I found three separate living rooms and a music room full of every kind of instrument before I discovered the library. It was beautiful. It was easily forty feet tall ceilings in an octagon shape. The bookshelves covered every corner, every inch of the walls and each shelf was packed with books. There were even ladders on wheels and a spiral staircase on one of the right-side corners that reached a small hanging balcony above: a perfect little reading nook.

I took some time to explore the books on the shelves. They had all sorts of novels from history to fiction, languages, and law books. They even had a whole section of romance and erotica novels. They had a whole shelf full of cookbooks and lots of shelves full of business. I kept thinking about how I was going to slowly start getting them back for all they put me through. One thing is for sure, they are way too serious and intimidating all the time.

I walked to the left after exiting the library and came to two glass doors. One door housed a full gym, and I could see several men working out. Their shirts were all off and even from far away and on the other side of the glass I could see the beads of sweat glistening on their oh so toned bodies. Why do all the bad guys have to be so damn hot?

The other glass door leads to an indoor pool. The walls were all tempered glass, and you could see the breathtaking garden outside. The length of the pool was surely Olympic size and quality. A large rectangular hot tub was sitting near the right side and steaming properly. It was quite large as well and could probably hold at least ten to fifteen of these large men.

I walked around the crystal-clear pool, the blue light reflecting off all the surfaces. It smelled of chlorine and thanks to the heat of the hot tub, it felt a bit muggy on my skin.

There were ten lounge chairs with towels rolled up on the edges. There were two closed doors on the far-left wall. As I approached and opened each door, I found the first door had a sauna. The second door had a large storage room that was filled with equipment, towels, and even had buckets with sport balls and swimming games.

Then I saw a box that had water balloons and I got a very terrible, very brilliant idea.

I grabbed the water balloons and dashed outside the pool. I walked quickly to the other end of the mansion, through the empty dining hall and found my way into the kitchen.

The kitchen staff looked at me like I was a hungry tiger. Finally a tall lanky woman wearing a white chef coat and black cargo chef pants approached me with calculated steps and asked, “what can I do for you my lady?” Her accent was thick, maybe Russian. Her hair was pulled back into a low bun, and she was wiping her hands on the black kitchen towel that was connected to her belt.

“Um, I’d like to make some gravy. I’m thinking mustard gravy would be nice.” I smiled brightly and held up some of those plastic water balloons in my hand and nothing but mischievousness in my heart.