"Lance..." she answered nonchalantly which makes Clifford"s annoyance flared up."He really had the b.a.l.l.s to do it!" he mumbled to himself and grunted.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing." He denied
He is bothered of Lance" method and what"s more annoying is that he could not put off Lance advances because they already had made some deal.
"Why are you here by the way?" she asks without looking at his direction, her concentration was on the doc.u.ments she is reading.
But Ingrid was so nervous, she could no longer concentrate on what she is doing and just pretended to be busy to avoid an eye to eye contact with him. After their mutual agreement regarding the so-called courtship or dating, she doesn"t know how to face him yet. She wanted to avoid Clifford"s scrutiny about the flowers, too.
"Let"s have a lunch date..." he said. Ingrid gulped at the thought of having a lunch date with him.
"Uh... can we just order something and eat it here?" she felt so awkward and uneasy. "...remember, the issue is not over yet. I don"t want to add fuel to the fire. What"s more, I am extremely busy today..." Clifford snorted as protest.
"We both are busy. And to be honest, why would we mind what these people say. We had already agreed that we should start in dating, and this is part of our deal. Sooner or later they will know our status. Might as well help them avoid a shocker especially to the gossiper." He grinned. "should I say... please?"
"Goodness Clifford why are you doing this to me?"
"Ah... because we are still in the getting to know each other stage and that because you"ll be my wife soon?" Clifford could smell his victory
"Okay! Okay! I get it." she said rolling her eyes. "And just so you know, that marriage thingy is so soon to be predict."
"Ouch! You"re hurting me..." he touched his left chest acting as if being struck down by her words, Ingrid bite her lips to thwart herself from laughing.
A knock on the door was heard, and then comes Daisy.
"Excuse me, Ma"am, there"s a call from nanny Tess–" Daisy did not finish her sentence when she saw the CEO. "Oh, gosh– I didn"t know you"re here, sir." Daisy blushed in embarra.s.sment.
"It"s okay, what about nanny Tess, Dais?"
"S-she said that, uhm, ahh Clark wanted to come over and visit his uhm – ddaddy. Who does Clark means, Ma"am?" Daisy stammered as she speaks and Ingrid just smiled in disbelief.
"We"ll take that from here, Daisy." Clifford answered instead, his aura went back to being a CEO which makes Ingrid amazed and her admiration to him grows.
"Ahh, yes sir, of course. Ma"am, is there anything you need?" Daisy"s gaze seems curious on why did the CEO answered her instead of her boss but she just keep it to herself.
"Nothing, Daisy, you can have your early break. I"ll return the call of nanny Tess. Thank you."
Daisy disappeared from their presence but still with bewildered look. It"s a good thing that she is not the typical secretary who immediately says some unnecessary comments regarding someone especially their boss.
"Let"s go and get Clark, we"ll have lunch together. I know a place that is discreet and had an amazing food." Clifford suggested and as he gave her an a.s.surance of the word "discreet place" Ingrid agreed.
They went outside the office together, Clifford walked ahead of her, while Ingrid decided to put some distance with him and just followed one meter behind him. Ingrid started to beat herself for agreeing to this lunch date. Her heart pounded that it echoes to her ears all the more that they were alone in the elevator and none of them spoke.
Before they exited the elevator... "Ingrid, please don"t walk behind me, please do walk beside me."
"But we are still in the office, this is proper." She protested but before she could object more, Clifford grabbed her waist and pulled her to his side and she gasp in surprise. She"s shock of his action.
DING! The elevator opens...
Without their knowledge, there are quite number of employees waiting for the elevator to open and to their shock, they saw the CEO with the EVP in an intimate position. The CEO placed his hands on the EVP"s waist; his head was directly looking at her with full of amus.e.m.e.nt. The EVP could be seen as someone in daze with her eyes wide open.