The Arrogant Mrs. CEO

Chapter 2

Cindy walked out of the female shopping boutique, carrying her white polythene bag that contained all that she had bought. She struggled to walk with the few items that were in the white nylon, as she wasn't used to carrying loads.

Cindy was sweating heavily, and she used her left hand to clutch tightly to her red purse while she carried the white polythene bag in her right hand.

She walked out again under the hot scorching sun and muttered under her breath, as there were a lot of people on the road blocking her way to her car, where she had parked in the shopping plaza parking lot.

Cindy was unable to walk faster, so she moved toward the pavement to climb onto the pedestrian walk, lightly bumping into some passersby. There were a lot of people who had come to the shopping mall because it was the weekend.

Cindy's phone rang in her red purse, but she was unable to answer the call as she pushed her way through the crowd, making her way to the main road pedestrian path.

Just as Cindy struggled to move again and to turn toward the parking lot area, which was far away from the shopping mall area, a fine fair-complexioned man, who had just finished helping an elderly woman carry her load to her car, spotted Cindy and saw how she was struggling to walk with her load.

The man had just finished helping the elderly woman place all the things she had bought from the shopping complex in her car's boot.

The man walked up to meet Cindy and offered to help her carry her small polythene bag that she was struggling with.

Cindy looked frustrated, and the man could see her anger on her face, despite it being just a small bag.

The man approached Cindy and asked her, "Hello, madam. Excuse me, let me help you carry your load. Helping people carry their loads is my job."

Cindy was taken aback by the handsome masculine voice she heard.

She looked up at the man's face and gulped hard as she met his handsome gaze.

For a moment, Cindy seemed shocked as her jaw dropped at the man's handsomeness, and her cheeks flamed red. However, seeing that the man looked somewhat dirty, Cindy knew that was just his job.

Finally, Cindy asked him, "Really, how much do you charge for helping people carry their loads?"

Cindy was nervous as she kept blushing in front of this man. She hadn't seen a poor handsome man like him before. Yet, he was helping different people carry their loads as his job.

None of the men Cindy had dated before and had problematic relationships with were closer to this laborer's handsomeness.

She stared at the man's face, waiting for his response, but the sweat odor that permeated his sweaty body—he wore a dirty faded yellow top and black shorts—made her nose twitch in irritation and twisted in disgust as she inhaled his manly scent.

He stood in front of her, and Cindy's frown deepened, but she heard the man reply, "20 cents, madam."

Peter was so excited to help the beautiful lady in front of him carry her load for free because her load was small, and he wasn’t even supposed to charge her at all.

Peter noticed Cindy frowning her face because he was sweating too much, due to the fact that he rushed to help her after he was done with helping the older woman.

Peter used his right palm to wipe the sweat from his forehead, as he didn't have any handkerchief with him. But his silly action annoyed Cindy.

"Gross! How dare you do that in front of me? Please stop doing that; it's very irritating," Cindy scolded.

"How much is a handkerchief that you cannot afford? Or is it with that smelly hand of yours that you want to use to carry my bag? No, no, no!" Cindy refused Peter's help, disgusted by his actions.

Peter gulped hard as he felt embarrassed by the beautiful woman before him yelling at him.

Peter couldn't respond to Cindy directly. Instead, he said, "No, madam. Let me use my top to wipe the sweat."

"No... no, no," Cindy exclaimed even more as Peter turned the inner side of his shirt to wipe off his sweaty forehead, as the sun was too hot.

"That's enough. That's so gross of you, and here's $100 cash. Just use it to buy a new handkerchief and some clothes for yourself because you stink so badly, and please get away from my way, as I can manage to carry my bag by myself before you give me a disease," Cindy said, not caring about the people who were staring at them.

She threw the $100 at Peter and walked away before he could catch it, leaving for her car.

Peter was in shock at Cindy's insult as she even threw the $100 cash note to him, but it landed on the floor.

He hadn't expected such a large amount of money for doing nothing to help the young lady, and no matter how he worked for it, he couldn't get a good job.

Peter quickly picked up the money from the ground before the breeze would blow it away or another passerby would bend down and pick it up or steal it.

He stood up and looked in the direction where Cindy had gone, but he didn't see her again.

Peter clutched tightly to the money the young lady in the white dress had given him as he didn’t know her before.

He said, "Wow! She's so pretty."

He didn’t take Cindy's insult to heart, saying, "I just hope to see her again."

Peter smiled and finally decided to call it a day and quit going on errands or helping others carry their loads. He decided to go shopping and save part of the money in his account, so he went to the nearest bank to deposit the money.

Most of the female bank staff were familiar with Peter, and they kept staring at him in admiration as he walked into the bank. He approached the lady who usually helped him save the little change he had gathered for the day.

She collected the $100 from him and stared at him as if he had stolen the money, seeing that he wanted to save half of the money and use the remaining half to buy food.

Peter wanted new clothes for himself as his sweaty clothes had torn too.

"What's the problem, madam? Has the money torn or is it a fake note?" Peter asked, looking back at the female bank staff who was staring at him suspiciously.

He was still overjoyed that Cindy had given him such a large amount of money without doing any work for her.

"Where did you get this money from? Did you steal it, or what?" the female bank accountant couldn’t contain her suspicion, knowing Peter was poor, and so she asked him.

Peter replied, "No! How can you accuse me of such? I come here every day before you people close to deposit all my money, and you’re accusing me of being a thief?"

Peter glared at the female staff, and she quickly gulped and looked downward as she saw the eyes of her colleagues and manager on her.

She lowly muttered to Peter, "I’m just asking to be sure, Mr... Here’s half of the money that you requested, as the other half has been deposited into your account."

"Are you sure? Or are you just lying to me? Let me see the receipt that you sent it," Peter asked her, knowing that the female bank staff had her eyes on him and wanted a relationship with him, but he wasn't agreeing to that.

The female bank staff bit her lower lip before she printed the receipt and slowly handed it over to Peter, who snatched it as she said, "Here it is."

Peter stared at the receipt and saw that the money had truly entered into his account balance. He smiled in satisfaction and finally muttered to the female staff, "Thank you."

Peter turned and left the bank with the remaining half of the cash given to him. He walked out to meet a wheelbarrow pusher selling men’s clothing along the roadside.

Then, he purchased some new men’s wear and shorts that he needed, as well as a new top and black trousers.

Peter finally went to the public bathroom to bathe, as he didn't have a home. He changed into the new clothes he had bought, as he was squatting with his friends under a bridge.

"I just pray to meet more pretty young ladies like her again. This is the first time that I am offering to help a young lady carry her load, and she even gave me money without sexualizing me first," Peter continued to gush over Cindy's kindness, even as he didn't know her name, only the fact that she had given him money without him even helping her with anything. He said, "I don't even know her name. I just pray we meet again."

Peter sighed, and he went to a nearby restaurant to order a delicious meal to fill his almost empty stomach. He saw that the night was fast approaching, and he had not eaten since morning.

"Peter, is this you??" Peter heard a familiar voice call to him, and he turned to see his colleague who was staying under the bridge with him.

As they slept under the bridge at night, he moved away from his friend who wanted to touch him after he returned from the restaurant.

"It’s me, Tom," Peter said, avoiding Tom from touching him, and he added, "No hugging."

Tom stood smiling and asked, "Tell me the secret, Peter! Where did you get the money to purchase these beautiful clothes you're wearing? Or have you finally agreed to service a woman in her bed, and she paid you heavily for it? I know that you’re a handsome man, and every woman wants you. So how much per night did she pay you? Let me know if I should quit carrying loads too and join you in this handsome sugar-boy business."

Peter stared at his friend Tom Elliot with narrowed eyes and walked away first to sit on a bench in an empty shop where the owner wasn't around. Tom gulped as he drew closer, standing in front of Peter, and asked, "What’s wrong with what I asked you? I was only assuming..."

"I know, Tom. But I didn’t sleep with any woman to get paid," Peter replied.