Alpha's Look of Love

CAN'T READ HER MIND

CHAPTER 6

The weekend went both good and bad for Ada. Her nightmare on Saturday, which terrified and chilled her to bones, didn’t happen again. She was thankful. She offered a prayer when she and Minerva went to church on Sunday afternoon. They also did some shopping and ate in one of the finest Chinese restaurants inside the mall.

The Sunday day out helped her refocus and take away some worries. She hoped her boss wouldn’t pursue looking for her. She wished that he would forget about it when he reported working again. She didn’t know what would happen to her if everything about her were exposed. 

Despite convincing herself that everything would be alright, she still looked terrible. Her eyes were full of sadness, and she didn’t look too well when Monday came. She silently wished the boss's secretary would finally report to work, even if she knew it wouldn’t be possible since Secretary Divina was on maternity leave with 60 more days remaining. 

“Hah!” Ada pulled a deep breath when she sat on her chair, slouching for some time, then she placed her elbows on the table then buried her face in her hands.

“Did the wolf get you wired over the weekend? Why do you look so wasted?” Estan remarked while he gazed at her pitiful form as he stood in front of her desk.

“Nothing—“ she lied.

“Nothing?” He tilted his head, expressing how he disbelieved her, “Have you seen yourself in the mirror?” He placed his hand on her chin and made her look at her reflection in the mirror-like partition on her side, “You looked like somebody mulled you over the weekend. Do you have a boyfriend? Was he the one responsible for this?” Estan squinted his eyes to look into her eyes carefully.

“None! I just wished Secretary Divina would report soon,” she blurted out, in the absence of things to say. She was also not happy with the way she looked but not a chance she would tell that to anyone, even to Estan, who had been good to her from the first day they met.

“No luck, lady, for the next two months, I guess? She just gave birth a week ago," he chuckled and asked with a raised brow, "Why? Are you afraid of the big bad wolf?” Estan gave her a slight smirk. He often teased her about their boss as he often caught her trembling whenever the boss was around.

“Nah—not really.” Her heart pounded in her chest, afraid he would catch her lying. “I am just more comfortable when the secretary is here.” She tried her best to sound as calm as possible. Then she changed the topic, “Do you want anything from me?”

“Ah! “  Estan rolled his eyes, aware that she was changing the subject of their conversation. He let go, “Anyway—the boss will be here later.” 

Ada’s eyes opened wide. Unaware that her boss would be coming since he didn’t report in the office regularly. He was just around last Friday. Why would he report again today? The question she wasn't able to voice. 

Estan ignored her stunned expression then continued, “I want you to place this folder on top of his desk. Those are options he might consider to replace the model he was looking for.”

Ada's eyes opened even more expansive, this time out of amusement. She couldn’t believe what she heard, “You mean he was not serious when he told us to look for the model at all cost?” She wanted to affirm if she heard Stefan correctly.

Estan shrugged his shoulders and took a deep breath, “Well, I am hoping he will change his mind when he sees these ladies." He looked at the folder in his hand. "You know our boss is a little one-track mind. He doesn't change direction easily. But considering that—Hello—where the hell can we find that lady? We are so pressed for time. The photoshoot needs to take place next week! It was just impossible to find the person. He needs to accept options-- .” He forced a smile and pretended to be relaxed and unaffected by the boss’s direct order to find the lady, but he knew better. Anon was hard to convince.

“Okay. I will leave it at his desk.” Ada said excitedly. She wished her boss to change his mind before he even launched an all-out search to find…her.

Looking at her pleased expression, Estan chuckled.

“Oh, by the way, Ada. I was hoping you could drop by my cubbyhole later. I have samples for disposal. I want you to be the first one to benefit.” He stared down at her. He looked at her from head to toe. His face crinkled, obviously disapproving of the way she looked and her choice of clothes.

Being a fashion guru and the head of their fashion division, Estan was always dressed in the nines. He was aware of Ada's lack of interest in fashion. The old-styled coat and below the knee skirt obviously didn't do justice to the curves she has. Estan could assess the fitness of a body even if concealed to the naked eyes. He wondered why Ada was doing it to herself.

Ada was aware that Estan wasn’t belittling her. He was just disappointed with her choice of clothes. She knew Estan thought that her outdated fashion sense needed a little intervention. 

Estan cared for her, which was why he wanted to offer her the samples. He wanted to upgrade the way the young lady looked.

Ada waved her hand to turn down the offered help. Her look was a cover to hide her identity, “No need for that— give it to somebody else.”

Estan exhaled, “No, my dear—I won’t let you slip away this time. I will turn you into a beautiful Princess. Leave it to your fairy granny gay, or twilight fairy, whatever.” He flicked his tongue and clicked his fingers.

“Oh no—please don’t!” She giggled. There was no need for that as far as she was concerned.

“No way!” Estan spoke gruffly, refusing a turndown, "Meet me in my igloo during lunchtime. I am not listening to your excuses. Otherwise, don’t. come. near. me again!” he stressed on the warning.

Then he left the stunned Ada; she stared at him with her mouth agape. She wanted to tell him straight but gently—not to bother himself with her fashion sense because she liked it that way.

But he had left, and then she sensed a familiar presence...

Like an ant splashed with water, Ada didn’t know what to do. She stood, sat back, stood again, and sat back again. Ada finally took her notepad, stood up, and waited for him, exhaling and inhaling deeply. She swung her head left to right several times to clear her head. It was good that the boss stopped walking for a while to talk with Estan and his other assistant, and he didn't see how disoriented Ada was.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Ada stood straight patiently while watching her boss pass in front of her. Without glancing at her, he ordered, “My coffee, Ms. Greyback!” He walked past her and entered his room with Silver and another assistant.

“Sir, yes, sir!” Ada curtly responded. However, Anon didn't hear it, as he passed her a few seconds before she found her voice.

She rushed to follow him inside his office and carefully placed the folder Estan gave to her on top of his desk. Anon was still talking with his assistant and Silver in one corner of his room, so Ada left them and strode towards the pantry to prepare his coffee. 

She reprimanded herself while waiting for the coffee to brew, inhaling the freshly brewed coffee scent lingering in the four corners of the pantry area. She silently wished for the coffee scent to clear her baffled mind.

"Ada. You've been here for two years; why the hell did his presence affect you this way? You always act like a cat in a hot roof, dummy!"

Soon after she heard the beep, signaling the coffee was ready, she placed it in Anon’s cup and hurried to her boss’s room with the cup of coffee in her hand. Ada exhaled the breath she didn’t realize she had been keeping on hold before she knocked on his door.

“Enter—“ 

Again she breathed out and entered his room. No one except Anon was inside the room; Silver and another assistant had left him already. She moved towards his desk and placed his coffee near his hand. After that, she bowed and turned to leave his room without saying a word.

“Ada—“

She froze on her way out.

“They call you Ada, right?”  Anon asked, squinting his eyes.

When she heard his guttural voice, she was on the verge of breaking down. It was the first time he called her by her nickname. She shook a bit.

“S-Sir?” She stuttered.

“What’s wrong with you?” He asked, confused.

“Nothing, sir. Do you still need anything?” She replied, turning to him but without looking at him. Her eyes fixed on the tip of her shoes.

“Look me in the eyes, Ada—“

She tried to calm her nerves and slowly leveled her eyes to his. She saw his set of amber eyes. The light reflected from his irises had golden hues; the yellowish copper balls were hard to look at as those were like flaming balls. She wasn’t able to stare at him longer, and she closed her eyes.

Her heart was pounding faster inside her chest. Her breathing had been erratic, and her knees started to tremble. Just a few seconds of looking in his pools of fire made her weak. 

Anon squinted his eyes more while studying his secretary's reaction, “Are you afraid of me, Ada?” Anon asked, his eyes never leaving Ada’s face. 

The meaning of his stare was hard to fathom by others but, inside him, he was wondering why he couldn’t read her expression. Reading someone’s mind was his rare gift, along with other gifts someone like him was fortunate to possess. Ada was the first one he met whose mind he couldn’t read, and she's a human.

Ada shook her head repeatedly, “No—No s-sir!” She stuttered again, making it evident to him that she was lying. 

He might not be able to read her mind, but her actions speak of the truth inside her. Anon sat comfortably on his chair and released a heavy sigh. 

“Call Estan, Ada, ask him to come here, then you join us as we discuss his proposition.”

“Yes, sir!” She answered with a shaking voice. “I will leave first, sir.” She turned around when she heard his conformance and hastily left the room.

Anon silently rested on his chair, bewildered why his rare mind-reading gift was not working on his assistant secretary. Anon pondered on this for a while, but then he had so much in his hand at the moment. He couldn’t afford to be sidetracked by simple matters such as his inability to read somebody else's mind.  

After letting out an exasperated sigh, he shook off whatever was in his head and opened his laptop to begin handling matters that could affect many people and the members of his kind life.