The Widow and The CEO.

Chapter 8. Forgotten Lunch.

Chapter 8. Forgotten Lunch.

Devon felt like the air had been sucked out of his lungs as he looked at the gorgeous woman sitting eating something that smelt divine. Her big expressive deep brown, almost black eyes looked up at him, a fork full of food hovering at her mouth. Blinking, to regain control of his immediate physical reaction to her, Devon managed to curb his basic instincts and offered her a smile.

“Hi, my name is David. I am here to help you this afternoon,” Devon introduced his alias, although something deep inside felt strangely guilty about lying to the beauty before him. He had not been affected by a woman like this in an age, if ever.

“Erm. Ruth,” Ruth shyly said.

The man before her was strangely familiar but was clearly gorgeous. His dark chocolate brown hair was short at the sides, and slightly longer at the top, which looked like he had just run his fingers through it. His big deep blue eyes glistened under the long strip light. She had never been affected by a man in this way before, and her heart began to pound in her ears. The embarrassment that she was clearly staring at him flushed her cheeks, and she instantly lowered her eyes.

Devon stood desperate to find something, anything to say to her. He was normally a very articulate man, but right at that moment, he was at a loss. However, the smell of the food caused his stomach to grumble, reminding him that he had yet to eat.

“What do you have there? It smells delicious,” Devon asked, the only thing he could think of as his normally astute mind turned into a scrambled mess.

“Oh. It is Chilli con Carne. My Mother-in-Law made it. Would you like some?” Ruth offered, feeling guilty that she was eating in front of the stranger.

Devon felt his stomach lunge, as he heard that her mother-in-law had made the food. Clearly, the girl was married. Plus, she looked like she was a young woman, far too young for him. Instantly he felt foolish for the immediate attraction he had felt. He had thought her blushing face was a sign of her feeling the same, but clearly, in his mind, he was wrong. He now felt like an old fool. But, just at that moment, his stomach decided to growl like a beast locked in a cage.

Ruth giggled slightly and looked up at Devon.

“I have a spare fork,” she smiled and fished in her bag for the spare plastic fork she always carried with her.

“Do you often carry a spare fork?” Devon asked, slightly amused.

“Yes, when I can. Plastic forks sometimes break when you eat,” Ruth shrugged and passed him the fork wrapped in a plastic packet.

Devon knew he could head down to the canteen and get food, and he thought that maybe he should do just that. However, he wanted to avoid as many people as possible to reduce the risk of being recognised. That, and the thought of eating with Ruth, was too tempting to refuse. Devon inwardly sighed, feeling like he was an old fool, desperate for someone to like him for him, rather than the billionaire bachelor he was. He also felt a wave of disgust at himself that even though he knew she was married, he still felt a pull. He pushed all the negative thoughts out of his head, convincing himself he just wanted to know more about the girl, and her work there. Maybe she could be of some help to him in uncovering what Signor Coats was hiding. So, he pulled up a chair and took the plastic utensil from her small delicate hand, with a smile, as Ruth placed the large Tupperware container between them, and he dug in.

They ate in an awkward silence, as Devon searched his brain to find something to say that would not be inappropriate for a young married woman to hear, his thoughts clouded with lust at being in such close proximity to the gorgeous girl.

“So how long have you worked here?” Devon eventually broke the silence.

“Oh, I started last week. I am here temporarily, to gain some work experience,” Ruth smiled, but never lifted her head to make eye contact.

“Work experience. You have never worked before?” Devon asked. He was not judging but wanted to understand and prolong the conversation.

Ruth sighed slightly and shook her head.

“No. I am originally from Afghanistan. My work permit and citizenship just arrived a couple of weeks ago,” Ruth admitted.

“Ah, so is your husband from Afghanistan?” Devon asked, not that he cared either way, but just to keep the communication between them going. Maybe she was from an arranged marriage, and he had a fleeting thought about being her knight in shining armour, rescuing her from a man who she did not love.

“No, he was a soldier. We met when he was in the Army, and visited my village on his tours,” Ruth explained.

Devon inwardly kicked himself for thinking that this girl did not love her husband. The brightening of her skin indicated to him that she very much loved her husband. Clearly, he was the hero in this situation and not Devon.

Talking about Clay made Ruth feel a sting of guilt, for the attraction she was feeling toward the man she knew as David. She loved Clay, and it felt disrespectful to his memory for her to be so flustered in this man’s presence, even if he was gorgeous.

“So did you not get your permits through your marriage?” Devon asked, feeling a little confused.

“No. There was an investigation into our marriage, to ensure it was real. Then Clay had to return to the desert, and he was killed before the authorities had concluded them. So there has been a lot of red tape,” Ruth sighed, her eyes stinging with tears as she thought about Clay.

“I am so sorry that happened to you Ruth,” Devon whispered, feeling like the worst human on earth for upsetting the girl.

It was tragic that her husband had been killed. He was the hero in every regard, fighting for his country and giving the ultimate sacrifice. Yet, what made Devon’s guilt worse, was, try as he might, and as horrid as it was, he could not help but feel a slight sense of relief that Ruth was now unattached. He inwardly cursed himself, wondering what those kinds of thoughts made him as a person. Yes, he was ruthless in business, but he believed himself to be a kind, considerate man, yet here he was secretly celebrating the death of a young man.

Ruth nodded her head, holding her emotions in check, not wanting to cry in front of the stranger who had arrived unannounced into her cupboard.

“So, what are you doing this afternoon, and how can I help?” Devon smiled, as they finished the Chilli, and Ruth packed it away in her bag.

“Well, we have a lot of work to do. Hence, why I am grabbing a quick lunch, in here. We are doing shredding for the finance department. Apparently, there are a lot of files that should have been shredded on Friday, but nobody sent me the message, and they are apparently urgent,” Ruth smiled up at him, then quickly lowered her eyes again.

Devon froze, upon hearing that Ruth was shredding accountancy files. Craig was right, Signor Coats was definitely hiding something, and he needed to find out what before all the evidence was shredded.

“Do you know what is in the files?” Devon asked Ruth, his voice holding a hint of an allegation he was desperate to mask.

“No, I just have to pull them and shred them. Maybe they are copies and they have them on a computer now,” Ruth shrugged, reaching for the files that were on the list that had been left on the top of the shredder.

He needed to have Ruth taken out of the office so that he could look through the files before they were lost forever and quickly smiled at her.

“Well, now there are two of us, it will take no time,” he smiled.

“However, would you mind if I stepped outside and make a quick call, please? My mother is not very well and lives in a nursing home, and I just want to check in on her,” Devon smiled. He hated using his mother’s illness as an excuse, but it was all he could come up with at that moment so that he could get a message to Craig. Plus, if his mother had been in her right mind, she would have wholeheartedly approved, given she had once been a very astute woman, the thought lessened his guilt, a tiny bit.

“Oh, of course, family should always come first,” Ruth smiled up at him.

Fleetingly she thought about her own mother and wondered how she was if she had survived when the old regime regained control over her village. The thought often rose in her head, and knowing there was nothing she could do about it, she chose to believe that her mother was fine and happy, or else she would fall into a spiral of depression, the big black hole that often threatened to suck her into its depths, when she thought about both her mother and Clay.

“Well, don’t start without me. As we are two, you should take the rest of your lunch break,” Devon flashed her a smirk, before leaving the cupboard, and getting a message to Craig, to get Ruth out of there for an hour, so that he could make copies of the files, before shredding them, to examine tonight.

Ruth smiled at Devon when he came back into the cupboard, then stood up, smoothing the creases in her black skirt, and ensuring her white blouse was still tucked in the back of it.

“Maybe we should start. Apparently, Gloria was not happy this morning, and I do not want to make a bad impression. I need the reference for my next assignment,” Ruth smiled.

Devon nodded his head, as a knock at the door disturbed them, and Diana popped her head around, then looked at Devon, her lust-filled eyes trailing up and down him, with a smirk on her lips, before turning to Ruth.

“Hey, sorry Ruth. But I have to go to a meeting with the new big wig from America. They told me to ask you to cover reception for me,” Diana informed Ruth, but never peeled her eyes off Devon.

“Oh, okay,” Ruth sighed, then quickly showed the list of files to be pulled and shredded to Devon, explaining the order things were kept in, and apologizing that it was just a few documents from lots of different folders, before leaving the small cupboard.

As Ruth and Diana headed downstairs, the receptionist grinned at Ruth.

“You lucky biatch. Seriously, you are locked in that tiny office with him all afternoon. Hell, if it was me, girl, I would climb him like a monkey up a tree, and have him bend me over the photocopier, before the day was done,” Diana giggled.

Ruth’s eyes widened as she looked at her new friend and shook her head at her, not quite believing what she was hearing.

“Don’t look at me like that. I know that you are an innocent soul. But. You have to be dead below the waist not to have some sort of attraction to that fine specimen of a man, he is an Adonis,” Diana grinned.

Knowing that she had found herself attracted to the man she knew as David, Ruth grinned slightly, as Diana nudged her with her elbow and laughed.

“You are human after all,” she teased, as they both began to giggle like schoolgirls.