Essence of my life

Chapter 3

Days passed by as Caitlyn joined in her new job. Everyday Jackie tried to flirt with her and everyday she just cut him off. He was getting frustrated by her nonchalance and that was distracting him. There had to be something which he could do!

It was night already, past the closing time. She was staying back late for something and he just couldn't make himself leave without her. Everyday he asked her if she wanted a ride home and she would politely decline him showing him her car.

Only if she didn't own a car!

Or, what if her car had a flat tyre?

He smirked. That was perfect! She couldn't say no to him and he could finally give her a ride back to her place. He dialled to the security in the lot and asked them to execute his plan. Mortified to say in the least, however they had to oblige and keep quiet at the same time because he paid them.

I feel like a perverted stalker! he thought.

"Miss Mackarren?" he called as she packed.

"Sir?" she halted her packing, looking up at him.

Same old expressionless face of hers. And it drove him insane!

"I was wondering if you need a ride home," he shrugged, trying to act as cool as possible.

"As I always said, sir," she slung her bag onto her right shoulder, "I have my own car, but thank you."

"Right," he made way for her to walk out but immediately followed her. They walked in silence and the elevator music filled in for them for the time being.

Jackie hoped that the guards had done their work by now and left no clue whatsoever as to who had done that. The building was eerily quiet and Jackie could swear that he saw Caitlyn flinch for a fraction of a second!

Holy cow! This lady does have emotions in store but doesn't really show it! Is she giving him the sign of no interest or is she generally like that? He needed to find out! Never had he ever found a woman this amusing before. It felt like he had to know her, else he would die out of frustration! But, what made that woman so amusing to him?

He made sure to get her parking slot beside his car, so that they could at least walk together for that distance. When they got closer, he saw his work done. Well, they actually overworked! They gave her 4 flat tyres!

She frowned as she walked to her car and her pace slowed down. Jackie made sure to capture all her expressions as he might not have the chance to do that again.

She stopped in front of the car and leaned to see the tyre. Yes, what she feared the most was true. She hurried to all the other tyres and saw that they had no air too. She had to hail a cab home now!

Jackie stood in front of his car and watched her with an amused expression. If she was worried, she was definitely not showing it! And he wanted to see her worried. Or any other expression for that matter!

"Is there anything wrong, Miss Mackarren?" he walked to her as the gentleman he is. Or was.

"Looks like my car ran out of air all at once!" she frowned in suspicion.

"What are you gonna do?" he prolonged.

"Hail a cab, sir," she responded.

"Cab at this time?" he frowned. "That is not safe at all, Caitlyn!"

He called her on a first name basis and she was taken aback by that. Never in all these days has he ever tried to call her Caitlyn. And because of him, no one ever dared to call her that either. Her name from his lips made her feel weird. She was almost thinking if Caitlyn was really her name or not!

"It's alright, sir."

"I don't want any of my colleagues in any risk. And especially, my secretary. I insist, Caitlyn, I will drop you home."

He used her name again and it felt too weird. Oh, maybe she has to get used to this as well.

"But-"

"Oh, you don't want me to beg now, do you?" He played dirty.

"No, sir."

"Then get in," he opened the passenger side door and and waited to close it after she sat in. He shut the door and walked to the other side with a small smile on his face. If he grinned ear to ear like he wanted to right now, she would definitely take him for a creep or a stalker. But his actions were no less compared to that!

"Now that you are finally in my car, let's go have a dinner outside," he revved the car and started out.

Dinner? Wait! Caitlyn never agreed to have dinner with him! She was first forced in and now she was gonna go have dinner with him? She felt that dinners were just a way of invading personal space. And no way in hell is she gonna let her boss invade her personal space!

"I'm sorry sir, but I really must go home. I can't tag along for dinner tonight," she tried her best to be polite.

Maybe Jackie was just rushing things and was getting her too uncomfortable. She shouldn't be getting a bad impression on him! But wait, why does he even care about her impression on him? Isn't she the one who has to worry about herself in front of her boss? Then why in the world is he feeling this way?

"Alright, then. Not today, then what about tomorrow?" he asked. Oh no! If he sounds so casual then she might decline him! "I have a few things to talk to you," he quickly added.

She seemed to think for a while and he was swelling up with anticipation. He was acting like a high school kid and he needed a reminder that he is the owner of a business empire, more than half of it being his own investments.

She had an internal battle about whether to agree with him or not. But what if he had business matters to talk about? She couldn't say no! If she did, then it defeats the sole purpose of her working as his secretary!

"Okay, sir. Dinner tomorrow," she nodded.

"Perfect," he said with more enthusiasm than required and her brows scrunched together in suspicion. "Umm, mind giving me the directions to your place?"

She guided him to her place and they ended up in the driveway of her old, rotten, crappy, matchbox apartment which smelled funny.

"You live here?" he blurted before he could bite his lip. "I mean, uh, this is a good place! It's not like, ugh, I didn't mean to offend you!"

Caitlyn took a deep breath and stepped out of his car as he kept rambling. She should've known his reaction before! How could she not have expected it? Of course, Jackie was a wealthy man and in fact was one of the leading businessmen these days and he must be living in a mansion. She saw her old boss' house once before and it was huge! She could clearly tell how Jackie's house would be like.

"Mr. Baxter," she called, leaning to his window, "thanks for the ride. I appreciate it."

With the thanks being said, Caitlyn turned to walk to her apartment. But before she could notice, Jackie was already by her side.

"I would feel a lot better if I walked you till your door, Caitlyn."

His voice sounded so soft, almost as he was concerned about her. These kinds of emotions were long forgotten and this man, her boss, was stirring them up again. She knew that it was the best for her to brush those feelings away, but involuntarily, the corners of her mouth faintly twitched up.

"Okay," was all she could say.

For a moment Jackie couldn't believe his eyes! Was that a smile he just witnessed? It was a faint one, but god, did she look beautiful! If only a faint smile could churn up his stomach to an extent where he wanted to fist pump in the air, he could only imagine what a whole-hearted laugh could do! She was a classy lady, that he could declare by now but, what was the other side of her?

Jackie believed that there were two sides of every person. Behind what the person puts up for a show, there was actually someone else inside, which was the true personality of that person, locked deep down. Out to the world, Jackie was a successful gentleman, polite, rich and well mannered. He was the perfect prince charming that a woman could dream of. But on the inside, he was just a regular man, a little too ambitious and a little too whimsical. He had to get what he wanted and made sure to that. Just like how he started wanting Caitlyn.

He wanted Caitlyn?

"We are here, Mr. Baxter," she stood firm in front of her locked door, her arms crossed before her chest, not even attempting to find the key to that lock. This clearly meant for him to leave and he could help but feel disappointed. He definitely made her uncomfortable and that he knew! Why was he so insensitive? He should be understanding by now that not all women were bound to swoon over him! It was time he realised that not everything he wants comes easily to him. And this lady in front of him, is the living example of that. He was going to face a hell lot of struggle before he gets her to open up to him. And yes, he was going to enjoy the chase!

"Alright then, maybe I'll take my leave now," he said and reluctantly turned away from her.

She still didn't make an attempt of opening the door and this meant that she wasn't really welcoming him to her place in anyway. She treated the ride as an inescapable incident and decided to keep it that way.

Hours passed by and Caitlyn was still lying awake on her bed. Staring into nowhere in the darkness, which reflected her soul at the moment, all her memories started gushing back.

No, Caitlyn. You are not going to let your guard down again, she thought, bracing herself for a restless sleep.

If only she had a family to live with, a happy family in that, her life would have been more colourful. Maybe she would have been a lot cheerful and would have accepted people into her life. But she was only 4 when she lost her parents and her life became miserable. It had been 23 years and she faintly remembers how they looked like or how she was like with them. She remembered one glimpse of her memory where she was laughing heartily with her parents holding her hands. And that was the only happy memory she knew that existed in her life.

Oh, how she wished this were just a dream and she would be back in her mother's womb! But the harsh reality sets in every time and she knows that it is not possible. No, she was not going to cry! Crying only made her weaker, crumbling her even more and proving her that she was a mere woman, who is fragile and vulnerable to the world. She had faced many hardships and pushed herself constantly to reach this level. She had her walls crumbled once and she had suffered enough. That man showed her a sweet facade of love and had crushed her mercilessly. She wasn't going to let that happen! This time, her walls were set higher and she was gonna make sure that no one was even close to touching them, let alone crumbling them.