Stop! Mr. CEO

10| keeping her busy.

They had not noticed him when he was approaching them. Elizabeth quickly jerked up and tried to explain. "No, no, no. It’s not what you think, sir. It’s just that…"

"Save yourself the explanation. Why are you still here?" Alexander interrupted her.

She had a confused look on her face. "But you said I could stay."

"Well. I said you could stay and have your lunch, not flirt." He snarled. His gaze turned to Andrew, and he glared at him.

"Excuse me, sir. I was not flirting." Elizabeth argued.

"Not that I care anyway." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Why haven’t you gone to see Mr. Anthony?"

"Mr. Daniel said he would help me with it."

"Who did I ask to do it?" A scowl skated across his face. "You or Mr. Daniel?"

"He said he was going there anyway. So, he offered to deliver your message to him. He told me that you were not going to mind; the most important thing was for it to get to him.” She explained.

"Well, he was right. The most important thing is for it to get to him." He glanced at his wristwatch. "Finish up quickly and come back to the office. You have five minutes."

Her eyes widened. "Five minutes? Sir, I haven’t even started eating." She complained.

"Okay, make it ten." He said, as he turned on his heels and walked away from them without giving her the chance to protest.

Phew! What was wrong with him? Why does he find it so uncomfortable seeing his secretary chatting with that man? He thought as he walked down the hallway. He had felt an emotion he was not familiar with. Was it jealousy? Or disgust? He didn’t know.

Well, she better not be a w***e, because she won’t last another minute in his company if he finds out that she is one, he thought as he made his way to his office.

…

Sitting in his office with his blinds up, he glanced at the desk clock. It’s been fifteen minutes since he arrived at the office, and Elizabeth has not come back yet, and that made him feel uneasy.

She was probably still flirting with that loser, he thought, wondering where they wanted to go and what they intended to do when they met up.

Frustration clawing at his chest, he eased back on his seat and blew out a sharp breath. She had a lot of time on her hands; that’s why she feels she could do anything. He was definitely going to keep her busy; that way, she wouldn’t go around flirting with strangers.

The door suddenly dinged open, and he glanced through his window to see Elizabeth plodding inside the office.

His eyes widened when he spotted the stain on her shirt. The stained part was wet; it seemed like she had attempted to clean it off but failed.

That was probably why she came late, he thought. But he was not going to let her go because of that. He was definitely going to scold her.

She knocked on his door, and he quickly asked her to come in.

"I gave you ten minutes; you have the guts to double it." He barked the moment she entered the office.

"I am sorry, sir. I had a bit of a situation." She apologized as she approached him. "The moment you left the restaurant, I also stood up to follow you, but a girl bumped into me and splattered her drink all over my shirt." She looked down at her shirt and rubbed her palm on the stained part. "I went to the bathroom to clean it up, but I don’t know why it’s not coming off."

"Oh." Alexander muttered as a ghost of a smile touched his lips. He was glad that she didn’t flirt with Andrew after he left.

Elizabeth noticed the smile on his face and her face twisted into a scowl, wondering if he just smiled at her frustration.

He cleared his throat. "Go and freshen up. You can go home." He darted his gaze at her shirt. "It wouldn’t look good on the company if a client came in and saw you like this."

"Thank you, sir!" She beamed, relieved that she was finally going home to rest after a very long day.

As she turned back to leave, a thought clicked on Alexander’s mind—he was literally giving her enough time to meet with that loser.

Shaking his head vigorously, he quickly said "Wait!"

"Sir?" She said, as she turned back to look at him.

Pressing his lips together, he leapt to his feet and trudged to a wooden cabinet that was mounted on one side of the office wall. He opened it and tugged out a round-neck t-shirt.

"You don’t have to go home." He said, as he turned back and walked closer to her. "Put this on."

She glanced at the T-shirt in his hand. "Sir, I don’t think it is appropriate to wear this during work hours."

"Well, it is my company, and I would decide what is appropriate or not." He tossed the T-shirt at her, and it landed on the floor. "Now take it and go get changed."

Without waiting for her response, he turned on his heels and walked back to his desk.

Elizabeth stood there, wondering why he kept switching up. One minute he was nice to her, and the next minute he turned into a beast. It was really impossible to understand him.

Pressing her lips together, she crouched down and picked the T-shirt up from the floor before straightening back up.

She briefly glanced at him before turning on her heels and walking out of his office.

She made her way to the restroom and entered one of the stalls to get changed.

After putting on the t-shirt Alexander had given her, she went back to the office, tired and frustrated.

She hasn’t had a proper rest since yesterday, and that was thanks to him. She hated him!

As she trudged to her desk, something caught her eye, causing her to gasp and stop in her tracks.

There were stacks of papers on her desk, and she wondered where they all came from.

Frustration clawing at her chest, she continued walking towards her desk, wondering if he expected her to finish everything before she went home.

When she got to her desk, she glanced up to see him staring at her through the window, and he quickly looked away.

There was a smile on his face, and she caught it before he could look away. Returning her gaze to the paperwork on her desk, she let out an exasperated breath.

"You can do this, Elizabeth." She encouraged herself as she sat down. "Finish this up and go back home to rest in your comfortable bed. Not so comfortable, but better than lying down next to your ungrateful boss."

Glaring at the paperwork, she started working on them. She was tired, but she kept pushing herself until she was done.

When she finally finished, she heaved a sigh of relief as she gathered the pile of paperwork in her hand and leapt to her feet.

She was finally going to go home, she thought.

She trudged to Alexander’s office and knocked on the door.

"Come in," he said almost immediately.

Placing her hand on the door knob, she pushed the door open and entered the office.

"I am done, sir." She said, as she closed the door.

He raised a brow. "Already?"

He had a surprised look on his face; he had not expected her to finish so early.

"Yes," she said.

"Uhm..." he scratched his head, thinking of what to do to make her stay longer. If she leaves now, she will go and meet Andrew, and he doesn’t want that.

Suddenly, he remembered that there was an important document that he had mistakenly shredded alongside the unimportant ones. He planned on piecing it together by himself later, but since she had enough time, she could be of help.

His gaze darted to the pile of shredded papers that was scattered on the floor and he pointed at them.

"There is an important document that I mistakenly shredded. Piece all the shredded papers up until you find it." He ordered.

Her gaze followed his line of sight, and her mouth fell open when she saw the pile of shredded papers. "Sir, you want me to piece all that together?" She asked, gawking at him.

A frown creased on his forehead. "Yes, why do I pay you?"

"Sir, I can’t do this alone. I would have to do this all through the night to finish it." She complained. "Maybe you should call other employees, so we could do it together."

"I can’t have other employees knowing a top secret." He objected.

"Sir, I can’t—"

"Ms. Felix!" He barked, causing her to shudder. "Get to work, now!"

Nodding her head, she spun around and trudged to where the shredded papers were scattered. She picked up a plastic bag and stuffed them inside.

With tears welling up in her eyes, she left the office without looking back at Alexander.

Alexander noticed her tears, and a hint of guilt traveled up his chest.

Was he too harsh on her? He thought as he watched her settle down on her seat through the window.

He shrugged and directed his gaze at his computer. Piecing papers together was not so difficult, he thought.

He was unsettled. He kept glancing at her through the window as he watched her struggle to piece the papers together.

She looked exhausted, and he suddenly felt the urge to tell her to stop and go home, but the thought of her going to see Andrew made him hold back.

Why the f**k was he doing this? he asked himself. He also couldn’t understand. After giving it much thought, he forced himself to believe that he was doing it for the sake of the company. It wouldn’t do good to the company if they mixed business with pleasure.

Hours had passed—it was 10:00Pm already—and she was still struggling with the shredded papers.

Her small figure looked pitiful, and that sight bothered him. He couldn’t endure seeing her that way anymore, so he finally decided to let her go home.

Leaping to his feet, he walked out of his office and trudged to her desk.

"You can go home now." He muttered when he got to where she was struggling to piece the papers together.

"But I am not done, sir." She said, with a very low voice—it almost came out as a whisper.

As he gazed at her, a look of pity mixed with a hint of regret immediately flashed across his face. Did he go too far? He asked himself.

He lifted his hand to his head and scratched his temple. "I would finish it up, just go."

"Let me just—" she tried to protest, but the glare he shot at her made her stand up immediately.

"Don’t come late tomorrow." He said.

Nodding her head, she reached for her bag and picked it up.

"Good night, Mr. Henderson." She muttered as she leapt to her feet.

He pressed his lips together. "Good night."

Nodding her head, she took to her heels and trudged to the door.

Placing her hand on the door knob, she yanked the door open to see her best friend, Veronica, standing just outside the door.

"Good timing." Veronica seethed as she walked past Elizabeth.

Steams were literally coming out of her ears as she scurried to where Alexander was standing.