The alarm on my phone blared. I quickly snapped out of my sleep, wiping my face to see clearly. The sun filtered through the glass, almost blindsiding me. I could hear whispers of the junior staff commencing work. It was then I realized I had slept past nine in the morning. My neck ached as I got up from my chair to stretch my bones. It was then I understood the discomfort I had subjected myself to by sleeping off in the chair after fucking myself with the dildo. I calmly pulled my skirt to the knee length, and buttoned up my shirt, then I heard footsteps approaching my door. I hurried to my desk to return the dildo to the drawer, but I couldn't remember where I left the keys, so I quickly kept it in-between a book that was on my desk. About five seconds later, Mr. Barney and Asher walked in without knocking. At around that same time, I had hurried to the glass door to welcome whoever it was that was coming, only for me to startle Mr. Barney when he bumped into me.
"Isla," Mr. Barney exclaimed.
"Mr. Barney. You're here so early," I replied to him, clearing my throat.
I could see Asher through the corner of my eyes, walking towards my desk. I was seriously restless as he approached the desk. With each sound of his feet getting closer, I felt like dying, because I could not possibly imagine how the whole scene would go down if he sees it and inform Mr. Barney. But I was certain it was going to end with me cussing them both out. But to my surprise, he only sat on the edge of the desk, instantly putting my mind to rest.
"I see you passed the night in your office," Mr. Barney said again, looking around for a while. "The press interview is in a few hours, I hope you and Asher already have something figured out?"
I was silent for a while. It was almost as if I had forgotten how to speak. My vocal cord quickly deserted me as I struggled to put my words together. Then without further consideration, I cleared my throat again. "Yeah, yeah. We should be good."
Asher's smile widened wickedly. Mr. Barney calmly pat my shoulder, then he turned to exit the room.
"And you should go home to shower before then. You've been working so hard."
I swallowed my throat as I watched him walk out. Then I instantly turned back to face Asher, who was still sitting on the desk, smiling like a low budget clown.
"Yes? What are you still doing here?" I didn't hesitate to ask.
"I am the CEO, and you're the assistant of something, or whatever it is that you are. I can come to see you anytime I like. So, ask a reasonable question, like why am I here."
I scoffed. "I don't care what you want. Get out now," I tried to keep my voice soft even though it was aggressive.
He smiled again. "You're one angry bitch, are you not? I have something to show you. We are going out in the next—,"he paused to take a look at his wrist watch. "In exactly ten minutes, meet me outside."
I just snapped and angrily walked up to him. "You think I'm just a bitch you can order around? Our night together or a seat of power doesn't make you a boss of me."
"But this can," he replied promptly, pulling out the dildo from in-between the book. I was out of words, as he got up to stand in front of me. This time, appearing more intimidating. "Imagine if the board sees you have this kind of material in your office," with each breath of the nose, he got closer and I walked backwardly until my back was against the wall, then he continued, "or maybe I should mention it to the press. It would make front page I guess."
I heaved a sigh. "And what would be your gain? You have everything that should have been mine."
His hand went beside my head, and his breath collided with my face, his voice gentle yet intimidating. "I mean I have everything, except you."
"What do you want from me Asher?"
Immediately I said this, he just withdrew himself from me, dropped the dildo on the table before walking to the door. "I want you outside in ten," he replied, walking out of my office.
"I have not even showered," I concluded to myself. I didn't have much choice, it was a must I answer to his call. I heaved a loud sigh, before returning the dildo to one of the drawers. I picked up my coat and walked out of the office to meet up with him.
When I got to the garage, he didn't say anything to me. He held the door open for me and I got in. When he was driving out of the garage, all I could do was to wonder where he might be taking me. I wasn't scared, but I wasn't comfortable either. About four minutes after I got into the car with him, he cleared his throat loudly without looking at my face.
"Where do you stay?" I heard him ask.
I was silent for two reasons. I wasn't expecting that kind of question, and I was also wondering what he hoped to achieve by taking me to my house. It was not like it was on my own request. He was one sneaky bastard I always had to look out for, so I just gave him the silent treatment. When he realized I didn't reply to his question, he pulled over, and this time, he was looking at me.
"You did hear me right?" He asked again.
I quickly found fault in his questions. "Why are you asking? I could drive myself home, but you think because you're the boss you can just decide how and when I go to my own house? No, I'm not giving you my address," I refused.
"You can just give me the address so you can get dressed for the interview, or I turn back and you do that interview, looking like you hadn't taken your bath in days."
He was right. That was the issue, he was always right even though he leaves little room for wisdom. We couldn't turn back because it was almost time for the interview. He already had it planned it out. If I refused at that point and turned back, I might not make it back in time. The best choice to make was to agree to his request, even though I didn't want to. I was silent for nearly one minute. When he didn't get an instant response, he tried to turn the car around. When he was almost facing the way back to the office, I screamed my address out loud, and he just smiled softly.
We arrived at my apartment. Nadia was the only one around, Aaliyah had gone to work. Asher was waiting outside the building by his car. When I walked in, Nadia was already standing by the glass, she must have overheard when the car arrived and out of curiosity, got up to see who it was. I came in through the front door and dropped my coat on the couch. She didn't notice me for the first few seconds until I cleared my throat to make her aware of my presence that she startled. I started pulling off my clothes instantly, and Nadia that had been clinging to the window rushed after me as I walked into the bathroom. She stood outside to ask questions.
"Who's that?" She didn't hesitate to ask.
"Asher. The sneaky son of Barney," I replied promptly.
"Oh my God, you didn't let us know he is that cute."
"I thought you said you hated him?" I asked her before turning on the shower.
"I mean, I have to for your sake. But damn, he is so hot. Are you guys a thing now?"
"Thing? Hell no," I replied while scrubbing my back with soap.
"Now I see why you fucked him on the first night."
I was silent. "And there is no day I don't regret that," I thought to myself.
Nadia didn't say anything after that, so I assumed she must have left the door. I got out shortly too, dressed up, then I returned to Asher outside the building. We didn't hesitate further, I got into the car, and we drove back to the company. He didn't utter a single word to me until we arrived at Berkscorp. Before he put the car to a stop, we could see a young man arguing with one of the guards. Asher parked, and hurried out of the car, but before he could go to them, one of the guards walked up to us.
"Mr Barney, good thing you're here. This man has been giving us a lot of trouble."
"Well-done Jonathan, I actually know who he is. Let him come come to me."
The young man walked up to us and they instantly embraced each other. They exchanged greetings, so much that I could already imagine how close they were. Before I could care to ask Asher who he was, he introduced him to me.
"Isla, this is Robin. My very old mate. And Robin, meet Isla, my own nemesis."
My smile widened with insincerity. "You never stop painting me the black sheep."
Robin laughed softly, his eyes sharpened with focus.
"I was already afraid you might not come," Asher said to Robin.
"I am not sure why I came but after that discussion last night, I figured I don't have much choice," Robin replied, smiling.
"It is good to have you here," Asher said.
"And yeah, I couldn't fix the laptop in that short period but I managed to retrieve the files on the laptop drive," I heard Robin say, slipping his hand into his pocket and he handed the drive to Asher. This instantly caught my attention as I figured the drive must have contained important informations that could get Asher into trouble. And trouble for him, meant power for me.
"Thank you so much for this," Asher replied, taking the drive from him.
All I could think of at that moment were ways I could steal the drive from him. I became slightly edgy, restless, and couldn't focus even when he was talking to me. I could only hear his voice as if they were whispers. My phone beeped around this time. I pulled it out, and I sent out a text to an old friend. A while later, one of the guards walked up to us to inform us the press interview was starting and we all walked inside the building with our heads held high.