Chapter 3

On Monday morning, at about eleven o’clock, Mr. Igalmen called Heather into his office for a favour.

“Heather, dear, could you visit the Dynasty Place? We’re supposed to drop off this month’s report for cross-checking. I asked Bethany, but apparently, she’s off sick. Again. I know it’s got nothing to do with your project, but you’re the only one I can really rely on.” 

She shrugged, used to cleaning up after Bethany’s messes. “I’ll do it, sir. You can count on me.” 

She began to make her way out of his office when he added, “Perhaps you should take Zac along? It’s his territory, after all. He can guide you.” 

Heather cursed under her breath. She was convinced she didn’t need his help but agreed anyway.

“Yes, sir.” 

They were in a taxi since neither of them drove to work, and apart from Heather asking for directions before entering, she hadn’t said a word to Zac throughout the journey.

He used this opportunity to stare at her. Heather was a tall, brown-skinned woman. He loved her hair—how it looked so frizzy yet tame at the same time. Her eyes—he noticed—were when they weren’t looking in his direction.

The calm silence was interrupted by the shrill ringing of her phone. Some rap song he hadn’t heard of. “Lil Gump?” the driver asked with a raised eyebrow.

She grinned, having no problem conversing with the old man. “Yes, sir. Why? Do you listen to him too?” 

They shared a laugh, and the man put on the radio for her.

Her phone rang again, and she sighed and picked it up. 

“What?” she barked into the receiver, making Zac flinch at her rudeness. Her phone wasn’t very loud, but because of their proximity, he could hear the conversation. 

“Anna, I told you not to call me at work.” 

The person on the other end replied haughtily, “I didn’t want to hear from you too. It was an emergency!” 

Heather facepalmed and softened her tone. “Well, what happened then?” 

“I called to let you know my sister’s coming to visit this weekend,” the voice said. 

“Which one?”

“Becky.” 

“The 17-year-old?” Heather whined, promptly forgetting that Zac was sitting beside her. Anna was one of the few people who got to see her act her age. They’d met before Heather’s icy era started when they were fourteen. 

“She makes me feel like an old person,” Heather went on to say. 

“Me too, but mum says I need to spend more time with family.” At this statement, Heather could swear she felt Anna’s eye roll. 

“Oh, alright...Just don’t let her steal my clothes again. Last time she made off with my bag! It had got Zake’s autograph on it and everything!” 

“That’s what you get for listening to exactly the same kind of music she does,” Anna shrieked with laughter, and Heather smiled. 

She was having such a great time talking to Anna that she’d forgotten her immediate environment. 

Zac, on the other hand, couldn’t believe it. ‘Frosty can smile?’ he thought. And it was a real smile, too, not the pretty fake one she gives everyone. This strengthened his resolve to get to know her better. 

They dropped off at Dynasty, and Heather headed straight to the HR manager even though she’d only visited here once. Zac found that he was impressed with her memory. 

“You can go mingle with your old colleagues if you’d like,” she told him, so he headed off. 

After the documents had been stamped and signed, the manager offered to get her a cup of water, and they talked about work and, more importantly, Zac. 

Heather was uncomfortable but talked to save face. 

“He’s very bright, actually, for someone so young.” She thought about that statement and found that it was true. ‘He’s smart and reliable too...’ she thought and inwardly facepalmed. 

‘Stop complimenting him!’

“Someone so young? Zachary is 24. You act like he’s a child. How old are you?” 

Heather blushed, “I just turned 26, actually.” 

The HR manager stared at her pointedly, finished her drink then looked at her watch. “Oh, great. Lunchtime. I suppose you should be heading off then. Tell Igalmen I said hello.” 

Heather left her office and went off to find Zac. He was in the midst of a throng of female employees and broke into a grin when he saw her. 

“Sorry, girls, I havta split.” Expertly detaching himself from them, he walked over to Heather. 

“Really popular, aren’t you?” she couldn’t stop herself from saying. 

He laughed, “People find me irresistible.” 

She rolled her eyes and started to walk outside to hail a cab. 

He grabbed her arm. “What’s your hurry? It’s break time, isn’t it? Why don’t we grab lunch?” 

She thought about it. She could say no, but she’d skipped breakfast that morning. 

‘But it’s lunch with him, of all people,’ her inner voice said. 

Before she could make a concrete decision, her stomach made a little growling noise.

She blushed and let Zac decide for her. “Let’s grab something to eat.” 

They arrived at a small little diner at Heather’s request. She had decided to lay off for an hour, maybe stop being so prickly and actually enjoy her break. Why shouldn’t she? She was outside work, and someone had offered to buy her lunch!

She ordered a glass of red wine, and Zac raised his eyebrows. 

“Oh, please. Stop looking at me like that,” she said with a small grin. “I’m human too, however diligent I appear to be.” 

She took a sip and closed her eyes with satisfaction. When she opened them again, she found Zac staring at her with newfound wonder. 

“I’ll have to ask you not to mention it to anyone at work, though. They slack off enough already. If they knew I was normal, everything would go to pieces.” 

He nodded, and she wondered just how unpleasant they all thought she was if her drinking wine had surprised him like that. 

‘Well, he need not get used to it,’ she thought, ‘After lunch is over, I’ll be back to my cactus-like demeanor.’

As if sensing a change in her sunny aura, Zac called for the waiter to bring over the menu. 

“What starter will you be getting?” he asked after perusing the menu.

“Something light, maybe spaghetti?” she replied, looking over at him from the top of her own menu. 

She couldn’t understand it. Not the menu, but his wanting to be friends with her. She’d noticed him go out of his way to include himself in her conversations with other people. It was almost as if he liked her for some odd reason. 

“Or maybe a sandwich,” she finished. 

The waitress on duty chose this moment to join the conversation, letting them know that they had various sandwiches up for order. 

They each decided on a sandwich. Heather’s was bacon-filled, and Zac’s was cheese. 

“Are you vegetarian? Or maybe ‘vegan’ sounds better?” she wondered aloud. Then kicked herself. 

It sounded like she was interested in getting to know him. “I’m just asking so I’ll change my order if you are. Wouldn’t want to offend you,” she finished quickly. 

“Nah, I’m not,” he chuckled, and she began eating to stop herself from talking. He did most of the talking anyway, telling her about himself. Where he was from, what college he went to, and how he ended up working for Dynasty. 

She had to admit that it was nice listening to him go on and on. She remembered how much fun these things were and thought about how glad Anna would be if she started dating again. 

Then she remembered why she’d gone off it in the first place. 

Their main courses had arrived. Heather dug in, and they ate in companionable silence until she surprised herself by saying, “This is nice.”

Zac was delighted and encouraged her to talk. They talked about their friends, books they liked to read, hobbies. They talked long after their plates were cleared away, and it was only when Heather opened her mouth to suggest that he listen to a podcast she had just finished that she realized what she was doing.

She promptly shut up and looked at her watch. 

“Shouldn’t we be getting back?” she asked, back in work mode. 

In an attempt to prolong their lunch, he asked if she wanted any dessert.

“I hear they have great chocolates here,” he said, calling for the waiter.

“Do they have cakes?” she asked, eyeing him warily. 

“Lovely ones! Whaddaya say, let’s stay a while?” 

She bit the inside of her cheek and relented. She had wanted to stay uptight, but chocolate cake was chocolate cake. They shared it between themselves, and as soon as the last bite melted in Heather’s mouth, she withdrew. 

“Thanks for lunch, but we must get going,” she said, standing up. 

He tried to grab her hand again, but she moved out of his reach. 

“Zachary.”

He flinched at the use of his full name.

“While you may not really need this job, I don’t have the same luxury of lazing around.” 

She watched him visibly deflate, and while biting down on her guilt because they both knew he wasn’t lazy, Heather spun around and walked up to the register. She wanted to pay for her own meal because she felt guilty, but he somehow beat her to it and paid for both their meals, much to Heather’s chagrin. 

‘How had it gone so wrong?’ he wondered as they headed back to the office.