Chapter 3. Accidental Meeting

Clara entered her apartment and changed her wet clothes into more comfortable ones. She sat down on the sofa and looked at the business card that the stranger gave her a while ago.

“CEO of Ning Enterprise!?” she gasped and covered her mouth.

Ning enterprise was one of the largest manufacturing companies in country Z which was owned by the famous Ning family, one of the richest families in the country.

“I can’t believe I just met the CEO of Ning enterprise.” she smiled dreamily and held the business card close to her heart. “I can’t wait to brag this to Maya,” she said.

She looked around the quiet apartment and suddenly missed her best friend.

She wondered if Maya had already reached city X. It had been three hours since her flight took off. She took out her phone and dialed her number.

The phone rang once before it was directed to voicemail. “I think her plane has not landed yet,” she said and dropped her phone before focusing on the TV.

***

When Jack got home, he summoned his assistant.

“Sir, you called for me,” the assistant asked.

“Take this address and find out every information about the person living there. I want the report by tomorrow,” he said and handed Clara’s home address to his assistant.

The assistant was surprised that his boss gave him this kind of task. He wondered who got on his boss’s wrong side.

“Okay.” He carefully took the address from Jack’s hand.

“Is there anything else you want me to do?” The assistant remained standing and asked.

Jack was about to say something but decided not to. And he replied, “No you can go.”

After the assistant left, he started thinking about the girl he met a while ago. He remembered her lost expression when she was standing at the coffee shop’s entrance and found it cute.

He had never seen such kind of beauty before, with smooth and fair skin, round eyes, and small pink lips that looked just like a baby’s. “She’s so beautiful,” he muttered, smiling foolishly.

“Life’s gonna be interesting from now.” He added and closed his eyes then relaxed on the couch while smiling to himself.

***

“Big bro, want me to hook you up with one of those beautiful babes from the entertainment industry?”

“Oh wait. How about one of those rich heiresses? You know, those that received proper training on manners and etiquette. I think the ones from the entertainment industry are all fake, they’re a bunch of barbie dolls. With too many plastic surgeries, you can’t differentiate them at all. They all look the same.”

When Carl heard his brother mention beauty, his mind drifted back to the lady he saw at his company’s entrance and her dumbstruck expression which he found cute. He chuckled and smiled to himself.

Zach was startled when he heard his brother chuckle. He turned to face him and saw him smiling. It was rare to see his brother who always had a stoic expression smile let alone chuckle.

With his mouth wide open he said, “Big bro, don’t tell me you prefer those celebrities. Hehehe, I knew it.” He clapped his hand and beat his chest proudly.

“Listen up bro, just leave it to me. I’ll hook you up with one of those that have plastic surgery from head to toe. They’re so beautiful, and besides, it is the trend nowadays.”

When Carl heard his brother’s words, he broke out of his reverie and his expression darkened in an instant. He ignored him and focused on the road.

“Get out.” Carl stopped the car after some time and said.

Zach thought his brother was angry because he mentioned celebrities. He changed his tone and said hurriedly in a frightened manner “Oh. I didn’t mean celebrities, I meant princesses, princesses—oh no, no, no, no, heiresses.”

Carl felt helpless and regretted letting his brother into his car. He stopped the car in front of his European-styled home. “We’re here… Get out,” he said obviously tired of his brother’s blabbering.

“Eh?” Amid his blabbering, Zach did not notice that they’d already arrived until his brother stopped the car. He got out of the car and turned to his brother. “Don’t worry Bro. Leave it to me and I’ll find you a very beautiful bride. Father’s choices are too lame and…”

“Scram.” Carl interrupted him before he finished talking and Zach quickly ran inside his house which was only separated by a fence from his brother’s house.

Carl sighed and drove inside the parking lot. After parking his car, he took the elevator and entered his two-story house.

***

The next day, Clara went to work early. When she reached her cubicle, she saw Mira who waved at her with a wide smile.

“Hey, Clara you came early. I just arrived too.”

Clara flashed her a smile, revealing her cute dimples “Hehehe, I’m a diligent worker you know.”

She remembered what made her late on her first day and her face flushed. She wasn’t the type to gawk at handsome men but his looks were beyond extraordinary.

“I heard that the CEO will come to our department today for an inspection,” Mira said in a gossipy manner. “I also heard that he’s so handsome,” she added and place her hands on both cheeks, smiling dreamily.

“Ooh.” Clara nodded absentmindedly while lost in her own thoughts.

When Mira saw that Clara did not really pay attention to what she said, she held her shoulders and shook her. “Clara, are you even listening to me? What are you thinking about?”

Clara broke out of her thoughts. “Heh? Nothing— What were you saying?” she asked sheepishly.

Mira shook her head sympathetically and said “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Clara, I wonder why you’re always spacing out.” And she happily added, “The CEO will come to our department for inspection. Tidy up your desk. I heard that he doesn’t come to the company often, this is once in a lifetime opportunity I’m so excited.”

She paused and checked her wristwatch. “I have some documents to work on, see you later.” she left hurriedly.

Clara chuckled and sat down. She also noticed that she had been spacing out ever since she saw that mysterious handsome man and had been thinking about him. “Hmmmm.” she sighed and switched on her computer to start her work.

***

Some minutes ago at the CEO’s office.

Carl was looking at some reports his assistant gave him while frowning.

David was waiting patiently for his boss when his phone suddenly rang. He looked at his boss apologetically who signaled him to answer the phone.

He went to a corner and answered the call. “Hello?”

“What!? An accident?” he paused for a while and listened to the other person. “Okay.”

When Carl heard David say accident, he looked up from his documents.

“What happened,” he asked David.

“My dad got into an accident,” David told his boss, looking restless.

“Sorry to hear that. You can take the day off.”

“Okay, Sir,” the assistant said and left hurriedly.

Carl continued looking at the reports and found something wrong. He pressed the intercom and spoke to his secretary, “Inform all the department’s heads that there is going to be an inspection.”

“Yes, Sir,” the secretary replied at the other end.

Although he doesn’t frequent this company, as one of the many companies under his care, Carl made sure all the companies were monitored. He stood up and left his office which occupied the whole tenth floor of the company and took the elevator down.

Each department occupied each floor. He first stopped at the ninth floor where the marketing department was located.

It was lunchtime when he reached the second floor where the programming department was located. He checked the time and decided to hurry up since he had other matters to attend to at one of the other companies.

He went directly to the manager’s office and gave him some instructions.

Clara was still working on her computer when Mira came.

“Okay, Miss workaholic, it’s time for lunch. Let’s go and grab some bite,” she said while grabbing Clara’s hand.

“Oh, I didn’t know it’s lunchtime already,” Clara said and switched off her computer.

“Yeah, yeah… that’s what you always say,” Mira said jokingly. “Come on. It’s your treat today, right?” she asked childishly blinking her eyes at Clara with expectation.

Clara sighed and smiled at her bubbly friend “Alright, alright. My treat,” she said and they both laughed while heading to the cafeteria.

On their way, Clara suddenly stopped and held her stomach. She turned to Mira, looking restless. “You go first. I need to use the washroom,” she said hurriedly and turned back, running in the direction of the washroom.

“Okay, hurry or I’ll finish all the food,” Mira shouted behind her and walked straight to the cafeteria.

While Clara was running to the washroom, her phone started ringing. She brought it out from her purse and saw Maya’s name.

She didn’t notice that someone was walking in her direction and just when she wanted to press the receive button, they suddenly bumped into each other and her phone fell on the tiled floor.

“Ouch.” Clara winced and rubbed her forehead which collided with the man’s broad chest.

Then she looked down at her phone which was scattered on the floor and damaged beyond repair. “Oh no, my phone,” she muttered shockingly and looked up angrily ready to lash out at the person.

But when she saw his face, she gasped and froze for a second. And her heart started thumping erratically.

***

Carl came out of the manager’s office and strode through the corridor. Then he received a text from his little sister.

[Big bro, thanks for the gift, you’re the best. Muah.

Don’t worry, I won’t leave the house anymore. And next time father brings up that topic I’ll just go and stay with my friend Gina for a few days.]

When he was about to reply “Okay” to his sister’s text someone collided with him. He looked down and saw a slim figure that only reached his shoulders.

He saw her long black hair which was tied in a ponytail and her milky white shoulder.

She was dressed in a purple blouse that fitted her perfectly, accentuating her curves. And a black skirt that was two inches above her knees with heels that complimented her slender and long white legs.

She was looking down at the scattered phone on the floor and he heard her mutter something.

When she looked up and he saw her small round face, he was startled.