To Walk in Her Shoes

Chapter 4

A week had passed since the board meeting at MTE, but Lawrence had not heard from them. He felt like they were side lining him. He took his office phone and asked his secretary to come to his office. Mrs. Kenol was a good woman and she had served his father faithfully. He was lucky to have an effective secretary like her. In fact, she was the one who had realized that the company was at the brick of collapsing and emailed the documents to him. Their family would forever be indebted to her.

Mrs. Kenol walked into the office knowing what her young boss wanted to ask. She had been in contact with the personal assistant to Mr. Brown for some time, but the information was not forthcoming. She knew that Lawrence would be mad. "Have a sit Mrs. Kenol, now has anyone from Mark Times Entertainment communicated to you?" Lawrence asked. "No sir, I have been trying to contact them with no efforts." Lawrence rubbed his forehead. "Okay, they think they can undermine my presence. Please find me the number to Miss Brown. I need to make myself clear." "Right away sir." Mrs. Kenol said while walking out of her boss office. She just hoped that everything will turn out okay.

Brittney had just left a meeting with an upcoming company that needed their services when she saw ten missed calls from an unknown number. She wondered who had been calling her and decided to return the calls. After several rings an annoyed male voice answered the call. "Now you have decided to answer my calls Miss Brown, I need you to come to my office right away." The other person spoke and cut the call. Immediately, she knew whose number it was. She tried calling several times but it went on voice mail. Didn't he know that she had a lot of work to do? Suddenly her phone pinged with a message. Either come to my office or your company will bare the consequences. The message read. Why did Lawrence have to be annoying, with determination, she entered her car and drove to his office. He was going to know that she was not a push over.

Lawrence had tried to call Brittney several times but she did not pick his calls. He was getting frustrated when she finally called him. He demanded her to come to his office and also wrote a threating message to her, which he knew she would not ignore. Suddenly he heard his secretary shouting, "Miss, you cannot go in without an appointment." His door flew open with a bang and soon an angry Brittney walked in followed by his secretary. "Sorry sir, I tried to stop her but she just walked in." Mrs. Kenol said still looking at Brittney and waiting for his boss to tell her what to do. "It's okay Mrs. Kenol I can handle her." He said dismissing her.

Brittney waited for the secretary to leave the office when she looked at Lawrence with anger. "How dare you send a threating message to me, what do you take me for? I only came here to tell you that you cannot control me, and you will not use such means on me." "Well, and I do not like to be undermined." Lawrence interrupted her. She was breathing fast and her chest was rising up and down.

Lawrence looked at the angry woman before him. Even though she was angry, she looked cute in her official white silk shirt and green trousers that were matched with white heels. Her hair was tide in a burn and she looked so beautiful. Brittney opened her mouth to speak but she could not say a word. Lawrence gestured for her to take a sit.

"We can now all calm down and speak as civilized people." He said. "I have been trying to get information on how we are going to work together, but your company has not been forthcoming." Brittney was confused because she had prepared a schedule and the strategy, which she had forwarded to her step brother to present to Lawrence. Now she knew that Ayden did no such thing, which is why Lawrence was angry. She would probably deal with him later.

Lawrence was still waiting for her response. "Well I have the documents with me here, if you would like, I can present to you?" She asked hoping that Lawrence would agree. He Looked at his watch and remembered that he was to have a meeting in the next 40 minutes. "Well Miss Brown, you can send me the documents in my mail for me to check, but I would like to have a meeting with you today, because we are behind schedule. Maybe after work at 7PM?" He asked looking at her. Though Brittney didn't want to have that meeting in the evening, she knew that it was a mistake from their part that he had not been fully informed on the projects they would be undertaking. She nodded her head and rose from her seat. "7PM it is. Send me the details where we will meet." She said walking out. Before she turned the door knob, she turned to Lawrence who was still looking at her. "And Mr. Jules, never try to threaten me again." She said and opened the door not waiting for his reply.

She smiled at his secretary and walked to the lift. Mrs. Kenol smiled back at her. She thought she was a pretty woman who was courageous to walk into her bosses' office without fear. She couldn't wait to see how the two would work together.

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The restaurant that Lawrence had picked for the meeting was where he loved getting his food. They had nice fish and fresh vegetables that he loved. He had messaged Brittney the place and he hoped she would be on time. Suddenly, he heard the doorbell ring signaling that someone had entered the restaurant. Brittney was standing in the entrance looking for him. He raised his hand and smiled as she recognized him and started walking to their table.

She sat down and he could see that she was tired from the dark circles on her eyes. He felt sorry for making her come here after working hours only to work again. The voice of the waiter interrupted his observations. "Sir, Miss are you ready to order?" "Kindly bring me my usual meal," he looked at Brittney, "I can get what he's having please." She said smiling at the waiter. The waiter flashed a big smile and left to get their orders. She had such effect on him.

She turned to him and her smile was gone. "Am here, so we can start the meeting, you can ask away the issues you did not understand and I can explain them to you." She said removing her tablet from her handbag and turning it on. Lawrence stopped her by putting his hand on hers; "No, we can have our meals first." He said hurriedly. She looked hesitant but agreed while removing Lawrence hand from her wrist, which he did not know was still there.

Honestly, he did not need this meeting because the schedule and strategies were well explained. She was pretty good at her work, but he couldn't tell her that. They waited in silence and soon their food arrived. She was surprised that it was fish. She had never been to this restaurant, and she did not want to make a fool of herself by ordering what she didn't know, therefore she went by what he was having if it makes sense.

She left for the bathroom to clean her hands and came back to see Lawrence already eating. They ate in silence until he asked if they could know about each other since they would be working together.

She had only few friends and she didn't like Lawrence knowing about her, but it was good to study his personality so that she could know what he is up to. "For a start, you can call me Lawrence, and I can call you Brittney. When you call me Mr. Jules it makes me feel old." He said chuckling which made her smile. She nodded her head and agreed with him before swallowing the food in her mouth. It was very delicious and she appreciated this because she was very hungry. She had not eaten since morning. They had small talk here and there and she felt that they were starting to know each other. He wasn't like what the media portrayed him as a ruthless business man. They had said that he had turned cold after his relationship with the top model.

"Are you in a relationship?" She blurted out which shocked her and made her eyes go wide as she covered her mouth. She did not mean to ask what she was thinking. She had a tendency of saying what she was thinking of. Her stupid thoughts, she scolded herself. "I was just... I asked because I was thinking of you know... You had a relationship once .....And the media ....you know" She sighed before she could continue to make a fool of herself. "Am sorry for asking you that. We can go back to our work." She said nervously while avoiding his stare.

Lawrence was talking of his stay in England when Brittney suddenly asked if he was in a relationship. He was shocked and remained rigid. He knew she was thinking of his relationship with Anne but he did not want to remember it. She started stammering, which made her look cute and made him to forget of Anne. He could tell she was embarrassed by the blush on her face and she couldn't meet his eyes. She immediately changed the topic and they went back to work.

After 2 hours, they had accomplished a lot and Lawrence knew that with the plan they had, they were going to make a killing in the advertising and entertainment industry. They were going to announce and sign an MOU of the two companies that had a feud working together. This was going to get media's attention, and they would be the talk of town for many days to come. He escorted her to her car and watched as she prepared to leave. She smiled at him "Goodnight Lawrence." She said. Lawrence returned the smile and wished her good night too. Before she drove away, he requested her to drop the wind shield of her car. He leaned near her which made her catch her breath. "And to your question earlier, no I don't have a girlfriend." He said in a low husky voice that increased her heart beat. She did not have to look at him to know that he had a smirk on his face. She started her car fast and drove out of the parking area not looking behind her.