The Space Between

Chapter 7; A gift for you

"Alan" Xavier called his secretary through the intercom and without looking up pushed the delicately decorated box in front of him.
"I want you to get this somewhere"
"Alright sir. Where would that be?"
"Sarah Shah. Interior design department"
Before Alan could ask anything else Xavier looked up and one look from him told him to not asked anything as it was none of his business. Grabbing it, he walked out and entering the said employee booth kept it down. No one was there as it was early and he was grateful no one saw him.
Sarah putting her bag down started her computer. When something on the side caught her attention, it looked like a present. She smiled as she thought of whom it was from and Rana poked her head in. "I wonder what's that smile all about?" She teased and Sarah turned to face her. "What?" She asked clueless and Rana spoke again. "Who is this present from?"
"I don't know. I just saw it. I have yet to check" Sarah said and Rana leaned in whispering. "Well. I know who kept it here" she said and after looking around to make sure no one was listening. She spoke again. Sarah also waited for her to reveal. She held in a laugh watching her colleague's curious eyes. "You know the CEO'S secretary? He came here in the morning. Kept it and walked off. I came in work early today so I saw it myself"
"Damn. What a sweetheart he is" Sarah said smiling and Rana gasped. "Do you have something going on with him?"
Sarah enjoying her friend reactions decided to tease her a bit more.
"Oh you caught us" Sarah said looking down and biting her lip. Acting innocent as if she had just been caught doing something terrible. Rana not being able to comprehend sat speechless and open mouthed. Sarah looking at her one last time decided to get back at the work in hand. Hiding a smile and uncontrollable laughter.

Entering her house and freshening up the first thing she did was open the present to find a beautiful rose gold necklace. It was delicate and elegant just the way she liked it. In fact, she was so cautious with it that she didn't dare hold it tightly or put any pressure on it. Also, she found a neat note inside. "Sorry couldn't give you yours that day. Didn't know if it was appropriate or not. Anyways, hope you like it" it said with a smiley on the corner and Sarah shook her head. Polite as always that was so like Xavier. She bit her lip as she thought, would it be appropriate?. She didn't want to sound unprofessional but a thank you message was a must from her side. She decided to type a message on his personal number. The number she had obtained from her brother yesterday making some weak excuse of 'wanting to check if the call she got was from that number '. There was no call. But she got what she needed.
"Just opened up the present as soon as I reached home. It is really beautiful. Thank you for such an amazing gift. Absolutely love it!" she sent with a picture. Xavier on the other side smiled. She loves it. It felt like he had accomplished the world's most precious trophy. He wondered though how she got his number. Hers was already saved on his personal phone.
"No need to say thank you. It is an absolute pleasure of mine. Had it specially made for you" Sarah looked at the last line open mouthed. Only he knew how to make her feel breathless and alive all at the same time. She felt special and she knew Xavier didn't do these things just for anyone but Sarah didn't want to guess the answer for that yet. Only if she knew this was the gift he had waited to give to her for such a long time.  Not knowing how to reply to that she typed instead. Wanting to shift to a much lighter tone.
"By the way, my colleague thinks your secretary and I have something going on since he came to put the present on the table and she saw him" Sarah didn't know why she said this but it was funny.
"Oh really? I guess I'll have to remove him then" Xavier said feeling a bit jealous but a smile on his face knowing that she didn't mean it in a suggestive way.
"Oh don't please. He was just doing what you told him to" came her kind reply and Xavier typed in affirmative.
"True"
"Well....I have to go sleep. Thanks again"
"Alright...sleep well." Xavier replied with a smiley and put his phone on the side. His work was still not done so he decided to stay back and work late. His body and mind protested but he needed to get the work done fast and this was the only way to do it.
Feeling his legs start to turn numb, Xavier decided to walk a bit around and take a breather. However, his moment of peace was yet again short lived when a furious Australian man stormed in his office. His relaxed expression turned sour and he sat back at his seat. Zender Creek furious to the core came to stand front of his desk. "What the hell is wrong with you?" His voice rose. Xavier displeased at the tone almost flashed the emotion of anger in his eyes but was replaced with cold dominance in no time. "Why don't we sit and talk about it like adults Zender" Xavier spoke in a calm tone. The man in front of him instead of taking the hint came to stand behind the desk and face to face with him. "No how about you tell me first who the fuck gave you permission to mess with my business?!"
Zender's whole body shook. However the last sentence he spoke made Xavier lose his cool "You know you might think that you are better than him but you are EXCACTLY like your father" . Xavier wouldn't have cared if someone else said it to him but hearing it from his friend who knew how much he hated that statement, it set fire to his chest
and Xavier also lost his cool. Standing up from his chair he looked the man dead in the eye and questioned "You knew about the problem with that land didn't you? And you also tried to play the thug for this" . Zender, for a moment simmered with the expression of shame fumbled on his words "No- I - whatever it was you shouldn't have stabbed me in the back like that"
"Stab you in the back? I only did what was right. And if you can't see that then I don't know what to tell you. "
Before Xavier could sit down he spoke  a last sentence "Also, if you remember correctly. The contract clearly mentioned that I could stop the construction on the condition if I found something wrong. And I don't have to consult you either if you are not physically present." Zender was away on a trip giving Xavier authority for first hand decisions. The clause that Zender allowed to remain in the contract thinking it wouldn't come to using it. After all, they had done countless projects together. Zender could not do anything but look at his friend's unapologetic face. He trusted him and that cost him millions. He could do nothing but storm out and Xavier got back to his work like nothing happened.