The Man She Betrayed

7. Making New Friends

Clara

"What are you doing inside your office during lunchtime?" Mrs. Steven's voice reached my ears and I immediately turned towards her, shutting the files in my hands.

"Mrs. Steven actually-"

"Didn't I tell you to call me Amber?" she asked, grinning and I nodded in yes.

"Yes Amber, actually I was just giving a read to this list of our clients." I told her and she sighed, crunching in front of my desk and placing her hands on it.

"We don't work like that in Steven Industries Clara. I believe in the magical powers of a good coffee and delicious, healthy lunch. Come on." she put her hand up and motioned me to follow her.

"But Mrs. Ste.. Um.. Amber.." before I could say further, she had already went into her office through the joined door.

Sighing, I dragged myself up from the desk, ignoring the pain in my ankle and trudged towards her office. The sight of two men greeted me who were sitting in front of Amber's desk, one of them was Aaron. The other one had a friendly smile on his face and somehow, it felt like I had seen him somewhere before.

"Clara, this is my brother Sean Knight and Sean, this is Clara, my new secretary." she introduced me and I put on a feeble smile on my face so that I won't look rude.

"Hello Clara! Nice to meet you." he said, standing up and pulling out his hand for a shake. I shook his large hand, he smiled in a friendly way and his green eyes crinkled. He didn't share Amber's nice blonde hair, his was more on the brown side.

"Hi." I responded. He scooted away and offered the seat to me. My eyes shifted between Amber and him and when she motioned me to sit, I muttered a thanks and sat down.

"Here, Sean brought the lunch for us. Have some." she pointed towards the box and swallowing the saliva in my throat, I picked up the sandwich and ate it. My eyes closed on their own at the heavenly taste and I fought the urge to moan.

"Wait! You're Sean Knight. The Sean Knight." I realised in between the bite and his grin seemed to widen.

I instantly remembered where I have seen him before. He was one of the finest Chefs of Seattle and I have often watched him get invited as a guest in a variety of TV shows. Last, I watched him in a late night show where he announced the opening of his next Steak restaurant.

"Don't boost his ego, Clara. He is already arrogant." Amber chuckled, causing Sean to roll his eyes at her.

They both started bickering like usual siblings and I sat there awkwardly, my eyes averted to Aaron who was sitting on my side, observing everything in silence. When he found me staring at him, he immediately turned his face towards me and leaned sidewards to whisper, "Rich and handsome, seems like you hit a jackpot."

His words struck a cord and my face flushed in guilt and grief. His lips turned into a small smirk when he watched my face lose all its color, a hint of satisfaction appearing in his beautiful eyes.

"I have some work to do. Thanks for the sandwich." I immediately excused myself and ran out of that place, feeling all three pair of eyes fixated on my retreating figure.

...

I finished my work earlier today and Amber had told me to leave whenever I was done. It was still half an hour before Ava would pick me up so I decided to roam around our floor and meet with other colleagues.

The hallway in front of the CEO's office ended into a lounge where many young people were working. Most of them looked like interns. I made my way through the crowded lounge and went into the next hallway which ended in a small office where a man and a woman was working on a joined desk.

"Do you need anything?" the girl asked as soon as she noticed me.

"No. I was just looking around. I'm new here." I said and they both exchanged a look.

"Are you the boss' new secretary?" the man asked. He looked like he was in his early thirties. His skin tone was deep warm and his eyes were piercing grey, giving him an exotic look. The woman on the other hand was brunette and had pale skin and green eyes like mine.

"Yes. Clara Avery." I introduced myself.

"Hello Clara! I'm Jake, the one and only." he said, winking at me and I chuckled when the woman slapped his arm.

"Desperate alert!" she said to him and turned to me. "I'm Mia. It's nice to meet you."

They offered me to sit down and then we engaged in a conversation. It was nice to finally have someone in the office to talk to. They both didn't agree on a single topic and fought like siblings so when they told me that they were engaged, I couldn't help but feel surprised.

"He trapped me with his cliche proposal." she teased him when she noticed my surprise and Jake pouted in return.

"You were the one who seduced me into proposing you." he argued, earning a grunt from her.

"Yeah, I seduced him in my sweatpants and hoodie." she rolled her eyes and all three of us laughed.

Aww. They are so cute.

"What about you, Clara? Are you single?" Mia asked and the smile wiped off my face.

"Yeah."

"Great. Well, you have the freedom to flirt with anyone you want." she said, giving a side look to Jake who was playfully glaring at her. "Isn't your office in front of Aaron Vincent's?"

"Yes."

"Isn't he an eye candy?" she winked at me and I blushed at the thought.

"No. We.. Um.. We aren't really on friendly terms." I said out loud and they both stared at me like I had grown two heads.

"You're kidding me, right? He is like the nicest person. Even though he looks like a Greek God, he has zero attitude. Plus, have you looked into his eyes? They are so warm." she sighed dreamingly, receiving another glare from Jake.

"You're engaged, sweetheart." he mocked but I couldn't laugh this time. My thoughts were converged on Aaron and his attitude with me. I was so unfortunate to earn the hate of one person who never treated anyone with anything but respect.

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