Am I Married?

43. The Office Task

"I don't think...um...I can work on Hobsons's project." I said hesitantly to Caldwell.

As I said, I was afraid of him a little and it was completely normal after all, he was the president of the iAdverts. His eyes were focused on his laptop's screen, but when he heard me, he turned his attention to me, "Miss Frances, I didn't ask your opinion on this matter. I'm quite busy right now. If you don't have anything important to say, then don't waste my time."

Something very expected. I know I was uselessly trying to convince him for this. The chances were very low that he would listen to me because I was just an employee here and didn't hold much power.

"This is important. You said Ashar Hobsons is your special client. That's why I'm insisting you to please replace me. I'm not sure about my skills." I hoped I was not sounding desperate.

He stood up from his office chair and I did the same, "I think you're overly nervous about this. I've thoroughly judged the past performances of the selected employees and you've been doing quite well. Don't worry. Ashar is very cooperative. Just do what he says."

I clenched my fists to the extent that my knuckles turned white. This blonde man was pretty hardhead and stubborn. "Caldwell." I said as politely as I could, "There're many other good employees who are better than me. I'm saying this because I don't want to ruin this assignment."

He hissed aloud, definitely got irritated. I stepped back in nervousness. "Nothing is going to happen. Everything will be done like we all always do. Departments' heads will check everything, then, I'll go through the work before presenting it to Hobsons. The selected team will get a bonus as well. Just go now."

Who cares about bonus?

I just didn't want Ashar's plan to be successful. I sighed in defeat. Caldwell narrowed his eyes at me, probably noticed my frustration, "Miss Frances, Derek will explain everything to the rest of the team members. Moreover, Ashar Hobsons demanded that he would deal with our team all by himself."

I arched my brow at him in confusion.

"I don't know why he's doing this." He shrugged in response. I knew why he was doing that. He was testing the limit of my patience.

"Since he's a friend and offered a considerable amount so I accepted his conditions. It's like he has hired all of you to help him design his promotional campaign. I've sent your names and contact information to him. Stay in touch with him and follow his orders." He instructed.

That's not how iAdverts functioned. This was against our rule. No one could hire an employee from here. Other clients just contacted us, gave us the important information and we just worked for them. If the beginning was this much unexpected, I could not even think what could happen till the end. 

Ashar had bribed Caldwell and made him accept his conditions. Now, I was going to work for him and would see him frequently till the end of the assignment. All of this explained that it was not just happening, it was properly and thoughtfully planned. Ashar was not going to leave, he had planned to stay. 

💙

At the beginning of the lunch hour, I walked outside the office building with the goal in my head to convince Ashar to leave from here immediately. I couldn't convince Caldwell, but, I was going to kick Ashar out of here, out of my life and of course out of my thoughts.

My gaze stopped at Ashar who was sitting inside his car, possibly to hide himself from other workers of the advertising agency. He caught my gaze and waved at me. I sucked in my jaws a little and gave him a light nod.

I began ambling to the nearby restaurant with a hope that he would follow me till the restaurant. I took the empty table and waited for him. The anger already began rising in me because of being so helpless and clueless about everything. Few minutes later, Ashar entered into the restaurant and landed his eyes on me. I broke the eye contact and looked on my side. He walked forward and pulled back the vacant chair opposite of me.