Love’n’Lust

Belle knocked on the office door she was directed to by Laura Johnson. She didn’t hear a ‘come in’ like she expected so she knocked on the door again before she heard someone.

“The door is open.” She heard a man say so she opened the door slowly and cautiously in order not to piss whoever it was inside the office.

When she walked in, she saw the man seated behind his desk, typing on his laptop without looking at the screen because he had his eyes on the paper which he seemed to be transferring Information from into the laptop in front of him.

‘He must the Nathan.’ Belle thought he didn’t look like she thought he would, he was younger than she thought because she expected him to share the same age range as Laura Johnson but the man in front of her looked like he was in his late twenties.

She didn’t say anything yet, not knowing if it was okay if she did because he didn’t bother to look up to know who it was that just entered his office.

“Eric, did you get the things I asked you to?” He asked still not looking up, making Belle wonder who Eric was.

‘Probably his assistant.’ she thought to herself.

“Eric?” The man called after getting no response and looked up to meet Belle standing there, in front of his desk awkwardly.

She was wearing high-waisted corporate blue jeans and a daisy-like colored crop jacket. It was one of the things she got from the boutique and it caught his attention for a while.

“Good day sir, I…. uhm…. Mrs. Johnson sent me, I assist her, I am her assistant, she asked me to come to staple these papers here.” Belle managed to put words together with the man stopping what he was previously doing and staring at her.

She saw a light smile make its way to the edge of his lips before he looked back at his laptop.

“Help yourself.” He pointed to the stapler sitting on the left side of his desk, next to a calendar.

She picked up the stapler and used it on the papers quickly. After that, she gently kept it back on the desk to avoid making a noise as she dropped it.

“Thanks.” She said turning to leave the office but he stopped her when she was about to use the door.

“What’s your name?” He looked up again.

“Uhmm, Belle.”

“Belle.” He repeated with a nod then looked back at his laptop, continuing what he was doing so Belle left for Mrs Johnson’s office.

…

EARLY EVENING.

The day was over for Belle and most of the staff at the Crisp-tv media house so she stood in front of the building waiting for a cab to show up like she usually did.

A car pulled up in front of where she stood, it wasn’t a cab so she moved aside thinking the person might want to drop someone off and she was stopping the way but the car’s window which was reflecting her image rolled down and she heard a voice she could recognize but couldn’t tell who owned it.

“Belle.” The person called again after she pretended not to hear the first time so she bent her head to know if she could see who it was calling her.

She met a smile she had witnessed that morning while working, it was Nathan and he was smiling at her.

“Get in, let me drop you off.” He offered but she started to shake her head with a light smile.

“Thanks but I could just take a cab home, that’s why I’ve been waiting.” She refused his offer but he wasn’t planning on giving up so soon.

“I don’t think a cab is coming around soon, get in, I will drop you off wherever you want, okay?”

“Sir, there’s no need for that, I don’t want to discomfort you.” She found a pretty way to say ‘I don’t want to ride with you’.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“It’s Nathan, call me Nathan, and who says you will be discomforting me if I give you a ride? Come on, get in let me drop you off.” He pressured but Belle wasn’t willing to get in with him.

“Please?” She heard him plead and she made up her mind to agree to get into his car before his pleading got more embarrassing.

With an inaudible sigh, she went to the other front seat of the car and got in, putting on the seat belt because she didn’t know how well he drove. Nathan waited for her to settle after getting into the car before he started driving.

The car was quiet for a short while unlike what Belle thought would happen immediately after she got into the car. She thought he would start to ask questions about her but he wasn’t doing that.

“So how long have you been working with us?” Nathan asked and Belle looked out the window before rolling her eyes.

‘Here we go.’ She said to herself before giving him a reply.

“Just a week.”

“A week huh? That explains why I couldn’t recognize you when you came into my office earlier.

“What media company did you previously work with?”

“Uhmm, none. Crisp-tv is my first.”

“Oh wow.” He turned to her with a warm smile before giving his attention back to the road.

“You must have presented a good cv to be working under Laura.” He said, waiting to hear what she’d say.

“I guess so.” She just replied plainly because she didn’t find it necessary to go into details about how she got to be Laura Johnson’s assistant.

“Where do you stay?” Nathan asked as soon as he got off the main road, flashing a look at the beautiful lady seated in his car.

“You can just drop me off here at the junction, I can walk home from there.”

“Or I could just drop you at your house, I think that’s better, I mean there’s no point giving you a ride if you still get to walk home, is there?” Nathan didn’t want to drop her off at the junction as she said. He felt like he knew why she wanted him to drop her off at the junction nearby;

“Let me guess, you don’t want me to know where you live, am I right?” He asked her, pressing his lips tight afterward.

Belle turned her eyes towards him, he was right; she didn’t want him to know where she lived.