Chapter 3 Reluctant Acceptance

EMMA'S POV

The first rays of sunlight lit up my room, and the mythical sounds of birds chirping at my window brought ease to me. I rolled over and clumsily picked up my phone, it was 7:20 am. Thankfully, I didn't wake up late today.

I sluggishly pulled out of bed, yawned, and tied my hair up in a bun. I walked over to the bathroom stealthily, trying not to wake Sarah up. I did my skincare routine, washed up, and went over to the kitchen to grab a cup of hot coffee.

I went over to the couch in the living room, slowly sipping my cup of coffee with my mind lost in space. "Mrs Reed" Sarah teased. "Oh c'mon Sarah," I said as I rolled my eyes at her. "Aren't you almost late for work honey?" she asked. "I'm all set, washed up already. I just need to get dressed and I'm good to go", I replied.

"Can you make dinner before I'm home today?" I asked with cute eyes, it was her day off, so she was going to be home all day. I can already tell I'm going to have one hell of a day. "Alright darling, I've got you. What would you like though?" She asked. "Mac and cheese please" I replied with my eyes completely lit up. "Got you!" She replied as she laughed.

"Now chop, off you go to work darling," Sarah said. I handed my empty cup to her and went off to get dressed for work. I was all dressed as I walked over in Sarah's direction, gave her a peck, and ran off. "Urgh!" I heard her scream. She hated it when I did that.

A taxi dropped me off at work, and for a moment I just stood out front and took a deep breath, it was going to be a long day. "You look like you've seen a monster," someone said from behind. I turned in that direction and it was my boss, Alexander. For a moment I lost my balance, and was almost falling off my heels.

"Good morning sir," I said in a strained voice, "Morning Emma" he replied. "We have quite a schedule today, get yourself together," he said. Did he just say that!?, get me together. I can't believe he's acting like nothing happened yesterday. Great!, I'm the only one working myself up about it.

I rolled my eyes as we both walked into the building. We took the elevator up to the penthouse where our offices were. The awkward silence on the way up was deafening. "Get me my schedule for the day," he said as he walked over to his office.

A couple of minutes later, I was in his office. "Here's your schedule sir. You have a meeting with a client by 9:30 and another meeting with the marketing team by 11" I said. "Thought I was to have a meeting with the media team as well," he asked. "Yes sir, but not until tomorrow" I replied.

"Alright then, thank you, Emma," he said. " Have you considered my proposal though?" He asked, but just as I was about to reply a knock on the door interrupted our conversation. "Come in," he said. It was his younger sister, Olivia.

"Good morning ma'am" I greeted, just as I walked out of the room. "Morning Emma" she replied absentmindedly. I guess she's still shaken up over the loss of their father. Olivia had always been so friendly to me, I hope she gets her spark back soon enough.

I walked over to my desk, and I suddenly noticed a couple of my coworkers murmuring within themselves, and staring at me with pity in their eyes. Do I have sauce or something on my face? why are they all starring ?, I thought to myself

I decided to approach Emily, our office chatterbox. She was never behind on gossip, so I was sure could tell me what was happening. "Hi Emily, have I got sauce on my face or something?". "No, you don't babe" she replied. "Great, so can you please tell me why everyone keeps staring at me," I asked.

Emily looked around like she was being cautious, turned in my direction, and whispered in a hushed tone "We all just think you're going to have a super hard time handling the boss moving forward". "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" I asked with so much irritation in my voice.

"We heard about the content of his father's will," she said. Bulls!, how in the world did they hear about that already!?. I hate how fast information spreads like wildfire around here, but I should at least be thankful they haven't found out he proposed to me yet. The thought of it alone gave me the creeps.

"Emma" Olivia called out. "Alexander asked me to call you back in on my way out," she said. "Alright, thank you" I replied. I felt my heart palpitate as I walked closer and closer to his office because I knew what this was about.

ALEXANDER'S POV

There was a knock on the door, "come in" I said. It was Emma. Alright, it's time to get this suspense over with I thought to myself.

"Olivia said you sent for me," she said nervously. I could tell she was uneasy, and I hated putting her in that position, but I wasn't left with much of a choice. "Have you thought about my proposal?" I asked. "Uhm, yes sir" she replied.

"Alright, so what's it going to be?" I said. She hesitated and just stood there fidgeting. "Emma?" I called out, she seemed to be lost in her thoughts. "I can't do it" she blurted out with fear in her voice.

I got up and paced back and forth the length of my office, I needed to convince her, I just have to. She's the perfect fit. "Why Emma?" I turned in her direction and asked. "Marriage is a little extreme sir" she replied, nervously chipping away at her nails.

"Please Emma," I said, "no one else fits into the picture. I mean we have worked together for the past 4 years" I added. She took a deep sigh.

"Alright," she reluctantly said. At that moment my eyes lit up, "is that a yes?" I asked. "Yeah it is," she said. But, "We have to keep this a secret for as long as we can" she added. "That's not a problem," I said. "Alright, good day sir," she said as she walked out of the room with a smirk on her face.