CHAPTER 2: DANDELION
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To love is to suffer,to avoid suffering, one must not love .............
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Riven got into the car, to be driven home. "Riv, what happened in there?" Came Igor, his right-hand. They were only two in the vehicle and Igor was behind the wheel.
Igor D'Angelo was a loud mouth and freely spoke his mind. However, he was as loyal as they came. Riven could always rely on him given anything. Over the years he had proved his good judgement and obedience, and that's why he was so close to Riven. The two trusted each other with their very own lives. If men like them could have friends, then they certainly were best friends.
"Mind the road Igor, and your damn business too!" Riven said. Igor simply laughed, but both of them knew that Riven had found Arabella quite riveting. She was hard not to notice, and if Igor didn't have a wife, he'd be affected by her just as much.
The car finally came to a stop in Riven's villa. Without another word, he got out and hurriedly made for the house. He needed to get as far away from Igor before he said anything more about Arabella. You could think that he was being paid to pester the boss.
Fate has a funny way of doing things though...
In the morning, he left for work, a bit later usual. He had had trouble sleeping the previous night, all the while fighting a strange pulsation, and he finally got to sleep when day light was about to break through the sky.
At the office everyone greeted him, but he simply replied with a nod. He was trying to get to his office as fast as possible, so as to be alone with his thoughts. But no one seemed to get that.
"Sir! Good morning Mr. Donnatiello, the replacement is here, she's in your office quarters." Said Deborah, the human resource manager. She was out of breath because she had been trying to keep up with Riven, who was making long and quick strides. He nodded to her as well and went into the the elevator, leaving her behind to catch her breath.
Finally on the the eleventh floor, he made his way to his office chambers before any more of his annoying employees came rushing after him, he had had enough of them for the day.
On opening the first door, he was met with a woman, who had her back to him, and was doing something on the new desk. "You must be the new assistant and project developer!" He said. But something about the woman was familiar, of course, her beautiful dark brown hair.
When she turned to face him, he got the much needed confirmation. At that moment, he was shocked, he wasn't expecting to run into her again. At least not this early. And for the first time, -after a very long while, he grinned. For some reason, he blamed her for his unsettlement, and he was going to take it out on her. He also knew exactly how.
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"In my office, now!!" Riven said as he walked past her, and into the other large doors. He left a whiff of his expensive manly scent, and Arabella silently prayed that it became a part of the air she took in on a daily, for it was such a delight to the nose.
In the next room, Arabella's jaw slightly dropped, as she took in it's grandeur and spaciousness. "How much space did one man need?" She asked mentally.
The room, apart from being spacious, was endowed with state-of-the art furniture, from the large fine mahogany desk, to the paintings that hang on the wall. There was a small side liquor bar, which was also a snack bar. There were long couches, and large vases of small green trees. In one word, this place was elegant.
"Are you done admiring my office?" Riven voiced, snapping Arabella out of her mid-day trance. Unsure of what to say, she simply nodded, and Riven found it a bit irritating.
"Rule number one, when I speak to you, reply with your words!"
"Y-yes sir." Arabella said. Call Riven lustful, but he found being called 'sir' by her quite sexy. He swallowed hard. She was doing that thing again.
"So, since you apparently work for me, I figured I should just cut your monthly salary by 50%, to clear your father's debt." He said. Arabella, forgetting what she had just been told earlier, nodded again. Riven's control box burst open and anger flooded his whole system. He made quick strides to Arabella, and, with one hand grabbed hold of either side of her cheeks, his fingers digging into her delicate skin.
"Let's make it 60% then. Each time you anger, disobey, disrespect or question me in any way, I'll reduce your salary, until you finally earn nothing after a long day's work. Got it!!!" He said.
"Yes, I'm s-sorry sir. I- It won't happen again." She replied, struggling to talk with the pain that his fingers were causing. There she was, calling him sir once more. He liked it, in a very dark way.
He let go of her, and created some space between them. As he was moving to his desk, he thought of another way to torment her. He grinned yet again.
"What is your name?"
"Arabella Gold."
Arabella Gold. He found the name beautiful as well. But he hid the fact that he was getting attracted to everything about her. In his defense, it was hard not to.
"Well, ..Arabella," he said and paused for a second, because her name was sweet to say, and he knew that he would enjoy calling her for anything and nothing. "Do you see those files on my desk, I want you to go through them for me, I don't feel like working today." He said. He enjoyed the frown-drop on Arabella's face. She opened her mouth slightly as though she was going to say something, but closed it.
"What are you waiting for? Get to work!" He commanded. Arabella kept her head down as she got the files and made her way out of his office. And I must say, he loved the view.
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Arabella worked through the documents for hours, verifying this, noting that and what not. When she looked at the clock on the wall, she was relieved when it was 1:00pm, and as if on cue, her stomach rumbled.
She set the documents neatly on the table, but as she stood up to go for lunch, the large doors beside her desk opened, and the devil wearing fine milano emerged.
"Where are you going?"
"I was going for lunch sir."
"Are you done with the work I gave you?"
"N-no, but I'm almost done, I figured I-I.." he raised a hand and stopped her mumbling. He walked close enough to her, gracing her nose with his delightful scent.
"So you are not done, that means you cannot leave. You may leave however, when you finish with the work." Riven voiced and he went out of the other door, and into the extremely vast hallway.
Arabella sat down sadly and was back at it. She went through the documents as fast as she could, so that she could take a break. Finally, she finished, but was too late. It was already 4:30pm, and for some reason, she found herself slumping down, until her head was resting sideways on the her folded hands, and was fast asleep.
Riven got back to his office and found Arabella's head slumped on the desk, her breathing was uneven, and he could hear a little snore. She was definitely sleeping. He got closer and stopped right beside her. Her face looked so peaceful, "sleeping beauty" he thought. There was a stray hair on her cheek, which was probably causing her discomfort, he fought the urge to tuck it behind her ear.
Standing that close to her, he could feel a strong emotion pulsing from his heart through his entire body. But he didn't know what it was. The itching of his fingers intensified as well, until he reached out to touch her. He was a few inches from her when she slowly opened her eyes, and instinctively, Riven straightened himself and backed away. Finally she sat upright, but kept her face down, in attempt to hide her eyes. Riven hated it, he had grown an addiction of gazing into their hazel depths.
"I'm going out for the day. Next rule, be here before me for work, and you can only leave the office when I have done so." Riven said and he walked away, not waiting for any reply.
If anyone was keeping scores
Arabella : 0, Riven : 1000sth
Her Father's debt had made her path cross with Riven's, and because she loved her father, she would try to get him out his mess. Now he was her boss at work too. But Riven was not going to make her job any easier, and she very well knew he was not to be crossed. He threw vibes of being a very dangerous man.
As Arabella prepared to go back home , she made a mental note to get another job, that way she would help pay off her father's debt much faster and wouldn't have to stand being around Riven, or even his miserable attempts to torment her. She had found the "jerk boss" move a little cliche. But now she knew how petty he could get.
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To love is to suffer, to avoid suffering, one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Woody Allen.
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