TRENT POV Alina pushed open the door and beamed at me. I smiled back, waving at her.I would do anything to see her smiling like that every single day. And what's more, I would be the cause of that smile.My fondness for this woman was really turning into something serious. Well, maybe it was time we got serious ourselves, I thought as she opened the door and stepped aside, letting me in.“Hey tiger,” I strolled over to Niguez first and ruffled his hair.“Don't do that,” He swatted my hand away, his lips pulled up in a cute pout.“Mummy spent extra time combing it down and I stayed because she said it would make all the girls in class go 'aww!'” He completed, doing the 'aww' part complete with a dreamy expression.“See, you're ruining our handiwork,”My head snapped in Alina's direction,“You told him that?” I asked incredulously, failing to hide the smile that was forming on my face.“Well, I had to bait him with something,” she shrugged with a half grin.“Mum was just kidding,” I s
TRENT'S POV“Clarence,” I said in greeting the moment he picked up.“Yes, sir?” His voice replied.I imagined he was really surprised that I would be calling him this early in the morning. I didn't usually call him at all unless there was an emergency.And recently, I avoided it altogether, especially when I was at the company myself. Anyone could easily overhear us, and with the kind of respect Clarence was obliged to regard me with, anyone with brains could easily put one and two together.I imagined how it would look.The CEO disappears from the earth for months on a never-ending trip to goodness knows where, and around the same time, a young worker named Trent, whom the manager himself regards with respect, is employed.I had no doubt that the story would make the headlines, and a lot of investors would be forced to pull out, seeing that I was making a fool out of them.“Are you at the company?” came Clarence's voice. “Did you finally get whatever you were looking for and finally
ALINA'S POVI quickened my pace as I walked into the company and approached the front desk, where I worked as a security personnel.I greeted a couple of my coworkers as I entered the office."Well, guess who's just been promoted!" The office door swung open as Gloria rushed in, yelling at the top of her voice, resembling someone who had won a lottery.All heads in the office turned in her direction, and I sincerely hoped she wasn't heading towards me."Yeah, baby!" She sauntered toward me with a wide grin, placing both hands on my table and leaning in."No," I thought. "She just had to come here."Great! Unwanted attention from half of my coworkers directed solely at me, thanks to Gloria's theatrics in front of my desk.Just what I needed!I inched away as far as I could while managing a polite smile. But truthfully, I wished I could sink into the chair and disappear from the room altogether."Congratulations," I said, smiling at her.I genuinely felt happy for her. This was her drea
TITAN'S POVIt worked.I smirked to myself. It felt good to see Alina all happy and hugging me tight, her eyes filled with tears of joy because by some miracle, the manager called her in and decided to promote her, even though she had been absent from work for nearly a week.I never could have thought that a job would give someone such a sense of purpose, and I was glad that I was able to make her even happier. She was in my company now, and it was my sole aim to tweak things in her favor at every chance I got, and again, just because I could.Clarence's words, not mine.Maybe I should consider giving him a raise for always complying, no matter what my requests were.“Listen,” I turned to a smiling Alina.We had just finished sharing a hug, and she looked up at me with that coy smile and slightly parted lips that were so distracting, it was impossible to look away.“I know the best place where we can celebrate,” I said, pulling her down the remaining stairs as we headed towards my blu
ALINA'S POV I snuck glances at Trent, watching his expression.Was he going to pick up the call?But every time, he let the phone ring until it ended by itself, and then he let the whole cycle repeat.His expression grew darker with every call.Pick up your call... I pleaded in my mind. This was way scarier. I had never seen Trent act like this. Come to think of it, he had never gotten angry in my presence. Surely he wasn't always this scary when he was in a mood, was he?Whoever it was, the person was equally persistent and unrelenting, calling again even though it was obvious that no one was going to pick up.It was like there was a silent battle between both parties, and I could literally taste the tension in the air.“Trent...” I muttered softly.I reached for his hand and linked his fingers with mine.“It's okay, pick up the call,” I said in a soothing yet stern voice.His blue eyes met mine, seeming like they were trying to find some kind of anchor.He blinked a couple of times
ALINA'S POV I checked the time before bidding Vanessa farewell. She was too busy with her sunscreen to pay me any serious attention anyway. Undoubtedly, I was in for this one myself.I made up my mind and made the trip back to the company.Most of the workers were already rounding up for the day by the time I got there.I walked into the elevator, making my way to the sixth floor where the tech department was located.“Hello,” I muttered absently to a random worker as I walked on.His office was the third one; at least I knew that much.Several heads snapped up as I entered the office.Jeez... was it natural for a lady to randomly walk in? As though also arriving at that conclusion, they returned to their respective jobs, turning their heads away from me.Turns out, that was even worse because now I didn't know who to approach, since none of them looked exactly inviting.“Chill, girl,” I muttered softly. “They're just a bunch of people. They don't bite.”With those self-reassuring wo
ALINA PovRecently? What did he mean by that? Well, that certainly sounded a lot like something happened that made him too worried to concentrate. Just like what was happening now. And something had affected his work as well.“Hey, it's not that serious,” Ryder said, watching my panicked expression.“He didn't develop a stroke or something,” he laughed.“Ryder,” Marc warned from his place on the table without looking up.The latter threw his hand in the air with a lopsided grin.“Tell me all about it,” I said breathless. I had to know what the hell was wrong that would make him go as far as pretending in front of me, that would make him frown deeply when he thought I wasn't looking, or that would cause him to glare at his phone in deadly silence, like he badly wanted to throttle a certain someone, a certain someone that he refused to tell me about.God, it was so annoying.“Nah-uh,” Ryder wagged a finger in front of me, reminding me of his conditions.Fuck, I thought.My answers were
TRENT POV“Hey tiger,”Niguez ran up to me, jumping into my open hands as I picked him up, throwing him in the air a couple of times before setting him on one shoulder.He was playing with the rest of the kids in the playground.Their teacher looked up at me and picked his bags out of the rest.I walked up to her as she handed them to me.“She didn't tell me that his dad was coming,” The teacher muttered.“Dad?” I stared at her in shock.“No... that's not right, there must be a mistake,” I said with a nervous laugh, completely at a loss for words.“Oh,” realization flashed in her eyes. “Sorry, that must be really awkward,” she muttered, running her hand through her hair. “I should just keep quiet,” she said rather to herself.I smiled a little.So I looked like Niguez's father from afar? Why didn't the idea of that freak me out?Maybe it was because deep down, I was quite fine with it. A voice in my head replied.“I'm just one of her friends,” I said, still feeling the need to clarify