Axel knew Donald was baiting him again, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Her question had stumped him. Granted, all she had done since he had met her was surprise him. He had not been paying any attention to what Lisa was telling him. All he heard was her voice as she reacted to Donald's teases. She even teased him right back!
Lisa was right. He had changed. He had never enjoyed female company. Now, all he wanted was for their banter not to end. He sat back in his seat and let Donald work his magic. Donald was more than a friend to him. They had been together through thick and thin. Anyone who could pass Donald's "like" test was one step closer to being Axel's acquaintance.
He completely trusted his judgement, and apparently Donald was quite taken by Claire. It was not easy for Donald to trust anyone. His background made sure of that. Yet, Claire had snuck past all the walls of hate that injustice had built in his heart. She had snuck past all of Axel's defenses too, and so easily, it was as though there were no walls at all.
He was sure Donald wanted him to make a move now, but he could be patient. He could wait till the interview tomorrow. He already knew Claire will get the job. He was attracted to her, and even though the feeling was strange, it was very welcome.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when Donald slammed an elbow into his ribs. If he had done that to someone else, the person would have gone straight into respiratory shock. But years of working out had steeled Axel's ribs, and lungs, from such attacks. Claire visibly winced when the sound of elbow connecting to ribs reached her ears.
"Why did you do that?" She cried, "that must hurt a lot."
Yet, Axel casually took a sip of his drink like nothing had happened.
"Trust me, it doesn't." Donald answered in his behalf.
Claire gave him a dubious look. "Why don't I hit you with my elbows, see if it hurts?"
Axel made a sound that almost sounded like a laugh. "A woman willing to take you on, Donald? That's a first."
Claire looked confused, so Donald explained.
"He just gave you a compliment."
Claire didn't look like she believed him. "I thought he was mocking me."
Axel furrowed his brows. "Why would you think so?"
"You're frowning," she pointed out. "People don't give compliments with frowns on their faces."
Axel shrugged. "I do."
He said it like it was the most natural thing to do. Claire narrowed her eyes at him.
"How much do they charge?"
The question made absolutely no sense. Axel felt she had lost him again. She always did that, made him stumble around trying to figure out what she was thinking. He kept silent until she repeated the question, and Donald came to his aid.
"What are you talking about, Claire?"
Claire frowned at him, but Donald smiled the frown away. This was one of the very few times Axel could say he was jealous of Donald. He had good communication skills, but only for situations he could control. He soon realized his knowledge of the basics of communication were useless when it came to her.
She was not a situation he could control. Heck, he could not even predict what she would say the very next minute.
"Congratulations," Donald held his hand up for a high five, "you have successfully confused Axel. It's something I've been unable to do all these years."
That earned him a burning glare from Axel, which he promptly responded to with an Oscar worthy smile.
Claire reluctantly took the high five, looking everywhere but at Axel. "You guys known each other for long?"
"Yes," Donald said simply. "Now, what were you saying?"
Claire shrugged. "He seemed to pay a lot for every word he said. Maybe that's why he keeps quiet a lot."
Axel raised a brow. Donald shoved him and he shoved right back.
"Say something."
"No."
Claire hid her smile. "No what?"
"No, I don't pay to speak," Axel sighed, "and even if I did, I assure you I can afford it."
"How arrogant." Claire muttered under her breath.
Axel shrugged. "I am arrogant. Get used to it."
"Did you know she called you Mr. Arrogant?"
Claire's eyes widened. "Hey! That's not fair!"
"It's okay." Donald assured. "He doesn't take offense with the truth. He's even proud of his arrogance."
"That's true." Axel agreed quietly. "Besides, I've been called worse."
Their conversation pretty much died out after that. Claire kept getting seconds, and Axel was only too happy to let her eat. The amount of food she ate made him wonder just where all the food was going to. She was still lean after eating that much. He could not hold in his curiosity anymore.
"Do you drink slim tea?"
Claire froze, her hand halfway to her mouth. "I guess that's my cue to stop eating."
Axel felt his heart twitch. "I'm only asking."
Claire put her fork down and pushed the plate away. "Because I've been overeating, no?"
"No. I asked because you seem to not have any excess fat on your body." He pushed the plate back and picked up her fork. "Here," he extended it to her, "don't let me stop you."
Claire held his eyes for a while, then she took the fork. "I've lost my appetite though." She put it back in the plate and rose. "Please, finish your meal. Don't stop on my account."
Donald rose hastily. "Now, now, Claire, don't be like that. Axel meant no harm. He is generally blunt and might sound abrasive sometimes."
Claire smiled. "It's fine, you don't have to explain. My appetite won't return again until I'm hungry. But thank you for trying."
As she walked back to her seat, Axel felt like a part of him walked away with her. It reinforced his decision: he would keep her close no matter what.
****************************
Lisa stood at the entrance, watching them talk and eat like old friends. Bitterness welled up in her, and she had to grit her teeth to keep herself from screaming. She almost dislocated her jaw in a bid to prevent any sound from escaping.
Axel would only say she was throwing a tantrum. He didn't understand, though. He had to be hers, and hers alone. No one else had been with him for so long, no one else had tolerated his insolence and inflated ego. She had to have him, or die trying.
Axel was sure to concede, sooner or later. Now, Claire had to come along and make things difficult for her. She was a very big inconvenience she had to get rid of. She didn't seem to have a thick skin, so Lisa felt she would be easy to dispose of.
There was no way she would just sit still, fold her arms and watch as Claire destroyed all the plans she had worked hard to make. Marrying Axel was important to her, but it was not at the top of her list. Being the wife of the CEO and next in line for the presidential position of a conglomerate came with their own privileges.
Yes, her parents were wealthy, but it wasn't enough. The wealth was theirs. They could easily remove her from their will, given her nature and how easily upset with her they got. She had no shares in any company because she had not bothered to buy any.
Lisa had felt secure in Axel's friendship and her parents wealth, but she knew. If anything made them leave her, she was nothing. So she swore that she would not let a nobody like Claire McLennie take this opportunity away from her.
She was happy when she heard Axel throw that subtle insult. Maybe he had come to his senses, Lisa thought. She felt it was safe to go in and talk to Axel again. She waltzed to her seat in high spirits and ran her hands along Axel's shoulder. He didn't shrug her hands off, so she took that as encouragement and hugged him from the back.
"Did you enjoy your meal?"
Axel shook his head. Lisa donned on a sympathetic look.
"She caused you to lose your appetite, didn't she? By eating like a pig?"
Lisa heard Donald's sharp intake of breath and smiled inside. She turned and gave Claire a vengeful glare.
"Perhaps if I had been here, you would have felt better."
Axel pushed her away. "I felt better watching her eat. You don't eat when we have a meal together. Watching you pick at your food doesn't exactly help with my appetite."
Lisa colored in embarrassment. "But you said you didn't enjoy your meal!"
"And I didn't. I stopped enjoying it when she left."
That was not the answer Lisa had been expecting. Her expression turned really ugly and she turned away from him. Axel was being a great inconvenience. Lisa knew she would have to fix him too, after getting rid of Claire. He didn't leave her with much choice. And when Lisa wanted something, by God, she was going to get it.
Hello everyone! Enchanting the Billionaire's Cold Heart is now five chapters in, and I promise there is so much more waiting in the days ahead! You must have a favorite character now! Let me know in the comments!
Claire didn't know why Axel took her side. No matter how much she thought about it, she always arrived at the same conclusion. He had nothing to gain from defending her. In fact, he stood to lose. Afterall, Claire did not want an enemy like Lisa. She was simply too vicious.Claire was happy she would not be around her anymore. After this flight, she hoped to never see Lisa ever again. She would miss Donald, but well, that was life. As for Axel…she grudgingly had to admit that an hour of lunch with him had made her feel that maybe there was more to him than the arrogance he projected.She also felt it would be good to stay away from him. He was starting to affect her in ways she didn't even want to dream about. If she ever thought about it, all she saw in the end was disaster. She couldn't wait to get off the plane, get settled, and start her life, away from these people who were way higher than her social class.She couldn't sleep again, so she resorted to staring out the window for t
Claire completely forgot about the near death experience as soon as she stepped foot in her apartment. Tears quickly filled her eyes as she looked around at what she could call hers."You've out done yourself this time, D." She had been willing to settle for a rundown apartment in the slums of New York, but Danielle was not hearing of it. She refused to take any money from her friend, so Danielle made her work her backside off to save enough money for the down payment on the apartment.Danielle insisted on paying the rest, asking Claire to return the money if she so wished once she started earning. Now, Claire was glad Danielle had insisted. From the plush sofas to the rugs on the floor and the marbled counters, it was obvious just how fortunate Claire was. It was not big or grand, but it was more than enough.The bedroom had an inbuilt walk-in closet, so Claire threw her carry-on bag inside, jumped on the bed, picked up the pillow and screamed into it. She took her phone from her po
Lisa could not believe her ears. Was he so shameless to openly confess his feelings for Claire right in front of her? Donald gave her a satisfied smirk."You shouldn't have bought the dress." He leaned in and whispered. "Stop trying so hard."Lisa gave him a bored look. "I don't know what you're talking about."Donald gave her a knowing smile. "Sure."Axel cleared his throat quietly again and they were forced to cease their bickering."I'm open to ideas."Lisa smiled and placed a hand over Axel's on the table. "That's something you need to figure out for yourself, Ax. It's your first time in love and a wonderful moment. You should learn by yourself."Axel pulled his hand out from under hers and turned to look at Donald. Donald shrugged."You're asking the wrong guy, Axel. I've never been in any serious relationship."Axel sat back in his chair and moved it slowly to the left and right."I guess I'll have to do this on my own then." He stopped moving the chair when he was directly facin
"What do you mean, your subject got away?"The person on the other end of the line stuttered. "Someone came in a car and drove her away.""Are you proud of yourself? I gave you just one job, to ruin her clothes so she will be late. That way, she is going to miss the interview. How difficult was that?""I'm sorry ma'am.""Oh, you will be, if that bitch gets the job!" Lisa yelled and disconnected the call.She sat in her car, heaving. Why was nothing going her way? At this rate, she would just have to do the job alone. She spied Axel's car turning into the parking lot and hurried out of her car to meet him. He nodded to her in greeting as he emerged from the driver's seat.Lisa looked around. "Where is Donald?""He said he had something to take care of.""And he didn't mention where he went off to?"Axel shook his head. "Why?"Lisa gave a delicate shrug. "It's an important day today. Surely he can't let anything go wrong. He has to be here to supervise most of the events."Axel bent in
After Axel had left her at the car park, Lisa had gone to check if Claire had arrived at the interview hall. Sure enough, there she sat at the waiting room, talking to someone on the phone. Lisa moved over quickly to the other side to get a better view, but Claire must have seen her and stopped saying whatever she had planned to.Lisa stood in the hallway for a while, just breathing. She needed to control herself if she was going to get any of this done. When she was sure she would not suddenly lash out, she adjusted her outfit and walked in. She kept her head down, using one part of her hair to cover her face."Hello. Are you here for the interview?" She asked, staring down at her phone.She held her breath, praying Claire did not recognize her."Lisa?" Claire squinted at her. "What are you doing here?" Damn! Lisa thought, how did she recognize her so quickly? She brushed her hair back and looked up. She contemplated telling Claire that she owned the company, but decided against it.
Claire was starting to wonder why the other applicants had not arrived yet. Surely, she couldn't have been the only one to apply for such an amazing job opportunity. She wanted to wander around, take a good look at the company, but she was afraid she was going to bump into Lisa again.Lisa had already made her have second thoughts about working at the company. The thought of seeing her often made her stomach churn. Besides, even if Lisa were not here, she was too strung up on nerves to get up from her seat. Claire didn't know she would feel so relieved when she saw a stream of applicants being led by Donald into the waiting room. She raised a brow at his presence, but refused to comment. He would probably just give her another one of his obtuse responses. Or worst still, a charming smile.As expected, his face lit up with a heart stopping smile when his eyes landed on her. He turned to the other applicants."Please, take your seats. Your interview will begin soon. Allow me to convey
Claire felt her knees tremble as she walked out of the interview room. He was there. How could he be there, seated at the head of the table? She had thought she would never see him again. Heck, she had thought she would never see any of them again. Somehow, all three of them had ended up in her life again. Why was fate so cruel to her?Myla rose when she entered the waiting room. "Oh dear, you look pale. Was it so difficult?"Claire shook her head and took her seat. "No, I was just a little surprised is all."Myla nodded sympathetically. "Is this your first interview?"It wasn't Claire's first, but she sure had never applied to a big company before. Better to let Myla think inexperience was the reason behind her reaction, than to let her know the real reason."Yes, it is.""It can be like that sometimes." Myla squeezed her hand. "But don't worry. I'm sure you'll pass."Claire exhaled on a shaky breath. She didn't have a problem with passing. All she thought about now was working under
Axel craned his neck from side to side. The kink in his neck just refused to go away, no matter how much he stretched. He sighed and rested his back on the car seat. Donald was casting glances at him through the rear-view mirror, but he was too weary for another bout of argument. He sank further into the seat and pulled out some files from his case, hoping that they will distract him from his thoughts, or maybe even help him fall asleep.The files surprisingly interested him, and he managed to get some work done. Before long, he was making calls and arranging to view another site in Paris. The headquarters of Lyn Corporation mainly invested in real estate. They owned almost half the buildings in New York and many more in other countries. Several more branches of the company handled gaming and tech, the movie industry and even cosmetics.It was Axel's job to keep everything running smoothly, but he mainly focused on real estate. He loved travelling to work. He could get to see new plac