CHAPTER TWO

Stacy's POV

“Phew!” I exhaled loudly, a huge grin on my face as I waltzed back into Jennifer's office. “That was quite the deal!” 

I chirped, taking a seat opposite her. She laughed in response, her eyes following the wad of dollar notes I had received in exchange for a job well-done.

“All it took was convincing the knucklehead you were the best to consult when it came to yummy bites,” she scoffed, turning her head to her work desk. I rolled my eyes in response.

“Right, but that knucklehead over there, well he recommended me to another person! I had barely walked out of his office when I got a call.” I said, my voice now high-pitched. 

The day started out well, and it was all thanks to Jennifer. It made me wonder for a moment how things would have been different if she wasn't present, because she made most of the jobs that I have landed in the past a possibility. 

She has been my best friend since high school and made sure to stick around even when I hadn’t been the consistent friend.

I beamed a smile of gratitude, hoping it compensates the many thanks I have said to her before.

“Why are you blushing, hey?” Jennifer inquired, her brows arched, “Wait a minute,” she gasped, “don't tell me Ethan asked you out.”

“Hell, I didn't even come across the spike face guy!” I laughed. “And please, loving is a thing far too tolerable for my heart.”

Jennifer rolled her eyes, “Yeah right ... and that was how Mike had requested an extra picture of you and him kissing at Prom.”

I was about to be swallowed whole by the feeling of shame. I lunged at her, my hands pressing her mouth shut just before she could utter another word. 

“Can you keep it down?!” She held up her hands in surrender, muffling a giggle when I finally let go of her. We settled in silence as I let her examine something on her laptop.

“Speak of the devil,” she whispered, “Stacy, come see this.”

I noticed a change in her expression, “What is it?” I asked, walking up to her side of the desk.

She remained mute, but what stared back at me from her computer screen was her answer.

Marcelo Jones Wilson, 28 years old CEO of the fast rising M&E Restaurant/ Fast Food Chain in Mexico. My eyes skidded over the loads of titles and information, but they kept resting on the colors of his eyes, the firm but tender appearance of his lips, his silky smooth black hair, tucked back so perfectly.

I almost hissed when I saw a strand of hair falling over his face but it seemed to have been done that way intentionally.

“Hm-hmm!” she cleared her throat, and it took me a few seconds to realize Jennifer was glaring at me as I paid complete attention to what she was showing me on her laptop. I almost drool over her laptop.

I wanted to protest, a believable reason for her to see I wasn't drooling at the picture of a guy she's just shown me on her computer, but my excuses got stuck in my throat. “Is he the CEO of the restaurant you applied to M&E's?”

I was still thinking of what it would feel running my hands against his lips and his silky smooth hair, my heart racing faster than normal. I haven’t felt this electrical shiver from other men who caught my eyes in the past, and it made me wonder for how long I had fallen out of love, how long I had deprived myself of being loved.

“Y-yeah,” I stuttered, surprised by how my body was beginning to betray me. 

This wasn't me; I couldn't imagine myself kneeling before Ethan, completely consumed and inflamed by the need to be touched, but it was hard to quench this flame. It was hard to concentrate.

“Hey!” Jennifer snapped her fingers, “do you even remember  I helped you apply there?”

Thankfully, she closed her laptop and her gaze was fixed on me. “Y-yeah, I mean, I applied to so many restaurants whilst delivering delicacies to your work friends, so I must have forgotten about this one.”

“No way. You definitely remember this one, because just yesterday you had been so worried this was going to flop since the others didn't work out.”

It took Jennifer a few seconds to figure out what was happening. “Wait …”

“Jennifer, please,” I cried, covering my eyes with my palms. She began laughing, and it took minutes of begging to keep her silent. 

“It's not like you're going to bump into him by coincidence anyway,” she remarked, her eyes reddened scanning my reddened cheeks. 

“He has 17 branches within and outside the country! He isn't going to be loitering about this Godforsaken city!”

“True, he is probably wasting away funds from his business somewhere in The Arab Emirates.” 

Jennifer chuckled, “Hey. What if you got appointed this week?”

It suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't prepared myself for how to manage catering for my mom and handling a new job, should it come my way. 

“I never thought about that, now that I think of it. Well, prepare to make a shift in your weekly schedules.” I said with a wink.

Jennifer's eyes widened, “Excuse me, but I can't remember having the required skills to look after mommies?”

“Don't make it sound like that?” I laughed.

Marcelo's POV~

“Are you going to see me down the plane, or are you going to keep straining your facial muscles?”

“I have something else to do,” Cathy muttered, stuffing some files into a briefcase and handing it over to me, “have these.”

Cathy was still reeling from not bothering to investigate the unplanned attack on our building a few days back. 

“Hey,” I walked up to her, “I'm very sure those were —

“One of your rivals? Here?!” Cathy thundered, “because I dare to differ.”

I rolled my eyes, “Cathy, you probably won’t believe, but the Raven had his men fly down from Chicago just to crash in this country.”

“You said it yourself, Marcelo. Your father wasn't trying to force you out of here. It's dangerous for you to remain here.”

“That's because he's trying to compete with The Raven again.”

Cathy pressed her fingers against her temples in frustration, and just then, a call distracts me from holding her gaze.

“Take a bow, it's Princess Ella speaking.” I heard her familiar voice chirp over the phone, and I was smiling in no time.

(“Ella, how are you?”

“Dad just told me you are coming down to Chicago.”)

I raised a brow at Cathy, who raised her hands in surrender. “Did you inform her about this?” I whispered, placing my hand over the speaker. She shakes her head, and I placed the phone back to my ear.

 

“Chicago? No way! Dad must have made a —

“It's no mistake, and I am expecting you soon. Don't you know how much I missed you?”

Goodness lord. She was going to send me flying

over there in an instant. I thought, “Ella …”

“No. I don't want to hear it. If your jet breaks down, you can order mine to be sent to you whilst jumping off the jet.”

I can’t believe she is showing off to me lol,

I chuckled, “How can that be possible?!”

“You will have a parachute on. Easy peasy.” She said, and I could picture a proud smirk on her face. “You have two days to get down here. Muah!”

I smiled, retracing another number from my contacts. “Scope the surroundings before my arrival. And no word to Ella about me coming,”

I smirked, and Cathy was already nodding disapprovingly,

"I have a prank installed for her."