Chapter 2. Aiden/Annalita.

Back within the confines of my office, I had asked my personal assistant, Julia, to hold all calls. I did not wish to be disturbed for any reason. Sitting behind my large, polished oak desk, I powered up my personal laptop.

I started simple, searching several social media sites for one Annnalita Taylor. Her personal profile didn't give me as many answers as I had hoped. She appeared to be a private person which for me, was a good thing. I valued my privacy also.

I saw that she was a member of the Winston University group page. I saw pictures of her sitting on the campus green, nose in a book. A group of girls together, her in the centre, at a sorority mixer. Annalita in a lab coat and goggles, surrounded by beakers and test tubes with unknown substances in them. 

I kept flicking through the pictures, skipping by the ones that didn't include her. If the propectus for the university was made up of all the pictures of Annalita, I would enrol in a heartbeat. As I scolled through I found one of her stretching up to kiss some guy on the cheek, a surge of jealously raged up from inside me, threatening to burst out.

Closing my eyes, inhaling deep breaths, I calmed myself. Focusing on the photo of her in a lab coat and doing a little digging, I uncovered that Annalita was about to graduate summa cum laude with a masters in biochemisty. Very impressive.

As I sat there thinking how I could use this information to my advantage, the brief phone call she had received entered my mind. She had yet to secure a position within a company or laboratory. What if I could make her an offer that was too good to pass up on? Heaven knows, some new talent around here would be welcome.

Drafting an email that sounded official and plausible took longer than I thought it would, re-wording it so that my own feelings didn't show through. There's no possible way she'd accept a job offer from a creep.

Satisfied with the finished article, I sent it to the email address I found linked to her, hoping that she hadn't changed it. I sat back in my leather chair, feeling somewhat smug in what I had managed to achieve in such a short amount of time. 

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I'd came looking for solitude. I needed to write my speech but so far writer's block was plaguing me. Wondering through the picturesque park, I headed towards the pond in the centre.

Hoping that it was empty as I strolled along, the noisy chatter and delighted squeals of children, put paid to that. Damn. Skirting around the family area, I noticed a small section that looked as though it had been cut out. Looking more closely, setback in the little alcove, was a single wooden bench. 

It was made of knarled, natural wood, the shape of the seat bending to the fallen tree's will. How had I never noticed this before? The bushes that surrounded the entrance to this secret hide-a-way looked like they had been recently pruned, which would maybe explain it.

Going in and sitting down, was like closing myself in an invisible bubble. I felt entirely shut off from the rest of the world, even though logically, I wasn't very far away. I still had an unobstructed view of the pond which I loved. There was a thin path leading off from the left side of the bench, perhaps another entrance from the opposite end of the park.

Forgetting about that, I plopped my bag down beside me and rummaged in it for my notebook and a pen. I had a million of them floating around the bottom so it wouldn't be too hard. I opened the pad and flicked through to find a clean page, several of them had been taken up with what started as words and ended up as angry scratchings and deep scores.

I sat there, frozen for a time as I stared at the blank page. Shaking myself internally for overthinking something that should be easy, from the heart. I touched the pen to the paper. 'Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears....', I snorted at my thoughts. Seriously Annalita, get a grip.

As my head bowed down, poised to write the most important speech in my academic career, my long hair covered my face, shielding me further from distractions, except for that annoying tapping sound....I soon realised that it was me, my pen bouncing off the notebook. 

Out of sheer frustration, I tossed them aside and lifted my head, keeping my eyes closed in an attempt to empty my mind. I'm not entirely sure how long I sat like that, long enough to imagine that I was being watched, before inspiration struck. 

I reached for my pen and paper and started to write as fast as I could, not wanting to forget a single word. The sound of my phone ringing interrupted my scribblings, I debated whether or not I should ignore it but the damage was already done.

It was from one of the companies I had handed my C.V into, confirming hen I'd be available for an interview. This was fantastic news. None of the postions I had applied for were what I'd really been hoping for, but beggars can't be choosers and they were hiring. 

If I had the choice, I would have loved a chance to work in the Warner Lab, but they very rarely advertised that the needed new biochemists, especially those without experience. The benefits must be amazing to have such a low turn around of staff.

But despite the benefits, they also had to work for Aiden Warner. I had read a couple of interviews with him which are few and far between given that he seemed to be a very private person. If the interview even came close to becoming personal he would redirect it and failing that, shut it down altogether.

No, it was possibly just as well. He was a closed book, hard-minded and cold to boot, not ideal boss material frankly, but he was devilishly handsome. To me, that was a lethal combination, one I could do without when starting out in the industry.