Chapter 006 - We Will Meet Again

Three weeks later.

Phoenix Empire Building.

Ice Clayton Blackstone sat on his swivel chair, resembling Hades, the God of the Underworld, with a grim expression on his devilishly handsome face.

Under the influence of that mood, no one dared walk into his office for fear they would unleash the demon inside him.

Only his secretary was present in his office, trembling in fear with her head bowed on the floor.

Beads of sweat formed on her temples as she stood in her place like a statue. She dreaded the worst after Icen caught her taking pictures inside the office.

If using a phone and taking confidential pictures wasn't bad enough, a stack of paperwork stood on her office table, and the deadline was today, but she was slacking like the paperwork was none of her concern.

“I-I p-promise n-n-not t-to do it again, S-sir.” Her desperate eyes pleaded as they shifted on him.

Sadly, patience isn't one of Icen's strong suit.

He gestured to the door with an icy stare cold enough to freeze the depths of hell.

“Get out,” He spat in a threatening whisper, and his secretary of barely one month dashed to the door like a specter of hell was chasing her. Tears poured down her cheeks like a waterfall, and she closed the door with a thud.

A minute after, the door unceremoniously flung open. A stunning woman in a smart suit with a soft angelic feature barge inside. But there was nothing divine about her expression. Her sharp sapphire eyes stared at him as if she wanted to skin him alive.

“Have you gone nuts, Clayton?” Hazel erupted. She ran her fingers in her shoulders-length hair.

Hazel is the present Chief Human Resource of Phoenix Empire. She was also the one in charge of finding him a secretary ‘again’ which is obviously the least of her favorite tasks.

“Don't ignore me, Icen Clayton Blackstone!”

Icen raised his head with a sigh. He saw the deep frown carved on her forehead, knitting her elegant eyebrows into a straight line.

“Why did you have to fire your new secretary?” She asked her jaw clenched.

“She's not getting her work done, so I told her to get out.” He responded casually.

Hazel was the only one in the Phoenix Empire who could lash at him and get away with it unscathed. She was like an older sister to him, so he had to show her a bit of 'respect' no matter how annoying she acted.

“For God's sake Clayton, she was the thirteenth secretary you had fired in six months!”

His gaze returned to his laptop. He wasn't in the mood to argue today, so he ignored Hazel. But his cousin wasn't letting him get off the hook easily.

“Why must you scare that poor woman out of her wits?”

“I was calm when I told her to get out.”

“And yet she walked out of your office with her body filled with bullet holes,” Hazel snapped sarcastically. “You're being unreasonable, Clayton!”

“I'm being reasonable here. It’s plain and simple. I fired her because she's not qualified.” He replied with his mouth pressed into a tight line.

“None of them ever were.” Hazel shot back. She irritably strode to him and slammed both palms on his table with brows knitted together. “You have no idea how annoyed I am.” She muttered.

Resigned, he looked up at his much older cousin but he didn't say a word.

Hazel shook her head at his silence but she wasn't letting the conversation end there. “Why do you have to terrorize every secretary I hired for you?” His cousin continued her sermon.

“Did you know that Claire—” Icen was cut off.

“Blaire's the name of your secretary!” Hazel snapped with an eye roll. “You don’t even know your secretary’s name,” she complained, glaring at him with sapphire eyes.

“Okay, Blaire! She threw herself at me countless times.”

Hazel doesn’t even look surprised. With a slight shrug of her shoulder, she straightened. “Women had been doing that to catch your attention so what's new?”

Icen groaned.

“Are you saying it's okay? It's so creepy!”

“I didn't say that but I'm hoping a woman could melt that icy chill inside you.”

“A sauna could do the job,” He muttered. Annoyed.

“Why not open yourself to anyone?”

“Remember the last time I did, my lover pressed the gun to my chest and pulled the trigger.” His fists clenched at the memory.

“You let the wrong woman enter your life.”

“I'm not letting any woman in my life again.” He affirmed.

“Trust me, you'll swallow your words one day.”

Icen frowned at her. “I hired you as HR, not a matchmaker, Hazel.”

“I’m trying to find a suitable woman for you.”

“Why try finding a suitable man for yourself first.” His remark hit home and Hazel fell silent.

After a failed marriage, Hazel was done with romance. “I don’t need a man in my life,” she replied when she gathered the courage to speak again.

“Same here. I don't need a woman.” Icen replied with steel-resolve.

Hazel didn't say a word.

“Stop complaining and find me a good secretary and I promise I won't tell your ex-husband that you're still bawling your eyes out after two years of divorce.

Hazel's eyes widened in horror, “No, you didn’t see me last night—”

“Passed out on the balcony with a bottle of wine while hugging your ex’s picture?”

“Damn you, Clayton. I’m cursed to have you as my cousin.”

“The feeling’s mutual, Hazel.”

She gave an unladylike snort then muttered an incorrigible curse under her breath.

“Fine you win,” She surrendered, emerging a sigh on her lips. “I’ll find you a good secretary.”

Still shaking her head she started to leave but she looked at him halfway to the door, “I hope one day you'll find the woman who can make you bend on your knees.”

Icen watched her leave until the door closed.

He heaved a sigh of relief when she was gone and leaned back on his swivel chair.

The newspaper on top of his table caught his attention. He isn't usually interested in the gossip but he found himself flipping the page on that section and found what he was looking for.

STEEL BREAKS UP WITH LONG-TERM GIRLFRIEND, SET'S TO MARRY HIS EX'S COUSIN NEXT WEEK.

The headlines screamed in bold, capital letters.

His interest wasn't directed to Thunder nor to his heiress girlfriend Chloe Ambrose. He has his eyes nailed on the woman with doll-like eyes and small thin lips.

“We will meet again soon.” He promised to himself, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.