Chapter 2

• JULIA
• The next day, I knocked on Henry’s door, holding the designs he requested.
• Now, I’ll see if my makeover was effective!
• “Come in.” A voice spoke, and as soon as I heard it, I stepped inside. I found Henry sitting at his desk; a phone pressed to his ear.
• “I love you, too,” he said, then smiled as he ended the call. Henry shifted his gaze at me. “Hey, Julia.”
• I didn’t know how to begin. I cleared my throat. “Mr. Cavendish wanted me to give this to you. He will be late, and you need it this morning.” I gave him the binders.
• “I see. Thanks.” He put the folders on his desk.
• I watched him for a few more seconds. How was I supposed to get over his beautiful face? He oozed power and charisma. His aftershave and rosewood scent warmed my senses. Everything about Henry was manly.
• “Do you have something else to say?”
• Do you have a girlfriend? I shook my head. I shouldn’t ask him that. That might freak him out.
• “Something else you need?” he asked again.
• “Nothing,” I murmured.
• He raised an eyebrow. “Then, why are you looking at me like that?”
• “Because you’re... beautiful,” I whispered.
• He grinned. “Well, thank you.” 
• I gasped. “No, I mean...” Damn, I hate my mouth. “The proposal. It’s the new designs compiled by the artists. It was beautiful. You should see the folders.” I forced out a giggle after trying to explain myself.
• “Hey, relax.” Henry turned around, then sat on the edge of his desk.  My muscles tensed. I couldn’t decide whether to step back or keep still.
• “Is there a problem? Why so tense?”
• Pull yourself together, Julia! He already has a girlfriend. “I should go, Mr. Cavendish. Is there anything else you need?”
• “Yes, you.” A playful smile curved on his lips.  “Here, in my office.”
• “What?”
• He laughed. “You’re very serious. Come on, Julia. I was just joking.”
• I gritted my teeth. If it were true, I’d find a way to put my arms around his neck; then I’d kiss him.
• “Oh, yeah.” I chuckled. “Okay, good try.”
• “You're not going to smack me or something?”
• “Why would I do that?”
• “Because I did that before, and I got a black eye.” 
• I nervously laughed. “Man, she was sensitive.”
• “She was a he, actually.”
• “W-what? A-are you...”
• “I'm just joking again. You’re so serious.” He flashed out a smile. “I was looking forward to seeing you again after that party. I’m glad to meet and talk to you again.”
• “Well, I’m flattered.” 
• Gee, he was easy to talk to. “And thank you for the papers.”
• “Sure. You’re always welcome, Mr. Cavendish. I should go.”
• He grinned in return. “Okay.”
• I walked to the door, then closed it behind me. I screamed inside as soon as I was out.
• Wow! He wanted to see me again.
• Was it possible that he liked me too? No, no. I should not be overconfident. Henry was friendly. I should not misinterpret his kindness for something else. But what he said definitely made my day. 
• ***
• IT WAS afternoon when Mr. Cavendish got back from his meeting. He strode into his office wearing his usual passive face. My intuition told me to follow him inside with a cup of coffee. He often had three cups of coffee a day, and a cup could sometimes lessen his mood swings.
• I went straight into his office.
• “Welcome back, Mr. Cavendish. Here’s your coffee.”
• “Julia, I changed my mind about the early leave. We have a serious problem.”
• “What do you want me to do, sir?”
• “I need you tonight.” 
• “Is there something wrong?”
• He looked furiously at me. “Our designs have been copied. I can’t get mad at you, but I want to ask you. How is that possible?”
• “What do you mean someone copied our designs? It is safe in my account, and I didn’t even—” Oh my God. “It can’t be...”
• “What? What is it?”
• “I must’ve used my personal email while sending it,” I uttered. “Please, let me check it, Mr. Cavendish—”
• “You did what?!” he barked.
• “I’m so sorry. I’ll try to retrieve it.”
• His jaw clenched. “Too late. It’s all over the internet now. You know that personal e-mails aren’t encrypted, Julia. Use your head.”
• I jerked in terror. Whenever he was using his voice to me like this, I felt like melting down to the earth’s core.
• “Please, sir… I’ll try to fix this.”
• He slammed his hand on the desk. “There’s nothing you can do now!”
• I jolted once more, and hot tears stung my eyes. “Please, let’s do something about this. Is there any other way? Maybe I could—”
• “There’s no other way!” he snapped. “I already lost the contract.” His face was even more frantic now than ever. “Why did I ever hire you in the first place?”
• I didn’t expect him to say that, but it hit me a hard note. It was painful, but I deserved it.
• “Hey, what’s happening here?” Henry cut in, walking into the room, and stopped next to me.
• “Henry, don’t get yourself involved here, please.” He waved a finger, signaling his brother to go out.
• “I can hear you from out there, and the employees are talking. How could I not ask about it?”
• “Ask my irresponsible assistant next to you,” he gritted out through his teeth.
• “Julia, what is this about?” Henry asked, his voice soothing.
• “I lost the ten-million-dollar contract. Our designs have been hacked,” I mumbled, embarrassed to look at him.
• “Which contract?” he queried.
• “Maxima.”
• “Oh, that is a huge problem. But this can’t be serious, right?”
• “Are we even on the same page? How could this not be serious, Henry?” Adam snarled. “I’ve been working on this for a long time, and this is the first time we’ve screwed up.”
• “You’re underestimating everything. You cannot do anything about those designs. Yes, it’s been copied, reproduced, or maybe plagiarized—it’s a waste of time retrieving those. But you know Tom Crane, right?”
• Adam tensed up, crossing his arms around his chest. “What are you suggesting?”
• “Come on!” He waved his hands. “Did I come from LA for nothing? Crane is one of the best designers in the US. We could hire him for this project. He’s expensive, but he can do almost everything from advertising to architecture, and industrial. Not to mention, he’s also a close friend of mine.”
• Adam’s face softened. “Can you help us contact him?”
• “Of course!” he declared proudly. “Shouting and quitting won’t help. Come on, guys, cheer up! We still have three months. We can work this out.”
• Henry is our angel.
• “Please talk to Crane, Henry,” Adam urged, then he looked at me. “And Julia, call our designers into my office right now. I need to speak to them.”
• “Yes, sir,” I mumbled, almost inaudible and swiftly left the room. 
• ***
• AT THE coffee break, Henry came to my desk and invited me to the café a block away from the office.
• “Well, that’s the Adam I know. He is usually hard to please,” Henry commented as he placed a cup of coffee in front of me then sat.
• “You’re so different from him.”
• “I don’t know why people keep on comparing us. I’m not Adam, and he is not me. We are completely different individuals.”
• “But you’re easy to talk to.”
• He smiled. “Thanks.”
• “I was looking forward to seeing you again, too, Mr. Cavendish,” I said, trying to avert the subject. His eyes gleamed.
• “We’re not in the office. Call me Henry.”
• “Henry…” I smiled.
• “Is that true that you want to see me again?”
• “Oh, well… That night was great, and the dance was great.” I gripped my cup hard, nervous that I was finally opening up.
• “We should do that again sometime since we’re friends now.”
• “Are we?”
• “Yeah, why not?”
• “It’s not that. Someone might not like it.”
• “Like who?”
• “Your wife?” Good try, Julia.
• He chuckled once more, showing his two deep dimples. “I’m still single.”
• “Girlfriend?”
• “I don’t have one.” He gazed at me.
• “Then who were you talking to this morning?”
• “What?” He furrowed his eyebrows. “Oh, that. It was my niece. My brother’s daughter.”
• My eyes grew wide. “Mr. Cavendish has a daughter?”
• “What? No. She’s our eldest brother’s daughter. Half-brother, actually.”
• “Ah,” was all I could say. I heard about them having a half-brother, but I never met him.
• “Let’s hang out sometime, shall we?”
• My mouth parted, unable to respond for a moment. I wanted to say ‘Yes! I am a hundred percent sure I want to go out with you!’ But I hid my excitement.
• Oh, no. What should I do? I wasn’t prepared for this. I’d been in a relationship before, but I was inexperienced.
• Maybe my first step should learn how to kiss? My previous relationship ended up badly because I suck at kissing. Why was I thinking of kissing anyway? I wasn’t even sure if Henry wanted to kiss me.
• But what if?
• “What are you thinking?” Henry asked, bringing me back to reality.
• “Oh, nothing.”
• “I believe I asked you a question.”
• “Oh, yes. We can hang out.”
• “Then, I will look forward to that.” He grinned.
• I should start learning how to kiss. 
• I need a list.
• “I think I should go, Henry. I’ll see you later. Just tell me when.” I sprang up, then sprinted back outside.
• “Hey, wait!” he called. “Where are you going? It’s still coffee break!”