Chapter 8

*Louise's point of view.*

I could feel the colour drain from my face. Crap.

'you know what? maybe you are right and I should go home and start packing, I have a lot of...stuff,' i stammered as I tried to get myself out of the predicament I had insisted upon myself, 'Since its so sudden it'll be hard to get out of, you know...'

Now don't get me wrong, I was no pushover by and means what so ever yet the idea of meeting Alexander's mother made me slightly pee myself. She was known to be ruthless in the business world, capable of destroying businesses by stealing their customers and destroying their reputation until they had to declare bankruptcy. that was if you were on her bad side, if you were one of the rare few to be in partnership with her, you benefited greatly. She was my inspiration in doing business and software development, yet she was also my greatest nightmare. she could blacklist you in the industry with a mere look.

when she announced she was retiring and handing down her company, half the business world mourned the loss of the sharp minded woman while others rejoiced at the loss of the human reincarnation of the devil.

Alexander looked at me, obviously amused at my quite evident fear.

'I see you have heard of my mother,' he said as he grabbed my elbow gently and guided me inside, 'trust me when I say she is not as bad as they portray her.' I glanced over at him to see if he was kidding yet his face was completely straight. I let out a small sigh of relief, Alex was her son, so he probably knew her best, ' she is a lot worse.'

Tensing up, I sent Alex a furious glare before punching his arm.  Shrugging it off as if he didn't feel anything, he turned around a corner and into a narrow hall that led to an enclosed area. Nervously looking around, she instantly spotted Alexanders mother in the back of the room, right next to the window.

She didn't know how she managed to bridge the distance across the floor, but before she knew it, she was facing the back of Alexanders mothers back.

'I see you've finally decided to show your  idiotic face,' his mother said as she turned around, narrowing her eyes at him, 'twenty minutes late.'

Alex took on  sheepish expression as gingerly took a step forward, ' Sorry?' he said as he took a hold of his mother's hand, ' i had to take care of some business, you know how it is.'

'Yes, trust me ,I know,' She muttered as she allowed her son to draw her into a hug, 'Always putting work before family and yourself, I swear even I wasn't as bad as you!'

I was surprised by not only how different she seemed to be but also by how much of a mummy's boy Alexander was. She could feel her face split into a huge grin at the different side of Alex she was seeing. it was then that his mother noticed her.

'And who is this here?' she asked, her voice and face changing drastically. Now she actually resembles the nightmare of a woman I had previously imagined.

'Mother play nice, ' Alexander admonished as he wrapped his arm around my waist and drew me forward, 'This is Louise, she is to be my new personal secretarial assistant.'

Almost instantly his mother faced dropped to a look of horror, and I felt ten inches tall.

'You brought work back with you?' she exclaimed angrily at Alexander.

'Mother, you must remember that it is still the middle of the day and after this meeting I do have to go back to work,' Alex gently reminded her as he sat down at their table.

'Meetin- Alexander Joseph Hoffman!' She exclaimed indignantly before pinching his arm, ' i will not have you treat my like I am a chore you have to do, I thought I raised you better than that, ah!'

I silently snickered as I saw him wince in pain, before rubbing at his arm.

'Why are you getting mad at me? it wasn't my idea! she insisted!' he cried at his mother as he narrowly avoided a slap up the head.

My jaw dropped in shock. the little shit was trying to shift the blame to me!

'Actually, I said, I wouldn't mind helping out as a personal secretarial assistant by taking notes on the meeting you were oh so dreading as you had barely any sleep last night, ' i said, raising my eyebrows, I could play this came too.

'you still insisted!' he argued.

'you could have said no,' me and his mother said simultaneously. freezing, I glanced at his mother only to find her beaming at me, no trace of the evil cold woman from earlier.

'Hello dear,  You can call me Claire, please do forgive my rude behaviour earlier, I really meant you  no insult, ' She said as she took my hand gently in hers, ' Its just I'm so fed up of Alexander doing nothing but work.'

'Mother,' Alexander groaned as he ran his hand over his face.

'Oh be quiet Alex dear, I'm trying to get to know this wonderful woman you somehow managed to get to work for you, ' she said dismissing him, 'why don't you amuse yourself by ordering some food.'

That was how I spent the next hour, answering a dozen questions flung at me at rapid speed by Claire, she seemed ever so eager to learn everything about me. She was also a lot more talkative and open than I thought she would be. By now, I had completely discarded the idea that she was at all cold or evil, this woman was like a ray of sunshine and cookies, she made me miss my mother.

'Louise, we need to get going, I have a meeting in twenty minutes with Ryan Streep , ' Alex said, interrupting his mother mid-sentence.

'Ryan From Streep Industries?' his mother asked, distaste evident in her tone.

'Yes mother so I'm hoping you understand the need for us to cut this little lunch date short, ' Alex said as he grimaced.

'I don't see why you even want to do business with a man like him, he can lie through his teeth and will always find a loophole in a contract, or write it in himself, ' his mother said as she flagged down a waiter for the bill before sharply turning to me, 'What about Louise? will she be going with you?'

'Of course I will.'

'Of course she won't be.'

'I turned and stared at Alex completely baffled as he looked at me with a strong look of determination on his face.

'Why on earth not?' I asked confused.

'Because I said so,' Alexander said as he stood up, coming around to my side and pulling my chair out, 'Besides your not meant to start until tomorrow anyway.'

'But I thought we agreed I'll help by taking notes today, so I can get used to the job? ' i said as I allowed him to help put my jacket on.

'Nope, it was just for this,' he said as he guided both me and his mother out the area.

'Come on! please?' i begged as I dug my heels in pulling us to a stop.

'Louise dear, I think you should listen to Alex this time,' Claire interjected gently, 'You don't know Ryan like he does.'

'But if he is going into business with him, won't I be exposed to him eventually anyway?' I asked raising my eyebrows at them. I saw Alex stiffen.

'No, absolutely not,' he ground out as e grabbed my arm and started dragging me towards the car, 'You are not allowed anywhere near him, understood?'

'But- fine,' i said in resignation once I saw the tense determined look on his face, I could see it was a losing argument.

'Good girl, now go start packing, didn't you mention something about a lease earlier?' he smirked, his mood instantly broken. Remembering my flatmates I internally groaned.

'Uh, I forgot about my flatmates, I don't know how I'm gonna break it to them,' i groaned as I got in the car, quickly shuffling over to make room for Alex yet he didn't enter. Curious, I leant out to see him with a frown on his face.

'What is it?' i asked confused, I though he was in a rush.

'Flatmates?' he asked as he shoved his hand in his pocket.

'Yeah, I share my apartment with three others, I found it a lot easier in rent'  i explained still not understanding why he wasn't in the car. I thought I saw something flash across his face but  didn't see what it was long enough to identify it.

'yes, we need to have a serious talk later,' he grumbled as he shut the door to the car before bending down so I could see his head through the window. 'My driver will take you to your apartment right now and I will stop by later on to discuss somethings.'

'Wait, you're not coming?' I asked confused as to how he was getting back to the office.

'Im getting a lift of my mother but thanks for worrying,' he said grinning before stepping back away from the vehicle, 'stay safe, I'll see you later.'

Before I could reply, we were already off.