Who is this man?

Scratching his forehead, Joel tried hard to suppress the smile that was ready to get etched on his face. At that very moment, his eyes met with those of Anna’s. She was looking fixedly at him. The bewildered look on her face grabbed his attention. His pace slowed down and he looked back into her eyes.

There were no words, there were no sounds, yet something was said. Something which he knows, something which she knows.

Anna was trying to track down something. Her gaze was getting intense with every passing second. Joel abruptly averted his head and walked away.

Anna's jaw dropped. 'Why is he avoiding me?' was one of the many questions which were afflicting her soul. 'Should I-' she was trying to think straight when she caught sight of Alira, who was taking a sneak peek at her notebook. "I am going to kill you today," she yelled and ran to nab her secret keeper- her notebook.

--------

After successfully taking back the notebook, Anna returned to her desk. Taking her seat, her eyes went to the computer's screen which was displaying the mail from Head. "Oh No! I completely forgot," she murmured and immediately opened the mail.

"What?" She rolled her eyes in frustration. Fetching her phone, she hurriedly typed a text.

_________

From: Anna

To: Alira

Text: I need your help! Get your ass back here quickly.

_________

Pressing the 'send' button, she leaned back in the chair, hoping for a quicker reply; which she got indeed.

_________

From: Alira

To: Anna

Text: GTH! I am still mad at you.

*Angry emoji*

And just so you know, my stomach still hurts because of that punch.

*In insufferable pain emoji*

_________

Anna pressed her eyes as the realization hit her hard.

_________

From: Anna

To: Alira

Text: I am sorry Ali. I shouldn't have punched you. Please forgive me.

*Pout emoji*

Besides, Head has given a task marked as 'Urgent & Important' so I believe you wouldn't want to make him angry.

_________

Biting her lip, she pressed 'send'. She fixed her eyes back to the mail, thinking of what to do next.

Soon, Alira returned to her with 'This-isn't-over-yet' expressions clearly etched on her face. Anna looked up to her and gave her an embarrassed smile. "What is it?" Alira asked, ignoring Anna's attempt for making a truce.

Anna gulped. "I am really in trouble this time," she whispered to herself.

--------

"So? What's the big deal about it?" Alira raised her tone in disbelief.

"There hasn't been any reply from his side? How am I supposed to work this out without looking desperate!" Anna almost ranted.

"Call him," Ali uttered, deadpan. She dialed a number and handed the phone to Anna.

"Are you crazy!" Anna complained as she was caught unawares. “You are totally mad Ali. What am I supposed to say to him?” she whimpered.

“Relax, his manager is sweet. My sources told me," Ali assured.

"But what am I supposed to say?"

"Figure it out. You’ll need to do this often now," Alira sits back in the chair, ready to enjoy the rest of the scene. "Time for some payback, Ann." a self-satisfied smile worked up its way to her lips.

"You-"

"Hello?" an unfriendly voice answered the phone.

"Hello, I am Anna from Adfluent." she somehow managed to utter.

"Okay and?"

"And…" her eyes automatically went to Alira who was sipping her drink while enjoying the show.

"Don’t look at me," Ali mouthed.

"Are you going to speak or should I hang up?" the man on the other side asked roughly.

"I wanted to ask, did you receive our mail?"

"Oh yeah, about that. Come to my house to discuss the terms tonight."

"At your house?" her eyes widened. "Can’t we meet at some other place?"

"I am sorry, Miss. But I am in the middle of something right now and can’t really talk. Besides, I am free only at night."

Anna looked at Alira. "What should I do?" she mouthed.

"Say yes," Ali mouthed back.

Anna nodded nervously. "Okay," she answered.

"Great Will text you the address," the person hung up the call abruptly.

"You said he is sweet," Anna scowled. She was so pissed that she wanted to kill Alira there and then.

"I don’t know. He must be really busy or something," she tried to defend herself.

"Now that you've had your revenge, you're coming with me." Anna articulated, looking deep into Ali's eyes.

"But-"

"End of the discussion," Anna turned back to her screen as she received the email about the address.

--------

Anna and Alira, both were staring at the immensely huge, modernly stylized mansion.

"That's too much for a personal manager, to be honest," Anna uttered while gaping at the masterpiece.

"I never knew being a model's manager would pay so well," Alira remarked. Shaking her head, she turned to Anna who was completely stunned. "Anna, listen to me. We are desperate for the deal but we have to pretend that we aren't." she reminded.

"Are you paying attention to me, young lady?" she snapped when she didn't get any response.

"Yes, I am." Anna turned to Alira who was glaring at her. "She is going to kill me today!" she thought to herself.

"Let's go," Alira cleared her throat and started walking.

The stone steps covered with Irish moth on both sides, lead them to the main entrance of the house which was higher than the ground level. The entire place was radiating 'Artsy' in bold and capitals.

***Bell Rings***

"Come in, the door's open." a baritone voice answered from the inside.

With a bit of hesitation, Anna pushed back the door and peeked inside.

***Woof, Woof, Woof***

A black Pomeranian dog came barking at them.

"Woah! Easy buddy, You're a good boy right?" Anna looked at him with big, doe eyes. The dog immediately wiggled and curved its body showing how good and friendly he was.

"Please come in, he won't bite. He just gets excited every time he sees new people. Yeno, come here." the voice announced. The dog retreated back immediately and vanished inside the big house.

"That's strange," furrowing her brows, she peeked inside but nobody could be seen.

"C'mon, let's go." Alira grabbed her hand solidly.

Anna turned her attention towards her friend who was breathing heavily. "What happened to you?" she looked quizzically at her.

"Nothing," Alira replied, trying to compose herself.

"Don't tell me you got afraid by a Pomeranian," Anna raised an eyebrow with teasing expressions on her face.

"He is waiting," Alira ignored the comment completely and dragged Anna with her.

"Please have a seat," the voice welcomed them as they entered the hall.

"Is he going to come out or are we going to play boogie man the entire time?" Anna whispered in Alira's ear.

"Shh,"

Both the girls sat on the couch, waiting for the person to appear.

A man suddenly appeared from one of the rooms, which supposedly was his office, and strode his way to them. He sat on the couch opposite them and the dog leaped onto his lap.

"Are you guys comfortable? Do you need anything?" the man enquired in a husky voice.

Anna's eyes bugged out and she looked at him in astonishment. "Manager," the word slipped from her mouth, gaining the overawing attention from the man.

"She means to say that we were expecting to meet the manager first. We weren't expecting to see you directly Mr. Neil." Alira covered up for her friend.

"Please call me Neil," he flashed his boxy smile and extended his hand for a shake. Alira gladly took his hand, "Alira Campbell"

He then extended his hand to Anna who was still gasping at him. He tilted his head and a playful smirk surfaced on his face. He was well aware of the effect he had on ladies.