Chapter 21: Her Woman

Olivia drove Zarah to the company as usual and she thanked her for being the always supportive best friend.

She got out of the car and headed to the main entrance of the building.

Everyone was all busy preparing to welcome Xavier on his first day as the official CEO.

Zarah entered the Personal Assistant Office which was still empty when she came. She looked at the clock and saw that it was still seven thirty in the morning.

After she came back to Oakridge City, Zarah did not stay in the apartment where she stayed with Josh for she feared that he would also go there.

She went to the old apartment that she shared with Isaiah when she was in high school and decided to stay there overnight.

Xander was still in the vet hospital as the poor cat needed to heal his injury before he could go home.

She had also blocked Josh on her contact to make sure that he won't be able to reach her. Olivia was there to update her on what he was up to anyway even if she didn't want to.

She was also able to attend Hope's housewarming party with Olivia and she was glad that the two clicked right away especially knowing that she was from Sterlington City and decided to have an internship in Oakridge City.

Hope's personality was like that of Trixie so Zarah was sure that the two women would be best friends.

Zarah also found out that they had the same age and they both skipped grades that's why they would be graduating from their universities at the age of twenty.

At eight in the morning, the lobby was busy as all the executives lined up to welcome Xavier.

Two Audi vans and a Bentley pulled over in front of the building. The bodyguards wearing their black suit uniforms came out from the vans and gathered around Xavier's Bentley.

Xavier was not alone as Dylan also came with him. He sure had a lot of time in his hands.

Seeing that he was also handsome, the girls started gushing over him.

However, Xavier's aura around him forced everyone to stop and start bowing down their heads.

Then Chris and Xavier came to his side and started updating him on his schedule.

However, he was not paying to any of it as he was looking for someone.

Xavier entered the elevator so he could start working.

"Not bad! Your office is cozier than my office." Dylan said as he looked around Xavier's office.

Xavier had modified the theme in his office. The walls and the furniture were painted white and brass. He also added some tropical potted plants placed on the two corners of his office.

New paintings were also hung on the walls.

"They're Aunt Abigail's paintings, aren't they?" Dylan asked.

"Yes. They're a few of her last works before she died."

His mother, Abigail Lockhart also had a passion for painting aside from her love outdoors. So, most of her paintings were beautiful landscapes that she had visited and had captured her heart.

He also inherited his mother's love for plants and gardening.

Xavier sat down on his couch and said, "I'll have plenty of things to do. You may look around if you're bored. I'll ask someone to accompany you."

"That's not a problem. Carry on with your duties, Mr. CEO," Dylan said and he settled down on the couch.

"Chris."

"Yes, Master."

"Tell Miss Jansen that she'll be coming with me for a lunch meeting with a client," Xavier said.

"Okay, Master Xavier," Chris said and left to relay the message to Zarah.

"Oh!" Dylan teased and smiled knowingly.

"What?" Xavier confronted him.

"I'm just curious about Miss Jansen. The last time I heard her name, you left us in the bar and even went on a camping trip with her." Dylan said and even looked at Rupert for support.

Too bad for him, Rupert wanted to stay out of trouble and so he excused himself right away.

"So?"

"Is she the woman that you liked?" Dylan asked him.

"So what if she is?" Xavier decided to not hide this from Dylan.

"Are you serious? An intern, dude? Wait! She is your father's adopted daughter, isn't she?"

"So what if she is?" Xavier didn't like Dylan's tone when he was talking about Zarah.

"You're the worst Xavier. I thought you'd found an excellent girl that made you head over heels in love. It turned out that you're stuck to an orphan with some troubled past."

"Be more mindful with your words Dylan," he warned. Xavier became overprotective of her.

"So what, if she's an orphan? So what, if she had a troubled past? Why would that concern you?"

"Xavier. I'm just being realistic here. You're going to be the next head of the Lockhart. You'll need someone with an equal background to stand beside you as your wife. She must have the capabilities to support you."

"Then, that's not my problem anymore. All I cared about now is her. And if you're going to touch her, then, I'll just forget that we're cousins."

"Xavier!" Dylan could not believe that to hear this from him.

He was willing to throw away their relationship for a woman?

"And besides, we're in the modern age now, Dylan. It doesn't matter whom I choose to marry as long as I love her." Xavier added.

"You're unbelievable, Xavier. For a woman?" Dylan gasped in disbelief.

However, his interest in meeting Zarah grew.

"She's not just a woman. She's mine!" Xavier had made it loud and clear. No one could have Zarah other than him.

Dylan started hating Zarah as Xavier would be in a lot of trouble because of her.

"Grandfather will surely be against this. Even if you won the bet, he won't approve of this Xavier. So better stop now brother before anything happens to her."

"Are you threatening me, Dylan?" Xavier's voice turned cold after hearing Dylan. He disliked hearing someone threatening him. What more if it was intended for Zarah?

"No. I'm just stating the possible consequences should you pursue this idea, Xavier." Dylan tried to explain as he wanted to put some sense on his cousin.

"Do you really think that I will stand by and not protect my woman?" Xavier got up from his chair and stood by the floor-to-ceiling window.

"You planned to go against grandfather? Against the Lockhart?"

"If I have to? Yes, I will." Xavier said with conviction.

"I won't let the years that I was separated from her be put to waste, Dylan. I won't let any of you get in the way between me and Zarah."

He had endured enough.

Because he was weak, they got into an accident which caused her to lose her memory of him. Her frequent headaches were a result of that accident.

He had to leave her temporarily so he could toughen up himself. He was not able to guard her well so a pest came in between them.

But he'll make sure to get that pest away before he would infest Zarah.

There was just one problem that he had to overcome. He had to make Zarah remember him.

He felt frustrated to know that he remembered everything about her while all she had were anger and annoyance for him.

He wanted to hug her but he couldn't. It was hard for him to control what he felt for her while also feeling upset that she could not remember.

That's why he unintentionally became mean to her.

Zarah, who still had no idea that Xavier had those feelings for her received the message from Chris.

"Okay." She didn't recall listing that on his calendar, though.

"What time will we be leaving?" She asked Chris.

"Half hour after eleven? I'm not sure. It will depend on when his morning meeting ends. Just be on standby, okay?" Chris said as grabbed his notepad and got ready to attend the meeting with the department directors of the company.

"Okay."

Elliott did not forget to cheer Zarah with this. "This is a great opportunity for you, Zarah. I hope that you'll learn a lot."

"Thanks, E. I'm looking forward to it."

Before Xavier's morning schedule started, he instructed Elliott to not let Zarah out of the EA office as he didn't want Dylan to bother her.

Well, if Dylan wanted to, he could just barge in the room and talk to Zarah.

However, Dylan had other plans in mind.

He went to Chris and said that he wanted a tour around the company. Since Zarah was an intern in their department, he wanted her to accompany him.

"Why don't I accompany you instead, Master Dylan?" Chris suggested.

"You're protecting her too, Chris? Come on! What kind of spell did that woman do to you and my cousin that you both are bewitched by her?" Dylan asked Chris.

"Master Dylan, it's not what you think. She's a good woman." Chris said but he didn't expect that Dylan would twist his words and use them against him.

"Then, show me how good she is?"

"Master Dylan, I do not think it's a good idea. Master Xavier would surely be mad." Chris tried his best to convince him not to pursue the idea.

"Well, if he didn't want me to see her, he should have thrown me out of this building anyways."

Chris thought that Dylan's words were reasonable.

"But Master -"

Just then, Zarah barged into the room as she had to get a document from Xavier's office.

As soon as Dylan laid his eyes on her, he finally understood why Xavier was eager to have her.

"I'm so sorry for disturbing you both. I thought there was no one in the room." Zarah apologized because she felt that she had interrupted something.

"Zarah. What are you doing here?" Chris asked her.

"Thank God that you're here Chris. Have you seen a purple folder on my table? Elliott said he placed it on CEO Lockhart's table."

"I did. Why? What's in there?"

"Nothing. Just a draft." Zarah had not seen it since

Chris then walked to the table and pulled that folder from the piles of folders.

"Is this it?" He said while showing it to her.

"Yes. Thank you, Chris. I thought I'd lost it." Zarah said while heaving a sigh of relief and grabbed the folder.

She was about to leave when Dylan spoke and stopped her.

"Wait!"

Dylan then got up from his seat and walked toward Zarah.

"Are you Miss Jansen?" He asked.

"Yes, sir." She politely replied.

"My cousin is still in a meeting. It would be boring if I would just stay here on my own. Will you accompany me, Miss Jansen?"

Zarah looked at Chris who was secretly giving her warnings to refuse him. However, Zarah thought that there was nothing wrong with it. As long as after the tour, she could go back to her task.

"Zarah aren't you busy?" Chris asked her.

"I am." Which was the truth. Her workload doubled since she was absent for two days.

"See? Master Dylan, she's busy." Though she did not know him, she remembered Olivia mentioning his name, so she recognized him as Xavier's cousin.

"What a shame. How about I invite you for coffee after your shift ends?"

"I don't think I can join you. I still have other things to do." She politely declined.

"Well, then, when will you be available? I just want to personally know my cousin's adopted sister. Aren't we technically a family?"

"Excuse me, Sir. I don't know what your intentions are but I have no time for it. Xavier and I barely know each other."

"Really? But why are you so important to him?" Dylan said but before she could react, the door opened, and Xavier entered his office.

***