The Boss is Busy

"Jay, what are you doing here?" Maya asked, a look of shock spread on her face.

Of all the people who might be here, Jay was the last one she considered.

"Oh, well, remember when I said I could pull a few stings?" Jay asked as he innocently scratched the back of his head as he tried to figure out a believable lie.

Beside Maya, Nathaniel glared at his friend. Jay was not supposed to make an appearance here today, at least not in front of Maya.

"Mr. Woods has been helping us with certain internal matters," Clark said, clearing his throat as he approached, inevitably saving Jay from coming up with an unbelievable lie.

Jay gave Clark a thankful smile before turning his attention back to Maya.

"You two aren't dating, are you?" Maya asked as she pointed at the two men before her.

Nathaniel couldn't help but burst out laughing, accusing both Jay and Clark of being a couple couldn't be further from the truth.

"What? No!" Jay said a little bit too defensively, making Maya laugh and shake her head.

Behind Jay, Clark groaned in embarrassment before speaking based on the script they had prepared.

"Miss Miller, unfortunately, Mr. De La Rue has been called over for something ummmmmm, rather urgent," Clark said as he attempted to seem awkward.

"Huh?" Maya asked, confused by Clark's wording and behavior.

"Maya…" Nathaniel groaned next to her as soon as he realized she hadn't picked up on the cues. "The boss is clearly busy with someone, don't make it any more awkward for Clark."

Maya suddenly blushed as she realized what Nate was saying she looked at him and quickly gave him a playful slap on the shoulder. Nate smiled in response, clearly amused by her reaction.

As much as she wanted to leave and return home, she didn't want to disappoint her grandfather. She knew it wasn't her responsibility and she wouldn't be blamed, but she also didn't want her grandpa to suffer.

"C—c—can you ask what time he'll be done?" Maya managed to ask, blushing even more.

Nathaniel laughed and shook his head. 'Does Maya really expect Clark to ask if his boss was done with his date?'

"Miss Miller, I'm not sure—" Clark began to speak, but Nathaniel cut him off mid-sentence.

"I'm sure Mr. Thomas can ask Mr. De La Rue when he is done," Nathaniel injected as he nodded toward Clark.

'This would give me the perfect opportunity to drag Maya on a date. She might as well come with me.' Nathaniel thought to himself.

"Is that possible, Mr. Thomas?" Maya asked with a hopeful tone.

"Of course, it is, Miss Miller," Clark said as he turned to leave, dragging Jay with him.

'Of course, everything is possible, the boss would skin me alive if I rejected any of your requests.' Clark thought to himself as the elevator doors closed and he and Jay returned to Nathaniel's penthouse apartment.

"Wait!" Maya called out as the doors closed, but she was too late, neither Clark nor Jay had heard her. Rather, they chose not to hear her since Nathaniel was clearly eager to bring her on a date.

"He has my number, why don't we head out for lunch?" Nathaniel suggested as he offered her his hand.

"I can't I need to—"

"Wait?" Nathaniel asked her. "Look, Maya, whatever Mr. De La Rue is up to, I doubt it will end anytime soon. When you're with someone whose presence you enjoy more than anything else you will want to spend as much time with them as you can."

"I guess you didn't enjoy mine enough," she said bitterly as the expression on Maya's face turned sour.

"I told you what happened back then isn't my fault, let me make it up to you," Nathaniel insisted.

Maya remained silent as she considered her options.

In a bid to push her in the right direction, Nathaniel spoke up.

"Look, Maya, you can't go back to your family just yet, didn't they send you here for results?" He asked, worried that they were pressuring her to help.

"I can't," she said with a frown as she thought of her grandfather.

"Even if you did, there is no way for Mr. Thomas to contact you," Nathaniel said, pointing out the obvious.

In all honesty, Clark could have found a way to contact Maya. Not only did Nathaniel have her phone number, Jay did so as well, and even then, Clark had the De La Rue Family's resources he could find Maya's number if he really had to.

"Fine," Maya said as she gave up and took Nathaniel's hand.

"Thank you," Nathaniel said as he gave her hand a tight squeeze and led her out of the building lobby.

"So will we bring my car or will we take a cab?" Maya asked as she assumed that Nathaniel didn't have his own mode of transportation yet. After all, he had asked her to drive him to a Narra instead of driving them there.

"What, no," Nathaniel chuckled as a sleek black BMW 7 series pulled up to the driveway.

"Let's move, a VIP might be coming down," Maya whispered as she pulled on Nathaniel's arm.

Nathaniel smiled at her and shook his head.

"Maya, this is my car," Nathaniel told her, dropping a bomb in her face. "I told you I worked hard so that I could one day deserve you again."

Maya was shocked by the turn of events that she didn't even notice Nathaniel gently lifting her chin so that they could look into each other's eyes.

He leaned closer, their lips almost touching, Maya was in too much of a shock to react, but he pulled away, leaving Maya wanting more.

"I hope today I could prove that I'm the man for you once more,"