It had suddenly occurred to Dan when he noticed her luggage box that he had failed to do a background check on his new employee simply because he had been referred to him by Richie.
He needed to know everything this stranger was bringing with him into his house. And he needed to be sure there were no weapons of any sort nor cameras.
One reason his house has remained just a rumour and a mystery to so many people was that he never allowed anyone to take pictures in his home, and even the different cleaners and chefs that came in weekly were never allowed into his home with their phones. So he had to make sure Ben's presence wasn't going to change that.
"Open it!" He ordered, pointing to the luggage box.
"Huh?" Bella's eyes widened in surprise, and she gulped nervously as she took a backward step.
Not only did she have her lingerie in there, but she also had her sanitary pads. How was she going to let him see that? She hadn't planned on facing such embarrassment just on her first day at work, especially not from him.
His eyes narrowed suspiciously as he observed her face, 'was Ben hiding something in his bag?' Dan asked himself.
"You heard me right. I need to be sure you're not coming into my house with illicit drugs, weapons or cameras. So open it, or I will," He said, jerking his head in the direction of the luggage box.
"There are no drugs, weapons, or cameras. I don't do drugs, and I don't need weapons. You can take my word for it," Bella assured him.
"Oh! Wow! How much is it worth?" Dan asked sarcastically.
"How much is what worth? My luggage box?" Bella asked, looking at him with confused eyes as she wondered why he was suddenly asking that.
Dan took in a deep breath. Maybe he just might have made a mistake and had hired a dummy, "How much is your word worth?"
He didn't need to add 'dummy' for her to hear it at the end of his question. She could literally see it in his eyes. She had been blessed with very sharp intuitive ears and was quick-witted enough to know such things.
So that was what he wanted to do with her? Wordplay? Fine. Maybe if she played along with him, she would distract him, and he wouldn't check her box, "Who is buying?"
Dan looked at her, and they both locked eyes for a very brief moment. Once again, they both experienced a strong feeling of déjà vu and quickly broke eye contact.
"Are you sure you want to work for me?" Dan asked as he walked over to her and snatched the luggage box from her hand before going on one knee to open it.
Bella watched him in horror as he looked through the contents of her luggage box. 'Was she going to return home so soon when she hadn't even gotten the chance to ride in any of the cars or take a good look around the house?' Bella asked herself.
Dan looked at the box with a blank expression, not knowing what to think or make of what he was seeing. Of all the things he had expected to see in the box, these were the least of them. Was he a pervert of some sort?
"Why do you have these?" He asked, turning to eye her curiously. He hadn't figured his new Personal assistant to be that sort of a person.
Bella cleared her throat and pulled on her right ear as she thought of a lie to tell.
"Are you a pervert?" Dan asked, picking up one of the panties with an amused expression on his face, but she quickly snatched it from him, her face burning bright red with embarrassment.
"That belongs to my girlfriend! I guess I picked up the wrong box!" She said without meeting his gaze.
"You have a girlfriend?" Dan asked as he stood up, not taking his eyes away from her. There was something oddly intriguing about his new personal assistant.
Maybe it was because of that odd feeling of déjà vu he felt whenever he looked at him, or it was probably just because the young man didn't seem to respect and worship him as most people around him did.
"Don't you?"
There it was again, that boldness, even though they both knew he could easily fire him, "Do you always answer questions with questions?"
Bella shrugged before going on her knees to rearrange the contents of the luggage box. She closed it and stood up to meet his gaze.
"Is there anything you think I should know about you which isn't in your résumé?" Dan asked as he started moving, expecting her to follow suit.
Bella would have preferred to take a good look around the house as she followed him but decided there would be enough time to do all of that later.
"I don't like house chores. I don't like being told what to do, and I like doing things at my own pace. I love sleeping and playing games. I sleepw... What? Why are we stopping here?" She asked while looking around when Dan suddenly stopped in his track and slowly turned around to look at her.
"Are you desperately wanting to get fired on your first day at work?" Dan asked with a snort.