Nesryn was talking to someone on the phone regarding Azriel's lunch schedule. She was instructed to change the restaurant, into a more cozy setting since the client doesn't like extravagance.
"Yes....around 12 pm would be nice.....you do have a private room?....yeah, I'll send the payment in advance, would you please send me your bank number?....alright hold on" she took out a pen and a notepad and wrote down the numbers.
She thanked the other person and hung up the call, a huge smile plastered on her face. Nesryn then continued on her work.
She was in the middle of writing some words when a fake cough caught her attention, she lifted her head just to see a man in his early 50's. Her eyes widened in recognition and she quickly stood up and bowed her head in greeting
"Good Morning Mr. Maximile...oh I am sorry Mr. Evanders"
The door of Azriel's office opened, revealing her long-haired boss "Nesr-" his words got cut off when he took in the sight of his father. The cheery atmosphere surrounding him immediately turned sour.
"Come inside" Azriel seriously said, walking back in his office, forgetting his purpose for seeing Nesryn.
The man flashed a smile at Nesryn's direction and followed his son inside the office. The once rustic designed office now, turned to modern. As per Azriel's request when he took over the company.
Azriel sat down on the couch, his left leg slung over his right. He stared at his father, clearly unamused. "What brought you here today?" the man winced at his son's harsh tone.
He took a seat across from him and couldn't help but gulp at Azriel's intimidating aura.
Fortunately, he was able to hold his ground against his own flesh and blood.
"I kept calling you but you won't answer"
"I already had my number changed"
"How come I didn't know this?"
"There's no reason for you to"
"Azriel, don't use that tone on me, remember I am still your father!"
"Father?! Ha! Don't me laugh, my father died when he killed my mother, I have no father"
Maximile sent a harsh glare at his son's direction and Azriel just returned it with a mocking smile, clearly challenging his father wordlessly. The older man clenched his fists and this action didn't pass by Azriel's attention as he let out a laugh.
"Irritated? Gonna punch me? Go ahead, the whole world will know what you did to my mother"
"I didn't come here to fight you"
"Why are you here then? You know you're not welcome here anymore"
"I wanted to honor a promise your mother made"
"Honor her? You must be kidding me. This must be the funniest joke I've ever heard"
"Azr-"
"Oh wait, I know a joke that is funnier than that. Your existence!"
"Azriel, I know what I did to your mother was unforgivable but please, just this once listen to me"
"That's funny, did you listen to my mother when she said those exact same words to you?"
"Azriel…"
"Cat got your tongue? Fine, since it's a promise that involves my mother, I will hear what you have to say. You have a minute."
"You can't do this to me Azriel'
"36 seconds"
"Fine! Your mother wanted me to put you in an arranged marriage"
A glass shattering rang loud in the silent room, gaining the attention of the two men, Azriel was immediately on his feet, seeing Nesryn standing in shock with shattered tea cups by her feet.
She quickly snapped out of her frozen state and immediately apologized to the two , with her head bowed deeply.
She picked up the broken, porcelain pieces. Nesryn let out a loud yelp when a sharp edged glass pricked her finger. Azriel immediately ran to her side, when he heard her yelp.
"Stop, let it be, I'll have the cleaners get that. You'll hurt yourself." he protested when she tried to fight back. He grabbed her wounded hand and quickly examined it. "Tsk! Tsk! Your other wound hasn't healed yet and here we have another one"
He took a tissue from his desk and wrapped it around her bleeding, ring finger.
Before she could step away from the shards, Azriel quickly carried her bridal style to his desk. He gently placed her down on his seat and quickly called for the cleaners. He took out the first aid kit from one of the drawers in his office and carefully treated his secretary.
He blew it lightly while cleaning the blood off. After successfully stopping the bleeding, he quickly bandaged it up. His father long forgotten on the couch, his whole attention was on treating Nesryn.
The silence of the room was shattered when the door opened, revealing two of the company cleaners. Azriel instantly ordered them on what to do.
When Neryn reassured him that she was fine and the cleaner's didn't leave behind any shards, he returned to the conversation he had with his father. "About this arranged marriage, have you found a family?"
"Yes"
"Who?"
"Winterfowl family"
Azriel glanced at Nesryn's direction, he didn't mean anything but it seemed she took it differently. She immediately rushed out and came back within seconds with her iPad in hand. Azriel watched as she typed ferociously, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
After a few seconds, Nesryn handed him the iPad with all the information she could gather about the Winterfowl family. He didn't really need this since he knew the family since he was young.
The family's eldest daughter was supposed to be his betrothed but she got into an 'accident' and got pregnant.
"Let me guess, I have to marry Aphrodite?" He looked at his father, who nodded. He let out a loud sigh as he ran both of his hands on his hair in frustration.
He wanted to scream!
"Look, I was young and foolish back then when I accepted that arranged marriage between Athena and I. I seriously don't want a repeat of that"
"I promise you it won't be like that"
"How can you be sure? Aren't you just using this arranged marriage as an excuse to extort money from them?"
"How can you say that to me Azriel?!"
"I know how much you're struggling because of that mistress of yours, what was her name? Ah! Yes, Jeaneb*tch.
That b*tch didn't do anything but spend your money to buy whatever she wanted. You always warned me to not get close to gold di*gers but here you are, you killed my mother, who truly loved you! For what? A gold di*ger!"
"Azri-"
"Don't threaten me, that won't work. Don't worry, you'll still get 10% of the company's profit. That was what we agreed on and the only thing you wanted when you handed the company over. Right?"
"Yeah.. right"
"Good now do your best in cancelling his arranged marriage, before my respect for you completely disappears, Father"
Maximile lowered his head and didn't answer his son. Azriel stared at his father, his eyes slowly widening at his unanswered request "Don't tell me…" he wasn't able to continue his words when Nesryn slowly tapped his shoulder.
He turned to her with an eyebrow raised, questioning what she wanted. Nesryn pointed at his office door.
There stood a beautiful looking woman, long ginger hair, eyebrows perfectly arched, her almond-shaped, black doe eyes, buttoned nose that complemented her face perfectly and thin pink, glossed lips.
Nesryn stared at the woman, envying her perfect body proportions and slender legs. Her branded, red and white outfit demanded attention from people, making her stand out more than the rest of those around her.
The woman in question ran in the office, throwing her expensive bag to the woman behind her, who frantically tried catching the bag.
"Drop that and you're fired, that's much more expensive than your life" the woman hissed at her attendant, who clutched the white bag to her body.
She threw herself into Azriel's arms, immediately clinging to him, like there's no tomorrow.
"Hi hubby"
The woman flashed him her adorable, perfect smile. The two stared at each other but were broken off when Azriel's father faked a cough. His action gained the attention of the two "Ms. Winterfowl"
"Please call me Aphrodite, father" she cheekily said but the seriousness in her eyes said the truth. She tightened his arms around him as she returned her gaze to him. Nesryn tried not to scoff at the scene, you could literally see hearts floating around her.
Aphrodite glanced at Nesryn's direction and she flashed her a mocking smile, as if saying 'try to get Azriel from me', Aphrodite pushed her body closer to Azriel, proving Nesryn that what she read on the other woman's eyes were right.
Nesryn didn't pay her any heed and just focused on continuing her talk with Azriel about his second meeting of the day.
This got Aphrodite irritated.
Her thin, pink lips turned into a pout and used her pointer finger and ran it on Azriel's chin, immediately gaining the attention and capturing Azriel's playboy side.
She forced him to look at her by grabbing his chin and turning it to her "Mr. Azriel, can we talk? Just the three of us, as a FAMILY" she stressed out the word 'family' while peering her doe black eyes at Nesryn's direction.
Nesryn let out a sigh, bowed her head and left the room, shutting the door softly behind her as she went back to her desk and continued her tasks. Azriel was about to follow her but he was stopped in his place when Aphrodite stopped by clinging to him tighter.
"Let's sit down," Aphrodite said, dragging him with her to the couch across from his father.
Their 'family' talk started but Azriel was having none of it, he stayed quiet and just let his father and 'betrothed' do the talking. His gaze wandered over to the window, where he could clearly see Nesryn clear as day. He looked at her expression, looking like normal.
His eyebrows furrowed at her stoic reaction about their situation but who was he kidding, they weren't anything to each other, besides being boss and secretary.
Outside his office, Nesryn continued on doing her work for the day, ignoring Azriel's gaze and kept typing texts on her computer, her face void of any emotions, regarding what happened a few minutes earlier in her boss's office.