"Hey, where are you going?" a woman was shouting. And she was crying, too, by the tone of her voice.
Camilla was just getting back to the parking lot, because she had forgotten her laptop inside her car, when she saw the scene.
"Answer me!" Insisted the crying woman.
Camilla saw the back of a tall man with broad shoulders and dirty blond hair, walking without a second glance at the desperate woman, who got on her knees.
"I hope your things are out of my house when I return. Otherwise, they'll go straight into the garbage." He said, while walking. She said nothing, only cried, with her head down.
Camilla approached the woman, worried. "Hey, may I help you?" To her surprise, the woman snapped at her.
"Stay the fuck away from me!" The woman looked at Camilla with red, hateful eyes.
"I just want to help you, miss. Come here, let me help you stand up". Camilla tried to hold the woman's arm in order to help her, but the woman just pulled her own arm out of Camilla's hand, violently.
"No! I don't need your help! Who do you think you are to touch me, or even come near me, for that matter?!"
That was new! 'What a bitch!' Camilla was standing there, unable to believe the way she was being treated by the woman, only for offering help.
"Don't waste your time. She doesn't deserve it." The man said. Both the women looked at him.
"Baby, wait! I'm just so stressed-out..."
"So, you're always stressed-out? You are ungrateful and selfish. And a cheater. I can't believe I wasted my time with you." His tone was stern and ruthless. Camilla felt her body tremble.
The woman got up and walked in the direction of the man—who was leaning on his car door—, with her chin up.
"You'll regret this, Alex Kenneth Strauss!" She said, almost spitting the words, hatefully.
Camilla was looking at the woman walking away and holding her purse as if it was just a plastic bag, instead of a Prada Limited Edition. She didn't sense the man approaching her.
"What are you still doing in here?" His husky voice echoed on her ears. She jumped, and then frowned.
"I don't own you any explanation. Now, excuse me." She responded, grumpily.
He had a smirk on his lips.
"You are not being very polite, now, are you? Much different from the woman trying to help a stranger, minutes ago."
"I am a very polite person; but when someone does not deserve it," she looked him up and down, "I don't have to keep making a fool out of myself, right?"
His hand grasped her wrist.
"Do you know who I am?" His gaze was more serious, this time.
She looked at his hand and then back at his face.
"You let go of me, or else you'll know who I AM". Her voice came out more defiant than she expected.
He laughed. Laughed!! That is, until her purse made contact with his face. With a grunt, he automatically let go of her, bringing his hand to his face.
"Are you crazy, woman? That bag of yours is heavy! What do you carry in there, an anvil?" He was massaging the spot where his face was hit.
"You were holding me against my will. That was just me defending myself. Now, if you would be so kind to excuse me, I have more important things to do than to waste more or my precious time, here, with you!" Camilla spoke, turning her back on the man and heading towards a car in the parking lot. He followed her with his eyes. He saw her picking up what looked like a laptop case, and then locking the car. 'Very stupid of you, girl', he thought. Now he knew her car plate and was going to know everything he could about her in a blink of an eye.
"Let's see for how long you can resist me, beauty queen." He said when only he could hear it, running his thumb across his lips.
The day went by normally, except for the fact that she couldn't stop thinking about a certain blonde man. She kept remembering his grey eyes, his hair that was long enough for her to run her hands through it. She sighed and looked at her wristwatch.
"Finally, time to go home!" She turned off her computer and packed her belongings.
"Miss Bakers! There is a new email for you to view. It's an urgent matter. Mr. Hopper asked you to do it this instant." said Anna Sallings, the secretary. The dark woman looked down and murmured 'sorry'.
Camilla closed her eyes, incredulous, and held back a cry. She thanked Anna, dismissing her.
"I can't believe it! Why now? He had the whole day to ask me about anything. Damn it!"
She sat in her chair and opened the laptop, again. A new e-mail was in her inbox, as expected.
'Camilla, I'm sorry. I've just received it. It is from a new client. A very important one. The boss said we can't miss this chance, since the guy is a big fish. I know you've got your hands full, but it is the hotel's department, so…
Good night, and I'm sorry again.
L. M. Hopper.'
She replied with a simple 'ok' and started to work on it. She hated taking work home, so, she preferred to stay at the office as long as it was needed.
An hour had passed and she replied to Hopper's email with a few ideas. When she was packing again and ready to leave, a text message arrived at her phone.
'Camilla, the Big Fish wants some changes. He'll be arriving there, soon. I just wanted to warn you. I thought it would be better to send it via text message, so it won't be on our e-mail records. Good luck.'
Hopper was a nice guy. But, there was no way was letting a stranger enter her office while she was alone. No matter how much of a 'big fish' he was.
'Hopper, no! Tell him to come tomorrow. I am alone in here, since Anna is already gone!'
'Sorry. Too late.'
A knock on the door. Shit! She got up and opened it and then, her eyes were wide open.
"You?!"
That smirk was unforgettable. Those eyes were unforgettable. That hair was unforgettable. Fuck, that man was something one could never forget about.
"Hello, Miss Camilla Bakers. I am Alex Strauss." He offered his hand for her to shake. "Let's discuss a few things."
He pretended not to know her, at all. She was about to ask why he was acting like that, but he mouthed 'no' and pointed at a camera that captured sound at the entrance.
"Oh… Okay. Come with me."
He entered the office and took a look around. 'Such a small office.' He thought. He found her by her car plate, as he thought he could. With money, almost everything was accessible. She was hot, and he needed to relax a bit, after what happened with him and Claire, the bitch. He sat in the chair in front of Camilla's desk and crossed his legs.