"Hey, cousin. I will sort that out tomorrow," Cassie said as she stood at the door of Layla's office.
She was all ready to go, handbag in hand and feet impatient to head towards the exit.
Layla raised her head from the screen of her laptop briefly and looked at her cousin.
"I need it today," she said with a stern voice.
Cassie slightly puffed her cheeks and exhaled.
She knew that there was no way that work was that urgent.
She had glossed over it and seen that even tomorrow was still an early time to have it submitted.
"But I have somewhere to go already," Cassie persisted, making a cute face to convince Layla. "Plus work is over already."
Cassie classed at her watch, confirming that it was already more than fifteen minutes past her closing time.
What Cassie didn't know was that the work she had been given to handle was actually an assignment for Layla herself from the CEO.
That was why Leon was calling her earlier.
Seeking to play on Cassie's ignorance of the origin of such an assignment, Layla hatched a plot to use it to delay her and, better still, cancel her date with Dane.
That was her quickly thought-out move to stop the two from linking up today.
However, Cassie was not budging.
She was hell-bent on meeting with Dane.
Dane had not been forthcoming since she started developing an interest in him.
However, since Dane was discharged from the hospital, everything seemed to be changing for the better between the two of them.
Cassie found it strange, wondering if whatever happened tweaked his brain.
She loved it, and couldn't complain about it since it was a favourable outcome for her.
If the incident tweaked his brain enough to make him start liking her, then she did not mind.
That was why she was not willing to let go of this opportunity to meet up with Dane.
She wasn't sure when her nonchalant love interest would be so intentional with her again.
Not Layla, or anyone, was going to hinder her progress.
"But it's still valid for submission even next week, Layla," Cassie persisted, narrowing her eyes.
Layla didn't know what else to say as she looked at her cousin.
"I will send it to you first thing tomorrow morning," Cassie added. "I can even help you proofread it a second time if you want."
Layla was defeated at this point.
Even if she wanted to take it up and escalate the matter to her superiors, which included her father, she couldn't.
The task was originally given to her by Leon Grey and it definitely wouldn't sound right with him if he heard she passed the task to another person to handle.
Unbeknownst to Cassie, she had won this battle without even knowing that she was fighting one.
As they still stared at each other, Cassie's phone started to ring inside her bag.
A smile popped up on her face that infuriated Layla even more.
Layla, however, hid this rage within her expertly so Cassie would not notice.
She and Cassie could tell on a whim that it was Dane calling her.
Cassie searched her bag and finally took out the phone from her bag to see who was calling.
[Dane Morgans]
As she stared at the caller ID, the thought of changing Dane's contact info on her phone crossed her mind.
Saving his name as [Dane Morgans] made it sound so formal like a strict boss and employee relationship.
She didn't want that, but then again, she knew she didn't have to be in a haste to change it until they had something definitive going on between the both of them.
"Hey," Cassie answered the call excitedly.
She was all red and blushing like a high school student who was talking to her boyfriend.
She looked at Layla and made funny eye gestures as if teasing her cousin and playfully trying to make her jealous.
Little did she know that she only succeeded in making Layla boil inside.
"Yeah. I'm on my way downstairs," Cassie said. "See you soon."
After that, she dropped the call and put her phone back inside her bag as she spoke briefly with Layla before waving her goodbye.
She had succeeded in shifting Layla's assignment to the next day, so she could focus on her time out with Dane.
"I will see you when I get back," Cassie said before making her way out and towards the elevator.
Layla folded her hand into a tight fist as she followed her cousin's movement through the window.
———
"Oh, that's cool. I'm outside already," Dane answered and then had a brief hearty chat with Cassie before ending the phone call.
Dane sat on his bike with his helmet still on his head.
Many of the employees of Grey Corps coming in and going out couldn't help but pay him a little attention.
They would stand and stare for a few seconds before going about their work — either heading back to their offices for unfinished work or going home.
Those who were used to seeing Dane's power bike had a glint of familiarity in their eyes, but then Dane never took off his helmet, and so they couldn't tell if it was actually him.
Dane sat on the back, laughing with his helmet hiding his facial expression.
He was waiting for Cassie while adjusting his black gloves and watching everyone.
No one walked up to him to confirm who he really was except for one of the security personnel whom he discharged with a quick show of his company ID.
The security personnel was shocked that Dane was back on his feet and asked if he had resumed, to which Dane answered negatively.
They shook hands and laughed briefly before he let Dane be.
This caused staff that saw this play out to confirm that it was either truly Dane Morgans behind that helmet or someone of influence that they were yet to find out.
It didn't take long before Cassie came into view in the distance.
She was pretty even after hours of work and stress.
Her beauty was not deterred one bit.
Her long brown hair danced as she turned her head.
Dane crossed his arms over his chest and smiled as he watched her swaying her hips elegantly on her way to him.