Raul didn't know why he asked for a kiss and why he was kissing Starley's lips again. Earlier at the mansion, he had told himself to focus on work. Because, oh my, Starley's lips felt so sweet, soft, and warm. Once he had tried it, he could never stop doing it. Starley didn't seem to resist either. This made Raul happy, and he pulled Starley's body closer.
Raul kissed Starley deeper, their tongues meeting. But they kissed gently and sensually, making everything even more pleasurable. Raul heard Starley let out a soft sigh, her hands gripping Raul's shoulders.
Starley's head began to spin, and she felt dizzy from Raul's kiss. Then, a car horn broke through, reminding Starley they were in a car. Also, they were not alone; Colby, Raul's driver, was there.
Suddenly, Raul felt Starley's small hands touch his chest and then push him away. This made Raul stop kissing her, but his hands didn't release their hold on Starley's waist.
"Raul, we can't do this," Starley whispered.
"Why not?" Raul asked in a hoarse voice.
"We're in a car, heading to your office. Also, I'm your employee now," Starley replied. Starley had to hold Raul back now; otherwise, he wouldn't stop. Raul began to regret slightly asking Starley to be his employee. Raul groaned lowly in frustration, looking visibly annoyed.
"There are still a few minutes left," Raul exclaimed desperately.
Starley was shocked to hear Raul's response, which seemed desperate to kiss her. Although the kiss was amazing, Starley still pushed Raul's chest away while shaking her head. Raul let out a rough sigh. Reluctantly, he finally released Starley. Starley stepped back and sat down in her original place.
Starley's heart was still racing, but she tried to calm herself. Feeling awkward, she opened her bag to look for a mirror; her lipstick was a mess when she checked. Starley quickly fixed her makeup.
Starley's appearance now looked like someone else's. No one should recognize Starley with this look. People had seen Starley on the news styled like a princess from a conglomerate family, not with a nerdy appearance.
Starley glanced at Raul from the corner of her eye; Raul had been silent since Starley pushed him away. Was the man angry? Then Starley remembered Raul's words about a new identity; Raul had said Starley could choose a name for her new identity. She thought momentarily until she found a name for her new identity.
"I've found a name for my new identity," Starley suddenly exclaimed.
After a few seconds of silence, Raul asked, "What name do you want to use?" without looking at Starley.
"Sophia Barnes," Starley replied. Raul immediately took his phone from his pocket and typed a message. Not long after, he said,
"I've asked Carlos to care for your new identity." Starley just nodded.
After that, it fell silent again. Raul didn't start another conversation. Starley glanced at Raul. Maybe Raul was indeed angry with her because of earlier, Starley thought. Starley sighed.
As for Raul, he closed his eyes for a moment. This was only the first day he worked with Starley, and keeping himself from wanting Starley was incredibly difficult. And all of this was because of what happened last night. Hopefully, God would help him.
.
.
.
They both got out of the car when they arrived at the lobby of the B.I., a building. Starley stared at the building in front of her. It was very grand and minimalist. This was Starley's first time coming here.
Raul walked ahead while Starley followed him from behind like a secretary. As they entered the lobby, everyone they passed slightly lowered their heads to greet Raul, their boss. But Raul kept walking and ignored the employees who greeted him. They both entered a private elevator, which was exclusively used for Raul. Raul pressed the button for the twentieth floor.
"I have an important client meeting in fifteen minutes. You don't need to attend the meeting; wait in my office, and Carlos will come to give you instructions," Raul explained as if speaking to a business associate.
"Alright," Starley replied.
"When we're working, call me Mr. Blackwell," Raul added. Raul looked stiff and professional now, and he appeared cold, with all his earlier playfulness replaced by a focused work mode.
Raul could change 180 degrees once he stepped into the B.I.A building. Just a few minutes ago, he kissed her lips gently like a lover.
The elevator door chimed, indicating they had arrived at the twentieth floor. They both exited the elevator. At that moment, Starley immediately made eye contact with two beautiful receptionist women. One had long blonde hair, and the other had a bob haircut with black hair. They stood up when they saw Raul and bowed to greet their boss. When they noticed Starley, the two receptionists looked at her with curiosity.
"Has the client arrived?" Raul asked directly.
"Not yet, Mr. Blackwell," replied the blonde woman, then curiously glanced at Starley. Raul noticed that glance because he immediately introduced Starley to the two receptionists.
"This is Sophia Barnes; she will be my secretary." Raul introduced Starley to her new identity. Starley slightly bowed her head. The two receptionists looked shocked upon hearing that, making Starley wonder why they were surprised.
"When the client arrives, take them directly to the meeting room," Raul ordered.
"Yes, Mr. Blackwell," both receptionists replied. Raul walked toward his office while Starley followed him from behind.
When they reached the office door, they both entered Raul's office. Raul's office was spacious and masculine, perfect for him. The room's aroma was reminiscent of Raul. Starley took a deep breath.
"Wait here for a moment," Raul said.
Starley turned to Raul and said, "I thought I would join the meeting."
Raul's jaw seemed tense. "After thinking it over, you must adjust before joining the meeting."
Just say you're mad at me, Starley huffed inwardly. Meanwhile, Raul thought it was better this way.
Because I'm not sure I can focus if you join the meeting too, Raul thought.
"Alright, how long will the meeting be?" Starley asked.
"Maybe two hours or quicker," Raul replied.
"Then I'll leave for now, Miss Barnes," Raul said formally, already starting to call Starley by her fake name.
Starley nodded and said, "Okay, Mr. Blackwell."
After that, Raul left Starley alone in his office. Starley headed to the sofa in the room and flopped down onto it.
Earlier, Starley had said she didn't want to work with anyone. And here she was, stuck working with Raul for three months.
Raul hadn't explained to Starley why he was so desperate to need her services. Surely, a large intelligence agency like the B.I.A had many talented hackers.
Not long after, there was a knock on the door, and then Raul's office door opened. The receptionist woman with the bob haircut appeared, carrying a tray with tea and snacks.
"Mr. Blackwell asked me to bring this because he said you haven't had breakfast," the woman explained. She walked over to Starley and placed the tray with the snacks on the table in front of the sofa where Starley was sitting.
"By the way, nice to meet you. My name is Jade Carter," Jade greeted warmly.
"Ah yes, nice to meet you. Thank you, Miss Carter," Starley replied.
"I'm already a Mrs.; I got married a few months ago, but just call me Jade," she replied cheerfully.
"And the one you met earlier, the blonde one, is Tessa Walker," Jade added.
Starley's mouth opened as if to say "ah" while nodding. Jade hadn't left yet; she was still looking at Starley curiously.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Starley asked, confused because Jade was staring at her curiously.
"I want to ask, do you have a boyfriend, Miss Barnes?" Jade inquired.
Starley was increasingly puzzled by Jade's strange question. "Not yet, why do you ask?" Starley replied.
Jade now looked even more shocked. "Then how did you get accepted as Mr. Blackwell's secretary?"
"What do you mean?" Starley asked.
"In my three years at the B.I.A, Mr. Blackwell has never had a female secretary. Even though many women applied, Mr. Blackwell always only hired male secretaries. His previous secretary quit two weeks ago, so Carlos has been doing all the secretary work," Jade explained at length.
Starley's eyebrows furrowed upon hearing that. "Why doesn't he want to have a female secretary?" Starley asked.
"The gossip is that Mr. Blackwell doesn't want his female secretary to fall in love with him. It would be very troublesome if that happened. Also, he is very focused on his work and doesn't want anything like that to interfere," Jade replied.
Starley just learned about that. It turned out Raul was indeed a workaholic. It was as if the man lived his life only for his company. Now, Jade was looking at Starley with curiosity again. Starley quickly said,
"Oh, I don't know why he accepted me," so Jade wouldn't suspect anything strange.
After all, Starley was not Raul's secretary. She was pretending. And until now, she still didn't understand why she had to pretend to be Raul's secretary. But Jade looked unconvinced by that.
"Tessa applied to be Mr. Blackwell's secretary five times but never got this position. Now Tessa is very jealous of you, so be careful with her; she can be a bit annoying," Jade whispered.
"Thank you for the information, Jade," Starley exclaimed.
"Well then, I have to get back. We'll chat again later," Jade replied kindly. Starley nodded, and Jade left her alone in the office.
That was unexpected information; Starley didn't expect that working for Raul would allow her to get to know him better. And for some reason, that made Starley feel a little relieved. She quickly shook her head; she shouldn't feel relieved. It wasn't her business. After that, Starley drank the tea and ate the snacks.
After almost an hour in the office, Starley suddenly heard another knock on the door, but this time, Carlos, the robot, appeared from behind the door.
"Miss Barnes," Carlos greeted, already calling Starley by her false identity. Then Carlos entered and brought a stack of documents. He placed the documents in front of Starley. Starley looked at the papers in front of her. What is this? Then Carlos handed Starley a women's wallet from Hermès. Starley received the wallet, confused.
"This wallet contains a new ID card, a credit card, and your employee card," Carlos exclaimed. Starley opened the wallet and found everything inside, including $500 in cash.
"This is a list of people with a bad history with Harold Bellamy, as well as his enemies," Carlos explained.
"Oh my God, are you a robot?" Starley asked, shocked to receive the list of names so quickly.
"Mr. Blackwell ordered this since last night," Carlos replied.
"Well then, I'll excuse myself, Miss Barnes; I still have a lot of work to do," Carlos said. After Starley thanked him, Carlos immediately left.
Starley quickly opened the documents Carlos had given her and read them individually. After reading the documents for two hours, Starley felt sleepy. Raul had not returned yet, so she finally lay on the sofa and closed her eyes momentarily.
. . . Starley was awakened by a gentle touch on her hand. When she opened her eyes, she first saw Raul, who seemed to be trying to wake her up.
"Sorry for taking so long," Raul said softly. The stiff Raul was gone again.
"Hmm? How long did I sleep?" Starley asked. Raul chuckled softly.
"It's already two in the afternoon," Raul replied. Starley tried to sit on the sofa; she had slept for quite a while.
"How was your meeting?" Starley asked.
"It went smoothly," Raul answered.
"I want to discuss something with you," Raul added, looking serious now.
"What is it?"
"About the secret mission," Raul replied.
"Secret mission?" Starley asked.
"The B.I.A secret mission. The reason I established B.I.A and why I need you for these three months."
…