Chapter Six.
Anastasia's POV.
A just so you know: entering into the building, it all went like the last time. Blonde number one checked me in before asking me to take the elevator to the second floor. In the second floor, blonde number two checked in for my appointment with the CEO, Mr Nicholas, before she told me to take the elevator to the twentieth floor.
Unlike the last time, I'm calm and less intimidated with their exquisite choice of dressing. I get into the elevator and just when I thought the door would close, a leg stops it. My eyes shift from it to its owner.
Zeroing my eyes on Mr Nicholas himself, my mind got all shaken up and all of a sudden, it's like I can't think again. I manage to compose myself on the outside as he enters with a daunting smirk on his face.
He watches me from the corners of his eyes, as he lowly says, "Miss Sanusi, good to see you early today." I think he's realized I am not about to answer after the smile I return to him, and so he adds, "to my floor, right?"
I nod, "yes, Mr Nicholas."
As we began to move at a terminal velocity, I couldn't help but feel seconds has turned into hours.
The awkward silence is also killing me. At some point, I clear my throat and when he looks at me, I smile again.
What the...? My subconscious is yelling at me. I'm so bad at this boldness of a thing. I mean, I'm not that bad, but I can be at times. And this is one of the times.
When we reach floor eighteen, he clears his throat with an "ahem," sound. "So, have you got something to say to me?"
I squint my eyes quickly. He has turned his body in such a way that he's facing my side. I'm staring directly at the steel door of the elevator.
"Um—no." I say in a low voice.
"Your lips are pressed together into a thin line. Your eyes are searching for answers. Your breathing is hitched. My cheeks are flushed. Your hands are brawled. Your legs closely shut, brushing over one another. Your forehead is a little wrinkled and not to say, your thoughts are damn disturbing, although, not-so-bad." Woah! He's so fast with saying all those. And what did he mean at the last sentence? That's cliché, I'd say.
I turn to the side to look at him, my mouth agape. How did he even notice all that?
I blink continuously, my brain updating my response.
"Wow. That is a lot of observation."
And then, surprisingly enough, he goes back to smirking. "Well, I tend to observe my staffs a lot." In my mind, I feel that has got a different meaning. I can't be sure, though.
"I'm sorry I didn't reply your mail last night..." I trail off as the elevator ding, and we get out.
"And for what reason is that, Miss Sanusi?"
"Please, call me Anastasia." Thinking I should make that clear, I tell him, and he nods and murmurs an agreeing word. "I got caught in some..." How do I tell him that I saw a strange animal that looked like a very big wolf last night? It's weird. "... distractions. Very frightening distractions."
He has his eyes narrowed at me. "Heck I know." His hand goes to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"You know?" I don't understand what he meant.
"Yes, I think I might. Anyway, you will see Miss Buchanan in her office. Please do well to converse with her. She'll show you around the office once again. And by the way, there's been a change. You'll be moving to the house with me, accompanying you." Oh, but that wasn't stated in the contract. And wait, if that will be the case, then I'll be here till evening. What the heck?
It will be boring. I need to know why there's a change.
"But that wasn't what I signed?"
"I needed my sons to have me there when they see you for the first time. And I hope you'll make a good first impression with them in my presence." He tells me.
Before I say anything further, a door from one of the offices open and Olivia exits. She walks with such elegance on approaching us.
"Oh, I'll do my best, Mr Nicholas."
"Call me Nicholas." Oh! I wasn't expecting that. He begins to walk away. "And next time, don't keep me stalling. I'm not known for my patience." When he says that, something dings in my head like a warning alarm, as though, he's trying to send a message across to me.
I couldn't reel much into it because of Olivia's presence. "What's wrong with him?" She watched him with a suspicious look. I laugh.
"Well, he's being a CEO." I say and she laughs.
"Indeed he is." Her laughter heightens for a short moment. "Oh, let's get you into today's heads up."
In the course of the next few hours, Olivia and I, inside her office, discussed Nicholas's kids. To me, with what she's told me, they sound like the best kids in the whole world. I would say she's got a likeness towards them, which is great. She's told me their favourite: in drinks, foods, fruits, clothes, colours... basically all I might need to survive their rather crunchy attitude in the first few weeks.
Also, she lets me know that many nannies from the past don't usually spend more than two weeks before they leave and now that I got a nanny job and a personnel manager job, I guess I've got a lot to do.
After the talk, we realized it's past twelve in the afternoon, and it's time for her break, so we decided to go to the mass office to get her lunch.
Inside the mass office, I'm faced with different writers, typing away on their laptops. If I remember correctly, Olivia made it known that they have got writers and designers in this particular floor, that is, as new plots are made for new stories, the designers, as she called them, make book covers and comic trailers right away to broaden the idea. I see it as an inspiring thing to do, because as a writer, too, if I should see my book get brought out into an animation, I'd be moved to further it.
Back to the now, Olivia has gotten her lunch.
Focusing her eyes on me, she presses, "aren't you eating lunch?"
I shake my head almost instantly. "No, I'm not hungry." But truth be told, I'm just nervous for some rather undefined reason. I guess I just haven't gotten used to being here.
She is about to press me into changing my decision when, out of the blue, someone, a few space from us, slams his fists onto the table.
"Fuck! Shit! Shit! Shit!"
He seems really aggressed that I got a bit scared from his action. Olivia noticed and place a hand on my shoulder. I release a smile towards her and with her gesturing for me to come along, we walk to the man's table.
"Hey, Gregor. What's wrong?" Asks Olivia as we arrive. The man, who I now know as Gregor, has got a no-melanin skin which differentiate his skin colour from the rest of the people in the room.
"I, I don't understand what's wrong with this computer. I'm almost done with my book, but now that I logged into the folder that I kept half the whole thing, I can't find it. I uploaded it to the cloud, but the computer won't work for me to access it. Oh, good lord. I can't lose it." He breaks down, falling back into his chair.
"And where is our guy?"
Our guy?
"The fool's not here. I still don't understand how he even got to be here. There are lots of..."
"Gregor..." Olivia snaps lightly, making him stop mid-sentence. "You've got to remember. Always keep your comportment intact." She seems more of warning him, which is strange to me.
"Sure. Sure. I don't even want to see his face."
I feel the need to say something, so I chime in, "um, who's 'our guy'?"
"Oh, that's one of the workers here. He helps fix electronics in this floor."
"Oh." I say upon realization. I clear my throat. "Actually, I could help." The radiance that I see in Gregor's eyes makes me continue talking, "I've faced this issues a lot of time and I might actually know what to do. If you don't mind."
He smiles a cheeky smile. "Of course, I do not. Not at you."
"Gregor..." Olivia drawls, her palm on her face. She's obviously disappointed at Gregor's inability to keep mute. Although, now it makes me want to know why he said, "not at me." It's strange. I mean, obviously, he doesn't know me before or did he?
"Well, if you'll shift..." I trail off. He gets me and slides away, so I can be comfortable to access his computer. In a few minutes of continuous pressing whilst I position my lips in a thin line, I finish and help him retrieve his content.
"Oh, good lord. You did it."
"Of course, I did." Suddenly, I feel like I can finally start to relate. Although this isn't what I got selected for, but it's something.
"Thank you so much." He says, and logs into the folder to check his work. Olivia gives me the approving eyes, which made me snicker lightly.
And just as we want to leave, Gregor states. "Oh, and there's our guy?" He says with lucid sarcasm.
My eyes roving up to take in the person he's pointing to, I see it's Sebastian. Sebastian Hunter, son of Mr Cole Hunter, the Third. Now, I'm not understanding anything anymore. First, he's working here, now, I'm finding out he's working as repairer and at that, he's not liked by some people here. Jeez!
Chapter Seven. Anastasia's POV.Sebastian Hunter, son of Mr Cole Hunter, the Third in media. Sebastian. He's really proved to be a confusing one, because of his actions towards Olivia. The way he had addressed her when he asked for my attention. I mean, after he came to meet us, he and Olivia had a little chat that didn't quite last long and sadly enough, I barely heard anything. Then, he asked to see me, to which Olivia agreed to when he was pestering. I am currently leaning on the cool iron rails before the glassy part of the building, waiting for Sebastian to talk. He's been standing next to me for the past five minutes or so, and I can't take the silence anymore. My head's booming, and I'm tired of looking out into the distance. Just knowing I'm close to the glassy area is scary enough. "So, what's to talk about?" I say and look at him. A smile forms on his face right away, before he winks. "I was waiting for you to start up the conversation, and you did." Okay, that's weird
Chapter Eight.Anastasia's POV.The road is busy at this time of the day. When I check my phone, it's one minute past three in the afternoon. Wow. I'm glad time went fast today. Entering the small shop after Hillary, my eyes flare at the waiting line. There are too many people here, meaning it'll take long before it gets to our turn. "There's too many people here." I say out part of my thought, only making Hillary chuckle. "Ana, go find us a seat. What would you like to order? I'll get yours and mine." He sounds so cool once again, like it's not enough to be panicky about, even in the least.I chew the inside of my mouth softly, as I think about it. "I want cold chocolate tea, please, make it thick with some cupcakes with banana icing on top." He smiles a ghosty smile, "I like that order. A woman that knows what she wants." Him, saying that word, I blush right away and instinctively, my fingers go to my hair to brush it to the side, exposing my right ear. I leave him to do my par
Chapter Nine.Anastasia's POV.I had just placed my phone back into my bag when the door opened and Mr Nicholas walks in. Raising my gaze up to meet his, I find myself almost losing control and gasping right away. My eyes flare, and on the inside, it's like it might pop out any time from now, for staring too much. He looked away from me for a moment, and I take that chance to admire the handsome fellow that he is. He has a sour facial expression, like he's tired or something, but to me, it doesn't very much seem like it. His hair is sprawled around his head, so he's using his left hand to rake it, but sadly enough, the strands wouldn't do as bid and I feel the urge to want to help him out on that. Oh, my God. This usually happens to my female leads in my novels. How could I be also feeling the same?Mr Nicholas's hands swipe down at his coat to remove wrinkles just before he gets to my front. "You stayed, Anastasia."Of course, I would... especially after having seen this gorgeous
Chapter Ten.Anastasia's POV.The walk to the play room for Nicholas's kids is spent in silence. I keep roving my eyes around the space, watching at the fine materials that made up all these eclectic decorations. Oh, my... I can't get enough. Plus, I'm going to be living here, in this paradise-like place, and I'm sure I'll be having a lot of fun. Jeez! I've got a lot to talk to Kyra about. Oh, yes, I'll do a video call with her to show her all these. I shun my train of thought when we get to a door. Nicholas takes a second to breathe in and then, turn his eyes on me before he opens the door. "Prepare yourself." He murmurs...to whom? Me? Of course, it's me, stupid: I tell myself. He can't possibly be talking to Kira.As the door opens, and I take a glance of what's inside, I could have sworn for the first three seconds, my mouth dropped to the rugged part of the floor. The kids did a mess to the inside. I watch my steps as we walk inside. The whole place smells of mint candies, piz
Chapter Eleven.Anastasia's POV.A cheeky Kira in media."Did I mention it earlier that I like you, too, right back?" Kira's voice says to me and I smile. Her accent is American, by the way."Thank you, Kira." I reply. "You make it simple-ish. And you made a good first impression once again." Nicholas chimes in with a smile that makes my hand, unconsciously, brush my hair behind my ears, as I blush faintly."I told you. I have my ways with kids.""Nah, you did not.""Did I not?" "You did not.""I don't believe it. I thought I did on my first day, on the interview day.""I have a good memory, trust me, and you did not.""Can you two stop stupidly arguing and go check up on the boys, like right now! That bathroom is about to regret ever being built in the first place." Kira says, although funnily, when I am sure it's not. I know kids, and they don't do a little mess. Fast-forward: Nicholas says I won't be cooking any more today, since it's late, so we just get the kids to sleep after
Chapter Twelve.Anastasia's POV.*In media are majorly Kira and Kyra.*The next morning: I wake up to the sound of birds, chirping in the background. They voice sounds so angelic and so smooth that I smile at the tone. But wait, apart from that, my ears pick up the sound of waves, like at the ocean. My consciousness confused, I rub my eyes with my hands.My eyes open slowly at first before it snap wide, and I bolt out of the bed as in front of me is a wave, and I'm suddenly in the middle of an ocean. Jeez! My body feels like it's wet, and I can't see any bed here anymore. Oh, no! It must be a lucid dream! Not a reality, please.I scream, but then, stop when like a reverse, everything is back to normal. I feel like a psychopath right now. Like, insane!There's now a bed. There's now a room. There's now a wall, surrounding me. I'm back to the actuality I was in last night. Oh, shit! My brain dings and I yell, "Kira!""I'm sorry..." Her voice is tiny, like that of an adult that's known
Chapter Thirteen.Anastasia's POV.It's so easy: cooking breakfast is so easy in this house. At some point, I cannot even decide if I'm allowed to still call here a house. It feels more like a wizard dwelling place. There's everything that I need and the fun part, I repeat, the fun part, is that I don't need to bring out the oil myself before it's being brought out for me. Basically, Kira controls it all and since she now knows that my best friend's name is close to hers, she's been extra nice. I think she's trying, in her way, to strengthen a bond of friendship between us. It didn't take me that long to finish preparing the pancakes just the way that I want it and yes, the kids loved it. Nicholas brought them in a few minutes, right after I was done with cooking. I'm so glad when they say that they want me to keep me, as though I was some property of theirs, but I understand. You know, kids language. Nicholas gives me an I-am-impressed-look abreast, and it melts my heart: the fac
Chapter Fourteen.Nicholas's POV.The speed at which I run is flashy and stealthy, such that no human would be able to see me. They would only feel a gust of wind, passing by them, and before they even know what's going on, I'm off.In my run, my eyes glow a reddish glow around the lens and with that, I link up with Hillary, who has the connection to his mind opened for me. Once I am successful, I say, "Hillary, where are you?""Oh, you're on your way already. At the lake." "All right. And I'll be there soon." "Fine." Then, my eyes go back to normalcy and I increased my speed.Turning at a corner, I slide to the very end, to the left in order to avoid a vehicle. The road is silent, and that's why I'm passing through it. On busy roads, I dare not do this. Humans' eyes may not catch me, but trust me, Hunters' would. Hunters are our sworn enemies, oh, after the other ones that I haven't seen in a while and not about mentioning at all. And stories about these kinds of species will be