Xavier had sensed that something was wrong immediately he had opened his eyes the next morning.
He stared at his pocket watch next to his bed, an old piece that held a sentimental place in his heart he wasn't yet ready to part with.
It was 5:50. He raised his brow even as he stepped out of his room wondering why he wasn't hearing Maya's hairdryer go off. She should be almost ready by now.
He gritted his teeth at how early she goes to work and how late she comes back. Somehow she was engaged to the wealthiest man in the country yet had no qualms with being overworked as a mule.
He hadn't forgotten she was looking forward to them breaking it off since to her that would only be rational, but she wasn't convincing and rational herself to him.
He knew she would never take a dime from him she didn't earn. She was that stubborn and a pain in his ass like that so he didn't even offer hence had to watch her slave away quietly.
He was sure something was seriously wrong when he entered the kitchen and didn't hear the sound of her whistling kettle boiling with water which she uses to mix her instant coffee.
Dashing to her room, he turned the knob and flung it open. He peered into her room and like he suspected she wasn't there.
He ran to the balcony where she normally sat while sipping her coffee Watching sunrise but she wasn't also there.
He rushed to her room fearing the worst as he opened her closet and couldn't believe the relieved sigh that left his lips seeing that her things were still intact.
He rushed to his room, going through his morning routine and then ditching other things like sipping coffee and eating breakfast because it felt wrong doing it without Maya, he left the house, a mental note on his head to throttle a particular someone responsible for making Maya leave even earlier than the usual though still terribly insensitive hours.
At the rate this was going, she might start sleeping over at the office, he mused even as he entered his car, hot rage burning through him.
***
Maya smirked as she peered from the window at Xavier's car halting and noting the frown on his face she could tell he was displeased by her sudden disappearance.
She hid under his table, grinning as her plan was already set in motion and her heart drummed against her chest as she waited in anticipation, breathlessly for him to come.
His footstep against the table made her eyes widen as she realized that this was happening and the option of her sneaking out had been terminated.
He didn't sit down as she had expected, so she could make herself known to him but instead brought out his phone, snapping at his secretary to get to the office immediately.
She felt a stab of momentary guilt for cutting the guy's morning sleep because of the sick game she was playing with Xavier, it wasn't her plan for anybody to suffer, well except Xavier she thought with an evil grin.
He paced around his office seemingly agitated his phone pressed on his ear, she was thankful that her phone was set on vibration when it vibrated against her body. She had kept it in her animal print jacket's pocket.
She stayed under his table tensed, as she began to realize how bad of an idea all this was and how it would have been an easier way out if she had just accepted defeat. Accept that her body was like a guitar that could only be played by Xavier's talented hands and she didn't have the same luxury.
She would look like a fool, and he would never let this drop, she thought with a sigh even as she made up her mind to stand up, laugh over her silly joke, swallow the humiliation that would follow, and head to work. The door swung open and a breathless young guy walked in making her stay hidden. It was bad enough walking out humiliated, she didn't need an audience.
Maya's eyes widened as she realized he was wearing a blazer jacket and pajama bottom. She could tell he was still sleeping when Xavier had called him and had not taken his bath before rushing over to the office.
She even had to appreciate the guy's effort of trying to wear a blazer, because if Xavier had spoken to her the way she did him when she was still working for him she would be in her nightgown too. Xavier's voice sends a chill down one's spine especially when he was pissed off.
"Sir," he muttered breathlessly even as he handed him, his coffee and she smiled as she remembered when she had called him bitter because of his black pure coffee which he now added a cube of sugar to, and then he'll look her in the eyes and say the strangest set of word she still couldn't understand.
"One is enough."
Xavier eyes the cup of coffee and kept it on his desk, even as he faced his assistant and Maya peered at them watching the young man gulp as she made a mental note to tell him to drop a notch or two on how intense he could be.
She had been so scared of his cold glance when she had just started working for him and knew she would have pissed herself if he had stared that intensely at her, the way he did his new personal assistant for long seconds that would seem like an eternity to the latter.
"Why were you late?" He demanded, his voice hoarse and intimidating.
Maya shook where she was wondering yet again if it was just her disappearance that was the reason why he was making such a fuss.
She didn't know if she had expected an assistant that had lasted this long with Xavier to be stupid enough to point out that he had come to work earlier than the usual time, but she was relieved when he didn't.
She knew that Mrs. Laura abhorred the rigorous interview process of getting a new assistant for the perfection demanding CEO and didn't want her to go through that anytime soon and all because of her stupid idea that the devil had whispered to her.
"I'm sorry, Sir," he muttered instead and Maya wanted to scream from her position under the table that he had just gained a fan but knew better.
Xavier scoffed and look away, "Get me all the files regarding the Brook's recent project and how many companies are falling over themselves to become partners with them," he paused moving to his seat, and Maya bit the inside of her mouth, nervous, "Also get me a list of what these companies are offering. We need to offer something irresistible they are not."
His secretary nodded quickly, anything to get him from the presence of his boss who seemed like he didn't wake up from the right side of his bed and to think he had celebrated the highest when his fiancée had been found thinking his problem was finally solved.