DEMI

Seconds move fast. I can't take my chances when the man looks this intimidating. Why is he at my door this early?

I'm still floating in my temptation to get back in, when he smiles, leaving me confused.

“I mean no harm,” he says, as if reading right through me.

As if that's easy to believe.

He raises his palms in surrender. “I'm just here on orders, ma'am.”

My brown furrow. “Orders? Who the hell ordered you to stand at my door early in the morning?” I pry.

“My boss. Gavin Morgan. I'm sure his reputation precedes him.”

The mention of Gavin's name piques my interest and oddly my heart feels a little calmer.

“What reputation do you mean? Ordering creeps to stand at people's doors?”

The man lets out a soft laugh.

“I meant, I'm sure you know who Gavin Morgan is. And yes, he ordered me to guard your house because he couldn't stay to take care of you. He had important things to take care of.”

“Oh,” I cross my arms, as I take in the implication of the man's words.

Gavin really did that for me?

“Besides,” the man continues. “Even if I hurt you, I wouldn't live to see another day.”

“Why is that?” I cock a brow.

“He would kill me. His orders were clear. And honestly, ma'am, it's been a while since he gave such orders.”

Those words warm my heart even more. What did I do to deserve this treatment? Yet a while ago, I was thinking about how he must have already forgotten about me. How he must have so many girls in his radar, considering how hot he is.

Yet he did all this for me? He made sure I slept well, set up a glass of water and painkillers, knowing I would wake up with a hangover. Set an alarm for me so I wouldn't wake up late for the interview…

Speaking of alarms, now that one of his men is here, I should take the chance to give back the phone.

“Hey, I should give this back. Tell him I said thank you.” I say handing over said phone.

The man switches glances between the phone and me.

“I can't take that ma'am.”

“Why? And please stop calling me ma'am.”

“He specifically ordered me to get it for you last night.”

“Last night?” I'm puzzled. After chatting while drinking wine, everything else is blank. I can't place the events that followed. I don't recall Gavin doing all this.

“I can't keep it.” I tell him.

“And I can't take it, ma'am.”

“It's Demi,” I correct him.

“I know,” he says.

Oh well, I guess nothing should surprise me anymore.

“And I'm Edward.There’s no need debating this unless you want me to get fired.”

“Of course not,” I mumble.

“Great. Let's get you to Springs Hotel.”

“What?” I probe, confused, again. Am I still under the influence that I'm hearing my own things?

Seeing my confusion, he explains.

“Guarding the house weren't his only orders. He asked me to make sure you took a healthy breakfast before the interview.”

“Oh.” I'm flattered. He keeps doing that more and more. I don't deserve this.

“Edward, you really don't have to…”

“Oh, yes I have to. If I don't do that, he’ll find out, and I don't want to get in trouble with him."

“How?”

“I have his credit card…Can we please leave?”

Do I have a choice?

________________

After one of the best breakfast, Edward drives me to Morgan Industries offices. I've visited this place a few times, but never actually went in. I only came when I had to pick Laila and usually waited outside.

The place is even fancier than I've seen in pictures and magazines. Everything screams serious business. Scanning the place, I understand why it's one of the biggest companies in New York.

Edward walks me to the reception where a friendly redhead with a warm smile leads me to the waiting area outside the offices on the tenth floor.

I'd expected dozens of applicants to be here, but oddly it's only me. A lot of questions run in my mind. Am I too early, or too late? I'm leaning so hard on the former. I can't afford to fumble this one. It looked so promising.

The redhead doesn't say anything. She ushers me to have a seat and then disappears, leaving me confused as hell.

I only last for a few minutes, when two familiar figures appear before me, holding hands.

If it isn't the last people I want to see.

Traitors.

“You're here,” Laila says with a smirk.

I look away, not willing to stay in the same space as them.

“Demi, how are you doing?” Ernest asks, and I shoot him a sharp glare.

“Like you care,” I snort.

“Of course, I care,” he counters. A soft laugh escapes my lips.

Yeah, he and I have very different definitions of care. To him, care means cheating on me with my best friend.

I don't want to lose control, so I decide to control the anger riding inside me, so I may not explofe right before an important interview.

And I look away to mind my own business.

“I never meant for this to happen, Demi. I never meant to hurt you.”

Taking me for a fool again, I see.

“No need to pretend, babe. She's always been a selfish bitch and I've had to tolerate that for a long time, right Demi?”

Silence.

“Demi, you became so unavailable and Laila and I…”

“Were fucking each other while I was desperately fighting for my life?” I cut in. “You know, the guilty always find excuses and excuses. What did I do to let you down, huh? Both of you can testify, I was there for you every time you needed me. I supported you, I loved you…”

A lump starts forming in my throat and gets painful every time I speak.

“Well, Demi,” Laila cuts in. “There's no need to hide this anymore. Ernest and I hid this from you, because we cared about you. But we just can't hide how we feel for each other anymore.”

All I do is laugh. “Congratulations,” I say.

“Congratulations to you too. We saw the guy you came in with. It's hasn't even been twenty four hours, yet you're already fucking rich guys. Deep down I always knew you were a gold digger, hiding in that angelic face,” Laila says.

I stare at the girl I knew to be my best friend for years. Someone I trusted, someone I confided in!

I don't respond to her insult. And when she sees that I'm ignoring her, she keeps on talking.

“Anyway, I hope you've heard. All other applicants were disqualified last night. Only two were left according to the boss’ orders. Me and you. I wonder why they chose you, because clearly, I'm getting the job. No hard feelings, we both knew that from the beginning.”

That's the first time I'm hearing of it. Since when does this happen in the job market?

That's strange and sudden.

Laila can't stop yapping about how she's fit for this and how I should just leave since we know what the outcome would be.

“What a perfect time to prove to Ernest that he made the right choice. And to everyone that I'm better than you, Demi Perez.”

“Are you sure about that?” A familiar, deep sultry voice cuts through the air and we both turn to the direction it's coming from.

And there he is. Gavin Morgan, looking hot as usual, in a black suit

Seeing him, I can't help but smile.

GAVIN

The previous night...

I wasn't kidding when I implied Demi Perez caught my attention at first sight, and evoked an immense amount of care I haven't felt before.

In one night, I've done innumerable things, including taking her home.

After she gulps down the last remaining glass of wine, it doesn't take long before she blacks out. I scan the house looking for the room that might be hers. I find the one that has pictures of her on the wall. I'm specifically captured by the one in which she's wearing a graduation gown, with the most beautiful smile, that a few seconds pass before I realize I've been standing in the same spot for longer than I should.

I get back to the living room and carry her to her bed. I cover her well, and then watch her sleep peacefully for a while.

I wish I could stay with her, it feels bad that I have to leave.

The best I can do is find someone to guard her door. I call one of my best men for the job, Edward.

I instruct him to get me a new phone and I send him the address. I can't use her phone because that would be a breach of privacy and I don't want her to wake up feeling betrayed. That is the reason why I get the new phone.

When he comes with it, I use it to set an alarm with the most annoying song that she wouldn't ignore the next morning. She'll have to wake up.

Even though I've already made my decision, I don't want her to beat herself up tomorrow morning in case she wakes up late.

I also get her painkillers for the hangover she might wake up with.

After ensuring everything is in place, and she's safe and sound, I leave, right after giving Edward my credit card with clear instructions.

“If anything happens to her, kill yourself before I do it myself,” that's the last instruction I give Edward, even though I know he's the best at what he does, and I'd trust him with my life.

I head to Reagan's house and luckily for me, today is one of those nights where he pulls all-nighters.

His maid leads me to his study where I find him buried in paperwork.

I think one of the reasons we've been best friends for a long time is because we're both workaholics.

He raises his head when I walk in.

“If it isn't the most annoying friend on the planet,” he drawls, spinning a pen in his fingers. “What are you doing in my house at this time of the night? Come to confess your feelings for me? I'd love to see your face when I turn you down.”

I laugh as I take the seat opposite him. “How delusional does one have to be? And since when did you change your sexual orientation?” I ask, making myself comfortable.

“Anyway, jokes aside, why are you here?” He shifts to a more serious face.

“I have an emergency,” I tell him.

“What happened?” His brows furrow, his face displaying concern.

“You know you're my best investigator, right?”

He smiles, “I told you you're in love with me.”

“And I told you you're delusional. I need you to look into someone.”

“Oh, you can leave me the details and I'll deal with it tomorrow.” He says nonchalantly.

I lean forward with cocked brows, “I mean now.”

He exhales loudly. “The things we do for love.”

“Yet, I'm the one who's in love,” I mumble under my breath.

“Who's he?” He probes, pushing away the load of papers before him, and replacing them with blank one.

“She.” I correct him.

Reagan pauses everything and looks at me with widened eyes

“You want me to look into a woman at this time of the night? Did you suddenly develop an interest in a one night stand?” He asks.

This is what I have to deal with to get a job done.

“No, you idiot.”

“Then, I can look at it tomorrow,” he says, returning to his paperwork.

That's him trying to manipulate me, and somehow today, he's winning.

“Okay,” I give up.

“It's a woman I met at the club tonight,” I confess.

“Oh,” he starts laughing which takes a while.

“We're finally going to have the real wedding?” He asks, sarcastically.

“Are you going to help me or not?”

Trying to look into Demi feels like a betrayal, but again I'd also love to know more about her apart from the paranoia that I have, thanks to my past experiences with traitorous women.

I narrate to my best friend about the events of the night leaving out details that involve emotions and those he would find funny.

“Okay, brother, let's get to know more about your future wife,” he jokes, and I ignore.

“What do you know about her?” He asks, getting to his laptop.

“Apart from her name? Nothing much. Just that she's beautiful.”

Reagan gives me a brief glance and then returns his attention to his laptop. “That's a first from you. Since when do you…”

“Just get the job done, Reagan.”

I'm not about to explain to him the kind of interest I have in her.

“Going through her socials right away…aaand...Damn!” Reagan sighs and smiles.

“Now I get why.”

“You're an idiot, you know that?” I mutter.

“That's why we’re friends,” he counters.

He moves to my side, and in the next few minutes we’re looking at Demi Perez’s beautiful pictures.

It's hard to lose concentration with each picture highlighting her beauty. A few of the pictures she's with her friends.

Makes me wonder which one is the traitor.

There's one man in most of the group photos. I'm almost jealous of how close they are.

I'm about to question when Reagan says, “he's gay.”

“I thought so too.”

There's also some romantic photos among them and I assume that's the traitorous ex. Seeing him in the pictures makes me want to tear him apart for hurting Demi.

“I want to know the traitor,” I tell Reagan, who shoots a glare at me. “Yeah, and I also want to know your plans.”

“Not happening,” I snort.

“Cool.” he lets go and I find it too easy to be true.“Then I'll look into each one of them,” he says, walking back to his chair.

After a few minutes, he slides the laptop to my side.

“That's Laila Wilson.”

“This is the one who'd been sleeping with her boyfriend?” I inquire. “I mean ex boyfriend.”

“That's not the only surprise. He works at Morgan Industries. Are you sure you've never seen this face before?”

“It's a big company. Am I supposed to know all the…”

“Oh, I forgot,” he cuts me off.

“You said your Demi is set for an interview tomorrow? Well, Laila too. She was working at a lower level, I'm guessing she wanted to shift to a higher rank,” Reagan concludes.

I nod and smile in realization.

Recalling Demi's tears and how hurt she looked, she didn't deserve it.

This woman on the screen is responsible for her tears. I'm going to have a field day tomorrow.

At the end of the day, I only needed one secretary. So I give Reagan the work of cancelling all other invitations and to leave only two interviewees. Demi and Laila.

And I'm going to interview them myself.