CHAPTER SIX
JONATHAN'S POV
I grabbed Danielle's hand and felt her take a deep breath against me. This wasn't how this was supposed to work. I knew how cruel people could be, and the comments I'd seen on the group chat about her were making my blood boil, since I was the one that had suggested this.
"Are you ready?"
She nodded, and I opened the stairwell and stepped out, aware of the multiple eyes on us and particularly on our joined hands. While I would have gone with my personal elevator, I ignored Danielle's protest and entered the general elevator. There was no point in dragging it out.
We entered the elevator amidst shocked looks, and the whispers began. I looked down at Danielle to see how she was taking the reaction, and smiled when I saw how relaxed she was. I watched the floors move from the ground floor, and the elevator stopped and opened to the third floor, where Julia was standing with three other women. Most of the employees in the elevator came out, leaving two women who had not bothered to hide their curiosity.
The feeling of tension immediately enveloped the elevator, and I knew people were curious about what drama was going to unfold. It wasn't a secret that Julia could turn crazy in the blink of an eye.
She continued staring at me without a word, and I pressed the button for the doors to close. Just as the door was closing, and I started feeling relieved, she stopped the door and entered with the women. Danielle, having noticed the change in environment, had also gone tense beside me.
"Good morning, boss. I wasn't aware a special event was holding today." Julia said, pointedly staring at our still joined hands.
Danielle tried removing her hands from me, but I held it tighter. "I guess you missed the memo. Not sure how that could have happened, since someone specially helped me announce the good news." I replied. There was no doubt she was the one that had posted the announcement, even though it had been posted by an anonymous account. She was the only one vindictive and brave enough to have done it.
She smiled, "I don't know what you're talking about. Posted what? What announcement?"
Thankfully, the elevator stopped on the fourth floor, and the remaining two employees that were still in the elevator with us came out. I could recognize them as part of the planning team. The door was closing when their voices flitted to me.
"Isn't this so interesting? That's the ex and the new girlfriend."
The other woman laughed. "Did you see her face? If looks could kill."
Now that the three of us were alone, Danielle made another move to remove her hands, but I held her firmly, none of which Julia had missed. "You're kidding, right?"
I looked at her, putting on my best uninterested stare. "About what? Us?" I asked.
Julia turned to Danielle, hate very obvious in her face. "Who do you think you're deceiving? I give this your arrangement two weeks max."
Danielle stiffened, and the elevator dinged for the last floor. Danielle removed her hands forcefully and went out of the elevator with no last look at us. I turned to Julia. "What's your problem? I don't need your interference in my life; what part of that don't you understand?"
She laughed and pressed the button for the already closing doors to open. "I think this conversation should be held somewhere more comfortable, don't you think?"
Seeing no other help for it, I followed Julia to my office, noting Danielle wasn't at her table. I entered my office and sighed when I saw Julia already seated at the corner I had for important conversations. I went down the stairs and sat down, crossing my legs.
She scoffed. "Why do you look like you're doing something great? I heard both of you talking yesterday. What kind of foolhardy arrangement is this?"
I let her continue to talk, but couldn't remain silent as her reprimand to me turned to insults to Danielle. "Don't talk about Danielle like that. Since you said you overheard our conversation, you should know I was the one that brought it up."
She narrowed her eyes. "If you're that desperate to be in a relationship or get married, I have nothing against that, but not that woman. I'm not going to allow it."
"Allow it?" I laughed mirthlessly. "Who are you to allow or not allow it?"
She stood up and walked closer to me. "Have you forgotten so soon? You don't want that precious piece of information I have entering the world, do you?"
I stood up. "You won't dare it. You also have a lot to lose if you reveal that. Have you forgotten that? This involves both of us. You think I will allow you to do anything funny and go scot-free?"
"Not that woman. What do you even know about her?" She asked, breathing heavily.
"What did I know about you when we started? This isn't my first rodeo, anyway, or yours." I said, gesturing to her. "You should know more about that."
With one last look at me, she stalked out of my office, her heels making a clicking sound with her movement, leaving a sad, bitter taste in me. If I could, I would go back to rewrite my history with her, starting with when I first met her. I couldn't believe she had even thought of threatening me.
Determined to remove her from my mind, I could think of what to do later, but for now, there were more important decisions to make. Like, where exactly and when to get married to my secretary?
JULIA'S POV
I was going to make that woman regret this. Before she came, everything had been okay, and now she was trying to take everything from me, and I couldn't allow that to happen.
I walked to her front, waiting for her to acknowledge me—something I knew she was doing on purpose. After a few minutes of silence I couldn't take again, I tapped her table, and she looked at me, removing the AirPods in her ears. I narrowed my eyes; I wasn't buying that crap.
"Whatever agreement you have with him, break it immediately." She continued staring at me, and I broke. "You don't want to mess with me. I'm that person dear daddy should have been warning you about from your birth, understood?"
She dropped the AirPods she had been holding. "Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance to, as he was murdered when I was younger."
I laughed. "No wonder. You didn't have someone to teach you what and what not to do. You don't want to cross me. Nathan is mine, and anyone that tries to take what belongs to me, I will destroy."
She nodded and put her AirPods back in, and I laughed. I was going to show that silly chit, I wasn't to be messed with. I pressed the button for the elevator and entered, bringing out my phone as soon as the door closed.
Before I could dial the number, my phone started ringing. I sighed when I saw who was calling.
"What?" I snapped.
The voice on the other side laughed. "Looks like my daughter isn't in a great mood. Just what I like to see. How is the assignment going?"
I calmed myself down. Getting worked up in the presence of this man had never brought me anything good. "It's going well. It will be finalized very soon."
"You'd better make it as soon as possible; I'm running out of patience." He said and dropped the call. Taking a deep breath didn't help my anger, and so I flung my bag against the wall. I wasn't going to allow anything to stop me. I'd worked way too hard for this to suddenly lose control like this.