Chapter Seven
Theodore Ross IIhatedher.
The awful thought stayed with Daisy Rae throughout the ride, and it still lingered in her mind even when she arrived at the office. While she wasn't late for work, she usually came in a lot earlier, and the fact that she didn't had everyone looking at her slyly.
"Way to go, Daisy Rae!" A chatty young intern came up to her with a grin. "If what I'm hearing is true, this is the first time you've come to the office wearing the same clothes."
Daisy Rae's cheeks turned pink, and she only realized she had everyone's attention when everyone in the vicinity laughed.
"Who's the lucky guy?"
"Are you going to meet him again?"
"He better take care of you or he's gonna get his ass sued by the best lawyers in town!"
She tried her best to make them see that they had it all wrong, but when everyone only kept grinning at her, Daisy Rae gave up and hid herself in the pantry instead. She would just stay here until talk about her died down, and in the meantime...
Found it!
Daisy Rae spotted her old mobile charger in one of the overhead cabinets, and after plugging her phone, Daisy Rae was aghast to see several missed calls from both Hilda and her uncle. Last night had been her first time to stay out, and she probably had them worrying unnecessarily over her.
I'm sorry I forgot to text or call last night,she typed in a hurry.I'm back at the office now, and I'll head straight home after work.
She sent the message to her cousin and Uncle Nolan, and after which she tried but failed to clear her mind with a bit of baking. Her memories were apparently too awful to forget just like that, and Daisy Rae ended up reliving her disastrous meeting with the billionaire's son.
The boy was everything she had expected his son to be: incredibly cute, unbelievably smart, and wonderfully articulate even for his age. She had hoped they would get along, but something about her seemed to have rubbed the billionaire's son the wrong way, and the boy had loathed her at first sight.
Daisy Rae had always been good with kids, but for the first time in her life she had been at a complete loss on what she could do next with Theo. When the billionaire finally walked in and introduced her as his friend, the boy had responded by throwing a glass of water at her face...and a tantrum afterwards when ordered to apologize by his father.
'I hate you, Daddy! I hate you!'
Any attempt on her part to talk to him only made the boy more hysterical, and he had gone on to cry and yell for so long that Daisy Rae began to fear for his well-being. In the end, she had decided to make up an excuse to leave in a hurry, and she had also refused the billionaire's offer to drive her to work. All she had been thinking of at that time was for Theo not to feel bad anymore, but now that several hours had passed, and she had yet to hear from the billionaire in any way—-
How can you have forgotten the most important thing, Daisy Rae?
Mr. Calder had been explicitly clear about the billionaire's reasons for wanting to marry. Garion Ross wanted a'great'mother for his son, but how could Daisy Rae be that when seeing her was enough to make his son burst into tears?
Is this it, God?
Is this my seven-year curse about to take effect?
Is this how fate will destroy my life for the third time?
The intimacy she had shared last night with the billionaire was beyond her wildest dreams, but what happened afterwards was also her worst nightmare come true. An imaginary Phil Koegan popped up in her mind, and a sick feeling invaded her stomach as the Amazing Race host looked at her in sympathy.
'I'm sorry to tell you this, but you've been eliminated from the race.'
Her alarm sounded off at that moment, and Daisy Rae was pathetically grateful for an excuse to shove her imaginary elimination scene out of her mind. The sweet, savory smell of her meat pies also drew everyone to the pantry as soon as she had them out of the oven, and Daisy Rae was kept busy in the next few minutes.
"You're so bad for my diet, but...can I have another slice?"
"Can I take an extra slice home for my kid?"
"You're the only reason I love coming to work, seriously!"