That wouldn’t make any sense, there is the stupid gnawing fact that this man might look handsome, but from what I heard from Justin, he is at least a decade older than I am. And let’s not ignore the fact that he also happened to be the most unpleasant man I had ever encountered in my life.
Chapter 3
Ian
I looked from Barry to the young woman whose countenance keeps switching from mild to wild. She held an identifiable animosity for me in those deep blue eyes of hers, but I knew they weren’t as deep as the one I felt towards her.
“You are the rudest, most immature, and stupid man I’d ever seen.”
Her words laced with icy insolence replayed itself in my head and I felt that absolute disdainful shiver of anger swim through my head. To think she had the guts to step those tiny legs of hers into my company after throwing insults at me.
My brows furrowed as I squinted my eyes at her set features. There is the inevitable truth that she is quite a beauty, if Iignored the fact that her mouth was permanently etched in a thin line as she stared at Barry Stewart and focused instead on those beautiful compelling eyes of hers. Ashley Lane was doing quite a good job of pretending that I wasn’t in the room with her and that infuriated the hell out of me.
“Why do you think we should hire you, Miss. Lane?” I asked her pointedly, my eyes asking questions of my own. How the heck did she expect to get this job?
Ashley Lane’s lips parted in a fake smile as she turned fiery eyes on me. “Because you need my expertise in brand strategy. The real question should be, why do you think I should work with you, Mr. Maxwell?”
My lips pursed as my still eyes devoured this woman with imminent rage. Everything she does managed to bring out some kind of unexplained anger in me. And oh my, I hated the fact that she could make me feel this way. Calm, collected and cool headedness were my attribute, not the wild, disoriented and hot-headedness this woman made me feel.
“We will get back to you, Miss. Lane,” I said, a finality to my tone that even a deaf person could hear.
Ashley didn’t look like she was sad about the proceedings of the interview. If I was right, she looked as though she enjoyed it and appreciated the fact that she might not be working here. She was proud, I understood this, but if only she knew how much I pride myself over respect.
She stood up and turned to Barry. “Thank you, sir, it was nice meeting you.” She picked up her bag before she turned ferocious eyes on me. “And you, sir, Mr. Maxwell.”
There was something about the tone she used, something I couldn’t identify yet but it sure didn’t make me feel good. I turned a sharp glare towards Barry who was now on his feet and walking with Ashley Lane towards the door. He soon scurried back into the room, his eyes glinting with so much joy.
“We really have to hire her, she is a smart one and I’m sure a fresh mind like hers will bring a big change to our company,” he ranted off, his dodgy eyes wavering across the place.
I could tell just what his thoughts were consisting of. Fresh mind, indeed. He just needed a fresh face to flirt with. As the thought of something occurring between the two left an unpleasant feeling in my gut, I contemplated why Barry Stewart was still my employee. Well, there was the annoying fact that he was good at what he did.
“Since when do you call the shots here, Barry?” I asked, baring my teeth at him in a smile that seemed more like a threat. “I will decide if we hire her. We have enough hands on deck as it is.”
I stormed out of the place, the whole purpose of being there in the first place defeated. I had come with the mind of meeting the young expert behind Groovy’s achievements from two years ago. A lot of people had even started calling Groovy a tech company that was setting out to be like IM and although I love seeingother people succeed, I had been more interested in how it was achieved.
So it had been a huge surprise for me when I found out that their success has been as a result of brand strategizing ideas that was brought by a creative director who was only an intern. My interest then had shifted to the intern and Barry knew how much I had wanted to bring her on board, but to think she’d even reach out to us by herself was a plus. The only thing that made this situation detestable was the annoying fact that this tiny little lady insulted me on two different occasions.
That didn’t sit well with me and somehow, I knew I couldn’t take it lightly. I’ve never taken lightly to an insult, and I wouldn’t start now.
I took off my jacket as I stepped into my office, giving a nod to the secretaries who were standing at their seats with their heads bowed in greeting. As I stepped in, my steps hesitated a bit, noticing the person sitting on my seat. The hell!
“How many times have I told you to keep your butt off my seat, Ryan McMahon?” I called out, stalking towards the figure who was now getting up and heading towards the other direction with a grin on his face. “And stop showing up in my office unannounced!”
“Hey, I wanted to surprise you, but you don’t seem to be in a good mood,” Ryan said, his smiling face peering down at me as I sat down at my desk. “Not that you’re ever in a good mood though.”
“Will you state your business and make your way out of my office?” I snapped, my eyes darting towards my computer. “I have work to do.”
“Did you bump into the wall again?” Ryan asked, chuckling. His eyes were filled with so much mischief as he looked down at me. “I told you to stop reading emails while walking.”
“Use your eyes for the road instead of your tablet. You’d bump into that pillar and the next thing you’d be doing is cursing at it, jerk!”
Her words coincided with what Ryan had always told me and it only fueled the rage I was feeling. “I met a crazy woman.”
Ryan sat himself down on the chair opposite me, looking absolutely interested. “You met a crazy woman! That’s new. All the women you meet are usually on the obedient and reserved side; what happened this time?”
“She bumped into me on two different occasions and somehow…” I trailed off, the words sounding too bitter in my throat. “…she insulted me.”
“Damn!” Ryan’s eyes grew wide with disbelief. “That’s huge, no one ever insults Ian Maxwell.” Ryan moved closer to me, shifting a pile of file aside. “But are you really sure she bumped into you or was it the other way round? You know your eyes are always glued to something in your hand.”