Chapter 7: You Know He Likes You

Arielle sat at her desk. She typed yet another email to another man, likely in his forties, apologizing on behalf of Alexander Marquee. Her boss hadn't returned yet to attend any of his morning meetings. He was meant to be back within 30 minutes or less from his brief meet up with Devin, but instead Arielle watched as the time moved along without him. Thirty minutes quickly grew into an hour and rapidly became two.

Arielle's eyes wandered about the large office and finally landed on the coffee she placed on his large mahogany desk when she first arrived. It sat there without a coaster, something that would make her mother scowl, but a big company like this didn't prioritize the use of such things as her Latina mother did. A frown took hold of her face. It was getting colder by the minute.

She sighed and set another timer. If he didn't return in the next hour, she would have to send yet another email. It was good that Arielle didn't fear confrontation over business related matters. Besides, she had been in a fairly good mood. Her hair had actually listened to her this morning. The curl crème her mother bought her had proven to be worth every penny.

If it weren't for the obligation held by the boring walls around her and the steady paycheck promised to her, she would find a way to be in the great outdoors. The sun had grown closer to it's peak in the sky and taunted Arielle to soak it in, yet she fought the temptation and focused on the never ending paperwork before her.

It was much too quiet there as she sat alone. His walls were thick, so she couldn't even hear Susan's voice as she answered countless calls, no doubt coming through to locate Alexander's whereabouts. She began to hum quietly to herself as she tapped away at the shortcut from the company's supplier. Her mind drifted to God and the beautiful song she heard in church last week.

"It's Your breath, In our lungs,

So we pour out our praise,

We pour out our praise,

It's Your breath, in our lungs,

So we pour out our praise,

To You only, God.

Great are You Lord"

Arielle's humming had become singing rather quickly. She sung as she went over the supply numbers for the week and reviewed all of the orders she'd have to place for the AMI group. She found it to be a joyful experience to get lost in the music as she worked. Multitasking could be her strong suit.

The knob twisted and the door opened as Arielle had gotten lost in the worship song. It felt as though she had been transformed to a beautiful place where everything was peaceful again, yet the field she'd imagined herself running through slowly faded as the sound of shuffling feet grabbed her attention. She jumped in surprise and slapped her hand to her chest when her heart pounded. Alexander walked in. His expression seemed grim or at least it had been.

"You startled me!" Arielle exclaimed.

Alexander sighed. "I do apologize, Arielle. Really." He closed the door behind him carefully, as if to not frighten her any further. His eyes fell back onto the tan skinned woman in front of him. "You have a beautiful voice."

Her eyes widened once she realized that he had heard the humming that had likely grown into an all out belt. A light blush decorated her cheeks and she bowed her head in a poor attempt of hiding from his gaze.

"Thank you, Mr. Marquee." Alexander smiled at her. This was the first time he had seen her like this. Arielle had been a fairly forward woman, never truly taken aback like the other women who practically begged for his attention. Alexander marked this as win, even if it were a small one.

"Will you call me that forever? You make me feel as old as my father." He groaned as he sat in his black leather chair. He blew air out of his mouth and looked back towards her.

"It is your name." She responded with lifted brows. Pursing her lips, she racked her brain for another respectable title. "Would you prefer for me to just call you, Boss?"

"That sounds even more detached." He sighed. He began rifling through the pages that lined the top of his desk and pulling more folders out of the filing cabinet by his left side.

"Detached?" Arielle questioned. Alexander paused, mimicking a mannequin. He had realized what he said and what it could infer. Detached. She would have every right to ask what he meant by that. Why should she be attached to him?

Alexander cleared his throat. How would he clear the air on this? He wondered.

Thankfully, he didn't have to think much of it when a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in!" He yelled quickly. Too quickly it seemed. Arielle stared at him with a quizzical look in her eye. She knew something was going on with her boss. Yet they both became distracted as a young man walked into the room.

Arielle quickly recognize the joyful ginger from a mile away.

"Jeremy!" She squealed with a large smile. Her brown eyes shined brightly at the sight of her new friend, but this only triggered a scowl to form on Alexander's face. A new sense of displeasure flowed through him as he faced the young man who practically barged into his office.

"Ari!" Jeremy yelled back playfully. "It's nice seeing you here." His eyes twinkled. Arielle quickly took notice of the stack of papers in his hands and she glanced over at Mr. Marquee, awaiting his words.

"What do you want?" Alexander practically growled. Her eyes widened at his tone and fell back on Jeremy, who also seemed surprised by her boss' response. Mr. Marquee's tone was short and lacking all the manners he had learned in grade school. He sized up this man that one of his employees must have hired. The hiring committee had clearly gotten besides themselves if they felt he need to hire every Tom, Dick, and Harry.

I'll speak with them later. He thought to himself.

"So?" Alexander pushed.

"My apologies, sir. These are for you." Jeremy replied while gesturing to the many papers in hands. Alexander glanced down at the two Manila folders that appeared to hold over 100 pages as neatly as they possibly could. So completely disorganized and unpleasant to the eye. Alexander rubbed his jaw in annoyance. In doing this, he realized that his stubble had long surpassed a five o'clock shadow.

"Hm," Alexander began. "You can set them down over here." He said while motioning to his desk. Jeremy raised a brow at the glaring man. His desk was already filled to the brim with papers, yet Arielle's desk had only her laptop and a few papers. He had only agreed to this task as their personal mail boy to see her after all.

"Ah, I see. Sir, your desk is full. Here-" Jeremy offered as he began to walk over to Arielle. Arielle's attention had already fallen back onto the paperwork in front of her. She didn't pay much mind to the two men who had been mentally debating on their paper placement.

Yet her eyes soon shot up to meet Jeremy's as he stood merely two feet away from her now. His bright green eyes were shining down on her as he placed the stack of papers on her desk. A large boyish smile was on his face, but it faded as he watched her large brown eyes widen in surprise. Her mouth was agape, she hadn't realized that he had decided to walk over to her. His mouth also fell open as he got lost in her eyes. Neither of them noticed the scowling man growing angrier beside them.

Arielle finally offered a smile and reached out her hands to take hold of the papers in his arms, but Jeremy stood there- seemingly lost.

"Is that all?" Alexander's voice cut through the thick silence like a sharp knife. Jeremy's body jerked slightly, startled at his verbal intrusion.

"Uh- almost." He gave Alexander a tight smile, yet his eyes narrowed at him. Jeremy cleared his throat and smiled back at the brown haired beauty. He placed the pages in her hands and she nodded quietly with a smile.

"Arielle," Jeremy began. He felt the sweat forming at his brow and closed his eyes for a moment before continuing. "Would you like to grab a coffee with me outside of work." He managed to say without allowing his jelly like legs to take him through the floor.

Alexander studied Arielle. Her eyebrows shot up higher than the clouds and he fought back a snicker.

"Oh? I uh- I hardly have time outside of work, with my commute and all." She responded quietly and delicately like a mouse. Alexander smiled. He was pleased with her answer, although he would have preferred a flat out no to the desperate man in front of her.

"Ah..." Jeremy responded. His eyes drifted to the now smiling bachelor beside Arielle. "Well maybe we can plan something in the future?" He suggested, causing Alexander to scowl. His eyes fell back on Arielle and softened. She wasn't likely to say yes, she said no to Alexander himself, after all. He rose the cool cup of coffee to his lips. The fact that Arielle had managed to grab one for him every morning, made it manageable enough to drink for him.

"Hm, well maybe with my friends. We go on outings, usually after church on Sundays. If we plan to come up here with her boyfriend, then you can come with. Wouldn't want you being bored with just us ladies." Arielle offered with a laugh.

Alexander coughed as his coffee shot down the wrong pipe. Jeremy rose a brow at his boss, a small smirk had formed on his mouth, yet soon that softened into a smile directed towards her.

"I would love that! Here, let me give you my number." He scribbled down an assortment of digits that Alex wished he could throw violently off of the tall balcony of his estate. Yet instead, it was delicately placed in front of the woman he yearned to know more. He wanted to deny the feeling welling up in his chest, but the jealousy was apparent. It stuck out like the ugly green monster that it was. He couldn't deny that he felt it. It was horribly apparent and he wanted to know why it was so difficult to control.

"Thank you." Ari beamed at him. "I'll save it to my phone and text you right away."

"Awesome! See you during lunch hour?" Jeremy's voice was filled with hope. Hope that Alexander wanted to shatter.

"Of course!" She reassured him, successfully shattering him instead.

"Can't wait." Jeremy replied with puppy dog eyes.

His eyes were practically filled with hearts, Alexander thought to himself with disgust.

"You can leave now." Mr. Marquee interjected. Jeremy frowned at Mr. Marquee, but nodded. He knew not to push his boundaries when it came to the CEO. It would be hard to impress Arielle while being unemployed.

"Yes, Mr. Marquee. My apologies." Jeremy stated quietly and made his way towards the door, but not before turning back and smiling at Arielle. Arielle smiled and waved at her friend as he departed from the office and then sighed as she examined the new paperwork that she accepted from him.

After the door clicked shut, Alexander waited a few moments.

"What was that?" He asked. The anger he felt inside had become like that of a liquid, coating each word and dancing around them dangerously.

"Hm?" Arielle hummed while looking through the papers and creating two different stacks. She was oblivious to Alexander's anger and jealousy, but she could at least detect that something was off.

"You know what." Alexander pushed through clenched teeth.

Arielle paused. She raised her head slowly to her boss. She pushed back the feeling that she felt building in her stomach. Annoyance. She closed her eyes for a moment and said a short prayer, asking for peace and patience, before looking back at her boss. It took a few moments for her to respond, but once she felt that self control and peace, she was comfortable enough to answer him.

"I'm sorry if we had upset you in some way. If it was the length of time to pass along the papers, then I apologize and I'll work on accepting work for you at a faster pace." She reassured him, but this displeased Alexander. He wasn't upset with Arielle, he was upset with that man who waltzed into his office as if he owned her.

"No, you did not upset me. He did." Mr. Marquee clarified as he flexed his left hand out of her sight. He pushed back his seemingly jet black hair. His dark eyes searched hers. He felt gratitude that she didn't look away immediately. He wanted to swim in the depths of her brown eyes and never come back out.

"How?" Her question cut through his mental escape, violently pulling him back to reality. Those brown eyes were closed off from him and for some reason it was breaking him.

"What?" He blinked.

"I asked how? I'm genuinely curious what he did to upset you. Did he do something to upset you before today?" She asked interrogatively. She was studying him, just as he caught himself doing to her earlier. Yet her gaze remained perfectly quizzical without any deeper intent, while his would quickly get lost in the thought of her.

"I have only met him today." Alexander admitted with a shrug in a weak attempt of nonchalance.

"Hm." She hummed aloud as she thought on his response.

"What?" He asked. He raised his perfectly sculpted brows. He likely gets them done every Friday, Arielle thought to herself.

"I'm just wondering how he could have upset you if you had only met him today." She pushed further with pursed lips. It was Mr. Marquee's turn to be taken aback. Alexander's mouth open and closed like a fish cast out from the sea.

"Arielle," Alexander paused. "You do realize that he is smitten by you, do you not?" He asked. His question was genuine and surprised her.

She paused and glanced back at her boss. "Why would you say that?"

Alexander shrugged. "Why would I say the truth?"

"Well why would it matter to you?" She questioned. Arielle wanted to think well of her boss. He wouldn't be the kind to have feelings for one of his employees. Or so she hoped. Men like that had always been off putting to her. Off putting and unpredictable. They held so much power in their hands and if their lover upset them, they could snap their fingers and ruin their life. Yet she wasn't one to sleep with her boss or any man that wasn't her husband, for that matter.

Alexander sat there, watching her. He didn't answer her question head on or at all. That was hot water and he knew never to play with hot water. "Do you think it's appropriate to spend time with a co-worker outside of work when said co-worker has obvious feelings for you?"

"I didn't know that he-"

"You're not blind." Alexander's reply was short and rude. Arielle's mouth dropped open, but she quickly collected herself.

"You're right. My apologies, Mr. Marquee." She responded shortly, with her eyes no longer meeting his. She quickly returned to her work as though their conversation never happened. Mr. Marquee's eyes widened as he realized his slip of the tongue. His jealousy had bubbled over and upset the woman he wanted to know more of.

"Ari, I'm really sorry." Alexander began his apology. His eyes softened and he already began to calm down. Arielle did not belong to him. This he knew and he didn't want to scare her away.

"Already forgiven, Mr Marquee, but please call me Arielle. It's improper to call me by my nickname." She gave him a small smile and swiftly returned to her work. Alexander had to stop himself from cursing. Within what felt like seconds, he ripped apart his own chances to be with her. Just like that.

"Jeremy called you that." He whispered quietly. "You didn't correct him."

"Jeremy isn't my boss, Mr. Marquee. You are." Arielle sighed and carefully lifted the papers off of her desk. Coming to a stand, she glanced over at Mr. Marquee.

"Here, these are for you." She said as she placed the extra papers on his desk. "I've already placed the orders needed for our tech department and the overall supplies for the company. I'm quite hungry though, so I'm going to head downstairs. Would you like anything?" She asked him politely.

Alexander's once sullen expression changed near immediately to a stoic mask. "No need. Thank you for completing your work so quickly, Ms. Burnes. My next meeting is soon, but it's small and will be held in here." He informed her.

"Oh okay." Arielle responded quietly. She felt like someone had tossed a bucket of cold water onto her head. He hadn't called her Ms. Burnes at all since they had gotten accustomed to working together. It was detached as he said. But isn't that a good thing? Arielle asked herself.

"Of course it is." She answered the mental question.

"What was that?" Alexander asked with a raised brow.

"N-nothing." Arielle responded at a quick pace. She slapped her hands together and glanced at the clock. It was still quite early. What would she do in the meantime? The entire building was filled with workaholics, she herself, was one too.

"You can return to the office by noon. Please bring up one of the protein smoothies from the cafeteria up with you around that time." Mr, Marquee requested. He offered her a tight smile and returned his gaze to the endless sheets of paper on his desk.

"Of course, Mr. Marquee." Arielle nodded.

"Okay, you may leave." He said with no trace of a smile left on his face. Arielle, stood there for a few seconds in surprise at his sudden shift in mood, but eventually nodded.

"Thank you, Mr. Marquee." She mumbled and rushed out of his office.

Alexander watched as she made her way out of the room, seeming to move at the speed of light. Her curls bounced joyfully and didn't match the clear atmosphere of the office. He leaned forward and looked back over the papers she placed on his desk, but found himself crumbling them in his hands instead. He needed a break from this. All of this. None of it was healthy.

He could feel the yearning for her grow inside of him. He thought of her more than he would like to admit. The last few days, she had invaded his mind and his dreams at night. Thankfully, nothing that would upset her, but she would always show up there. Smiling at him as they walked down a stony path together in the middle of the day. Along with her were three young ones beside her. He'd never focused on creating a new family after his mother died. Yet there he was, dreaming up a life with a woman who wouldn't even call him by his first name.

Arielle rode the elevator all the way down to the cafeteria. The usually large box like space, felt much more claustrophobic as she stood on it. She thought of Alexander's words.

"You do realize that he is smitten by you, do you not?"

Arielle thought of the first day she met Jeremy. The clumsy ginger man who smiled a whole lot, while also dropping a whole lot. She thought carefully of the way he looked at her and spoke to her and frowned. Maybe Mr. Marquee had been right. Jeremy might like her and if so, it wouldn't be appropriate speaking with him outside of work. She didn't want to lead him on.

This happened more than she would like to admit. She'd attempted guy friends in the past, but every time, they would seek more from her. She just couldn't do it. She wanted to focus on what God had for her. Yet, she could see her own shortcomings. How could she be oblivious to everyone's feelings around her? It was discouraging to think of how slowly she caught on to it all before.

Crossing off male friends altogether was the most tempting option and likely the option she would choose.

Arielle sighed and worked her way through the bustling crowd of the cafeteria. This alone proved that it wasn't just lunch hour that made this place insane, but any time of the day it seemed. She quickly spotted Jeremy in the crowd and waved over at him. He gave her quick wave back before continuing his task.

He smiled at the short, tan lady in front of him and handed her the small cup of coffee. She turned and caught sight of Arielle.

"I love your hair!" She complimented. Her light brown eyes were bright with joy.

"Thank you so much!" Arielle replied happily. "I love yours too." She replied genuinely. The shorter woman had a moderately sized afro that was pulled up into a large puff. It's light brown hues were close to the complexion of her tan skin.

"Aw thank you. This is my, 'I need to leave now' hair-style." She explained. Arielle laughed.

"I have that too. It's usually my bun." The girls laughed together and Jeremy sighed.

"Stella, stop stealing my customers." Jeremy called to her.

Stella, looked back at him and shot him a glare, causing Jeremy to raise his hands in defense.

"That's what I thought," Stella laughed. She sighed and looked back over to Arielle. "Well as you heard from Mr. loud mouth, my name is Stella." She stuck out her hand towards Arielle. Arielle reached out her hand to accept her handshake.

"Hi, Stella. My name's Arielle, but friends call me Ari." Stella's eyes widened.

"Oh, so you're the Arielle, huh?"

Arielle's eyebrows furrowed and head tilted. "The Arielle?" She questioned, looking between Stella and Jeremy.

"Yeah, Jeremy hasn't stopped-"

"Stella, don't have you work to do?" Jeremy called out from behind them. He moved from his station to where they stood. He opened his green eyes a little wider, signaling Stella to leave without any added words.

"I guess that's all from me." Stella said with a smile. "Well, it was nice meeting you Ari. I'm usually down here around this time, so maybe we can grab some early lunch before all the men come to interrupt." She said with a pointed look directed towards Jeremy.

"That'd be nice." Arielle smiled and watched as Stella walked away before turning to face the red-headed man.

"Would you like to explain to me what that was about?" Arielle asked.

"What what was about?" Jeremy played dumb.

"Are all men like this?" Arielle groaned.

"Ah..." Jeremy replied with a smile. "What did he do?"

"Who?" Arielle asked with arms crossed and a defeated pout to match.

"You know who." He responded casually and patiently.

"Why?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Are you going to ask how and when next?" Jeremy chided only earning a scowl from Arielle.

"Jeremy." She deadpanned.

"My bad." He sighed.

"It's fine, but he might be right." She mumbled to herself and looked around at the crowd. She felt grateful that no one had begun to line up at Jeremy's station just yet.

"About what exactly?" Jeremy's voice filled with confusion. Had the CEO said something bad about him?

"About you." Arielle confirmed his suspicions and Jeremy fought back an eye roll.

"What did he say about me?" Jeremy asked with a raised brow. He grabbed a half eaten pastry off his counter and munched on it while waiting on her response.

"I don't know if there's any point in sharing that. We can't hang out though. I don't think it's appropriate." She said with a sad smile.

"Did he tell you that?" Jeremy asked defensively. He could feel annoyance welling up inside of him. He wanted to fight it, but it wasn't easy. He couldn't compete with the voice in her ear if that voice was Alexander Marquee.

"Does it matter?" Arielle mumbled. She held her forehead in her hands, while leaning against the coffee stand. The world around her felt like it had begun spinning at a rapid rate.

"You know he likes you." Jeremy said bluntly.

"Ha!" Arielle loudly laughed.

Jeremy watched the beautiful woman seemingly lose her sanity for a moment. He raised his hand to rub her back, but stopped before he came in contact with her. Not a good idea. He thought. He switched his plan and instead leaned on the counter beside her. "Are you okay?"

"Hardly." Arielle mumbled.

"We can talk about it." Jeremy offered. His tone had drastically changed from his earlier chipper self to that of a solemn man.

"I'm sorry, Jeremy, we can't. I have to go. See you another day?"

"Yeah..." Jeremy replied dumbfounded. "See you another day." He spoke quietly as she walked away. He had no idea what Alexander Marquee said to her, but he had to restrain himself from marching to that top floor and finding out.