It Started With A Contract

Chapter 3

The department was louder than before as male and female staff discussed her husband. She was

mortified as Susie broke down into a commentary about his looks.

Bile rose to her throat and she forced herself to take a sip of water from her flask. One of the rules of

their firm was this: No inter-staff relationship. It was forbidden and highly frowned upon, so most of

what they were saying would only happen in their dreams.

Still, their thoughts nauseated her. She wasn’t breaking the rules by being married to the boss but she

felt like a criminal as she listened to them ogle him and try to picture him without a shirt. He was her

husband and she hadn’t even seen him shirtless yet.

Susie was the loudest of the gossipers, her comment about Kelvin’s lips bothered her and she scowled

at their backs when they laughed at her remark. Her cheeks warmed when she remembered their near

kiss from this morning. Kelvin was perfect as he was.

Lily dragged a seat close to her, Sarah’s instructions seemed to have flown out of the window with this

new development. “Have you seen the picture?”

“Yeah,” she answered.

“Just yeah?” She nodded. If she spoke too much, she might lose her temper. “That man is freaking hot.

I want to do him,” Lily said with a laugh that died down when Leila didn’t join her. “What’s wrong with

you?”

“Sorry. Don’t feel so good.”

Lily’s face contorted in concern, she placed a hand on Leila’s back and pressed the back of her palm to

her forehead. “Have you taken anything for it?”

“Not yet.” She counted to five before speaking again. How could she take anything when the sickness

wasn’t real? “It just started. I’ll be fine. Thanks.”

“If you say so.” She motioned to Leila’s phone, the screen lit up with the picture of her husband. “What

do you think? Hot or hot?” She sighed dreamily and Leila bit her tongue to avoid lashing out at Lily as

she listed his good features. “Did you see his eyes?” Lily sighed again and Leila counted to twenty to

steady her breathing. “I don’t stand a chance with him being the boss and all that but do you think he’s

single?”

No!

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lily asked when she bent over. She was more than fine. She just needed

some time before she screamed at everyone to shut up.

“What’s going on?”

They both jumped at the sound of the new voice. Lily cursed, Leila froze. Her husband was here. He

stared right through her like she was an ordinary staff and she burned with embarrassment when he

scoffed before turning to Lily. His fingers drummed on her desk.

“No cursing in the office,” he told Lily. Sparing one look around, he said, “That applies to everyone

here.” Leila didn’t remember sitting but her knees couldn’t support her weight any longer. “Who is not

okay?”

A lump formed in her throat, Lily passed her a sorry look. They didn’t know if silence would be best in

this scenario. “Me,” Leila finally volunteered an answer to save Lily from getting into trouble. “I’m the

one.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

Kelvin pushed one hand into his pocket, leaned forward so she had no choice but to look up at him. He

intimidated her. His voice. His looks. Everything about him.

“Nothing,” she replied. He lifted a brow. “I feel dizzy but it’s nothing I can’t handle, Sir.”

“Do you need to take the day off?”

Leila couldn’t tell if he was asking out of genuine concern or because it was required of him. Her head

shook slowly. “No, Sir. I’ll be fine. Thank you, Sir.”

“Whose phone is that?” He pointed to her phone.

Thankfully, the screen had gone black. She tried to remove it from the table but his glare stopped her.

“Mine,” she whispered. Everyone was staring at them. Some, with pity and others with indifference. The

way he focused on the screen cracks made her say, “It just happened today. It fell down when I was

rushing up.”

Kelvin turned his back to her without another word and she released a breath when he sauntered to

Susie’s table to grill her. Her nervousness turned into annoyance at the ease with which Susie

answered his questions. He wasn’t flirting with her, was he?

Sarah walked in seconds after to give a general introduction. Leila forced her name out of her lips when

it was her turn and she looked away when Kelvin frowned at the use of her former last name. Collins. If

he was so comfortable acting like he didn’t know her, why was he pretending to be upset?

“Leila is the staff of the month,” Sarah offered after the introductions were done. She shuffled on her

feet and her eyes found the ground at Kelvin’s stare. That was nice of Sarah but she didn’t think her

husband cared about her achievement. “Has been for a while.”

It might have been her imagination but she caught Kelvin’s curt nod before he left her office. When the

door shut again, she began to breathe normally.

“I think the boss hates you,” Susie said as she walked past Leila’s table. Leila threw a paper napkin at

her head and Susie laughed as she ducked the flying object.

“Sorry,” Lily murmured. “It’s my fault.”

A corner of her lips twitched. “Not at all. It’s fine.”

Leila’s eyes darted to the clock on the cream walls, she couldn’t wait for closing hour. She wanted out.

The rest of the day passed without any hiccups. But the gossip didn’t cease. Each time Lily tried to

involve her in the chat, she dismissed her with a polite answer. Leila was the last one to leave the

office. It was a big room divided by desks and slabs. If she ever got a promotion, she would get an

office to herself.

Outside the building, she took the turn by the left leading to the subway. There was no bus so she sat

waiting at the bus-stop. Her phone rang inside her bag, she retrieved it and burst out laughing when

she saw Kelvin’s name on the screen. She was a married woman now. She no longer lived at that

apartment complex that was twenty minutes by bus.

Her phone rang again, she slipped it into her bag without picking. She retraced her steps to Tech

Valley, her office and started the long journey to her new house. Kelvin assigned a driver to her before

he left this morning but Leila didn’t want to bother him. She needed time to herself before she had to

face Kelvin.

On her way home, she stopped by the roadside stall to get some meat and vegetables. Kelvin didn’t let

her pick out any food items from her house. Yesterday, he asked her to order for them but she chose to

make noodles because she didn’t want to spend his money.

Leila wasn’t sure what kind of food Kelvin liked and she didn’t want to ask him over the phone. She

didn’t want to talk to him. It was a few minutes past six when she finished grocery shopping, more than

an hour since work closed. Her heart sped up at the number of missed calls from Kelvin, she rushed to

the street and flagged down a cab to get her to the house.

Her steps faltered when she neared her apartment elevator and she gulped. There was a figure pacing

in front of the elevator with his head bent over his phone. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed

heavily. As if sensing her presence, he raised his head.

“You’re back,” Kelvin said by way of greeting.

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you use the driver?” Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Because she was mad at him for acting like he didn’t know her. She didn’t matter to him but he could

have at least tried to be nice to her. Why did she even care?

“Sorry.”

Kelvin sighed again. “Sorry isn’t the answer.” Leila had no words for him. “Next time, please use the

driver.”

“Okay.” She didn’t want to speak to him but he was not just her husband, he was her boss. He held her

future. His eyes narrowed at the bag in one hand, she raised it to explain. “Stopped by to get

ingredients for soup.” He didn’t stop staring and it made her uncomfortable. Her hand dropped to her

side and she offered him a faint smile. “Sorry I missed your calls.”

“It’s fine.” He collected the bag from her before she had a chance to refuse, she sucked in her breath

as his fingers brushed hers. “I’ll help you with this.”

Kelvin didn’t say another word as they stood there, waiting for the elevator. The elevator slid open and

they both entered. They stood on opposite sides like strangers, she was quiet. The air thickened with

awkwardness, she stole glances at him and pursed her lips.

This man was her boss’s boss. Her husband.

“Are those recommended?” She asked when she couldn’t take the silence any longer. She motioned to

the glasses tucked in his breast pocket. As kids, she and her friends used to wear non recommended

glasses because it gave the impression of a smart student. Kelvin nodded with a half-smile. “Nice.”

To that, he said nothing and she watched the numbers on the panel reduce until they were at their floor.

A warm feeling spread through her chest as he went straight to the kitchen to drop the bag on the table.

He scratched the back of his head as she dragged a stool to sit opposite him. “I can’t cook,” he blurted

out.

Leila laughed. “Not to worry,” she replied, “I can.”

“Thank you, Leilani.”

She cringed at the mention of her full name. There had to be some sort of understanding between

them. He had no reason to be formal with her all the time.

“Kelvin, I know you are my boss,” she said and his eyes narrowed. “But you don’t have to be so

formal.”

They watched each other, she expected him to say something, do something but he gave her a polite

smile and stepped out of the kitchen. She fell back to her seat and groaned. Love was out of the

equation but they could at least try to be friends or act civilised.

Forcing thoughts of her weird husband out of her mind, she set to cooking. She rinsed the vegetables

and chopped them, humming a tone that ceased when Kelvin strutted into the kitchen. He had changed

out of his suit but he still looked as good as he did in one.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw him inch closer to her. She stopped cutting. To talk or not to talk.

In the end, she whispered, “Do you need something?”

“No. Do you need help?” She shook her head but he took another step forward and carried the bowl on

the counter. Spellbound, her eyes followed him as he placed the rice in a pot to boil after rinsing it. He

caught her staring, his lips curved in a half-smile. “Did I do it wrong?” He did it perfectly well. He

pointed to the vegetables, she was halfway done with chopping them. “Are you sure you don’t need

help with that?”

“No.”

“Leila.” Her eyes jerked to his face, he leaned on the wall, observing her. “Your boss called you Leila.”

“Everyone calls me Leila,” she answered.

She turned away from him and resumed cutting. “Sarah thinks you deserve a promotion.” The knife

stopped moving for a brief second. “Leila.” He said it like he wasn’t sure. “I like the sound of that better.

I’ll call you Leila from now on.” Without meeting his gaze, she nodded. “You can call me Kev when we

are alone.”

“Okay, Kev.” It bothered her that he only wanted her to use that name when they were alone but she

decided to focus on the positive. A yawn escaped Kelvin, she noticed him struggling to stay awake.

“Get some rest, I’ll let you know when dinner is ready.”

Kelvin didn’t object. He staggered forward and she smiled when he paused at the door. He wasn’t so

bad.