3

A few weeks later after her intense fight with Ethan, things were finally starting to calm down. Just in time for Ethan’s 31st birthday! 

She starts her day with an important meeting with Ethan’s business partners as he was yet to arrive at the office. After the meeting, Isabella gathered together with the rest of the employees at the cafeteria. In spite the fact that her and Tyler had a high rank at the company, they still hanged around the other employees under them. “What do you think we should get him, Isabella? I see you're really close to Mr. Grayson.” Olivia spoke excitedly as she stared at Isabella for a response. 

“Who? Me? No... I doubt that... you should ask Tyler, he's more closer to Mr. Grayson than I am.” Tyler raised a brow, gawking at her. “You know that’s not true Ms. Jonathan. These days you are--”

“Okayyy, it’s not about who's Mr. Grayson’s favourite. Now, let’s start with what kind of person he is.”

“Handsome,” lily admitted, sighing dreamily. Tyler couldn't help but laugh. “What? It’s the truth.” Lily stated nudging Tyler’s shoulder. “Grumpy, melancholic?” Olivia mentioned. Isabella palmed her face as she sighed. “You guys aren't helping. I admit what lily has said is kinda, sorta true. Olivia too but Mr. Grayson is also down to earth and hardworking. He likes simple, practical solutions and has a lot of common sense, so maybe.... A nice simple party, cooked meal and some gifts?” They all exchanged looks. “Now you believe why I told you you're really close to Mr. Grayson?” Olivia reminded her. Isabella gave Olivia a pointed look as Tyler threw his head back laughing heartily. 

“Okay, back to business. We don't have any gifts,” Tyler spoke after he had restrained himself. “Olivia, Tyler and I are going to get some gifts for him while, lily and the rest plan the birthday party, it shouldn't be much, okay?” Lily nodded her head to her as she smiled. “You can count on me, ma’am.”

On their way out, Isabella excused herself to grab her jacket. She encounter with Ethan around the corridor leading to her office. “Good morning and happy birthday.” Ethan looks at her intensely. He already felt aroused. “Hope your morning is going great.” She contemplated whether to hug him or not but she decided not to. To be on the safe side. “Could've been better, Ms. Jonathan. How is your day going?”

She smiled as she nodded her head. “I do want to know your secret. For someone so ancient, you look pretty incredible.” 

His eyes lingers on her for a moment too long before he restrained himself and cleared his throat. “I’ll see you later, Ms. Jonathan.” Ethan briskly walks away and she tries to shake off the suspicion that he didn't say thank you to her because he's trying to keep his distance....

Later that day, they walk down through a local farmer’s market. Isabella looked for inspiration for Ethan’s birthday dinner. “Alright, what ingredient should we get for his birthday dinner?”

“I don't know pizza? I like pizza.” Tyler shrugged his shoulder, and Isabella playfully punches his shoulder. “Or mozzarella sticks,” Olivia suggested, mouth watering. “Okay, I’m not sure we’ll be able to find those here. And I doubt Mr. Grayson would like that. C’mon Tyler, you know Mr. Grayson better than we all do. You have any suggestions?” Isabella asked, this time being serious. 

“Well.... Mr. Grayson is a man with a sophisticated palate. You can't go wrong with a gourmet meal made from fresh ingredients...” Tyler finished speaking and glanced at his wrist watch. “We are surrounded by fresh ingredients...” Isabella walked further into the market. “But he’s also a man who appreciates the simple things in life,” he spoke again tailing behind her. “I've been to business trips, restaurants with him. You can't go wrong either way.”

“In that case... the chef will make something down home. Lets make it simple, but delicious. A basic appetiser with yummy homemade burgers, huh? What do you think, Olivia, Tyler?”

“Burger? I’m an expert on burgers!” Tyler cheers as they stopped by a vendor. “Then let’s get started.” Isabella starts putting ingredients in the basket as Tyler and Olivia followed close behind. And before they know it, they were back in Tylers car, heading back to the company. After getting Ethan some gifts. 

Isabella fiddled with the box wrapped with an enticing paper. She heaved a sigh, hoping Ethan would like her gift. “Okay I am 100 percent sure Mr. Grayson is going to like this. At least we’ll see him smiling today.” Isabella glanced at Tyler and smiled. “Are you always joking about everything?” Tyler let’s out a hearty laugh as his gaze never left the road. “We all know that’s true, right Olivia.” 

“I have to admit. I’ve been working at Grayson Enterprises for three years now and I can count the times I've seen that man smile. He's always looking stern!”

Later that night, after the cafeteria chefs has done what Isabella has asked for, everyone helped out with the decorations and preparations in the cafeteria. They finished the decorations and there was nothing to do but to wait for the chefs to finish cooking. 

“What time is Mr. Grayson getting here? Do we still have time to get ready?” Lily asked. Tyler gave her a puzzled look. “I'm not changing into anything. I still look fresh and clean.” Tyler dusted his shoulder. Isabella rolled her eyes and looked away. “I'll go get ready, I'll be back soon and try not to touch anything, Tyler.” Isabella saunters out with Tyler ranting at her. 

Isabella briskly changed into a pink glamorous pink dress which has a slit at front. “Hopefully this is ‘fancy’ enough for the party... and Ethan.” She sauntered out and headed back to the cafeteria which was beautifully adorned with balloons and ribbons. “Isabella, you look beautiful!” Tyler complemented. “Almost as charming as me,” Olivia cheered twirling around in her alluring dress. Isabella chuckled and straighten Olivia’s hair. “You all look glamorous.” Isabella commented looking around. 

The sound of Mr. Grayson’s voice out the door interrupts her. “Is that Mr. Grayson? He's not supposed to be back yet!”

“You have to stall him before we can finish arranging the dishes and gift on the table!” Tyler pushes Isabella towards the door. “Go, go, go!” He has already pushed her out before she could protest. 

“Oh!” She balanced herself from falling on him. “Hmm! What are you still doing here, Ms. Jonathan?” Ethan stops short as he takes in her outfit. “You look...” Ethan visibly gulps. He shakes his head and refocuses his attention on her. “Mr. Grayson! We weren't expecting you to be back so soon... and you came back with company.” Isabella glanced at the man standing beside Ethan. He flashes a smile at her, trancing his eyes on her body. Isabella shifted uncomfortably. 

“Yes, the meeting ended sooner than expected. Something about enjoying my birthday...” He nonchalantly responded.

“Apparently he was coming back to the company to present none of us even know about.” Ethan shots him a glare. He turns his gaze to Isabella. “Ms. Jonathan, this is Liam Gabriel, my assistant.” Ethan introduced him to Isabella. 

“Come on, Ethan. We’re practically brothers. Just because that’s my title at work doesn't mean you have to introduce me to beautiful women like that. I mean, look at her gorgeous outfit. She's already out of my league, you don't have to rub it on my face.”

“Liam, this is Isabella Jonathan, my foreperson, the supervisor and a woman of impeccable virtue.” Ethan spoke, almost snapping at his step brother. “That’s a strange way to introduce someone.” Isabella took a brief glimpse at Ethan. He was jealous of how Liam was being flirty with her. “Oh Mr. Grayson knows my virtues are flexible, like me.” Liam’s grin widens, and he glances at Ethan. “It must be hard to work with her down the hall, huh?” It looked like Liam was going to say something else but Ethan shoots him a glare. 

“Ah. I’ll take that as my cue to leave.” 

“Yes, I sense something’s going on here. Seems like everyone is still in the company.” He glances at Isabella before he makes his way to the cafeteria.  “No, wait, Mr. Grayson. I, uh, have something I need to discuss with you! In... private?” He turned to look at her. “Oh. Of course. My office okay?” Isabella nodded as she smiled. “Alright, I'll see myself out. Happy birthday, Ethan. Isabella, it was a pleasure.” 

Isabelle tried to smile at Liam but failed to. “It was... something alright.”

Liam leaves with a little wave. Isabella follows Ethan down the hall to his office. They stepped in together. “So, what did you want to talk about? Nothing serious, I hope.”

Isabella fiddled with her fingers, nervous. “Actually, I wanted to ask about my... uh, performance.” Ethan starts to pour the two of them some bourbon. “Oh?” He muttered. 

“Yes, I realized earlier that I’ve been at this post for a couple weeks now, and I wanted to make sure that you're getting everything you want from me.” Ethan’s hands freezes in midair. His eyes shoot up to meet hers. 

“Everything I want from you? Yes, you could say that.” Ethan holds her gaze for another beat. Then offers her a glass. Her pulse races as her fingers brushes his. “Sorry about Liam, by the way. We were practically raised together, but I know he can be a bit much. I hope he didn't make you feel too awkward. 

“Oh, well... I can handle him. I've become a master of the art of polite rejection.” Ethan smiled to that. “Cheers to that!” They clinked their glasses together. Isabella took a sip of her drink and fixed her gaze on him. “So how’s this birthday stack up so far?” She asks. “Its hard to judge, since it isn't over yet. But it'll be pretty hard to beat the one few years back when the employees organised a birthday party for me. Still can't forget that memorable day!” Ethan briskly looks away, smiling. 

“So what about you Isabelle, tell me about your favourite birthday.” He gently took another sip of his drink, staring at her. 

“Oh, that would be my friends kidnapping me. My first year of grad school, I was stressing over tests, and my friends literally carried me out of the library. They practically forced me to relax. We went to the spa and had some pizza afterwards.”

‘A spa, huh?” He asked, feeling aroused. “Ah, yes. The massage was my favourite part of the session.” Ethan smiles. “Almost wish I had been there...” 

“Maybe Grayson Enterprises should look into inventing a time machine.” He couldn't help but chuckle. “I'm not sure my board would approve, especially with such personal motivations. But alas, we’ll just have to be content with being ships passing the night.” Ethan finishes his drink in a swift gulp before moving to stand. 

Isabelle realized he was heading out. She pretended to stumble and send herself splaying across Ethan's lap! “Oh!” She gasped. “Isabella, are you okay?”  He pulls her to her feet, and forget all about her act as she gaze up into his eyes. “I'm fine. Just a little weak in the knees.” 

Ethan reaches out and brushes a stray hair back from her forehead. Her lips part slightly... moving ever closer to him. “Isabella...”

Just then, a knock came from the door making them to part. Isabella stepped back, trying to calm her pounding heartbeat. “Mr. Grayson, your attention is needed at the cafeteria.” Olivia shoots  Isabella a smile. “I'll be right there.” Olivia hurriedly walks out. He turns his gaze to Isabella, giving her a stern look. He walks out of the office, leaving Isabella in shock. “Whoa! That was close.” She takes a deep breath and followed suit. 

She follows Ethan to the cafeteria, where the employees presented their birthday surprise. “This is unexpected. Thank you, everyone.” He beamed nonstop. “Everyone helped with the birthday surprise especially Isabella,” Tyler mentioned, smiling at her. Ethan glances at her. “Then thank you too, Ms. Jonathan.”

“It was crazy, but worth it.” She shoots him a smile. Soon they start with the appetisers then start with the entrees, classic burger. Ethan smiles as he took another bite of the burger. “This is really good. I can't remember when last I had a good burger.” 

Isabella raises her wine glass. “First, I'd like to make a toast to Mr. Grayson. The greatest boss, greatest CEO and quite possibly the best man ever.”

He flashes her a smile, “you flatter me. I--” The sound of the door opening interrupts Ethan before he could say anything else. He frowns. Everyone turned their gaze to the door. She walks in, grinning. “OMG, a party without the party queen?” She walks further in to where Isabella and Ethan were standing. “Oh, you must be one of the new cleaners. We’ll talk about your uniform, later. Here, take this.” The woman tosses her coat at Isabella’s head. The fur trim blocks her view for a moment, but Isabella recognises that face anywhere. 

Ethan’s fiancee....