Chapter 4

"Hold off all my meetings until Wednesday. Transfer any important calls to the temporary number that I’ve given you. I feel that you’re more than capable to handle the work, all the best." Annette instructed Felecia as she cleared up her desk. Zach and Annette were to leave by four thirty that afternoon.

She was still winding up work as the clock struck four. Annette prided herself for her punctuality, but it seemed to be a little off track today. Maybe it was because of her jittery nerves that she kept forgetting something or the other. She hadn’t taken a single vacation in the last four years.

Truth be told was too afraid to be on her lonesome without work preoccupying all her waking thoughts. She needed to work herself dry to be tried enough to just go sleep to keep her mind from drifting to the unchangeable past or conjuring up make belief scenarios of her unpredictable future.

In the time that she had worked with Rodriguez and Co. she had never for once flown out of the city, let alone the country. She'd never thought that she would get an opportunity to do so in such a short span of time.

She chalked this opportunity up to her previous credentials and recommendations along with the charms of her workaholic nature that had proved her worth to the company. It was on her own merit that she was being given this opportunity.

She mused at how far she’d come from the woman whose biggest dream was to get married. Her life had done a complete one eighty over the past four years. She was more independent, more confident and competent.

She was already in charge of the marketing of all the instate projects, so this was more like a promotion of sorts to her. This would also be a great prospect and would make for a wonderful entry in her resume moreover she would get to travel to France.

Travelling to another country with the ever-so-handsome and unapologetically flirtatious CEO was a little too much for her nerves to handle, but none the less they were to leave today. Whether she is okay with it or not. She liked it alright, a little too much for her liking.

She took a deep breath and chided herself for thinking such thoughts. It was Zach after all. She reminded herself. Then again that was exactly the problem. If it was any other obnoxious man who she could and would ignore then things would have been much easier. But it was Zach and she found it extremely difficult to just ignore him.

"Natty, trying to calm down yourself from the wayward thoughts that you have about me?" Zach's teasing voice cut through her thoughts. Her blue eyes met with his emerald green ones which danced with amusement.

"Zacharian, for the nth time. Do not call me by that name. It’s ridiculous. At least try to maintain office decorum?" She rolled her eyes at him.

"I am perfectly capable of maintaining and upholding office decorum Miss Riviera, but what's the point of being the boss if I can't bend some rules. And Sweetheart, don't call me Zacharian, unless you want to face the outcome of calling me by my full name." He smirked mischievously at her. That smirk did something to her that she’d never admit out loud even to herself.

"That's a bit presumptuous of you, don't you think? Also, don’t your parents call you by your full name? Then what’s the problem." Annette raised an eyebrow at him.

"I’d be more than happy to explain things to you personally that too with great detail but we’d need a room and night.” He winked as she looked away to hide her blushing face.

She knew for a fact that Zach didn't like to use his full name but no matter how much it gets on his nerves, he doesn't mind her saying it. Upon hearing his brazen comment, she decided that it was high time to put an end to it.

"When are we to leave Mr Rodriguez? Your tireless flirting is rather unamusing." She glanced at her watch impatiently.

"We have to leave in the next ten minutes. And admit it, you like it." He replied without missing a beat. There was a small, almost minuscule part of her which did agree with the last part much to her disappointment.

She retrieved the suitcase which she had packed earlier this morning, mentally checked whether she had packed everything that she would need for the week-long trip and left the office after bidding a final goodbye to Felecia.

They made their way towards the airport in Zach's car. He'd been kind enough to send his car to pick her up this morning. She smiled at his sweet gesture.

"Now, now Natty, if you keep staring at me and smiling like that, I might think that you’re in love with me." Zach pulled her out of her thoughts of him for the second time that day.

Needless to say, that she blushed and was utterly disappointed with herself for getting caught thinking about him, again. She turned towards the window to hide the shade of pink that tainted her cheeks. Why was it that every time that she was with Zach, she spent most of it hiding her blushing cheeks from him?

They arrived at the airport soon enough, much to her relief. Being so close to Zach made it extremely difficult for her to keep her mind off of him. She would undoubtedly be better off with three hundred other people in the same vicinity.

Zach insisted on carrying her suitcase which she denied. As they walked towards Terminal A, she heard Zach call her. She looked over at Zach utterly confused.

"Come on. Our plane is this way." He pointed towards the exit gates. Maybe, they had to walk to it she thought. After a few minutes of walking around, they reached a private jet and she struggled to keep her jaw from dropping.

"We are travelling by this?" She blurted out before she could think it through.

"Why Sweetheart, did you think the CEO of such a reputed company travelled by economy class?" Zach teased. So much for being away from him, she thought.