Ch 11: Apologetic Announcements

Recap:

Shame flooded through her. For once, Nicolas hadn't deserved any of the abuse she had sent his way. She looked up at him, hesitantly, guilt written across her face.

"Nic..."

But he didn't stay to listen to her explanations or apologies, as he turned on his heels and left the room, closing the door shut behind him soundly.

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"Cr*p! Why did I say all that stuff to him?" Cess bowed over the desk, head in hands as she wallowed in despair. "Sometimes, I just need to learn to keep my big mouth shut! I mean, seriously, Cess, you could have got the facts first! Or, even better, asked Sophia when you found out she was his P.A." She sighed, sitting up.

She knew what she had to do. She was willing to do it. But, there was a slight problem... she didn't know where exactly he was. Hell, she didn't even know where exactly she was in the building. The much-promised tour hadn't yet happened due to the earlier commotion, and now with a missing Sophia, Cess had no clue as to where she had to go in order to find her, or Nic... or anybody else, really.

"No, this won't do. Cecilia Rose Knight doesn't just wait for things to happen to her... she makes things happen." Full of determination, Cess got up from her seat, fixing her suit. She slipped her heels on before making her way out of the office.

"Damn!" She muttered to herself. "I should've really paid attention when Soph brought me here."

The vast expanse of the grey corridor was empty, white walls decorated with an occasional painting. She had no idea in which direction she was supposed to go. Even if she could find one other person, then she would be able to ask the way. But first, she needed to actually find someone!

Deciding to just go in any random direction, she turned left along the corridor and, to her relief, she could soon hear the distant sounds of tapping and murmuring. Almost wanting to whoop with joy, Cecilia reigned in her grin and made her way down to the lower office floors.

The expanse of the multiple desk office came into view as she descended the staircase. The entire place was bubbling with life and energy as people went about their work, chatting and laughing. It reminded her so much of her father's offices, except the size of this one was much larger.

Fascinated by the design of the open floor layout and the white and grey décor, she strolled alongside the wall, observing discretely. She was successful for about five minutes, before people began noticing her and an unnatural hush fell. The silence seemed to be contagious as the whole room soon caught on, all staring at her.

Feeling extremely awkwardly, Cecilia tried to diffuse the tension.

"Hi guys! Umm, I'm Cecilia. By any chance, do any of you know where I can go to find your boss?"

"Why do you want to know?" A short brunette burst forward from the crowd.

Although slightly taken aback, Cecilia replied firmly. "I'm sorry, but that's between your boss and I."

"Well, then, sorry. We can't help you." The brunette replied rudely, before she turned back around and resumed her conversation with her neighbour.

Determined not to be intimidated, Cecilia turned towards the blond man stood next to her. "Excuse me, can you please help me?"

"You're that woman, aren't you?" He sneered. "The one who caused so much disruption this morning? Who caused Mr. Freire so much embarrassment in front of his shareholders and potential investors?"

"W-what? Shareholders? Investors?" Cecilia recalled that moment again, realising with horror that Nicolas hadn't been alone at the time. He had had three other men with him. Good Lord, what had she done?

Everybody just looked at her with disdain.

"Who do you think you are?" One voice asked.

"How dare you make our boss look bad?" Another voice burst out.

"How unprofessional!"

"She even got Ms. Black involved!"

"Who even is she?"

"And now, look at her guts! Asking us where our boss is! As if we would tell her!"

"Yeah, more than likely she'll just try to embarrass him again!"

"ENOUGH!" The loud voice broke through, immediately silencing everyone.

Cecilia, almost on the verge of tears, turned to smile gratefully at her saviour - only to be met with ice cold blue eyes, sending goosebumps over her skin.

"Everybody, back to work." He stated, eyes still fixed on Cecilia. His ever loyal staff hastened to obey.

"Ms Knight, follow me."

Upon use of her last name, whispers immediately broke out again.

"Wait. Knight? As in, Cecilia Knight?!"

Cecilia didn't stay to hear the rest of the conversation, as she hastily followed Nicolas back up the stairs.

After a series of twists and turns Cecilia was sure she'd forgotten already, they arrived at an office almost double the size of the one that had been given to her. Immediately spotting a connecting door, Cecilia realised it must lead to an ensuite room which was common among people who often worked late. This office was even bigger than her father's at Faith Knight Corporation, which was impressive in itself, since her father was no miser when it came to opulence and comfort.

Finishing her admiration of the room, she turned back around to find Nic's eyes still fixed on her, leaning against his desk, arms crossed. Cecilia fidgeted uncomfortably, fingers knotting together.

"What were you doing?"

Nic's voice startled her, and she fumbled for a response.

"Umm, well, actually-"

"Why were you disturbing my staff like that?"

"Well, actually, I was trying to find-"

"In the future, I would appreciate it if you didn't disrupt the office environment like that."

"Well, of course-"

"I pay good money and expect good labour in return. You causing disruption does not bode well for my investment."

"Of course, I understand. And, I wanted to say thank-"

"I highly value my staff. I don't like it when outsiders upset them."

"Would you just listen to me!" Cecilia burst out, patience fraying.

Nic shut his mouth and nodded stiffly for her to continue.

"Umm," Cecilia cleared her throat. "I was actually looking for you. Because I wanted to apologise." She added hastily. "I owed you an apology for misunderstanding you earlier and shouting at you like I did, and it now seems that I owe you a double apology for embarrassing you in front of your shareholders and investors like that. So, I'm sorry. Truly sorry. And, you also have my thanks for saving me earlier." She added. "Your staff can be quite scary when they want!" She laughed, uneasily.

Nicolas just stared at her, poker-faced.

"No." He said, suddenly. "It's my fault."

"Your fault?" Cecilia asked, thoroughly confused. "No, no, you mustn't blame yourself. You did what you could. It's my fault for not checking my e-mails-"

"My fault," he continued, speaking over her, "for thinking that I could treat you like a responsible adult. It was my fault that I thought to start afresh with you for your father's sake, despite having drawn the conclusion two days hence that you were a spoilt, over-indulged princess: someone unused to hard work, always getting her own way and throwing a tantrum when she doesn't. Having a volatile temper and being a flirt I could have overlooked, but being a spoilt brat and disrupting my work place like that - that's something I can't forgive. Now, your father has forced you upon me, so I have no choice but to tolerate you for the next three months. But I would prefer if you stayed out of my way. Our correspondence will be through my secretary only, and any final decisions will be made at the end of the month when we have our meeting. For now, see yourself out of my office and deign to never come back. Goodbye."

He turned and sat down on his chair, and immediately started typing on to his laptop. Cecilia was in shock, uncertain whether she wanted to just slink out in shame or grab a butcher knife with which to murder him. Seeing the lack of availability of the knife, Cess decided it would be best to just go with the former.

Turning away from him, feeling her tears blur her eyes, she opened the door - only to pause again when she heard his voice.

"One last thing: I would appreciate if you didn't corrupt Soph like that again. She's a very good girl, and I don't want someone like you having any sort of influence on her." He stated. "That is all. You may leave now." He dismissed.

Cecilia silently obeyed, shutting the door behind her. Once out of the office, she leant back against the door, tears streaming down her face.

Pushing herself away from the door, she wandered off blindly into the corridor, hoping by some miracle she could find herself back in her office.

But fate, which was not feeling especially kind to her that day, had different plans.

"Cess?" A concerned voice came from behind her. Cecilia paused, uncertain whether she should make a run for it, not wanting anyone to see her like this. However, that slight second of hesitation cost her, as the person advanced swiftly.

A blonde head came into view as she let out a gasp. "Oh my god, what happened?"

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AN: Oh no, Cess has been found out! Who is it? What did you think of the chapter? Who do you feel more sorry for now? What did you think of Nic? Let me know in your comments! 😘😘

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