Chapter 12 Meeting Mr. Pattinson, Again

The time spent with her children was truly blissful. In a blink of an eye, it was already Monday. After breakfast, Lyla took her children to the kindergarten and took a cab to her workplace. “Lyla! Meeting room! Now!” someone quickly notified her the moment Lyla stepped into the company. “Thanks! I’ll be right there!” Lyla replied with a smile. Lyla did a simple arrangement of her documents and went to the meeting room with Lily Aldrin. “There are regular meetings every Monday. There will be notices if they want to hold other types of meetings,” Lily explained as they walked. Lily Aldrin was a good colleague. She was very friendly, quick to hold a conversation with others, and in the span of just two days working in the company, she had explained all the basic things to Lyla. “By the way, today’s meeting is led by the president himself. Usually, we wouldn’t see him since he is always busy,” said Lily, whisper-like. On the one hand, Lyla had spent two days in the office and had not yet seen the president. She had only heard about Mark Pattinson from the other female colleagues. What they knew about Mark Pattinson was news that would be tabloid material. On one day he would be featured in a news story about going out with another female star, and on another day, he would be photographed going out with a model. ‘Hmph.’ Lyla was thinking about it. Perhaps their president was just a playboy, or perhaps not… … The two rushed to the meeting room. There were already other employees gathered there from every other department. Just as they entered, they turned their line of sight which everyone else was focused onto, excitingly. Curiously, she followed and when she saw the person that was sitting in the front most seat, her entire body froze stiff. ‘Isn’t… Isn’t that… HIM!?’ “Lilly, who’s that?” she asked, despite being fully aware of who he was. She was still bearing doubt in herself as she asked. At that moment, Mark Pattinson was wearing a dark blue coloured shirt and a pair of black slacks, the buttons on his collars were off, revealing the firm, chiseled chest which accentuated the clean, handsome face of his. His eyes were dark and deep. The long sleeves of his shirt were rolled upward, showing off the branded watch that was on his wrist. There was nowhere on the man’s body that was not bespoke of regal and wealth. “Shush. Keep it down. That’s the corporation president! Mark Pattinson!” Lily answered. At that moment, Lyla felt stupid. Could the world be more cruel to her? Concurrently, the man turned over. His face, his movement, his eyes, were all too familiar. ‘Hansel!’ He looked exactly like Hansel! That time, when she met him, albeit in a hurry, she felt the similarity then. This time, as she examined him closely, he looked like an older version of Hansel! At that moment then, a sudden thought came to her mind. Perhaps, this was the man that bedded her that night. She cannot be sure! Even so, she should stop herself from thinking too much. At that moment, Lyla was truly regretting she had never had a good look at the man before she left. Just then, Lyla was too engrossed into her thinking. “Lyla, hey, are you already in love with the man?” said Lily after she saw how Lyla looked. She tugged the edge of her shirt. Lyla whispered her protest. “What are you saying? That’s ridiculous.” “Oh please, I can see it on your face,” Lily teased. “Unlikely!” Lyla answered quickly. “Well… Ah, forget it. I’ll stop now. I can’t really explain it right now,” she added. Just as they were exchanging words with each other, she felt a cold stare coming at their direction. Lyla could feel a chill down her back and when she met Mark Pattinson’s line of sight, she quickly turned to her documents to dodge it. She was not sure if he caught her but she braced herself. If the man was not happy then, he could simply fire her at any moment. Alas, she stopped talking and dragged Lily Aldrin to a chair. When the meeting was only halfway through, Lyla had already wished for it to be over. “There is a new employee in the Department of Design. Her name is Miss Lyla Lowe. Please welcome!” said the president’s assistant, clapping. When there was no movement after a certain amount of time, all eyes turned to Lyla. “Lyla…? Lyla!” Lily called out a couple of times and only then did Lyla raised her head in horror. “The president’s assistant is yielding the floor to you!” Lily said quietly. “Oh.” She tried her best to calm herself, to organize herself. She stood up, took a deep breath, and introduced herself in the simplest form. Mark Pattinson was sitting in the chair of his. His deep, dark eyes were giving off some kind of dark glint. His eyes were staring deep into Lyla Lowe. The woman appeared to be experienced, knowledgeable, and serious in her work. It seems that this kind of woman was attractive. Lyla Lowe felt the stare coming from Mark Pattinson. Her entire body felt numb by them. As soon as she was done talking, she lowered her head and quickly sat in her seat, not wanting to continue looking at others. When the meeting was over, Lyla quickly gathered her documents and hurried out. “Miss Lowe, please wait,” Mark Pattinson called. His deep, alluring, husky voice rang. Could she pretend not to hear that? Perhaps she could. She chose to pretend not to hear the call and continued her escape. “Lyla! The president is calling for you!” Lily said as she stopped her. That was the giveaway. She could no longer continue to pretend. “Yes, president? What do you need me to do?” she turned around and said politely. She tried her best to make sure her speech manner was calm and composed. “Miss Lowe, are you so quickly to forget?” Mark Pattinson asked, teasingly. “Umm? Have we met before?” Lyla continued her pretense. She was smiling on the outside but on the inside, her blood was boiling. She was one to remember a grudge. “President, perhaps you have mistaken me for someone else?” “Someone else?” Mark Pattinson said. “Perhaps.” Mark Pattinson smirked coldly. He knew that this woman could run her mouth. But he did not expect this woman could act really good as well. At that moment, he took one step closer to her and said, “Did I really mistake you for someone else?” The eyes were stern and that made Lyla’s heart sink. After all, she did not know what Mark Pattinson’s temperament was, how he was going to punish her. If she lost this job, how could she raise her two little darlings? ‘Never admit it!’ “President Pattinson, sir, I’d say that I look plain and common. Perhaps, you did mistake me for someone else,” she said, with a faint smile, as she persisted in her dumb act. Mark Pattinson stopped talking but he continued to stare at her. Lyla was clearly frantic for being stared at. She dared not meet his stare. Thus, she quickly said, “President Pattinson, if I may, I would like to be excused. I have work to do.” As soon as she was done talking, she practically fled the scene. Mark Pattinson smiled a smile that hid a deeper intent. Noon, during lunch time, Lily confronted Lyla as she was munching into her sandwich. “Lyla, what happened between you and the president?” To be honest, she was a little intrigued. “Nothing interesting. It’s just a small misunderstanding,” Lyla said as if it did not matter. “MMhmm! Girl, you look like you were running away back then,” Lily said, doubting Lyla. Lyla then proceeded to reveal what happened during that night, at the elevator to Lily. Of course, she would not reveal the doubt she had in her mind. “Just that? I don’t think the president would be so vindictive about it. Relax,” Lily said, consoling. Could she say she was not over it? “Just so you know, the other girls only know about the president through news and gossip. Girl, you got it lucky. You best stay away from him,” Lily continued her rambling. “Here I thought you were just the same as me,” Lyla whispered. The two exchanged a look and laughed it off.