One Wild Night

Chapter 355 I Don’t Even Like You

　　All morning, Anita had paced around her office restlessly, trying to figure out the best way to face Tom. It was going to be the first time she would be meeting him since he publicly revealed his identity, and she knew that she was expected to have a reaction.

How would she have reacted to this announcement had she not known his identity already? How would she have felt about him and his relationship had she not known Lucy? She didn’t want to ask either her mother or sisters, as this was something she felt she was capable of handling on her own.

After the close of work the previous day, she had gone shopping for the right office dress to wear. A dress that showed just how classy and sexy she was without revealing too much skin as was against the company’s policy. She needed to look her best, as she would be facing Tom now as Anita, his ex-girlfriend, and not just Anita, his employee.

Her plan was simple. She was going to ask him to give her a minute after the meeting, and she would apologize for all the stupid things she did, tell him that she liked him and hoped they could remain friends, and then if possible, push her luck by asking him to prove he has forgiven her by letting her buy him a drink or dinner even if it means bringing Lucy along. Then gradually, she would find a way to stay in his life while they tried to kick Lucy out.

Now standing in front of the company with the other executives who had made it a habit of waiting for the CEO that way whenever he was coming, thanks to her arrogant uncle who always asked them to wait that way for him, she couldn’t help but feel awkward.

”You don’t have to stand here waiting all the time when I’m sure you have more important jobs waiting on your desk,” Tom said after they greeted them, and he and Harry walked ahead of them to the conference hall.

Anita followed quietly, grateful that they had not brought Lucy along with them this time. It would be easier to face Tom and talk to him without having to face Lucy too.

Now that he was walking in front of her, she could look at him freely. Without the disguise or the playboy earrings and hairdo, he looked so handsome, confident, and powerful. And from the whispers she could hear behind her, it was obvious that she wasn’t the only one that thought so, especially when she saw a couple of female employees stealing glances at him as they pretended to go about their business. This was the man she wanted. The handsome, confident, wealthy, and powerful man. She didn’t care if he treated her the way Tiffany’s or Bernice’s husband treated them. She wanted to be beside this man.

Once they got to the conference hall, Anita went to sit on the seat closest to Tom as she had wanted to do the first time before Lucy took over the seat. This made Harry exchange an amused look with Tom, and he mouthed ‘Cheetah’ to Tom, who glared at him with disapproval.

Tom ignored her and waited for them to settle down before he cleared his throat, “Before we move to the agenda of today’s meeting, you should all know that Harry is now my Co-CEO, and he will be directly in charge of the airline. This will be the last time I have to sit here unless, for any reason, Harry wants me to be here. After the opening ceremony next week, Mr. Harry Jonas will be taking over,” Tom announced, and everyone clapped, while Anita wondered if he was doing that because he didn’t want to keep running into her here.

Following that announcement, Tom gave Harry a nod to take over the meeting while he sat back and just listened to them exchanging ideas about how to promote the airline and give it a competitive advantage over other airlines.

Anita remained quiet while letting the others speak, while she thought of how to talk to Tom after the meeting. They would need to speak, and she wanted him to listen to her.

”Director Miller?” Harry asked, tapping the desk with a pen to get her attention, and she blinked rapidly as she tried to focus.

Seeing the way everyone was staring at her, she could tell it wasn’t the first time he had called her name, and her face flushed in embarrassment as she cleared her throat, “I’m sorry. I got distracted,” she said, and Harry gave her stiff smile.

”I guess we should all be relieved that you’re a director and not one of our pilots. Your distraction could cost the company a lot,” Harry said dryly, and Tom tried not to look amused even though the others around the table didn’t bother to hide their amusement.

”It won’t happen again, sir,” she said apologetically.

”I believe it won’t. Everyone has contributed thus far, but you are yet to pitch in anything. What ideas do you have?” Harry asked coolly.

Anita cleared her throat as she sat forward, “During the last meeting…”

”Yeah. I’ve been briefed on that. I’m not asking about the last meeting. I’m asking about now,” Harry said dismissively.

Anita swallowed when she met his cold eyes. His sudden coldness made her uncomfortable. He seemed to be angry with her, and she wasn’t sure it was because she zoned out. Tom’s coldness she could understand since she had been a bitch to him, but Harry had always treated her like he treated every other employee, so why did it seem like there was more to this?

”…”

”It seems like you only have amazing ideas when there’s someone you want to compete against. I will remember to bring Director Perry along with me next time to be your muse,” Harry said, and Tom chuckled at Harry’s pettiness while the other directors hid their laughter.

It was not a secret to them that Anita had her eyes on the CEO, and neither was it anymore a secret to them that Lucy was the CEO’s girlfriend, so they could all now understand why Tom had behaved the way he did the last time. The only thing they couldn’t understand was why he had asked his girlfriend to leave so rudely during the last meeting, only to scold Anita in her absence.

”Since there is nothing else, is there something you would love to add, boss?” Harry asked, and Tom, who had been watching them quietly the whole time, sat up.

”Nothing much. I think the ideas are good. I’m impressed that you were able to come up with well-thought-through plans on how to execute the ideas. We will have to work on implementing them. I believe you have all taken note of the adjustments that have been made,” Tom paused and waited until they all nodded.

”I look forward to seeing your best results,” Tom finished.

”Alright, that will be all. I will be coming around daily to supervise and ensure that you’re all on your toes and everything is in place for the opening. You will also receive an invite to the coming anniversary celebration of I-Global, so be sure to attend and participate in the activities as you’re the newest staff. That will be all,” Harry said without making any move to stand up.

As the others left, Tom turned to Anita, “Anita, wait behind. I want to have a word with you,” Tom said, choosing to use her name directly since it was a personal matter and there was no need to pretend otherwise.

He had thought of it, and the best way to approach what needed to be done and take control of the situation was to be the initiator of their conversation.

If he let her ask to see him as he knew she would, she would be on top of the power differential, but if he initiated the conversation, she would have no choice but to listen.

Anita nodded, and Tom turned to Harry, who he expected to leave, but Harry looked away from him, making it clear that he had no intention to excuse them.

He had promised Lucy that he would keep an eye on them to make sure Anita didn’t do anything since he didn’t trust her not to have planted a camera around to make it look like she had something special with Tom. Tom was his best friend, and Lucy was, well… Like a sister to him. So he wasn’t taking any risks. Besides, it would be suspicious if he was to leave alongside the other directors, leaving them alone. That would make people speculate, and he didn’t want unnecessary rumors going around a company they had just taken over.

After the others had left, Tom glanced at Anita, who was seated with her head bowed, and both hands folded on her lap. Looking at how calm she looked, one would never guess just how evil she could be, Tom thought.

Harry, who was pretending to be busy with his phone, clicked on his camera and made a video record of them without their knowledge.

”I understand that based on the way things happened between us and following the revelation of my identity, you must be quite stunned to know that I’m the CEO. I apologize for lying to you about my identity even though you will agree with me that it was necessary,” Tom said politely, choosing to act like he didn’t know anything she had been up to.

What was she supposed to say to now? She had thought she was ready to handle the situation, but he had destabilized her by asking to speak with her first.

She cleared her throat and tried to retake control of the situation, “Tom, I’m sincerely sorry for not showing up on our date…”

Tom shook his head and cut her off, “All that is water under the bridge now. You didn’t apologize when we met the last time. Why are you doing so now? Because I’m the CEO?”

”Because I never got the chance to apologize properly,” Anita said, and Tom tried not to scoff.

”Well, don’t be sorry. You already made it up to me when you tried to hook me up with Lucy at the movie house. Remember what you said to me that day? In your words, ‘she is more suitable for you than I am or can ever be, and to make up for the past, I want to help pair you both together’ do you remember saying that?” Tom asked, and Anita shut her eyes while Harry snickered. At least she wasn’t entirely shameless.

She had said those words. How stupid had she been? What had possessed her to be so presumptuous? She had validated their relationship, so how was she going to be able to ruin it? Now those words were going to haunt her.

”You helped me find true love whether you meant to or not, so I’m sincerely grateful to you for not showing up. If you had shown up, I never would have met the perfect woman for me. So, thanks for not showing up. Things didn’t work out between us, and I called off our relationship because I realized you were not the right person for me. I didn’t love you, and I could never have loved you even if I tried. There is no reason for you to feel awkward or embarrassed. So please focus on your job, so we don’t have to fire you for not paying attention during meetings,” Tom said, and Anita felt her eyes sting.

She blinked back her tears of regret and humiliation that burned her insides and cleared her throat as she raised her head to look at him, “I understand. Can we at least be friends? Maybe I can buy you a drink, or we can have dinner sometime? You can bring Lucy along too. It will be a shame to go back to being strangers. I really did like you genuinely, and I like Lucy too, of course. I see her as my friend,” Anita said, and they both turned when Harry scoffed.

He looked at them over his phone’s screen when they both looked at him, “What? Oh! You heard that? Sorry. I just saw something ridiculous here,” he said, pointing to his phone, “Don’t mind me and just continue with your discussion,” Harry said with a dismissive wave, but they all knew that he was referring to what Anita had said.

”We can’t be friends. Besides, I hardly have the time for that. I have my best friend here who doesn’t like to share, and I also have my girlfriend who I prefer to spend every moment of my day beside. There’s no room for other people. Plus, I’m sure you still have to take care of your dog, and I’d hate to take you away from him. So you see? It just would never work because, honestly, I do not even like you. So let’s stick to being employer and employee, alright?” Tom said as he rose, making it clear that he was done.

”I guess we are done here,” Harry said as he pushed away from the desk and stood up after saving the video.

”Talking about friendship as though you were such a great friend when you thought he had nothing. People should learn to have some pride,” Harry muttered under his breath, but loud enough for them both to hear.

Anita remained seated with her head bowed as both friends walked away. She was doomed! How was she going to ever get him to love her?