Big Bad Wolf Chapter 23: The Deal

When Alexander came back to work after his business trip, Harper did everything in her power to avoid the man. The images of his naked body were still fresh in her memories so when Lucas called her that night to ask her to meet Alex at the Sanson Hotel, her blood instantly rushed to her face and she couldn’t but questioned her boss motives.

“To be honest with you, Harper, he’s been acting weird and very much secretive when he came back from his trip. Even to me. Maybe he’d open to you,” Lucas had told her.

“Open up to me? Why would he open up to me? We never really talk or bonded over anything. We’re not even acquaintances. He’s just some CEO I know and I’m nothing but an assistant he knows. Do you get what I mean?”

She heard the distress in his long and deep sigh. “Please, just meet him tomorrow morning. Look, I owe one. Okay?”

“Lucas―”

“I tell you what, um, let’s go out on Saturday. All drinks on me. And oh, dinner too. That’s right. Let’s have dinner, on me. Then drink after that. Still on me.”

“Lucas…”

“Please, Harper….”

“Oh, Lucas, the things you make me do,” Harper whispered to herself as soon she crossed the street towards The Sanson Hotel that following morning. And as she had expected, she was arrived before Alex. She sat at the table in a corner, away from the prying eyes of the people there. The hotel’s grand salon was both lavish and refined, something that instantly made Harper anxious. She had always been self-conscious in places like the grand salon. Or any place where the rich usually hang out.

10:45 AM. Harper let out a slightly irritated sigh as she stirred the cup of coffee in front of her. She had been waiting for Alex for nearly an hour now. What if he had forgotten that he was supposed to meet her?

She sent Lucas a text message just when walked in and crossed the room as if he owned the place. Suddenly, Harper felt the air shifted around them. Almost everyone in the room glanced at him. But Harper didn’t have to wonder as she already knew that their CEO had that kind of aura to him that had always made people pay attention to him.

Harper noticed the woman who brought her coffee to her table smiled at Alex, and his brows furrowed when she saw how Alex arrogantly walked past her.

“Ms. Fritz.” Alex gently pulled out the chair opposite her. He sat down and he looked around the place before his blue eyes met Harper’s brown ones.

“Mr. Carmichael,” Harper said softly. “You wanted to see me?”

“That’s right,” Alex admitted softly which really came as a surprise for Harper. He sighed as he looked away before he looked back to her. “I need you to do something for me.”

Harper scowled. She wanted to tell him to go to hell, but then decided against it as soon as she remembered she was still employed by his company until next week and knowing Alex and his family’s vast influence, he could pretty much ruin her if he wanted to.

So, instead, she forced a smile. “You’re not asking me to kill someone, are you?” she kidded and chuckled lightly.

But Alex only stared at her like she was from Mars.

“I’m…joking…of course.”

Alex’s brow arched. “Well, what a lame joke. And if I needed someone dead, I would hire a professional hitman, Ms. Fritz. Not some uptight, self-righteous assistant like yourself.”

Harper’s eyes narrowed at him; her upper lip pulled up on one side. “Did you just insult me? How dare you ask―”

Alex checked his watch then crossed his arms over his chest. “Ms. Fritz, I know you’re desperate to leave and start your new job at Green Life―”

“―you know that?”

He smirked. “I know more than you know.” He sighed. “And it was really Castor who called you self-righteous. They were hesitant to hire you so they tried to call me. I was away. So they contacted Lucas. You already know how this one ends, right?”

Harpers mouth pinched shut as though suddenly holding back what she really wanted to say. His withering stare, however, continued. The expression in her eyes was something she was finding hard to control.

Alex drummed his fingers along the table before he looked around again. Then a man approached their table, a porcelain cup in hand.

“Here’s you coffee, Master Alex.”

“Thank you, Sven.”

Master Alex? Harper mouthed the words with such disgust. Why would he let people call him that?

Sven immediately left their table and Alex slowly sipped the fresh coffee.

“Why would I even bother right? You can do whatever the hell you want. And I know that if I refused, I’d end up like Mira.”

A cloud of warning settled over Alex’s features. “Mira was none of your business. Or anyone else’s for that matter. Now, back to why you are here. I want you to run some errands for someone. In return, we will end your contract on Friday so you can start saving the world with Castor and his weird flock on Monday.”

Harper leaned forward, her hand on her chest. “Are you trying to pull my leg?”

“Ms. Fritz, we’re not friends, okay? I don’t do casual talks or jokes with you.”

She nodded. “Sure! What errands do you want me to do?”

“For someone. I want you to run some errands for someone. Not me.”

“Okay.” She nodded again, a little more eagerly this time.

“And one more thing, and this is the most important one, you can’t tell a single soul about this…someone. Not even Lucas. I know you guys are close, but you can’t tell him. The minute you do, then our deal is off and you will find yourself unemployed for the rest of your life.” Alex paused, his eyes regarding Harper critically. “I mean it this time.”

“Okay.”

“I need your word.”

“Okay, but what am I going to say if Lucas will ask me?”

Alex took one long sip of his coffee before he stretched his legs and stood up. “Your problem, not mine. Think of something believable.”

“Okay.”

“And to make it even more interesting, I’ll make sure you take with you a very generous compensation.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Now, I want you to meet her at this address,” Alex said, pushing towards her a folded piece of paper. “She’ll tell you herself what she needs you to do for her.”

“Meet her?”

“Yes. Her.”

* * *

Francine Grimaldi. She couldn’t believe it. She was running some errands for Francine Grimaldi. What was she doing back in Seattle? Did Collette know she’s back? What was she doing with him?

Alex and Francine?

Harper’s eyes widened at the sudden realization as she entered the third high-end shoe boutique on her list at The Shops at The Bravern and down on the sidewalk Her arms clad in multiple shopping bags. It didn’t take long for her to connect the dots.

No wonder Mira was fired. And of course! It had to do with another woman!

What a pig?! Harper thought, slightly shaking her head to show her utter repugnance. She never liked Mira, and she had never really gotten to know her, but she sympathized her. Although, the woman should have already seen in coming. Alex was womanizer. It wouldn’t be longer for him to find someone new. Someone fresh. Someone like Francine.

And she was, in truth, struggling to really believe that the woman had fallen for Alex. She looked like someone who had already figured Alex out―like her―and would never fall prey to him unlike the long list of women who had.

“Can I help you?” A young, very stylish intercepted her thoughts.

Harper smiled. “I’m here for Francine’s shoes?”

The young saleswoman’s face immediately lit up. “Of course! Wait here and let me pack the shoes for you.”

She shook her head, still amused. The errands, as it turned, was to pick up every shoe that every expensive shop in the city had made for Francine. Yes, made for her―not sold to her. Like she was some royalty or something. Harper really had thought about it. What Francine wasn’t just annoyingly but was some sort of royalty too? Someone really important whom she just neglected to make herself be aware of.

But if she were some royalty, shouldn’t she be surrounded with armed bodyguards? Shouldn’t the mayor of Seattle at least invite her over coffee or dinner or something? Shouldn’t the press be on her? Shouldn’t the paparazzi be taking pictures of her wherever she went?

“Hi, there!”

Harper almost jumped.

“Here you go.” The saleswoman handed her another gigantic bag for one pair of shoes.

“Thank you.” Harper quickly left the shop and walked down the sidewalk. Apparently, Francine loved shoes. Obsessed with them, even! Given how many paper bags were now hanging by harper’s arm.

By the time she was done with the list Francine had given her at the table where she waited for Alex, it was already half past four and Harper couldn’t wait to go home and reward herself a long bubble bath. For her, Francine’s errand was ten times tiring than a full day at the office.

“You made it alive.” Francine greeted her when she returned to the quaint coffee shop in a serene neighborhood outside the city. “Congratulations.”

Harper laughed dryly at her comment. “Yeah. Gosh! You must love shoes so much.”

Francine nodded. “Most of these are gifts. And to be perfectly honest with you, I don’t even know if I’d be able to wear them all.”

“Yeah,” was all Harper managed to say.

“I love bags. Just so you know.”

“Ah-huh.”

Harper watched her pour tea in the two cups on the table.

“How about you? What do you love? Shoes? Bags? Clothes?”

She shrugged. No one had really asked her that. “I’m not really sure.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know.” She wanted to tell her she loved the smell of rain on the streets; the feel of cotton against her skin; the taste of the burnt edges of cookies. But Francine meant the other kind of love―the love for material things which she clearly didn’t have. She owned three pairs of shoes, two bags, and her closet housed just enough number of clothes she needed. She didn’t love shoes, bags, or clothes. She needed those things, but she was certain she didn’t love them. They were needs, not love.

Francine looked at her for a moment before nodding thoughtfully. “You’re a truthful woman, aren’t you? Or at least you try to be.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know so you say you don’t know. You don’t pretend.”

“Yes. Just like you said, at least I try to be.”

“No wonder he likes you.” Francine smiled and sipped her tea and carefully set the cup back on the saucer.

Harper gulped then cleared her throat. “Who? Who’s he?” she asked, flush of color warmed her cheeks. But Francine kept mouth busy sipping her tea, but this didn’t stop a small smile from escaping her lips.