Chapter 462 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“She looked sort of sickly. Is she okay?” Jade asked curiously, and Amos shook his head.

“No. She’s ill and desperate. She needs me to help her find her daughter before her condition gets worse.”

“Her daughter is missing?” Jade asked in confusion, but Amos sighed.

“That’s an unpleasant story I’d rather not get into.”

“You’re a lawyer. Why didn’t she get a private investigator instead?” Jade asked in confusion.

“Because she wants it to be done discreetly, and I’m the only one she can trust to keep her secrets,” Amos said as he eyed her contemplatively, wondering whether or not to tell her that her elder brother’s best friend was Sara’s first child.

“Does that mean it is a secret that she has a daughter? Did she by chance abandon her daughter? If so why is she looking for her now?” Jade asked curiously.

“Why don’t you stop concerning yourself with my client’s business, and tell me what I need to know about your case?” He asked, deciding to keep Sara’s secret to himself.

No good would come out of sharing such a sensitive information with Jade, especially since Sara had said Harry was yet to know about her existence. The best he could do for Sara was find her daughter so she could be reunited with her kids before her condition became worse.

Thirty minutes before the closing hour, Benne’s eyes were fixed on the wall clock, following the second’s hand as he tapped his fingers impatiently on the desk. At the same time, he halfheartedly listened to the complaints and reports of the resort and hotel managers concerning the challenges they were facing and the new changes they needed to implement in their various branches.

From the moment he had gotten to his office that morning and rearranged his schedule with the help of Harry’s secretary, he had barely had five minutes to himself as he had moved from one meeting to the other.

He was feeling completely drained and exhausted, and his brain felt saturated. He couldn’t even process what the man, who was now speaking, was saying.

This was supposed to be Harry’s meeting, not his, and now he wished he had asked them to postpone this meeting until Harry was available to meet with them, or better still, Harry could have held a zoom meeting with them and saved him this stress.

Thankfully, Harry’s secretary was present there, typing down the minute of the meeting, or else they would all have been wasting their time thinking they had his full attention.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had been this busy or felt this exhausted. If anything, this made him appreciate Harry’s position in his life even more and commend himself on his wisdom in assigning Harry as his Co-CEO.

Harry indeed made his life easier, and now he hoped that his new assistant would resume quickly and be at least half as efficient as Harry had been as his assistant.

Benne sighed inwardly when the man kept going on and on with his boring report. When he couldn’t take the self-inflicted torment anymore, he massaged his temple as he cleared his throat, causing the man who had been speaking to stop abruptly.

“I don’t know about you all, but this has been a long and busy day for me, and I’m mentally exhausted. Honestly, nothing any of you has said in the last hour has made much sense to me. Can either of you do us all a favor and concisely summarize in five minutes what you have all said so that we can call it a day?” Benne asked as politely as he could muster.

On hearing that, the managers exchanged a look, and thankfully, the only lady amongst them volunteered and briefly explained all they had said to Benne.

Benne listened quietly for some time, and by the time the man was done, he had gotten the crux of the matter, “That wasn’t so difficult, was it?” Benne asked as he stood from his seat, wondering why they had spent over an hour complaining about something they could have summarized in five minutes.

“I’ve heard all your complaints and suggestions. Mr. Jonas and I will discuss and deliberate on them, and we will get back to you,” Benne said, indirectly telling them that the meeting was over.

Taking that as their cue to leave, they all trooped out of his office, and Benne turned to Harry’s secretary, “I want a printed copy of the minute in five minutes. Send a copy to Harry’s email, too,” Benne said as he walked over to his desk to tidy it up while Harry’s secretary quickly left to do as she had been instructed.

Once Benne glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was less than ten minutes to the closing hour, he picked up his suit jacket from where it hung and left the office with his phone and car key in hand.

He stopped by Harry’s office and took the printed copy of the minute from Harry’s secretary before taking the general elevator.

Instead of going outside to wait for Celsie, as usual, he went directly to her office, eager to see her since he had not seen her since he dropped her off that morning, and he hadn’t found the time to text or call her either.

Immediately Benne opened the office door and walked in; every movement and conversation going on in the office as Celsie’s teammates prepared to leave for the day ceased when they saw the CEO in their office.

Benne didn’t bother sparing them a glance since his gaze was fixed on the beautiful lady, who was seated behind the glass door, which separated her from her teammates.

As though sensing his gaze on her, Celsie, who had been checking the time and wondering whether she should call Benne or text him, looked up. Instantly, her eyes lit up and her lips curved in a happy smile when she saw him standing outside her office and staring at her through the glass door.

The image evoked a memory in both their minds of the first time Benne had stood by her office door that way, the first day he had resumed as her driver, and she kept him waiting because she was carried away with work. Who would have thought then that she would ever be this excited to see him standing by her office door this way?

She stood from her seat when he opened the door and stepped into her office, and she walked up to him, “To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure, Mr. CEO?” She asked with a grin, not paying any attention to her teammates who were watching them.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t call or text all day. I was swamped with work,” Benne said apologetically as he dropped everything he was holding on her desk and pulled her to himself, but Celsie resisted.

“We are in my office. Everyone is watching,” she reminded him softly with a grin.

“Says the woman that kissed me in the presence of everyone. Or have you forgotten that already? Where is that bold woman?”

“Well, that was after work hours on our way home. People are going to start saying the CEO is making out with an employee send in…”

Before she could finish speaking, Benne walked away from her and opened her office door, “Is there anyone of you here who isn’t aware that Director Miller is my girlfriend?” Benne asked, startling both Celsie and her teammates.

“Benne…” Celsie chided as she walked over to him.

Her teammates shook their heads, “We are all aware,” one of the men summoned the courage to answer.

“Does any of you have a problem with me kissing my girlfriend in her office after work hours?” Benne asked again, and Celsie elbowed his side to shut him up.

“We don’t,” another man responded.

“Good. So why are you all still standing there after work hours, staring at us like you have never seen a man in love with a beautiful woman when you should be leaving? Or do you want to work overtime?” Benne asked, and immediately they all picked up their stuff and hurried out of the office, leaving Celsie, who was trying not to laugh.

“Did you really have to do that?” She asked in amusement as she embraced him.

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