《Strictly Professional ✔️》Chapter 8

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Three hours of never-ending work and I'm finally able to leave! Hallelujah!

For the past three hours both me and Mr. Reid were trying to catch up on yesterday's unfinished work and during those three hours, I got a call from Kate, which wasn't the most pleasant of conversations I've had in my life...

I got a call when I was facing a few papers and answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"You idiot! where the hell have you been?! I was worried sick, I come home and see no note, no text, nothing! I call after waiting for about an hour and still nothing! do you have any idea how angry and scared I was?!"

"Honey...I'm sorry..."

"Hmph"

I knew she turned her head to the side, something she does when she's so mad she won't take sorry for an answer.

"Kate, I'm sorry, it's not like I abandoned you to go on some kind of vacation I left to work..."

"Ugh, fine I forgive only because you said you'll take me on vacation"

I didn't say that but okay...

Kate also has this habit of hearing what she wants.

"By the way, Mr. Handsome boss man is there so do me a favor and make a move"

My eyes widened and I was left in a state of shock.

"What the hell Kate! He's my boss!"

"If that's what you say! Bye babe! Call me if anything juicy happens!"

And with that, she hung up before I can even say anything.

Sigh...

I walked to Mr. Reid's office to make sure there's nothing left for me to do so I can leave.

I lightly knocked on the door and heard a 'come in' I walked in and Mr. Reid was looking at a piece of paper like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Sir, I'm done with all the tasks you asked for, if there's nothing left for me to do I'll go back to the hotel"

"May I remind you, Ms. Downs, I am the only one with the passcode to my penthouse and I'll be taking you to dinner tonight so since you're done we can both leave at the same time" he said as he got up and started packing his things.

"Dinner?"

"Yes, I wanted to treat the both of us for a nice evening"

"Yes, thank you, sir"

We left the office and back into his car, there wasn't much traffic so we didn't have to sit in awkward silence like last time.

Reaching the penthouse Mr. Reid turned to me signifying he had something to say to me.

"Ms. Downs dress formally for tonight"

"On a scale of one to ten how formal?"

"Six" and with that, he walked into his room.

I did the same and quickly slipped into the shower not even glancing at my bedroom.

Letting the warm water soak my body, I closed my eyes at the relaxation that my tense muscles felt and my brother's face popped into my head.

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How could he disappear on us?

I can't forgive him for the pain he caused my family, but before I come to conclusions I needed to hear his side of the story.

Not wanting to face more of my past than necessary, I rinsed off the remaining soap and got out of the water.

I groaned remembering I didn't pack any formal outfits considering I wasn't planning on doing anything except work and it's not like I can just wear work attire to a restaurant and casual wear is out of the question.

I sat on my bed but got up when I saw a box with blue material inside.

I carefully took out the dress and gasped, it was beautiful.

I quickly put on some undergarments, then I put the dress on and was surprised it fit, I looked in the mirror to also spot gorgeous silver heels.

I hadn't gotten my hair wet so I just ran my hand to loosen the knots and put it on one side, I took out my makeup and put on some blue eyeshadow, and kept my lipstick natural.

I slipped on my heels and walked out of the room I wanted to knock on Mr. Reid's door but I heard his voice coming from the living room.

I saw him yelling at the person on the other side of the phone, I couldn't look away at how handsome he looked in his navy suit.

But hey when is he not?

I cleared my throat to get his attention, he hung up the phone and turned around, he looked at me intently and I felt his gaze roaming my body.

I wanted to say something but before I can he spoke first.

"You look good"

"Thank you, sir"

"I hope the dress is to your liking, Ms. Downs?"

"Yes, thank you for the dress but you didn't have to"

"No I had to, it couldn't have looked as good on someone else"

I blinked twice to make sure I heard him correctly and gave him a small smile.

"Thank you"

He nodded and was walking out the door, I followed him out, when we entered the elevator he pressed a different floor number instead of the lobby floor.

I thought maybe he made a mistake because the button was right above the lobby.

I reached my hand out to change floors but he grabbed it.

"Mr. Reid?"

"Why are you pressing the lobby button, Ms. Downs?"

He said thankfully letting of my wrist.

"You pressed the wrong floor, sir"

"I haven't pressed the wrong floor, Ms. Downs, that is the floor to the hotel restaurant, we are dining here tonight"

"Yes I'm sorry sir, my mistake"

"I'm glad you acknowledged your mistake don't let it happen again and never question my actions

Ms. Downs"

I gritted my teeth and said

"yes Mr. Reid"

We reached the dinner hall in a matter of seconds he must have already reserved a table because the host just by noticing Mr. Reid directed us towards the table.

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The host gently pulled my seat out, thanking him I sat down and I felt him push my seat and leave.

I looked up and Mr. Reid was glaring at something in the distance.

I followed his gaze to the host who was looking at me and then blushed when I caught him looking.

I chuckled at his cuteness but then looked at Mr. Reid who continued to glare.

"Do you know him, Mr. Reid?"

"No"

"Then why are you glaring at the man as though he took something from you?"

He shrugged and that was a sign he didn't want the subject to continue.

We ordered our food when the waitress arrived and the question I dreaded was thrown in my face.

"Who is Mr. Sanchez to you?"

I sighed.

"You don't need to know Mr. Reid, it's my business to take care of"

"Tell me"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm curious, you're a strange and mysterious person, Ms. Downs"

I looked at him to see if he had any ulterior motives but his shiny blue eyes were nothing but curious.

"He's my brother"

"Why doesn't he have the same last name as you?"

"That I don't have an answer to but I can give you a small briefing of my past in Spain, nine years ago my parents divorced, they had been together for twenty years but they drifted apart when I was eleven, they kept on arguing and it was inevitable they would divorce but my brother..."

"My brother kept on ignoring reality and acting oblivious to the situation, He ran away after we were told we would be raised by our mother alone, he left leaving me to look after my family,"

"My father didn't leave for another woman he simply left to live the rest of his life on his own, he kept on supporting us, excluding my mother, he had agreed to only pay for our education...that is only if we were worth paying for,"

"I got into Yale with a scholarship not wanting to spend my father's precious money and was shipped off to New York, my sister wasn't as lucky as I was, she went through a rough time of rebelliousness, so her grades weren't the standards for either a medical student or engineering, not even towards the point of a successful businesswoman,"

"When my sister said she wanted to go to design, my father rejected paying for it and I said I'll support her for that"

"How did your family take your brother leaving?"

"My father said and I quote 'Good riddance! he wasn't worth my time or money! let's see him pay his college funds now!"

Noticing the confused expression Mr. Reid gave me I gave him a crystal clear answer.

"My father pretended like he never had a son and didn't feel anything other than displeasure towards him,"

"My mother is a different story she felt heartbroken with my brother gone but still worked hard on taking care of us from paying rent to feeding us, when I got into high school I started working to help her out"

"Why did you call your brother 'Leo' when we first saw him?"

"Because his name is Leonardo Downs, I don't know why he changed his name to Peter Sanchez but I'll have to hear his side of the story tomorrow"

Mr. Reid nodded and we dropped the conversation when our dinner arrived.

After dinner, we waited for our desserts to come, so I asked the question that has been eating up my brain for the past three days.

"Mr. Reid, can I ask you a question?"

"It depends on what kind of a question it is Ms. Downs"

"Well you're going to have to answer anyway, I answered your question so it's only fair that you answer mine"

"Life is not fair Ms. Downs"

I huffed, glaring at him, I smacked the question in his face.

"Why did you have an engagement ring in your drawer Mr. Reid?"

He let go of his cutlery and looked at me sternly.

"Walk with me, Ms. Downs"

Okay I'm in trouble, we stood up and Mr. Reid guided me to the restaurant's outer dining area.

It was only him and me in the warm Chicago breeze and in all honesty, it made me feel nervous.

When I turned to look at him he was openly glaring at me.

Uh oh...

"What authority did you have to go through my privacy? To go as far as to open a box that doesn't have any paper?! Are you that big of a slut?! How much are they paying you to dig up garbage about me?!"

I looked at him shocked at his sudden outburst.

"Yes, I knew you were going to use the excuse of 'I was just doing my job Mr. Reid' that's pure bullsh*t Ms. Downs! There's no such thing as someone working for me just to work and earn their salary! So what are you getting out of this?!"

"Well Mr. Reid, I was just being curious! Just like how you've been about my personal life recently! And F.Y.I I'm not like those sluts you sleep with every night, I work solely for the fact that I get a good paying salary that keeps me off the streets!" I shouted venomously.

He looked taken aback for a moment but quickly calmed himself.

"Fine, do you wanna know why I have that ring?" He asked in a much calmer tone.

"Yes," I said wanting to know.

"I bought it for the girl I wanted to marry" he muttered.

"What do you mean 'wanted'?"

"It means something, I answered your question now and you're not allowed to ask another question," he said dismissively.

Ugh, why are you always so damn mysterious!

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