Ashley's POV

I looked myself in the elevator's mirror. I was wearing a marron dress that was perfect for my lunch meeting. I still didn't understand what was the agenda of the meeting but I wanted to get it over with soon.

The receptionist guided me to the conference room where a man in black suit was standing with his back facing backwards. It was such a cliche which I had me think-

"Hey" the man turned and my suspicions were true. It was David.

"God. What in hell are you doing here?"

"Winning my bet. You came in to have lunch with me."

"No, I'm here for my lunch meeting with the director of Silver fox. You ain't that."

"I'm, well, I'm more of a silent shareholder but I'm one of the founders so I figured-"

The door opened and another man charged in with a big frown on his face.

"Why does my assistant keep thanking me for giving him the leave he wanted? David, what did you make Anuj do? And why is he getting a leave?" The man questioned David, he didn't notice me or maybe I wasn't his main concern.

"He wanted to go to this furniture convention. He is really excited but you weren't approving his leave so I asked a little favour and gave him his leave in return."

He groaned "you idiot. Fine, you're responsible for training the temp who is gonna replace Anuj. I don't care, just do it."

David was going to argue more but he showed his hand and turned to leave when he noticed me.

"I'm so so sorry. I'm Eric Beckley"

"Ashley Walker."

Realization Dawn upon him. "You're Ashley? David's Ashley. Oh god, I get it. I'm this idiot's brother in law too."

"Nice to meet you." I had so many questions but I restrained myself from asking in front of Eric.

"Yeah, so, I'll leave you guys to your thing. I'm gonna go. Nice meeting you, too."

"Can I ask you a question before you leave?" I couldn't control myself "You're the director, this is your company?"

"Well, technically, David and I came up with the idea in college and started the company together. We didn't get a lot of investment so David's granddad had to invest. David backed off after that, he didn't want people to think that he got it all because his grandfather was rich. He's a partner but he owns almost nothing and is mostly silent except when he uses my company for his twisted favors."

"Eric, dude, I'll explain later and I'll train the temp too. Now, get lost."

Eric gave me a smile and left.

"You tricked me."

"I just omitted some facts. That was allowed."

"There isn't a rule book. You lied to me and tricked me."

"It was a white lie, actually, parts of it is true. Bottom line, I win but first thing first, let's get lunch, shall we?"

I knew I wasn't going to win that argument so I agreed.

He took my hand and guide the way out.

"Who's car are we taking?" I asked

"Yours. And I'm driving it"

"What about your car?"

"I'll ask Eric to drop it home"

I got inside the car and he took the driving seat. He started driving and while driving I looked at him more precisely. He was wearing a black suit with a off white dress shirt. His hair were nicely set giving an edge to his good looking face. He had a faint smile on his face which made him look more gorgeous.

"Stop drooling on me" he said and breaking my thoughts.

"I'm not" I blushed

"You so are. I don't blame you, I look very pretty today."

I sighed "please concentrate on the road."

He pulled over at a very famous Italian restaurant. He parked the car and we made our way towards the restaurant.

"What would you like to have?" Asked the waiter after settling.

Both of us have our respective orders and the waiter left.

It was silent until David spoke "So back to our deal. Will you go on a date with me this Saturday?"

"That soon"

"Yeah, soon" he smiled and I saw how genuinely he wanted me to go on a date with him. My mom was right, he has a crazy look. It is intoxicating.

"Yeah. Okay" I agreed. I didn't want to fight it anymore.

He was surprised. "I thought it would take more convincing."

I shrugged. "Why did you resign from your own company?"

"I didn't resign. I still own something or whatever I do. Can't really say."

"Yeah but you don't work there anymore."

"Yeah, well, when we started it was ours but then my grandpa invested and it became his. I love the man but he was a terrible boss to me. I don't know if it was because I was his grandson or something else but I had difficult time working with him. I had to think five times before presenting an idea so he doesn't disregard it. After a while, I realized he wanted me to be him, carry on his legacy, I wasn't ready. I work because I love it, it is fun for me not because I'm looking forward to be a billionaire going to fancy parties, no offense"

"None taken. I'm not that rich, it is my dad's money."

"Yeah so, I had a degree in architecture. I wanted to get away from the scrutiny. I quit, I gave Eric the full control and bow out."

"Did you grandfather approve that?"

He chuckled "nope. But then again he didn't approve a lot of things my mother did but he still loved her. I figured apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

I smiled. It is nice knowing about his life. I'm not a good conversationalist but somehow, talking to him, listening to him comes natural to be. It is amazing how much positive effect one person can have on you.