Chapter 14: Chapter 14

Lennox ran his fingers through his hair, messing up his hard labor of making it slick and straight. He hadn't been sleeping well, not when thoughts of what his new assistant would be up to the next day plagued his mind like a virus. He'd come to anticipate a surprise whenever he stepped into his office, so he was shocked when he saw his empty desk.

Did she quit already? Was it because I didn't apologize for her phone?. He questioned himself, ruining his hair further in frustration. He didn't want to care, wasn't this what he wanted, her leaving because she couldn't take it anymore. It was, but he felt awful. He almost sighed in relief when the door opened and she stepped in with her blinding wide smile, her eyes shining at him. He found it hard to breathe for a second.

"Good morning sir Lennox, you must have been surprised because I didn't come in earlier right?" She asked excitedly, as she waited for him to answer.

"I wasn't waiting for you," he said, avoiding her gaze, he tried not to notice the way his answer affected her.

"Of course, you weren't" she muttered to herself, but Lennox was paying keen attention so he heard. "I brought you breakfast, ta-da" she announced, dropping the food pack on his desk, with a glass of smoothie. "I figured you don't have breakfast before coming to work, so I decided to make you one" she explained when Lennox didn't react.

Lennox was surprised, none of his assistants ever made food for him, but then he also hadn't given them a chance to, so he didn't know how to react to Sophia's gesture.

"Why are you doing this" he found himself asking without meaning to. He scratched at his ear, then gazed at Sophia, who looked flustered.

"I'm doing this as your assistant Sir Lennox, I should do everything to make you comfortable, so that you'll be at full capacity to work, and you don't allow me to do much, so I should do this at least".

Lennox shrugged, leaning back against his chair. "I don't know what you hope to achieve by doing this, but fine, suit yourself. I don't eat breakfast tho".

Sophia's smile dropped. "Oh, well the pack is very conservative so the food won't get spoilt before lunch, they're really good I promise, I made it myself," she said, her gaze hopeful, he didn't know why looking at her made it harder to stay by his decision.

"You can check them out if you don't believe me" she added, her voice acquiring a desperate edge to it. Lennox's gaze darted to the food pack, then back at Sophia, whose eyes almost urged him to open them.

"I have work to do, leave at once" he ordered, his voice harsher than he intended.

Sophia glared, then stomped out of his office, even tho she looked as if she wanted to give him a piece of her mind.

Lennox tried to get back to work but he felt on edge, and his gaze kept darting between the laptop and the food pack. Sighing in frustration, he picked up the pack, pulling off the cover. The sweet-spicy aroma wafted up to his nose as he gaped In awe of the meal presentation. It looked good, making him swallow hard as he realized how hungry he was. He took up the spoon and then scooped the delicious-looking soup into his mouth, his eye widened at the amazing taste and texture. Lennox sighed contently as he ate more, not quite remembering when he last ate something that good, he smiled then jerked back to reality, remembering who it was that had made the dish, the same assistant he'd smashed her phone without apologizing. Lennox felt shitty, but he didn't know how to go about apologizing, and since it seemed that Sophia had forgotten about it, he didn't want to dig it up once more.

"I'll just eat this because she worked hard on it, there's no need to be wasteful, it doesn't mean I still don't want her to leave," he said, then looked up from the food to the window that overlooked Sophia desk, he jerked in his seat as he came face to face with her cynical smile.

Lennox whipped his face in the direction of the cactus, cringing internally.

"I should have drawn up the darn shade".

******

"That jerk, all that drama for what? So immature" she muttered to herself, her smile widening even when she tried to stop. He had looked so cute when he got caught that Sophia couldn't help replaying the moment, she had been watching him since she left the office, projecting as hard as she could that he ate the meal and when he had given in to the temptation, it had been a small victory for her.

"Watch out Lennox Ray, this is just the beginning".

Kyle walked towards her sniffing at the air, Tzuyu followed behind.

"What's that aromatic scent, home-cooked meals?" Kyle asked, raising a brow.

Tzuyu licked her lips dramatically, then gulped. "Gosh it's making me starve, where is it coming from... Hi Sophia"

"Hi, you both are being pretty loud, I don't think Lennox..." She choked on her words, realizing that she had called him by his first name... Tzuyu and Kyle stared at her like she was an apparition. Sophia laughed nervously. "I can't believe I just called him that, must be because I'm starving, I meant to say Mr. Lennox" she explained with a wide fake grin.

Tzuyu shrugged turning to face Lennox's office. "He's never had breakfast here ever, but I'm sure the scent is coming out of his office, this is strange" she narrowed her eyes, then glanced at Sophia who held her breath at being the subject of her suspicion.

"It wasn't me, we're not even that close for me to get him food, he wants me out, you all know that" she rushed out in defense, her gaze darting to Kyle's for support.

Tzuyu shook her head. "Of course, it isn't you, Mr. Lennox will never eat any food that you make, so don't think that far ahead." She sneered, then motioned Kyle closer, her tone dropping to a whisper. "I think he has a new girlfriend, wow, do you see goosebumps trailing my skin just from saying that, it's freaking unreal".

Kyle frowned, as they crowded Sophia's desk. "Are you sure about that, cause the rumors I heard are different from yours, they say he's not into girls".

Sophia's gaze jerked up to Kyle, she didn't understand why the information had her stomach in a twist. "What do you mean he's not into girls".

Tzuyu leaned closer against her desk. "That's absurd Kyle, I heard he had a girlfriend once, there was some big scandal, but everything was hushed up".

"Stop being silly Tzuyu, that was years ago, his sexual preference might have changed hence why he doesn't like girls. He's hot, sexy as fuck, did I mention that he is hot..."

Sophia and Tzuyu rolled their eyes. "Yes, you did".

"Exactly, he's that hot and he doesn't have a girlfriend, please, a guy with that face of his cannot be single, my take is that he has a new chef boyfriend, that would explain why he's eating breakfast now".

Sophia withdrew from the circle they had formed. "You're just making that up, he might have just decided to make himself breakfast".

"No, I think Kyle is right, not about the chef boyfriend part, but maybe he's gay, that would explain why he hates female assistant, there was a time he had a male assistant and he lasted a month, so that was fishy".

Sophia's heart tugged, as her gaze flickered between Kyle and Tzuyu. Sophia banged her hand on the desk making them jump, their gaze darting towards Lennox's office in fright before they came back to land on Sophia. "What the fuck, are you trying to get us in trouble" Tzuyu whispered yelling, while Kyle just glared.

"I need to get back to work," she said not feeling remorseful for hurting their feelings. Tzuyu stalked off without a backward glance, while Kyle muttered under his breath then followed.

Sophia sighed, slumping against her chair. What was this feeling? She asked herself not understanding why she didn't like the idea of him not being into girls.

"Snap out of it Sophia, you're just his assistant, his sexual orientation isn't your problem, stop being in a shitty mood just because he doesn't like girls... You don't even like him in that way".

Ugh! Sophia's frowned when even her pep talk didn't do justice to the way she felt. Sophia jerked her gaze towards the office, glaring at the drawn-up shades.

"A male assistant that lasted a month, well I'm going to last more than a month jerk".