BXBX NOVEL Chapter 184 - Did You Knock?
Felix and Sophia decided to work from HQ building of Orion Enterprise until Sarah is discharged from the hospital. Well, Sophia decided on the length of their stay and Felix decided to be with Sophia. Sophia didn\'t object. Of course, she enjoyed Felix\'s company.
Sophia is almost done with her work in New York, so their plan is that once Sarah is out of hospital, two of them will go back to New York for few workdays to wrap up things there. Once that is done, they will come back to Seattle and start working form HQ.
Felix and Sophia are sitting in Sophia\'s CEO office on the sofa, discussing his move from New York.
"Do you want your place? Company will arrange an apartment for you, three months paid. It\'s standard for relocation assistance.", Sophia asked Felix. "Or... you are welcome to move in with me."
Felix was thinking for some time. So far, he stayed with Sophia on weekends, while on weekdays he spent nights in his apartment. Moving in with Sophia would mean that they will be sharing living space all the time, not just on weekends. "I love spending time with you, ma chéri..." He caressed her cheek with his fingers. "...but I want to have my place as well. Where will I go if you kick me out?"
"There is always a hotel.", she teased him. "But honestly, I will kick you out only if you cheat on me. I don\'t forgive liars and cheaters. That is my bottom line."
He looked her in the eyes and seriously said, "I will never do that to you."
"Then I will never kick you out." She responded.
Both of them laughed, and the door opened suddenly. Sophia and Felix looked at the door and they saw Mark angrily scrutinizing them.
Sophia frowned. "Did you knock?"
"Even if I did, would you hear it?" Mark spat out through his teeth.
Sophia looked at Mark whose unfriendly gaze landed on Felix. "I was in New York for some time, but you still remember that I am the CEO, right?"
"I apologize... but I also want to ask you if you remember that this is a place of work." Mark responded to Sophia while looking at Felix.
Sophia narrowed her eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Mark let out a \'humph\' sound, before answering. "Maybe newly appointed director of design for something-something understood me."
Sophia looked at Felix.
Felix just shrugged with an innocent expression, like he has no idea what is going on.
This made Mark furious.
Sophia turned to Mark. "This is Felix Martin, our new director of design for security equipment. He is temporarily working from New York office. We are discussing his move to Seattle."
She faced Felix. "Felix, this is Mark Neumann. He is director of our legal department."
Sophia turned back to Mark. "Felix has many patents and I hope your department will handle all future work, related to his work, without any issues. He is a very valuable resource to the company; I expect that you will treat him well." She noticed hostility from Mark and wanted to warn him to stay professional.
As Sophia was facing Mark, Felix was behind her looking at Mark with a smug smirk on his face. He loved that Sophia told this busy body that he is a very valuable.
Mark looked at Sophia indifferently. Then he glanced at Felix and felt fury rage in him again. He really wished to wipe off that smirk from Felix\'s face.
"Why did you come to my office?", Sophia asked Mark.
Mark glared at Felix and didn\'t respond.
Sophia was getting frustrated. She stood up and her body blocked Mark\'s view of Felix. "Why did you come to my office? And without an appointment!"
"Since when I need an appointment to see you?" Mark was being ambiguous on purpose.
Sophia was losing her patience. Mark felt that air became heavy as Sophia stood in front of him, with her domineering presence increasing. Her voice became cold. "It seems that I need to remind you that I\'m the CEO, you are my subordinate, and these are work hours. I expect you to schedule a meeting to see me unless it\'s something very urgent. And even if it\'s urgent, you should be announced by my secretary, and not just barge in without knocking."
The doors are still open, and secretary heard what Sophia said. She immediately rushed inside. "I\'m sorry CEO Hill. He just got inside without giving me a chance to react." Young woman looked pitiful. Seeing Sophia in full-icy-mode she was afraid that she will lose her job.
Sophia threw a cold glance at her. "We will talk about this later. Close the door behind you."
Secretary lowered her head and exited the office. Once doors closed, Sophia faced Mark. "You didn\'t answer. Why did you come?"
"I heard that you came back and wanted to greet you." Mark flashed a smile at Sophia hoping that she will warm up to him.
"So, there is no good work-related reason?" Sophia could not believe just how outrageous this man is? She thought of something and checked her calendar on her phone. "You interrupted my meeting with Mr. Martin, and we are out of time now. I see that I have a meeting with you in the afternoon. Since you took his time, I will take time slot in the afternoon reserved for our meeting and use it to continue my talk with Mr. Martin. That sounds fair, right?"
Mark thought how did it came to this? He wanted just to see her, but when he heard laughter coming from her office, he lost his temper and barged inside without knocking. His behavior was truly not professional. He shrunk back realizing that there is nothing for him to do now. He apologized and left. On the way out, he threw a poisonous look at Felix. \'I will return this humiliation back to you.\'
Mark could not help but wonder, if this Felix person is the reason why Sophia didn\'t respond to any of his messages in last two months.