Ms. Malhotra,

Olivia Berkley will be arriving at your office at 8:30 am on Friday morning per our earlier agreement.

Kind Regards,

Darius Giordano

email for the third time and scowled at the message. He could shove his regards right up his ass. It was completely obvious now that Darius was ignoring her. He hadn't called, nor visited her ever since they kissed under the mistletoe at the Christmas party.

Any communication between them was formal and through email. She thought for a moment that Olivia might have sent the email, but it was from his personal account, not the company one.

She was frustrated.

So, they'd kissed, and it had been a good, but that didn't mean that Darius had to ignore her. He was acting like a third grader and it was annoying. She'd seen him once in her yoga class, but he'd been on the opposite side of the room and before she got a chance to speak with him, he fled the class as soon as it was over. She had half a mind to march to his condo and demand to speak with him, but she wasn't really in the habit of forcing people to spend time with her.

Her time was valuable, and if Darius didn't want to be in her presence, it was his loss. As Nyla entered her condo, she was once again taken aback at how lonely it felt. The last few months, as she'd gotten closer to Darius, she spent less time at her own condo. She worked late at the office and more than once, Darius would join her, or she would go visit him. They would eat and work before heading their separate ways. She'd also attended various benefits and galas hosted by the Upper Elite New York Society with Darius and she grew to enjoy them. Darius would always make her laugh and if the conversation in the room got boring, they would turn to each other, ignoring the rest of the world.

Gently taking off her heels, Nyla dropped her purse to the couch and grabbed a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from her wine cooler. She popped off the cork before grabbing a glass and pouring a good amount. She settled into her couch and began flipping through the channels, hoping to find anything good to watch to cure her boredom.

She rarely watched television shows as they got to addicting and she didn't have time to be invested. Sighing, Nyla found nothing that she could enjoy. She sipped her wine, a delicious summer taste with the acidity of lemons and fresh green grass. She frowned into her glass; she really needed a vacation. Maybe she would go during Christmas, it wasn't like she did anything in her condo anyways.

Her phone rung and she was surprised to see that it was Sona. She hadn't heard from her in quite a while.

She picked it up, "Hello."

There was a loud squeal on the other end, alarming Nyla whose wine swished but thankfully didn't fall out of the glass.

"Have you seen the shots?"

Nyla placed her wine glass on the table, "Of what?"

She could almost imagine Sona on the other side rolling her eyes. "Of the Vouge magazine cover shoot."

"It's out?"

"Yes, darling and might I say, you look splendid."

Nyla cradled the phone to her ear and walked over to the stack of unopened envelops that were placed on the coffee table by the cleaning lady. She filtered through them until she saw the magazine.

"I'm on the cover..."

"Yes! The shot it brilliant. You must hire the photographer for the children's carnival."

Nyla listened to Sona ramble on as she flipped through the magazine. They had reverted the changes to the photographs as Nyla requested. Her stretch marks were faint—but visible from the high cut of one of the dresses. Her skin tone appeared more natural as well, but the lighting made it seem much smoother. Nyla was impressed with the shots and how good she looked.

Sona on the other line hummed with approval, "This is spicy."

"Which one are you talking about?"

"Flip to page twenty-four."

Nyla did as she was told to do. She looked back to see the picture of her and Darius. They were decked out in similar outfits and her heels were very close to his crotch. But more then that, there was an intense look that the two of them had as they gazed into each other's eyes. Nyla frowned, she hadn't remembered that shot being so bold and sexy as it was presented.

But she remembered that day, it had been where the sparks first started flying between them. Maybe the sparks had been there from before, but they just needed a catalyst to start and the photoshoot had provided that.

"Did you read what he wrote?"

Nyla glanced at the small paragraph on the next page. "I'm reading it right now."

Nyla Malhotra is a force to be reckoned with. She is passionate, hardworking and dedicated to her business but also the people. She does a lot behind the scenes, including mentoring young women in the business field as well as helping and donating her time to various women's shelters and charities. We could all learn important life lessons from her. While having the honour working with her the last few months, I have seen her personality firsthand. She is truly one of the greatest CEO's and anyone to say otherwise if foolish. She is leaving a positive imprint on the earth, something everyone should wish for. To her haters, I would say take time to learn Nyla and your view will be changed, mine sure was. To Nyla I would say keep doing what you are doing with your business and life, nothing is standing in your way. Even if it is, I'm sure you'll be able to deal with it. To your success, I raise my glass and cheer you on from the sidelines.

Nyla couldn't believe what she'd just read. Vouge hadn't told her that they would be asking Darius for a comment and to see him pen something so personal meant so much.

"That idiot," she mumbled under her breath.

"My, I didn't know Darius had such a way with words."

Nyla felt like ripping out her hair in frustration. Here is was, writing nice things about her to the public but he was avoiding her like the plague.

"This must mean that the two of you are getting along then."

Nyla snorted; she couldn't help it. "You could say something like that."

She talked a bit more with Sona before hanging up the phone. Nyla kept glancing at the magazine and it just made her more annoyed, so she slammed it shut and threw it on the opposite couch. She walked towards the kitchen, hoping to get a refill of her wine and that's when her gaze came across a black velvet box on the table.

Frowning, she picked it up. She didn't remember ordering any jewelry. Her fingers brushed over the smooth top before popping it open. A pair of silver sailboat cufflinks stared at her. Nyla picked them up, inspecting every angle. They were flawless—as she'd expected. She'd gotten them for Darius as a Christmas present after remembering when he'd told her about his boat and that he enjoyed sailing.

He'd also promised to take her on a ride one of the days, she remembered. Nyla wanted to give the cufflinks to Darius in person and see his expression, but it didn't seem like that would be happening anytime soon. She also didn't know how the cufflinks might be interpreted by Darius. She'd originally gotten them as a gift for a friend, but she didn't know where they stood now.

She snapped the box shut and placed it gently back on the table. First thing tomorrow, she'd ship it to Darius, let him make of it as he wanted. It wasn't like he wasn't doing that already.

♠♠♠♠♠♠

Hyeon number flashed across her cellphone. Nyla picked it up and shut the door to the car. "Why is Darius' secretary Olivia asking for access to the building?"

Nyla glanced at her calendar before slapping her forehead. The last few days had been absolutely chaotic. After her quite Christmas—when she didn't receive a single call, only a Merry Christmas text from Darius the next few days had been mayhem. The launch of the vitamins was almost upon them and everyone was staying back at the office, doing their best to be prepared for the unknown. In the midst of everything, the email Darius sent about Olivia spending the day at their office slipped out of her mind.

"Hello, you still there?"

"Yeah," Nyla responded. "I'm just entering the building. I'll bring her up with me and then we can talk."

"We better," Hyeon grumbled.

Olivia was waiting in the corner, white shirt and black suit, blond hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. Nyla called her name and she swung around and gave her a sunny smile.

They shook hands, "Come with me, I'll take you upstairs and then Hyeon will get you settled in."

The two of them rode up the elevator to the top floor where Hyeon was waiting for them to arrive. Her secretary plastered a smile, "It's good to see you again."

Nyla rolled her eyes. It was far from the truth of how Hyeon actually felt.

Olivia also shook hands with Hyeon, but it was clear to anyone from a mile radius that the both of them did not like one another. Nyla smiled as she watched the two of them sit beside one another on the desk. They looked completely out of place, both struggling to keep their façade.

"Would you like me to bring you a drink?" Olivia asked, just before Nyla was about to enter her room.

Hyeon scowled from beside her. Nyla didn't need a drink, but it seemed like Hyeon really wanted to speak with her.

"Yes, a green tea would be nice. The kitchen is just down the hall to the left."

Hyeon's face didn't morph into a smile, as she watched Oliva go around the other corner.

"She's sucking up to you."

Nyla smiled, "Maybe she's just being a good secretary." she teased.

"If you want me to go blonde and bring you drinks every morning, I could."

Nyla waved her hand, "I think your amazing just the way you are."

"Flattering me won't make me forget my question. What is she doing here?"

Nyla was sure that Darius didn't tell Olivia that she was here due to a bet. That would not have made his secretary happy.

"Darius just wanted her to see around the office and how smoothly we run things."

"I don't like her near my desk."

Nyla sighed. "It's only for a couple of hours but I still need you to keep an eye on her. She hasn't signed a non-disclosure agreement with us, so I don't want her seeing sensitive information. Shield as much as you can."

Hyeon pushed her glasses further up her nose and gave Nyla a nod. "I understand, your next appointment will be here in about half an hour."

Nyla smiled and mouthed thank-you just as Olivia returned with her tea. She thanked her as well before giving a meaningful look to Hyeon who rolled her eyes and give a nod back. Satisfied, Nyla walked towards her office.

"Do you need anything else, Ms. Malhotra?"

Nyla shook her head, "Hyeon will give you your assignment for the morning."

Without a backward glance, she walked into her office and placed her purse on the sofa. She could just imagine the day Darius was having without Olivia. It was too bad that she couldn't go see how he was doing since they still hadn't talked. The Christmas message had been more than clear to Nyla—Darius thought their kiss was an accident and he felt it was best to remain business acquaintances.

Nyla frowned at the large brown box on her desk. She didn't know if Hyeon had placed in earlier as she hadn't been expecting any mail. She grabbed the scissors from the cup holder to see a beautifully packaged red box with a rose on the corner.

Thinking it was a gift from someone, she opened the box and her hands shook as she read the note.

Ms. Malhotra, a bomb has been placed in the Renne Headquarters. If we do not receive a sum of fifteen million dollars by exactly 12:00 pm, it will go off killing the wonderful employees of the organization. Furthermore, the radius of the bomb might be greater than that but we certainly haven't had the chance to experiment. This would provide the perfect opportunity to do so. That certainly would result in bad press, but who are we to judge? But wait, who knows, it might even go off before then? Time is ticking, we await your response.

P.S It is futile to go looking for the bomb, you'll never find it in time. Our contact information is located at the bottom of the package. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. 

---------------

Was anyone expecting that? What do you think will happen next? Is Darius acting like a coward by ignoring Nyla? Thank you for all the support on the last chapter!