Forever Yours Mr. CEO

Georgina tiptoed to the door and closed it, excited about what she was about to read up on this 'mystery man’ who was giving her butterflies in her belly. She was attracted to him already, and she knew it, so the piece of information on his Wikipedia page was of utmost importance to her.

Then she walked quietly back to the study table and the computer, got herself as comfortable as she could in her seat and then began to read up:

Full name: Zayn Onroy Jones.

Age: 39. He was sixteen years older than her. Woah!

Career: Philanthropist, Businessman. Mm.. Interesting.

But nothing stunned her like his estimated net worth… $64.5 billion.

Georgina was agape and remained so until Hailey came into the room with Nancy.

They'd come to tell her that what she'd said to Nancy was inappropriate, disrespectful and bitchy and that she compulsorily had to apologize, only to see her staring unmoved at the computer screen.

When they both looked at the screen, the information on it didn't make any sense to Nancy, but Hailey reconciled the photo on the screen with her memory of the face of the man they'd seen earlier that day.

So when she saw the net worth, too, she turned, stunned, to Nancy and the only thing she could say was:

“Bloody hell.”

***

Returning from the meeting, which had thankfully gone well, Zayn Jones was texting some associates while Denis drove in silence until he decided to speak:

“Say, sir.. That woman we almost hit, today-”

“YOU almost hit her, not ‘me’ or 'we’, Denis,” Zayn interrupted, without looking up.

“Very well, sir.. The woman I almost hit today.. You both looked good together, from my perspective.”

Hearing his driver say this left Zayn with no choice but to laugh.

“You think so, Denis?”

“Absolutely, sir. And although I've not seen you with any women, by way of intimate relationships, since I began working with you, I believe you will both be good together.”

Denis was about 47 years old, and Zayn treated him more like an older brother or, more appropriately, an uncle and less like a driver.

Hence, the man was comfortable enough to speak on such personal matters. Zayn, instead of being offended as some bosses would have been, began to consider it.

He had not given love a thought because he had discovered that his past three relationships had been with people who'd not loved him but have loved the things that came with him; money, vacations, cars etc.

He had felt attracted to the woman, though, and he'd felt bad when her sister, or whoever was with her, had been hitting her. So maybe, just maybe, Denis was right.

“Well, then.. Since it's your idea.. I'll give you a task.. Find out where she lives, or works.. Something, anything at all about her. And when you do, inform her that I'd like to go out and grab dinner with her.. Tomorrow or the day after.. Try not to make it seem like I'm ordering her, okay? Just ask her.. Can you do that?”

Denis was more than happy to oblige, “You can count on me, captain..”

Zayn laughed again, and the ride went silent once more.

For a good amount of time on the way until he got home, there was only one name on his mind: Georgina. That, however, was until a call came in from the interim chairman at his father's company, Mr Liam.

“Hello?” he said as he took it.

“Hello, Young Zayn, something really urgent has come up, son.. I'll be coming over to your house tomorrow morning so we can talk about it..”

This was a surprise to Zayn. What could have come up?

“What's the matter, Mr Liam?”

“Don't ask any questions, now, Zayn. You'll know all you need to know tomorrow morning.”

And, with that, Mr Liam hung up.

Zayn was left confused; what had happened?

***

“Your call came in at a very unexpected time, Mr Liam, I must say.. I'm keen on what you have to say.”

The following morning, Zayn was welcoming the interim chairman of his father's company, Mr Liam Pearson, to his home.

The man was a trusted partner of Zayn's father who was merely holding the seat until a mainstay chairman would be elected.

Mr Liam was in a suit and had been let in by one of Zayn's helpers.

Zayn had come down the steps in his pajamas and was meeting with him in his living room. It seemed Mr Liam had something important to say.

“Young Zayn,” Mr Liam started, “I spoke with your father yesterday..”

“He's enjoying his vacation in Milan and didn't want to be disturbed, but I needed to know if he had any advice for you. And he made me understand that you check all the boxes to be chairman.. All.. But one..”

Hearing that even his own father believed that there was something lacking which could cost him the seat of chairman which he'd been working towards for almost as long as he'd been alive, he paid instant and rapt attention.

“What could that be, Mr Liam?”

“You see, Young Zayn..”

‘Young Zayn’ was Mr Liam's pet name for him and it was what he always addressed him with.

“.. You have top tier charisma.. A spotless legal record.. Your personal finances are checked and balanced.. You're educated..”

“You've gotten the necessary experience and have bided your time all along, working at various small businesses owned by your father and learning diligently..

“You've taken the time to come up with a powerful manifesto that attracts and intrigues the staff at Papa Jones worldwide..”

“You've improved and further enriched each one of your father's business which you handled, no matter how tight your budget was or how difficult the staff were, so it's safe to trust you with the responsibility of handling Papa Jones.”

“You have all these.. But you lack one thing, still.. The one thing that should cap off the proof of your responsibility and manhood..”

And as he said this,Mr Liam leaned in to Zayn and squinted his eyes a little but, as though he wanted Zayn to pay careful attention to the words he was about to utter.

And Zayn clenched his fists and swallowed hard, ready to hear this attribute that could be so detrimental to his chairmanship hopes.