Miss Clumsy and the CEO (UNDERGOING EDITING)

Chapter Fifteen

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Duke nudged Harper gently on the shoulder. "C'mon, babe. I'll drop you off." As he grabbed the car keys from her hand. It wasn't even seven in the morning and her friend was up at the crack of the morning when he could have been lying in, like Daniella was doing currently. Instead, he was up, had folded the spare blanket and pillow and left the couch as if a person hadn't spent a night on it.

"Are you sure? You could literally sleep all day if you wanted, Duke," Harper offered.

"Nah, I'm good. You know I've never been one to sleep in, so, grab your gear and let's go," he encouraged before heading towards the front door. Harper shrugged her shoulders as she followed in pursuit, picking up her handbag perched nicely on top of the side cabinet.

They headed out of the apartment complex towards the mini coupe parked neatly between a moped and a small Ford. Duke climbed into the driver's seat, fiddling with the mirror before he adjusted the seat. He was about 6'4 so he needed the extra room unlike her 5'4 frame and Daniella's 5'5.

"Anyway, this will give us the chance to have a good catch up. You know what Danni's like. She takes up the spotlight," he chuckled lightly, as he reversed the car out of the bay. "So, how's work? Fresh out of the uni and already snagged yourself a pretty darn good job," he added.

"It's...okay," she responded, shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh, come on. Just okay?"

"Yeah, I mean. It's good. I'm just not doing my job at the moment," she replied, anxiously rubbing the palms of her hands together as she glanced at the passing scenery.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a quizzical look.

"I mean, the CEO has me down as his personal assistant until further notice," Harper said, feeling a little embarrassed as she said that aloud.

"How-"

-"It's a long story," she interrupted him, "anyway, how's the states?"

Duke thankfully accepted her shift in subject. "Yeah, it's great. I'm still trying to get used to driving on the left side and tipping," he explained, "but my roommates are friendly and well, the technology company I work for have super perks like a massage room or nap room. Can you believe that?" He laughed.

"Wow, can we swap? I could do with a nap or a massage any day," she said with a smile.

"Well, I told you, you and Daniella are more than welcome to come visit me. We have a spare room in the apartment and it doesn't get used. Or, well, if Joey isn't hooking up with some bird. He's got a thing about hooking up in his own bed," he said, amused by Harper's face of disgust.

"Nice, thanks for that detail," she snorted.

The drive was another twenty minutes or so stuck in traffic but it gave her plenty of time to catch up with her friend. She had met Duke at college where he was studying ICT and they immediately hit it off when the three of them, including Daniella, bunched up in the corner of the cafeteria playing card games. They'd been inseparable until Harper got into Oxford, Daniella in some fashion course and him, studying abroad in the US. So, it was always a pleasant surprise when they could meet up.

Duke pulled up the carpark of her building, neatly slotting into a bay adjacent a big, bulky SUV. Switching off the engine, with at least 15 minutes spare, Duke surprised her next with his unexpected question.