The CEO's Hoodie

Chapter 8

Arrabella's POV

"Should I take a swim suit with me?" I ask Shay and Natalia, making a frown with my lips while staring at my fully packed, yet open suitcases.

"Are you kidding me? Of course you'll take one! Hell, you'll take all of them! You're going to freaking Los Angeles!!!" Shay declares as a matter of fact.

"Yeah but I'm not going there for vacation. It's for work."

"Well it doesn't mean you don't get to have some fun." Natalia continues.

"And who knows? You might end up sharing a romantic jacuzzi session with Mr Hot Hoodie." Shay says wiggling her brows suggestively and giving me a goofy smile.

I take the nearest pillow and throw it at her. "That's not happening! He's my business partner!"

"Remove the word business and it becomes a hella lot more interesting don't you think?" Shay's witty replies never fail to amaze me.  

"Shut up already, we're two responsible adults who want what's best for their companies." Even though I wouldn't mind seeing him in a swim suit.

Natalia looks down at her phone and then back at me with alarmed eyes. "Dominic will be here in...Actually he must be arriving any second now.

And as if on cue my phone rings, illuminating Dominic's name on the screen.

Hurriedly I throw 3 random swim suits in one of the suitcases while the girls help carry my stuff downstairs. As soon as I open my apartment door I come face to face with the one and only, his presence surprising the shoe out of me as I let out a little cry, my hands covering my heart while I take deep breaths to calm myself.

"Didn't mean to scare you there." He tells me amusingly.

"I bet." I say annoyingly.

He takes a look at our struggling faces with a raised brow and proceeds to take the suitcases out of our hands.

"I got this ladies. I'm Dominic by the way, nice to meet you." He simply spares the girls a quick glance as he begins to lift the suitcases.

"Oh we know. We've met before." Shay tells him sassily.

I throw her the most annoying look I can master while lightly shoving her hand with my elbow. "Shut up!" I whisper.

Dominic puts the suitcases down and takes a good look at them both. "You're right. Remind me your names again."

"This is Shay and that's Natalia, oookay time to go now." I interrupt before neither can answer, rushing out the door since the longer we stay here the more likely it is for Shay to throw some rather unnecessary comments his way.

"It's impressive that you remember our faces. It was one hell of a night after all." Shay continues assertively.

Okay. Can I die now? It was nice meeting you world.

"I remember that night very well, don't you worry." He replies back almost competitively, looking me straight in the eye while saying it.

"Okay let's go now." I cut them quickly before this escalates further. Dominic grabs my suitcases and I'm only left with my hand bag.

"Oh and don't forget to lock." I shout back at them as we're moving towards the elevator.

"No worries babe. Have fun and always use protection!"

What color should I wear in my funeral? Black is too mainstream.

"She's just kidding you know! Shay and her jokes! Hah."  I say awkwardly as we enter the elevator and I simply stare at my shoes. He doesn't answer back and instead lightly laughs at me.

The ride to the airport was not too long, but was mostly filled with silence. After Shay's very discrete comments I felt too awkward to even move. We arrive at the airport and go straight to Dominic's Jet, where we are sited opposite each other, a rectangular table being the only thing separating us.

Not long after the Jet takes off Dominic breaks the silence, "Your friends are...interesting."

Looking up from my phone, I see him studying me closely, and I meet his stare just as intensely. "Yeah. Shay's sense of humour is quite a lot to handle sometimes. But they're great!"

"Have you known them for long?" He continues.

"Yeah, we've been friends since high school."

He nods at me skeptically. "What about you? Got any interesting friends yourself?" I say with a little laugh.

"Oh you bet."

And just like that we spent the rest of the flight reminiscing old stories and laughing our hearts out. Then and there, I realized that I had caught a glimpse of Dominic that I had never seen before. A Dominic who was not trying to be intimidating or sassy. A Dominic who was funny, authentic and relaxed.