"Come in" Luca's heart was beating rapidly inside his chest. It had been this way since the day his new secretary entered his life. The door creaked open revealing the light brunette beauty before him. That day she was wearing a maroon shirt underneath her black blazer and matching black pencil skirt, she had minimum makeup on with naturally long lashes and glossy lips which always seemed to distract him every single time.
Ravenna, even her name was unique and smooth on the tongue, a rather unusual name indeed, the woman was barely twenty-one, a fresh graduate from college, but she was said to be a genius, and ended up graduating early with a cum laude. When he first heard such a young woman was going to be nominated as her secretary, he thought his previous one must have joked on him, but he was serious, despite only being an acquaintance to her, he spoke so highly of her intelligence and ability that Luca decided to give her a try.
Never in a million year would he ever guess such a woman would be so damn attractive, he thought she was going to be some sort of stoic, socially timid individual or a weirdo of some sort, like most geniuses are, she had brought forth such a strong presence since the day she stepped into his office, and Luca knew it was going to be troublesome. She was barely touching him but he could feel the warmth of her minty breath as she spoke, and he could smell the soft, slightly sweet clean musk aroma coming from her.
"Signore Valenza, here is today's schedule" she handed over a piece of paper to him, he stared up at her as if he was waiting for something, then she realized what it was and sighed. She took the paper back and read the schedule for him. It was going to be another busy day. Though he had been adjusted to the position as a CEO, he still wished he had more time to enjoy himself, but what else could he do, work was work, and it needed to be done whether he liked it or not. Though perhaps since her appearance, work might become a bit more enjoyable.
"Signore Valenza, we will be having a meeting in an hour, I hope you can prepare yourself" she talked as if she was the owner of the company, strangely enough, he did not mind, there would be plenty of time to teach her how to behave better around the office.
Though, did he really wanted it?
"I told you already, just call me Luca, being called Signore Valenza makes me sound like my father" she nodded, but he knew she would probably take some time to adjust calling him Luca.
One thing he must applaud from her was her high sense of professionalism, but somehow he could feel that she was so much more than what she was putting on the outside, because even though they had only been together professionally for a short period of time, she had this air around her which screamed femininity at every corner.The woman always put on a soft smile which almost appeared like a smirk every time she was around him, almost as if she was trying to send the wrong signal, but she always maintained the conversation on her work, which really confused him.
"By the way, I want to take you out for lunch after meeting, is that okay with you?" Luca asked out of the blue, the question made her really curious, she waited for a moment before replying, for she needed to think, it was going to be quite the decision, though it might not seem like anything major. She knew if she accepted it, other employees might think that there was something going on between them, but if she refused, then he might feel slightly offended, she still needed to secure her job there after all.
"I will consider it" she replied shortly. As she quietly left the room, she wondered, just how many women had he asked out on a casual date like that? She would not even dare to call it a date, it was just a casual business lunch, was it not? Yeah, with her employer. She did not want to make too many people hate her on the beginning of her career. Yes, Ravenna was indeed a genius when it came down to business, but she was not the best person at networking and maintaining her connections, due to her intelligent nature, sometimes she could appear to be a bit cold, though she had learned to control it over the past years, masking it would never change who she was inside.
Listen Ravenna, you are a gifted child, but if you don't do something about that attitude of yours, people will hate you, and when they hate you, they would not be able to see the gift you have.
It was a phrase her guardian always told her.
She wondered if he was right, after all these years, she was able to gain a comfortable position at a major company, if she lost it, it would impact her porto folio negatively.
Both Luca and Ravenna attended the meeting like usual, as always, he did the usual routine, the meeting did not last for too long as they did not want to spend too much time on meetings, it was a waste of productivity, what mattered the most was the aftermath. While he was busy chit chatting with some men in the room, she tidied everything up, making sure that the janitor would have an easy time cleaning the room afterward. While she was doing it, Luca turned his attention toward her, she looked sincere as she put all the paperwork back, it was near time for lunch as well, he wondered if she had made up her mind to have a meal with him, the only way to find out was to ask her again. He approached her with a soft smile, and once again made his offer. During the meeting, she had made up her mind on what she should say, in the end, she agreed to it.
Luca did not know why, but he was somewhat excited about it, he wanted to spend some time with her outside their professional time together in the office, and she thought he was going to invite her to the office cafeteria, instead, he brought her to the parking lot and turned on his car.
"Where are we going?" she asked innocently, he opened up the door for her and gestured her to come in, she felt a bit hesitant, and though Luca was her boss, she was still suspicious, he had to gestured it once more before she finally obliged, she covered her skirt with her purse as she pulled her legs inside the car, meanwhile he got on the driver's seat.
"I thought we were going to have lunch in the office cafeteria?"
"There are too many employees there, it would be uncomfortable for both of us, especially you, so I'm taking you out to a restaurant" she was speechless, that day did not really go as she had planned it. Minutes after they had drove away from the office, she was still staring at him suspiciously.
"What? Don't worry, I will pay for it" he teased half jokingly
"No, it's just, I don't understand, why would you ask me out for lunch? You could have asked someone else" she questioned.
"I just want to, and what I want, I'll always get. Beside, you are my secretary, there is nothing inappropriate about this"
Even after he had said that, she did not feel relieved at all, but whatever, overthinking about it would bring her no good. They eventually arrived at a local Italian restaurant that served the best pizza in town, in the end, they ordered a medium sized supreme pizza for the two of them.
"Do you cook, Ravenna?" he asked out of nowhere as the pizza was being delivered. She nodded. After living on her own for a while, it would be impossible for her to not know how to cook, in fact that would be a disgrace, when she was younger, they had taught her everything she needed to know in order to function properly in society.
"What sort of dish do you usually make?" he thanked the waiter as their meal arrived and turned his attention back to her. She raised her eyebrow, was he actually curious or did he just want to have something to talk about?
"I mostly cook Italian, but I can cook a bit of Japanese, Chinese, and Mexican food as well" Luca himself knew how to cook, as his mother used to teach him and his younger sisters how to cook, for their family, cooking was a staple, though as he grew older, he became busier and unable to cook any longer, he still remembered the basics.
"Then I hope I will be able to see that skill of yours one day" she was still a bit unsure if he was flirting with her or what, but it was not too bad, as long as things did not go out of hand. They each ended up with three slices of pizza, and by the time they needed to get back to the office, they were full, but not too much to the point where he could not drive. Ravenna felt like it was one of the biggest meal she ever had, usually she would only have maximum two slices of pizza, she was not much of an eater. Guess she would have to skip dinner that night.
Once they were back to the office, everyone seemed to notice them, people were not blind, after all, and yes, she could see some eyebrow raised at her, especially as she walked alongside him from the door. However, people needed to mind their own business.
As for Ravenna, she wondered what the future had in store for her.
YOU ARE READING
The Devoted Gentleman (EDITING)
Romance"My brother does not deserve you, Valeria. He could never love you as much as I do" He stepped in closer to her until she could feel his breath on her neck. 'Valentino, we shouldn't..." she tried to push him away. He froze where he was and placed h...
