LOVING THE REJECTED BILLIONAIRE

I had been Adrian's maid for just a week, and what can I say? So far, so good. Angel is such a disciplined young girl, and in this one week, she hasn't given me any trouble at all. There isn't as much work as I had speculated, either. It's just preparing Angel and taking her to and from school, which is easy because we have a driver, and tidying the house. With a washing machine that took me two days to learn how to use, laundry is so lenient. Also, we mostly eat ordered food from outside. I never get to cook, and I don't know why Adrian doesn't want me to. They have an elegant, modern kitchen with every utensil, but no cooking is done here. I kind of feel like my passion for cooking will be wasted here. Most of the time, I'm just idle.

"Hello!" Adrian's voice startled me, and I stood up from the couch to grab his backpack.

"Hello! Welcome, Sir Adrian," I said, stretching out my hands to take his bag, but he didn't let me. Right, that slipped my mind again.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you only take care of Angel, and not me?" he asked, a tinge of fury in his voice.

I kept forgetting, no matter how many times he told me. It was becoming a daily lullaby.

"Sorry, sir!" I said, stepping back and bowing my head a little.

"How do you want me to explain it to you, Tania? Because I am tired of reciting it over and over again," he said, his tone weary.

"I got it now, sir! I won't repeat it," I replied. I hoped my servant tendencies wouldn't kick in every time I saw him walking through that door.

"You better not, because I am not going to repeat this. Where is Angel?" he asked.

"I have just put her to bed, sir!" I answered.

"She only sleeps this early because of the cold weather and school. In favorable climates and during school holidays, she goes to bed late," he explained.

"Okay, sir!"

"I'll go see Angel. And Tania, that 'sir' is annoying! Drop it," he ordered.

Huh?

He walked upstairs after that, and I sat down to resume the program I was watching on TV, but darn! It had ended. I switched off the TV and relaxed on the settee. I should make a note of all the things Adrian doesn't like. He is a man of few to no words, and making him repeat one thing to me over and over every day was making me look incompetent and dumb.

"Okay, Tania. No 'sir', and no helping him, no sir and no help..." I kept repeating that for I don't know how long until Adrian startled me again, making me almost jump from the couch.

"And what are you doing?" he asked.

"Reciting the don'ts so that they stick in my mind," I answered, trying to act composed, but I knew I was failing. He just shook his head and walked to the kitchen.

With this cold, I missed coffee. Couldn't he allow me to make even just coffee? I stood up and followed him to the kitchen.

I knocked and waited for a reply.

"The only door you are expected to knock on before coming in is my bedroom," Adrian called out from inside, and I dragged my feet inside. He was just perched on a stool, scrolling through his phone, perhaps checking emails or something. I scanned the kitchen and spotted a tin of Nescafe coffee on one of the shelves, and I just could not control the urge for my lemon and honey coffee.

"Aah... Andy? Can I...?" I began.

Sh_t!

Double sh_t!

What name just rolled out of my mouth? I slowly turned around to face him, and I met his dark brown eyes looking at me. I was expecting to see shock or disappointment on his face, but he was just there, emotionless.

"Sorry," I quickly apologized.

"I will punish you for that," he said with a raised eyebrow, his expression changing in a flicker. Punishment? Damn!

"Anything. But don't fire me, please!" I pleaded. I couldn't afford to lose my job barely a week in. The condition of my family back home wouldn't allow me to become jobless.

"Your punishment is, you will not call me any other name. Just Andy," he said, winking at me as he stood up.

Wow! Did he just wink at me? So he jokes, aside from with his daughter? He had been so cold and quiet to me since I came here. This was so new to me. So freaking new!

"You are okay with that? I mean, isn't it too casual for a boss and employee?" I asked.

"I like it, and that's final. It's a million times better than that annoying 'sir' of yours. What were you saying?" he asked.

"Okay. I wanted to ask if you can allow me to at least make coffee. Even just for today," I said.

He eyed me for quite a while, then shook his head.

"This kitchen hasn't been used for years. My wife never liked being in the kitchen. We are used to eating outside, and I don't want my daughter to get attached to things that won't last, Tania. So, no!" he said firmly.

No? Come on, Andy!

What kind of wife will not cook for her family? I mean, I understand there are days one would feel exhausted and all, but not even a single day to cook for your family? I think whatever transpired between him and his wife hurt him a lot because he suddenly looked lost somewhere in a dark jungle.

"Well, I... I respect your decision, Andy, but it's just coffee. And I am not in a haste to leave, by the way. My family depends entirely on me. And our condition back home doesn't allow me to become jobless any time soon," I said, trying to push my luck, my fingers crossed in the hope that he wouldn't yell at me.

After breathing out heavily, he spoke.

"Okay. You can make coffee. Do you know how to use the coffee machine?" he asked, and I shook my head. How could I know how to use a coffee machine if I had never seen one? I was yet to get used to this modernized life of the wealthy. I hoped I would be able to, though, because it's like the rich and the poor don't live in the same world as I thought. Everything is so different, including the aura they breathe. Theirs is fresher than ours, and I think it even has a scent — a sweet scent.

"Can I first go out to buy lemons and honey?" I asked. I knew it was stupid of me to ask because it was almost nine at night, but I can't have coffee without lemons. And I can't send my boss to the stores, right?

"Tell Mark to get you lemons and honey from the market. Buy as much as you want," he said and handed me some cash from his pocket. I ran to Mark and came back immediately.

Mark didn't take long to come back since there was no traffic at this hour, but within that short time, Andy had shown me how to use the coffee machine. With Andy settled on the kitchen stool still on his phone, I made coffee peacefully and with solace, and I made a lot of it. I didn't care if I would struggle to sleep after consuming two or three mugs of coffee at this time. I just missed it so much.

"Here, try it," I said, placing a mug of hot, steaming coffee on the table, and he sniffed it. I took mine and started walking out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" His voice stopped me in my tracks, and I turned to him.

"To have my coffee," I replied.

"There is a lot of space here," he said, putting his phone down and pulling another stool closer, patting it. I didn't move because I didn't want to misunderstand the gesture. He wanted me to sit beside him? "Am I that scary that you don't want to sit with me?" he asked.

"Aah... no! It's just that... nothing," I stammered. I walked back and sat on the stool after pulling it slightly away from him.

"I don't bite, for your peace of mind," he said, taking a sip of his coffee, and then another, and another, before gulping the third sip, tilting his head slowly from side to side.

As he faced upward with his eyes closed, I looked at him. I hadn't had time to have a close look at him since I met him. He leaves early in the morning and comes home late and exhausted. Even now, his face looked so tired, and the way he was rotating his neck was a result of tiredness.

"Don't stare too much," he said and opened his eyes, his hand grabbing his mug again without looking in my direction.

How embarrassing! I knew my cheeks looked like a tomato right now. He caught me staring at him. I hoped he didn't think ill of me. I took my coffee and sipped slowly, enjoying its taste down my throat.

"Who taught you how to make this?" he asked, breaking the silence. Looking at him, I realized he was taking the last sip of his coffee. That was fast!

"My mom did. She also taught me how to prepare different kinds of dishes. You like the coffee?" I asked.

"It's the best I have had in my life," he said, and for the first time, he smiled at me. Adrian smiling, huh? He must have had a very beautiful day at work to act like this. Or maybe he went on a blind date that turned out well? Damn!

"There is more. You want some?" I asked, smiling shyly.

"Sure," he replied.

I brought the remaining coffee and poured him a full mug and filled mine too. We drank until the jar was empty, and I was glad that he at least looked a bit more relaxed in the end. There wasn't much said, and that put me at ease.

"Thank you for the coffee," Andy said as he stood up to leave.

"You're welcome," I said, taking the cups and walking to the sink to wash them.

"Can you make some for Angel tomorrow after school, please?" he asked softly, standing beside me.

Why was he requesting? I thought bosses were supposed to give orders. To command. But he was kind of different.

"Of course. I will gladly prepare it for her. I hope she likes it," I replied.

"She certainly will. I'm sure," he added with certainty and patted my shoulder. "Goodnight." And he walked out of the kitchen, leaving me here blushing like an idiot.

I didn't know this side of him, but I liked it already. I finished washing the utensils and drying up the sink, hoping that I would see myself cooking in this kitchen some daysere is no harm in keeping hope alive, is there?

Just when I was about to lock the kitchen so that I could retire to bed, I heard Adrian's phone buzz from where we were seated. Did he forget his phone? I didn't intend to, but I happened to see the caller. I swear, it wasn't intentional. Ambrose, Andy's PA, was the one calling. Well, at least it's not the other gender. Sigh!

I grabbed the phone and locked the door quickly, and ran upstairs to Adrian's room on the right, next to Angel's. I knocked thrice, and I was about to leave when the door opened, Andy standing in front of me with only a towel wrapped around his waist. He had been taking a shower, and man, he looked so damn hot. His tight muscles on display and his flat broad chest were bewitching my mind.

"You brought more coffee?" he asked when I just stood there like a zombie, staring at him.

"Coffee? Y..e..s... I mean, coffee! Aah...no, sorry! I mean phone. Yes. I brought your phone because you forgot it in the kitchen and Ambrose was calling and you..." His eyes and raised eyebrows stopped me, making me realize I had been ranting nonstop. What was wrong with me?

"Oookay... Thank you," he said, taking the phone.

"Aah... I'll go now. Bye... I mean, goodnight, Andy," I said and walked as fast as I could to my room.

I couldn't be tempted to look back because I knew I had made a total fool of myself back there. Jeez! What was he thinking of me right now? Good job, Miss Tania Lawson, for embarrassing yourself!

I wake up to the ringing sound of the alarm beside my bed. It's six in the morning and another week is smoothly coming to an end.

Life here is amazingly sweet, especially when you have a boss like mine. Andy is a good boss and a terrific daddy to Angel. He is a workaholic, yes, but I idolize how he creates time to spend with his daughter. I admire how he involves himself in his daughter's activities and life in general. Even when he arrives home late after the little girl has gone to bed, his first stop is always his daughter's room. For instance, he came home so late last night that he wasn't able to chat with her. To make up for that, after we shared our coffee — which has become a ritual, by the way — he tells me that he will be the one to take Angel to school. He even wants to be the one to prepare her for school, but I insist on doing it myself.

I'm delighted that he is such a kind boss, but there is no way I will take advantage of that. I came here to work and I i