Imperfect Desires

On the other side...

A tall figure passed through the glass revolving doors and stepped on the gleaming marble of the lobby. His chiseled jaw lifted with a pleasant smile. His attractively tall figure was smooth and tailored by success. He carried his height with self-assurance. He was charming and smart.

In fact, he was handsome from the depth of his eyes to the gentle expressions of his face. His hand slowly lifted up to brush away his feather-like soft hair from his brows and underneath were revealed those beautiful grey eyes; which he knew so well to use. But those eyes that usually held wariness in them seemed to have a touch of playfulness.

And this attractive one was none other than Regan Darren Salvay. 

As he trudged languidly through the lobby, he seemed totally not like himself. He not only greeted his staff along the way but even offered them an encouraging smile. Not that it was odd since Darren had always been very friendly with his staff always going against the norm of cold-hearted bosses. But today, his smile was different.

Not only that, but the most surprising thing was also that this was the first time all his employees had seen him coming this late for work. He had been known as the most punctual person in the whole company. He'd come on time and would also leave on time. He didn't have the concept of working overtime. He liked to finish his work on time.

Instead of taking the executive's elevator, he rode the employees' elevator and even made small talk with his staff. He seemed to be in a very good mood but no one could figure out the reason behind his pleasant mood. However, no one was being a busybody to actually probe around instead they took his pleasant mood as a blessing.

Darren stepped out of the elevator at the top floor and made a beeline towards his room. While he was carelessly humming around and not paying attention, a sudden bemused voice rang from his side, "Having fun, are we now?"

Darren looked to his side to find Paige leaning against her cabin's door while giving him a sickly sweet smile. However, why was it so chilly?

"Good morning, Paige!" greeted Darren with a wave of his hand.

Paige raised a brow at him as she spoke sarcastically, "Oh, with sun changing directions, I believe it's time to say 'Good Afternoon!'" She additionally air-quoted those two words making Darren's face twitch while she went on, "And did I mention that I certainly didn't have a good morning today? And all because my boss decided to ditch work without so much as a prior notice."

Darren's eyelids drooped as he was reflecting over his irresponsible behavior. "I forgot to inform you that I'll be late today," he was scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

Paige pointed her finger at Darren's face. "You! Boss, don't try to act cute before me. I won't forget that I had to deal with all the executives raging insults in that board room. You threw me in this fire alone and ran off on your own. What kind of a boss does that?!"

Darren silently listened to her reprimanding him since he agreed that he was at fault today. Today was his meeting with all the executives and knowing all those people, he could imagine the burn Paige must have had to suffer. It really slipped his mind that he was supposed to inform Paige about his delay.

"I accept. This time its really my fault," he admitted his fault casually. Not even caring that the person before him was actually working for him and not the other way around. But that had always been his personality, he always paid respect where it was due.

And he personally respected Paige's work ethics. In fact, their cooperation with each other had been so strong that not even once Darren felt like he needed a different secretary. Paige could handle the work of a dozen people all alone and it saved him a lot of trouble as well. And now that she was put in trouble because of his tardiness, he had to accept his fault fairly.

Seeing him admitting like this, Paige's anger diminished a little and she took a deep breath before inquiring, "Seems like you found your girlfriend last night." Darren lifted his eyes to see her narrowed eyes scrutinizing his expressions. "I believe she's the one to blame here."

"Blame my Sweets? Why? What for?" Darren suddenly took a defensive stance.

Paige shook her head at him. "Obviously because she kept you busy under the sheets last night."

Darren opened his mouth in disbelief as he wanted to smack her head for talking so brazenly. But he really couldn't bring himself to. Just because both of them were now in Asia, didn't mean that they both forgot their western roots where being shameless was considered a compliment as well.

So he nodded agreeably saying, "Not just busy. She kept me pretty busy." He even wiggled his brows at her provocatively. And seeing that Paige was glaring at him now, he smirked. "Aww, look at you being jealous."

Paige rolled her eyes as she shrugged her shoulders trying to act nonchalant. "Jealous? Why would I be jealous of you?"

"I don't know maybe because just last night you had a crush on my girlfriend," reminded Darren making Paige's mouth twitch. She really would have kicked him where the sun didn't shine if only he wasn't her boss. If only!

What kind of a boss teases his own staff like that? He really was despicable! Paige cursed him in her heart but still replied, "I got over it."

"Oh, really? How?" Darren seemed really curious to know.

"Well, I just told myself that... She's someone who only knows four vowels in life." Darren gaped at her in confusion while she added, "She knows 'u' but she certainly doesn't know 'I' exist."

Darren rolled his eyes at her remark and jabbed at her head saying, "That's such a lame excuse and pretty old as well." He took a brief pause before adding, "I haven't even heard this since I don't know maybe high school? Are you really trying to reason with such an old joke?"

"Whatever!" replied Paige before she recalled something and went on, "I almost forgot, you have a surprise waiting for you in your office."

"What is it?" Darren's brows knitted together.

"I can't say. It's a surprise."

Darren shook his head knowing that he wasn't going to receive a proper reply from her. So, he simply took a step towards his office and twisted the doorknob. He pushed open the door slightly and what he saw made his spirit almost jump out of his body.