Shonee’s POV
It was a little after nine in the morning when I escorted Mirasol to her first class in the garden.
My stomach sent a growl my way and I decided to head over to the dining room to see if I could get some breakfast now that Vincent and Avril had left for work.
I didn’t want to join them for breakfast, not after what had transpired last night. Honestly, if we had delayed for a few minutes, Avril would have walked in on us, and all hell would have broken loose. I laid a hand on my thumping heart, grateful that she didn’t see or suspect anything.
But I made a mental note to talk to Vincent about what had happened. Our actions last night had changed everything, and we needed to find a way to work around it.
I had just walked into the dining room when my legs came to a halt at the sight of the figure seated at the head of the table. “Avril?”
“Shonee,” She lifted her head, smiling. “Just the person I wanted to see.”
“Uhh…” I subtly cleared my throat. “I’m sorry, but I thought you had left for work.”
“Oh no, I was actually waiting for you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.” Avril picked up her tablet and got on her feet. “You’re coming to work with me today.”
“Wait, what?” I queried in astonishment.
“Since I don’t have a personal assistant at the moment, I want you to help me with some final touches for my upcoming engagement party. It’s long overdue. We’ve already got most of the preparations done but we need to take care of a few things like catering, the programme outline, music--”
“Whoa, whoa, hang on…” I put my hands up in surrender. In fact, the entire ordeal gave me the fright of a lifetime.
I can’t help Avril plan her engagement party with Vincent, not after I kissed him deeply last night and the day before that.
“Why me?” I blurted out. “I mean, I’m just the nanny. I’m not qualified to handle events like that.”
“I chose you because you’ve been living with me and Vincent for quite some time now, and you know what we like. Plus, it was easier to ask you than to go through the tedious process of hiring someone else.”
“B-bu-but…What about Mirasol?” I sputtered. “I’m her nanny, it’s my responsibility to take care of her and-”
“Don’t worry.” She put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “I’ve asked Gerta to keep an eye on Mirasol just for today and she agreed.”
My mind began to scramble. “But I have this thing I need to work on for-”
“I’m not accepting any excuses, Shonee.” Avril gazed at me with a stern look. “You are coming and that’s final.”  With that, she walked past me, heels, once again clicking on the polished floors as she called her driver.
The moment she left the dining room, I slapped a hand against my forehead. What the heck have I got myself into?
*****
Thirty minutes later
The driver stopped the car right in front of Avril Fragrances and stepped out to open the door for us.
Avril was the first to step out, adjusting her jacket onto her shoulders and slipping on a pair of designer sunglasses. Ever the stand-out fashion icon. She unknowingly made me feel like the white shirt and pair of jeans I was wearing weren’t good enough.
“Follow me,” She instructed, and since I didn’t have much of a choice, I trudged after her.
On our way here, I had sent Jordin a text that I was coming over, so hopefully, she’d come to find me in the lobby.
We walked into the building and Avril was immediately flunked by workers, each one with a different question or task in hand.
“Avril, we need your final say on the runway colours for the Emporium Fashion Show.”
“Ms Payne, will you be available for the five o’clock board meeting today? The president says it’s very important.
“Miss, this is just a reminder that we are yet to select a release date for our new line of perfumes.”
Honestly, it seemed like the endless barrage of questions could go on and on, and I wondered how Avril was going to handle it. She was still confidently walking towards her office.
To my utmost surprise, Avril handled the barrage like she’s been managing this business since her birth.
“Hmm…” She grabbed the tablet from the woman who asked the first query. “Use violet and gold for the background designs. It will bring out the regality of the show.” Then she turned to the next person. “Tell President Lincoln I won’t be missing the board meeting for anything in the world. It’s time to show those eggheads that I am capable of filling in my father’s shoes. For our new line of perfumes, I propose we release them on a Saturday with a nice cocktail event. Tell public relations to get started on advertising. I want to see every single flyer before it goes out.”
We got into the elevator as Avril continued to address her employees. She was like a feminine powerhouse, and nothing could stop her. It was sort of…admirable. Part of me wished I could become like her.
The elevator doors pinged open, and we all walked out, but not before Ben, Avril’s secretary stopped us. “Uh Miss Payne, sorry to interrupt, but you have some important visitors.”
“Really? Who?” Avril quirked up a curious eyebrow.
“The investors from your father’s company. Now that Payne Travel and Tours is going to become one with Beckham Incorporated, they wanted to meet you and discuss the future of the business.”
“Argh, why didn’t you tell me about this yesterday, Ben!” Avril scolded him. “I was going to work on the finishing touches for the engagement party this morning.”
“My sincere apologies miss, but I didn’t know about it until this morning. The investors were originally supposed to meet with your father but when he suddenly had to travel out of the country, he asked them to come and see you instead.”
Avril let out a frustrated sigh, then asked the other employees who had followed us to go away.
“Shonee, I’m so sorry,” She turned to me. “But you’re gonna have to wait while I take care of this meeting. It won’t take long; you can wait in the cafeteria if you like.”
“Sure, no problem. You go ahead.”
“Great, I will give you a call when I’m done,” Avril said before taking her leave with Ben.
The moment she left, I dug out my phone just in time to see Jordin’s text come through.
Jordin: Hey, where are you? I’m in the lobby but you’re nowhere in sight.
Me: Avril brought me up to her office. I’ll be down in a few.
Quickly, I called back the elevator and slipped in for the short ride. In under five minutes, I was back on the ground floor.
“Shonee!” Jordin jogged over.
“Hey.” I received my best friend with a hug.
“So…” She gave me a pat on the back before pulling away to push up her glasses. “What’s the emergency?”
“Your boss!” I remarked. “She wants me to help her with the engagement party plans.”
“Well, that’s great,” Jordin cheered. “Shonee, you should be happy. That means she trusts you.”
I shook my head. “No, no, no, Jordin, you don’t get it.”
Her eyebrows dipped low. “What? What is it that I don’t get?”
Casting a nervous look around, I cupped Jordin’s ear and whispered, “I kissed Vincent.”
Jordin immediately froze. “Oh my God…” Her eyes met mine, every inch shrouded in surprise. “Tell me you’re joking.”
I rubbed the side of my arm anxiously. “I wish I was.”
Then Jordin grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the office she shared with her supervisor, the senior project manager. Thankfully she’d stepped out for brunch, giving us the privacy we needed to divulge the situation at hand. My best friend was relentless. She wouldn’t stop asking questions until I spilt out the entire story surrounding the two kiss incidents.
“I can’t believe you didn’t take my advice!” Jordin flicked me on the forehead, and I yelped, rubbing the sore spot. “You kissed him on the very day I asked you to keep calm and be yourself.”
“It’s not like I planned it,” I bit back. “It just happened.”
“Yeah, and now it’s got you in deep shit.” Jordin sniped. “So what are you gonna do now?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know,” I released a pent-up sigh. “After everything that has happened, I obviously can’t help Avril with the engagement plans. But if I don’t, she’ll know something is up and that’s the last thing I want right now.”
My best friend tapped her chin in thought. “Hmm…what if she doesn’t?”
“Huh?” I quirked up a curious eyebrow and Jordin took that as a green light to explain.
“Since you’re already here, you obviously can’t get out of her plans today. But tomorrow you can. If you tell her that you’ve come down with something, maybe she’ll believe that and let you stay home.”
As I gave Jordin’s plan some thought, I realized that it could actually work. In fact, it was my best and only shot at getting myself out of this predicament.
“I can’t believe I didn’t think about that. Jordin, you are a lifesaver!” I caught my best friend in a hug which she tried wriggling herself out of.
“I know, I know. But you’re not safe yet, you still have to handle today’s task.”
Just when the sentence left her mouth, my phone pinged with a text message. Avril’s name popped up first, instructing me to come up to her office. She was probably done with her meeting.
Another deep sigh left my mouth. “Wish me luck.”