It's the end of the week and Amara goes to Lucian house for the revision and approval of the next article.
Amara gets to his house and walks to the door and it automatically opens like it's expecting her, she heads for the study and finds Lucian already sited with orange juice on the table
"Ms. Banks have your seat"
Amara sits down
"What do you have for me today Ms. Banks"
"An article on the leadership, management and company culture of the group" Amara replies
"That's an interesting take
Why's that" Lucian says
"It's an article on how the company is run, how people are treated and how works gets done basically
That's similar to the last article, how's this different
It's different let me explain
When we're talking about leadership it's about the person at the top which is you
As a leader are you feared or respected, how you respond to situations
Management of the company
How tasks are assigned, how employees are supervised and how problems are handled
I personally noticed that your company runs like a machine
It works 24/7 without stopping which includes the Warehouses I did my investigation"
Lucian chuckles
"You are thorough"
"I have to be you are quite picky" Amara replies
Lucian laughs "if you say so Ms. Banks"
Amara smiles and continues to explain further
"Company culture is all about the vibe actually, the other floors vibe are nice but you're floor is quite upright
Everyone seems to be tense for some reason"
Lucian cuts her off
"Don't write that in the article
Everyone on my floor are very loyal people"
"They should respect you and be loyal, it feels more like fear and loyalty" Amara adds
"Loyalty isn't given rather it's built" Lucian interjects
"More like controlled"
"Depends who's asking
Everyone on my floor is a director and is an elite person in society, a lot is riding on them and I can understand the stiff environment."
Amara didn't want to stir the pot any longer so she took a step back and went on vetting the article.
Amara was ready to go when Lucian casually stops her and say softly
"Today is a lonely day
Stay a little longer just a little bit"
he was so soft almost vulnerable Amara thoughts she didn't have the heart to tell to no, Amara ends up agreeing to stay longer.
They end up talking about more personal issues like their childhood memories, fears and dreams there was laughter erupting in the room.
Amara saw him as a man not just a billionaire, mid conversation Lucian says something that struck Amara
" it gets lonely at the top
people think money and power makes you not to feel anything but it's quite the opposite."
Amara was too dumfounded to reply to such a statement after that the silent stretches and they conversation slows down.
Amara gets up and grabs her things and head for the door on getting to the door a driver was already waiting at the front, Lucian instructed the driver to take me home he walks me to the car opens it amara enters and closes the door.
Lucian slightly raises his hand to bid her farewell
After Amara got home a text soon came that asking if she arrived at home
It was Lucian, Amara feels a bit weird by his sudden care she begins thinking about it non-stop all through the night what could be the cause of this sudden behavior.
It was Monday the week of the charity gala amara goes to the office, attends the weekly meeting as usual returns to her cubicle. At this point amara has socialized with workers in the company and they were going for lunch
"Ms. Banks we're going for lunch at Siena tavern"
Amara thought Siena tavern I can't afford that
" I'm not really hungry and I'm swamped with work
Rain check "Amara said
"Okay" replied one of her colleagues and they took their leave
Amara sat in her cubicle trying to keep herself busy trying not to think about food because she couldn't afford to buy food in this area.
Amara feels a presence of someone watching her then turns back only to see Lucian standing at the entrance of her cubicle
"what are you doing here, aren't going for lunch" Lucian asks amara
I'm not hungry besides I'm swamped with work
At this point Amara stomach decided to embarrass her and let's out a growl, Lucian smirks
I'm going for lunch care to join me
Amara embarrassed because of what just transpired but still takes him up on his offer. Amara follows him to get lunch in getting to this place Amara noticed it was lirica
"Who the hell goes to have lunch at lirica" amara said with head voices
They get to the reception the server recognized Lucian
"Mr. D'Artois this way" signaling Lucian
Ladies first Lucian giving way for Amara to be in the front. The server took them to a private room in a fine dining restaurant. They enter and takes their seats amara relaxes herself, takes off her heels and took a deep breath Lucian looks at her and his gaze softens.
The server brings the menu and Lucian began to order on the other Amara looked through the menu and nothing she recognized. Amara kept staring at menu and didn't order anything
*She'll have what I'm having" says Lucian
Amara raises her head from the menu she buried her head in. The food comes around and they starting eating while having conversations about work and day to day life.
Amara went on and on talking for about 20 minutes uninterrupted. The server came back and Lucian handed him his black card for payment
"Add 50% tip to it
We had a nice service"
He turns to Amara
are you ready, let's go
I'm almost ready
she finds it difficult in putting her shoe back on Lucian walks towards her and gets down on one knee on to help her put on her shoes, Amara was dumbfounded by his actions.