Narrator-
After their incident at lunch, Liliana begged Chamille to allow her to sit out the remaining routine checkups on Mr. Cavalier. Liliana knew her actions were immature, but she needed a moment to collect her thoughts.
Liliana found it unbelievable that she had developed a crush so quickly for a man she didn't even know. Well, she did not want to jump the gun and actually label her recent actions and responses towards Mr. Cavalier as a "crush" per se, but she still found it strange that he caught her attention.
As far as she was concerned, Mr. Cavalier couldn't be bothered with her, and the only reason for the extra attention towards her was because she was a total screw up. That and the fact he was the boss, and he wanted her to know it.
While sitting next to Chamille, Liliana excused herself and headed to the bathroom.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror, then shook her head sadly.
What was she thinking?
Liliana told herself that she was desperate, and it was showing. What other explanation could there be for her sudden attraction towards the handsome man?
Meanwhile, Mr. Cavalier found his eyes glossing over as he looked at the computer screen. His mind tainted with images of Liliana.
From the moment he laid eyes on her, he found her beauty to be unique.
Brown hair, kind eyes, and sweet smile. Nothing compared to what he usually went for, which were the blondes with blue eyes. Or the tall models who were well known.
He found himself reminiscing on the moments when he caught her stealing a glance at him. And he chuckled when he remembered the way she rambled on and on when he caught her in his room.
It was peculiar. He knew that he had only met her a few hours ago, yet for some unknown reason, she intrigued him.
He couldn't get over the fact that she called him a bastard, and she had some serious sass to her that rubbed him the wrong way. It made him want to assert his dominance and teach her to respect him. He was a world known billionaire, so it didn't sit well with him that she was so outspoken towards him, especially on her first day. She seems to have no filter, and she didn't appear fazed by the fact that he could make or break this opportunity for her.
Nevertheless, neither Mr. Cavalier nor Liliana dwelled on those thoughts. They both shook off their random curiosity and continued on the trip.
For the next few hours, Mr. Cavalier noticed that Chamille checked on him alone. And that alone upset him. He wasn't sure why Liliana's avoidance got under his skin, but he could only guess that it was because it was her first day in training, and as an employee, she couldn't slack.
Since he owned half of the business, he wanted to assure that all the employees were efficient, and displayed excellent work ethic, so the next hour when Chamille came by to check on him, he spoke "aren't you training today Chamille?"
"Yes sir." Chamille responded, though she already had a feeling this was going to happen.
"And where is your trainee?" Mr. Cavalier pondered, and Chamille took a small gulp as she responded, "she wasn't feeling too well and asked, for a moment to collect herself."
"Right, well I'm sure after a few hours, she should be feeling much better," Mr. Cavalier suddenly stood, then he added "shall we check on her?" But before Chamille could respond, Mr. Cavalier was already making his way towards Liliana.
Liliana found herself immersed in the rabid infested world of Julie Kagawa, as she read The Immortal Rules, completely oblivious of the tall shadow which had cast upon her.
Mr. Cavalier cocked his head slightly to the left when he realized that Liliana had yet to notice him, as he stood there casually with his hands in his pockets. He wasn't sure whether he found her actions funny or worrying. One thing he did know for sure was that her lack of acknowledgement was beginning to irk him.
Noticing the comical situation, Chamille cleared her throat, and that's when Liliana froze.
Liliana noticed the fancy shoes, and she could automatically feel his shadow like a heavy blanket against her seated form.
Liliana jumped out of her seat but quickly regretted her actions when she found herself extremely close to Mr. Cavalier, who did not even wince at their close proximity.
Liliana kept her eyes trained on the base of his neck, because that's how far her eyes could reach. She could feel the pressure of his peruse gaze fall on her heated face, and that caused her throat to run dry.
Liliana knew she was in trouble.
"Leave us." Mr. Cavalier ordered Chamille, who with a quick and silent nod made her way to the back of the plane, though she couldn't keep the knowing smile from her face.
Once Chamille was gone, Liliana took in a silent breath, her heart racing in her chest. She felt the heat of her embarrassment burning on her forehead and breathing against her neck.
Was this it? Was she about to lose her job because she couldn't handle the pressure? Did she react prematurely?
All these questions began to circle in Liliana's brain, as she felt her body sweating bullets.
She was a nervous wreck.
Liliana found herself thinking maybe she had returned to work too soon.
Mr. Cavalier raised all kinds of red flags in her mind. He reminded her of the exact reasons why she stopped flying commercial in the first place.
Not only so, but the way he caught her attention also freaked her out.
Mr. Cavalier on the other hand could feel the nerves radiate from her shy posture. He was pleased.
He knew intimidating Liliana was not the most ethical way to go about things, but somehow, her response to his actions pleased him.
However, the longer he stared down at her, the more he found himself wanting to know what was going through her mind.
"How are you feeling Liliana?" Mr. Cavalier asked when he noticed that she was not planning on speaking anytime soon.
"Fine sir, thank you." Liliana responded, trying to avoid another rambling session, "Liliana, my eyes are up here." Frantz dictated, as he felt the sudden urge to look in her eyes.
Liliana felt the blood drain from her face.
She was already so close to him. Having his intense gaze penetrating hers was going to make the entire situation unbearable. There was no denying that Mr. Cavalier was intimidating.
But still, taking a deep breath, Liliana allowed her eyes to move from the base of his neck, to his jaw, his very attractive lips, then finally his eyes.
Nodding in satisfaction, Mr. Cavalier sent her a subtle smirk.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're doing better, because according to Chamille, you weren't feeling well." Frantz spoke, as he kept his hands in his pocket, never moving from his spot, which in turn kept Liliana in a very compromising position. A wrong move and she would be flushed against his chest.
Liliana felt the blood rush back to her face, and her mouth began its work as she spoke "well you see, this is my first long distance flight in a while, and you know, being so high off the ground its dizzying, plus with so much to learn in one day it's just a load to swallow all at once."
"A load to swallow?" Frantz questioned as he raised an eyebrow, Lilliana's words catching him off guard, now shaking up his confidence.
"Yeah, just a big, heavy, thick load." Liliana replied, as she nodded her head, completely unaware of the way Frantz studied her lips as they spewed out the innocent words that were anything but when it came to him.
"Right." He nodded as he cleared his throat and finally looked away.
He took a deep breath through his nostrils, and Liliana figured that he was getting ready to tell her to sit out remainder of the trip, so she took a chance.
"Mr. Cavalier, I am sorry if my absence has offended you. And please do not blame Chamille for allowing me to sit out for the past few hours. I know my actions were slightly childish. I should've been more prepared for this trip. But I am a hard worker and will give a hundred and ten percent for the remainder of the trip." Liliana defended, as she nodded her head in order to reassure her words.
Frantz opened his mouth to reply and Liliana added "I promise it was not Chamille's fault. I can be pretty convincing."
"I'm sure you can." Frantz replied, as his eyes flashed over Liliana's lips once more, before he shook his head and said, "I'll give you this one chance Liliana, one more slip up, and it’s over."
"I won't let you down sir. Thank you." Liliana expressed her gratitude, grateful that she was not returning home jobless.
As Mr. Cavalier nodded and prepared to step away, a violent turbulence had a very unsteady Liliana cradled in Mr. Cavalier's arms.
Her palms were on his chest, gripping on to his shirt as his arms snaked around her waist to keep her steady.
Liliana felt her cheeks catch fire due to their close proximity.
Oh boy.
When the plane finally became steady, both Frantz and Liliana were silent.
Her hands were still gripping his shirt, and his strong arms still cradled her form to his body.
