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He watched her for a few minutes, her face looking so peaceful and sated in her slumber and he couldn’t deny that she was beautiful.
Will was sure that, if he bothered to give her a chance, the girl would be very good to him, but he couldn’t. He had made the mistake of trusting someone once before and after what happened; he could not allow himself to put so much faith into another person again.
~
“Good morning Mr. Jones.”
William heard the greeting before he even had the time to exit the elevator. As soon as he saw her, he smiled at the short, middle-aged woman and nodded.
“Morning, Maria. How are you this morning?” he asked while taking the coffee she was offering him as they walked through the main floor of his apartment building. He opened the glass door and motioned with his hand for her to go before him, which earned him a proud smirk from her.
“I am fine, Mr. Jones. How about you? Slept well?”
“Quite well, thank you. The previous evening was indeed very enjoyable if a bit strenuous.” he said, a smirk playing around the edges of his mouth as she huffed and got into the car; her opinion about William’s nighttime activities as further from positive as possible.
“And, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Will, Maria? It sounds weird when you call me Mr. Jones, I feel ancient, especially since you are older than me.”
There were times in his life when Will was grateful that looks couldn’t kill, especially in his line of competitive work, and the one currently directed his way was definitely one of them.
“Not by much.” she hissed and took her tablet out, furiously typing something and ignoring him for the rest of the trip.
He smiled widely feeling joyful since teasing Maria, his PA, was the highlight of his workday. It was all in good spirit, of course, since there weren’t a lot of people that William held in suc
h high regard as her.
It came as a shock when his father, the great Ezekiel Jones died from a heart attack at the young age of forty-five. He was a well-respected man and an incredible businessman who had built the family company from the ground. Then he died and William had to take over since his younger brother was just eighteen at the time and going away to college and their mother was already out of the picture; gallivanting around the world with her latest boy-toy.
So, there he was, twenty-one years old, barely out of college and as inexperienced as you could imagine; the co-owner of the company and CEO.
He almost gave up at the beginning, the responsibilities and the pressure proving almost too much for him to bear, but then Maria came along and most probably threatened to hurt him if he did such a thing, something he still wasn’t sure about since most of the yelling had been in Spanish.
She helped him learn; stood by his side through all the hiccups and problems that arose down the road, and now, fifteen years later, she was still there.
She was, in his opinion, the mother that his brother and he should have had and William loved her immensely.
The car stopped in front of a large, glass building and they got out and walked in. Several greetings and nods to the employees later and they were finally on their floor.
“The offices in New York are almost finished, and they will be by the time we arrive tomorrow. Also, your sister called me, since your phone was off last night, to ask if you’ll be available for dinner tomorrow evening. What should I tell her?” Maria asked, her high heels click-clacking loudly as they walked together toward Will’s office.
“I’ll call her later; you just make sure that everything is settled before our flight tonight. Thank you, Maria.” he said as he walked into his soon-to-be ex-office and closed the door behind him with a sigh.
As of tomorrow, he would be leaving LA and moving to New York, and he couldn’t have been happier about it even if he tried.
He was tired of this town, of the people in it and of the painful memories it held within. He also really missed his sister, Megan, who lived on the other side of the country in New York. She had moved there to attend college and never came back, except for an occasional visit.
Megan had studied law at NYU and after years of working in an unjust system that only favored the rich, she finally gave up and quit and was now a proud owner of a club called ‘The Echo’.
It had been quite a career change and it certainly raised more than a few eyebrows but Megan never paid attention to other people’s opinions and William adored her for it.
After making sure that everything was packed and sent to New York, and after ending an excruciatingly long conference call with business partners from Japan, Will made his way to the airport where his private jet was waiting, along with the crew and Maria, of course.
He had offered her the opportunity to stay in LA and run the office there since it was her home and she, most certainly, deserved the promotion, but she just ended up laughing in his face and proceeded to ignore his attempts to persuade her.
“Everything has been taken care of Mr. Jones, so you can just relax, have a drink and your dinner will be served after the takeoff.” Maria said after they boarded the jet. Will thanked her and dismissed her since it was, by that time, 8 p.m. and she had been on her feet for 12 hours already.
After it was announced that they could move freely inside the plane, William ate the dinner and then retreated to his small bedroom, took off his clothes and was out the moment his head hit the pillow.
~
