CHAPTER 54: GENEROUS OFFER

Unfortunately, I couldn’t deny that I hadn’t managed to find myself a new job, and while working at Hayes Corporation is a dream for many people, I still felt very hesitant about working there. With its large size, innovative business, and stability, the corporation is a dream job destination for many. I would have been tempted to apply to the company as well had it not been for the man standing right next to me.

There was no way in hell that I would end up working in the same company as him...

"There are a couple of positions that should suit you well that are still open. Why don’t you take a look? You can let me know if any of them interest you," Raphael said before showing me a sweet smile. Simply because he was Raphael, I knew that he wasn’t doing this purely for my benefit. I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously without even hiding it.

"Thank you, but no thank you," I replied before quickly looking away. Raphael just laughed at my retort before asserting that I should look at the job openings before turning them all down.

I only smiled at him without saying anything because I didn’t want to get into an argument in front of all of his staff members. Hayes Corporation was right at the bottom of my list of employers for my next workplace.

"Shall we head out to dinner?" Raphael said invitingly before he flashed me a sweet-looking smile.

"I think we should just head back," I replied immediately. I would be lying if I said that having dinner with Raphael outside of the Mansion wasn’t an attractive idea, but I was more than aware that it could potentially lead to more problems for me.

"Why? Don’t you get bored having dinner with me back at home?" Raphael asked before he showed me an innocent smile. I wallowed in silence as I continued to hesitate.

"What’s wrong with going out for dinner once in a while? Stop overthinking things and let’s go," Raphael said casually as he interlaced his fingers with mine.

"Wait," I said, but it was already too late. Raphael dragged me by the arm, and I had to say that his excitement seemed to be rubbing off on me.

Raphael stuck to my side like glue, and it felt impossible for me to get rid of him. The only silver lining was that it appeared that the rumors surrounding Hayes Corporation didn’t seem to hold true. After inspecting the office myself, I had to say that everything seemed normal. I couldn’t detect anything that was out of the ordinary, and if anything, all the employees seemed to be enjoying their work and everybody seemed so productive. I was relieved because adding an array of illegal activities to the business that our family ran was going to be another hassle. I doubted that my mother even knew about the rumors, or even if she did, she surely did not believe them or pay them any attention. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how shocked my mother would be if she found out that Hayes corporation was just a cover-up for a mafia syndicate. Thankfully, that didn’t seem to be the case.

"We’ve arrived. I really like this place; it’s one of my friend’s restaurants. It’s gotten very popular lately, and it’s very hard to get a booking here," Raphael said as he helped me out of the car.

Just like that, I ended up sitting right opposite Raphael at a dining table in a restaurant that had a very romantic atmosphere. Although Raphael mentioned earlier that this place is popular; there was no one else in the restaurant besides us. I looked around to see only the manager and a few waitresses standing around with no other customers in sight.

"I booked out the entire place for us," Raphael informed me casually.

"Why would you do something like that?" I asked before I could stop myself. Raphael rested his chin in the palm of his hand before cocking his head slightly to the side before showing me a very sweet smile that made his eyes seem to twinkle.

"Why not?" he replied without a care in the world.

The golden glowing candlelight from the candles placed on the table only added to the romantic atmosphere, and suddenly it felt like we were on a dinner date. Even though I tried to tell myself that that wasn’t the case, I couldn’t help but feel that that was exactly the case. Raphael kept staring at me from across the table, and I started feeling a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Let’s order food," I said as I started flipping through the menu.

"Are you hungry?" he asked before grinning at me. I only nodded my head because I didn’t want to tell him that I wanted to order food as soon as possible so that we could finish eating and then just go home. It felt like I had spent too much time with him already; in fact, I was with him last night, and I had spent the entire day up to that point with him. It also didn’t slip my mind that we would be heading home together and then we’d be sleeping under the same roof.

I felt so tongue-tied as I tried my best to focus on eating. Even that was difficult given the way that Raphael seemed to be staring at me from across the table. The fact that we were the only two customers in the restaurant only added to the tension in the atmosphere, and for the life of me, I couldn’t come up with the words to start a conversation with him. Everything just felt awkward and stifling, and I couldn’t wait for our dinner to come to an end so that I could go home and rest in the sanctuary of my bedroom.

"You know, if I were you, I would start thinking seriously about the role I want to play in the company’s business," Raphael suddenly spoke up before he flashed me a knowing smile.

–To be continued...