“Yes, it’s her. She’s one of the few who followed him here after he sold his last business. She said she was taking a walk when she recognized his limo and she saw a young woman getting inside. She’s pretty sure she recognized someone from this building.”

“Wow. So you mean the boss is... hum hum... with someone from the office? I thought this kind of things only happened in movies!”

The two women giggled. “Hell no, it happens in real life too! I think he couldn’t resist striking one more time. Come on, he’s always been a player, right? I wouldn’t say no if he approached me though!”

They giggled again. Jennifer felt her cheeks and her ears getting hot. There was no doubt they were talking about Bruce and his relationship with her. She wanted to slap these two stupid bitches.

She didn’t have the time to do it, though. The elevator stopped and its doors opened, releasing all the hungry employees like a honey bee colony.

As she walked out of the elevator, she tried to calm down and to look cool.

“Did you hear that, Benny?”

“Yeah, of course. It’s been the main topic of most conversations these days!”

“What? Why you didn’t tell me that this morning?”

Jennifer’s heart was about to explode. Oh my God! Everybody knows already?

Benny raised his eyebrows and looked surprised. “Sorry, I thought you wanted me to bring you up to speed on work! I didn’t know you wanted to listen to gossip...”

Jennifer realized he was right. As a trainee, Benny probably wouldn’t consider sharing all these rumors with her. She kept silent for a few seconds, looking for something to say that made sense.

“Alright. How long have you been here?”

“About five months.”

“Okay, you approach six months, right? Now, there’s a rule you must know and you will never find it in any book. You have to pay attention to gossip. It’s like the pulse of the company, like its lifeblood.”

Benny’s mouth was dangling open, a look of disbelief on his face. “I thought cash flow was the lifeblood of a business?”

Damn, he’s too smart! “Yes you’re right, but here I’m talking about the company’s social life. It’s like the mood of the company, if you prefer.”

Benny frowned. “Hum, I see.”

Jennifer didn’t want him to think too long and was afraid he would make another smart comment. She quickly focused on what she wanted to know. “So tell me more about what we heard in the elevator. What’s the whole story?”

“Well, as you heard there’s a rumor saying that Mr. Wilson is dating someone in this building. Actually, nobody saw them together, but the young woman has been seen getting in his limo.”

“So that’s only speculation! Maybe it was business?”

“True, but it seems like it’s not the first time it happened. He has kind of a reputation. We all know he likes to date super models, but he also has a thing for secretaries. Some people say it might be a secret fantasy, or something. No offense to you of course. Anyway, people who used to work for him in his previous company say he used to have an affair with one of them and it was pretty ugly.”

“Pretty ugly? For who? Ugly like what?”

“I have no idea. I don’t even know if it’s all true, you know.” Benny paused and hesitated. “But I’d say, as much as I respect Mr. Wilson, it fits the character... I mean, if I was in his position, I would probably do the same!”

Jennifer lost her appetite. She was terribly confused and felt desperately insecure. She wanted to call Bruce right away and hear his voice. She wanted to ask him if he really loved her and wanted to be in his arms right now.

As she looked at the busy street, she saw a familiar face getting out of a black car, with a grey hood. It was Jack, Bruce’s chauffeur, opening the door of the Rolls Royce Ghost.

For a second, she thought she would be able to see Bruce pretty soon and felt happy.

Instead of Bruce, Jennifer saw a pair of black stilettos, and two long curved legs getting out of the luxury car. In fact, Jack was opening the door to a tall, slim Asian woman wearing a tight black dress, in her late twenties, or early thirties maximum.

A woman so beautiful she was sure she never saw her before.

A woman so elegant she was definitely the type that Bruce would love.

A woman so sexy that Jennifer instinctively recognized the threat she represented...

Chapter Three

It was 8:00 PM when Jennifer finished her day.

That whole afternoon, her emotions had been running high and she had been unable to focus properly. Bruce had been away for the day, and she hadn’t heard from him until 7:00 PM.

He simply sent her a text message, asking her if her first day back to work was fine, and saying that she could meet him at his mansion that night.

Jennifer couldn’t wait to see him, but she had mixed feelings. Even though she missed Bruce and wanted to spend time with him, she was also very nervous.

Indeed, she couldn’t help, but think about what she had heard that day.

All the comments the two women had made in the elevator and Benny’s confirmation were spinning in her head. She didn’t know why, but she felt worried. She felt threatened by something she couldn’t control.

Jennifer’s grandmother had always warned her about gossip, since she was a teen. She used to say that it was too easy to ruin someone’s reputation by spreading lies. She said it was better to ignore the rumors and to seek the truth yourself.

As much as she could, Jennifer tried to apply what she learned from Margareta, but pretending she didn’t care or, didn’t give too much importance to what people were saying about Bruce was nearly impossible.

She wanted to know the truth, but was scared at the same time to learn something she didn’t want to know.

When she received Bruce’s message, she decided to stop thinking about it and to clear her mind before going to meet him. They didn’t spend as much time together as she would have expected, and she didn’t want to ruin the few moments of privacy they had.

She was supposed to go home first, where Jack would be waiting for her. When she left the office, it was exactly 8:00 PM and she calculated that she would be home in thirty minutes. When she arrived, it was already pretty dark. Jack was waiting outside the car and nodded when he saw her.

“Hello Jack, give me five minutes please. I need to pick up a few things and I’ll be back.”

Jennifer went to her apartment and quickly packed for the night and for the next working day. When she went back to the car this time, coming from a different angle, she noticed it was the Rolls Royce. Despite her resolution not to think about the gossip of the day, her doubts were triggered once again.

Indeed, she remembered the mysterious and sexy Asian lady getting out of the exact same car earlier that day and started to think again.

Who is she? What was she doing in Bruce’s car? Business? I thought he only used the Rolls Royce for private matters...

“Jack, have you seen Mr. Wilson today?”

“No Ms. Stuart. I think he spent the whole day with Mr. Sakamura.”

“Mr. Sakamura is in New York?”

“Yes Ms. Stuart. He will be here for a few days with his family.”

“Wife and kids?”

“Mr. Sakamura is not married.”

“Old, fat and ugly businessman?”

“Quite the opposite actually. He’s the Asian equivalent of Mr. Wilson. Mid-thirties, handsome, athletic, and wealthy. He’s here with his brother and his sister, who intend to invest in real estate.”

Jennifer felt a sudden relief. That woman I saw today was probably Mr. Sakamura’s sister! God, I’m so paranoid! I really need to relax...

***

Bruce was in his office when Jennifer arrived. He was standing in front of a floor to ceiling bookcase, flipping through the pages of a book.