BRIANNA

The door was barged open, and I quickly broke off the kiss to see who was at the door. I was expecting to see one of my coworkers, but instead, I saw a beautiful middle-aged woman. I hastily got off Adrian’s lap at the thought of the woman being a client or his business partner. My face went red. I sneaked a glance at Adrian, and he didn’t even look fazed in any way. I glanced at the woman too, and she was just staring with wide-open eyes.

Adrian straightened his clothes and sat up before facing the woman.

“Mom, what are you doing here? You didn’t tell me you were coming.” He uttered, and my heart skipped a beat.

Did he just call her mom? She’s his mother? And she just caught us kissing?! Oh my fucking gosh! I feel like the ground should open up and swallow me whole right now. I might die of embarrassment at this rate.

I sneakily looked at the woman and saw that she and Adrian did have some features in common—like the hair and eye color. He also had the shape of her nose. She must be the one Adrian got his looks from.

“What am I doing here? Must I ask for your permission before visiting you?” she asked as she strode toward Adrian’s desk. She was staring at me the whole time.

“You don’t have to ask for my permission, but I just wasn’t expecting you,” Adrian grumbled.

“Why are you getting all worked up? Is it because I caught you kissing?” she asked, her tone indicating that she was teasing him.

“Mom! Stop embarrassing me!” he whined in frustration, and I almost laughed at his display, but I couldn’t. I was too embarrassed to laugh.

“Erm… Mr. Adrian, I’ll be going now.” I mumbled with my head bowed and proceeded to walk out of the office.

“Good morning, ma’am,” I greeted slowly and was going to walk past her when she stopped me.

“Wait a minute,” she uttered, and I stopped in my tracks, not bothering to raise my head because I was still in a deep moment of embarrassment that I didn’t think I would be getting over anytime soon.

“Yes, ma’am?” I managed to voice out and turned to face her, but with my eyes facing the floor like there was something interesting about it.

“Are you my son’s girlfriend?” she asked, and I snapped my head upward so fast that I’m sure I got whiplash.

“Mum!!!” Adrian protested in a loud voice, the same time a loud “No!” left my mouth.

“What?! I have to know if you have a new girlfriend now or not,” she snapped at him before facing me.

“He’s not your boyfriend? Then why are you kissing him? In his office of all places?” she asked all of the questions at once, and I grew nervous. I looked toward Adrian for help, but he just shrugged. Seems like he’s helpless in this situation too, avoiding getting snapped at. His mom is the only one I’ve seen that he looks slightly scared of.

“He’s not my boyfriend, ma’am,” I answered with a scratch of my neck, choosing not to answer the rest of her questions because of how nervous and embarrassed I was.

Her eyes seemed to take in my dressing, and she spoke up after a few seconds.

“You work here, don’t you?” she asked. Ah, my mode of dressing must have given me away.

“I do work here, ma’am,” I responded with a nod of my head. It felt like I was being investigated by a detective right now, almost like I had committed a crime and was being probed because of it.

“I thought as much,” she said and went quiet for a second. “Are you trying to seduce my son so that he can give you a promotion?”

My jaw dropped when she asked such an outrageous question. How could she think of me that way? Do I look like some cheap employee that would do anything to get a promotion? So much that she would even seduce the boss? I’m definitely not that type of person.

“What? No!” I couldn’t stop myself from shouting out the reply.

“Jesus! That’s enough, Mom!” Adrian shouted at his mom, and she just shrugged.

“I was just making sure she’s not using you for her own gain,” she uttered.

“Your overprotectiveness can be unbearable sometimes,” he grumbled in annoyance, but she ignored him.

“Come with me. I want to see you privately,” she said, directing that statement to me. I wondered what she had to say to me. Does she want me to stay away from her son? I’d do that to avoid further embarrassing moments.

“On second thought… Adrian, get out of this office and come back in the next five minutes. I want to have a talk with this girl over here,” she said to Adrian, and he groaned loudly.

“Why? This is my office. You can just talk to her outside. What do you even have to tell her?”

“It’s none of your business! Now get out.” She glared at him dangerously, and he got up from his seat and stormed out of the office like a kid, grumbling incoherent profanities under his breath. He listened to her. Wow. Guess she’s the only one that can order him around.

Lord, I’m the only one left with her. What does she have to say to me, though? I’m curious.

“First of all, what’s your name?” she asked after Adrian left the office.

“My name’s Brianna, ma’am,” I responded.

“I hope all the answers you gave me earlier are true? You’re not trying to seduce my son to get a promotion?” she quizzed.

“I can never do that! Not to him, and not to anybody else,” I retorted.

“Good. I was just making sure,” she bobbed her head.

“And you said that the both of you were not dating. What are you two, then?” she asked again. This woman would be perfect for the job of an investigator. She sure knows how to ask a lot of questions.

“Yes, we’re not dating. We’re just a…” I trailed off, searching my brain for the best word to describe what we are, even when I knew that there was nothing serious going on between us. “We’re just a thing.”

“A thing?” she chuckled and shook her head. “I can never understand how the children of these days think. If you say that you’re a thing, then fine.”

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that she was off my neck. Guess she was just trying to protect her son.

“Well, I need your help with something,” she uttered, and I wondered what she could need my help for.

“What’s that, ma’am?” I asked in curiosity.

“Before I go on, don’t call me ma’am, please. That makes me feel old. Call me Stella. That’s my name,” she said, and I nodded.

“Okay, Stella.”

“Good. I need you to help me persuade Adrian to come home for the family dinner. He’s been avoiding it for ages and always changes the topic when I try bringing it up on the phone. That’s why I decided to come here in person today,” she explained.

“Erm… I’m not sure I can persuade him to come. If he doesn’t listen to you, his mother, then how will he listen to me?” I said incredulously.

There’s no way I will be able to convince Adrian to go to a family dinner that he has been skipping. I’m sure he won’t even listen to me.

“I have a hunch that he will listen to you. Please, just try to persuade him for me. I want him to come, and you should also come along with him,” she stated pleadingly.

“Ma’am… I’m not sure…” I said nervously and scratched my neck, my eyes darting all over the place.

“Please, just do this for me. We really want him to come. We miss him at home. Please, Brianna,” she begged me, and I had no choice but to give in with those puppy eyes and the way she was begging me.

“I’ll try my best to persuade him to come, but I’m not promising anything because Adrian doesn’t really listen to people, and I’m sure you know that. I’ll try to convince him, though.” I said to her, and she enveloped me in a bear hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. And please come along with him. The dinner is on Friday, you have plenty of time to convince him,” she uttered, still holding me in her embrace.

“Okay, ma’am... I mean, Stella.” I responded, and she broke off the hug.

“Thanks once again. By the way, you’re so beautiful and nice. I’d like it if you and my son moved from being ‘a thing’ to being a couple. You’d be so perfect for each other,” she gushed, and I moved from one foot to the other.

“Uh, I’m not sure about that...” I stuttered, not knowing how to reply to that.

“Well, it’s fine. I’ll be going now. I think I’ve kept Adrian outside long enough,” she said, and I chuckled.

“Bye, Brianna. Take care.” She smiled warmly and began walking to the door.

“Bye, Stella.” I uttered, waving as I watched her walk out of the office. Adrian would come back to the office any second now. His mom sure has a way of ordering him around, and he looked like a big baby when she was here.

Oh well, I have to think of ways to convince Adrian to go to his family dinner that he’s been avoiding for reasons only known to him.