"Don't worry Melanie; you're in no trouble at all."
She felt a sense of impending doom in the pit of her stomach.
When they reached the office, Mitch was there. He had a responsible job and the airline industry was always stressful. Although he was in management with things, the way they were now, this didn't turn into much, financially speaking. As Melanie looked at him, stressed out and tired, for the first time she thought that it was entirely possible even he was struggling to get by despite all the crap he had to put up with on a daily basis.
She didn't pity him though. He was a sneaky two-timer, so he deserved any hassle he got until he learned his lesson. He was damn lucky she had only smashed his laptop and mobile phone with that baseball bat and not anything more attached to him physically.
"Hey Mitch, how's it going today?" Alex announced loudly as he entered the office.
"You guys know each other?" Mitch looked as though he had been caught in the act of doing something illicit.
"Mr. Drummond, sir, I had no idea you'd be dropping by. I'm... uh... sorry."
Mr. Drummond Sir? Who is this guy?
"Don't be sorry Mitch and forget that Mr. Drummond stuff. Relax, you can call me Alex."
Alex Drummond? Of the Drummond family that owned the airline? She had seen old Mr. Drummond once or maybe twice in the six years she had worked herself into exhaustion with the crazy shifts and low pay of his airline. This guy must be...
"Alex Drummond, Jr." He held out his strong, capable hand, circled by a gleaming white linen shirt cuff. His cufflinks glinted with what Melanie presumed was some kind of precious or semi-precious stone. She reached out to take his hand and almost curtsied by accident.
Damn. She berated herself.
"I thought your name was Murray?" She inquired.
"Melanie!" Mitch cut in. "Just ignore her, Alex--"
"It's okay. She's right Mitch. I sometimes travel under that name. It's my mother's maiden name."
"Oh, yeah. Of course. Sorry Alex."
The billionaire stood there with a smile that Melanie found smug, aloof, arrogant, and annoyingly playful smile. She couldn't figure out if she hated it, or kind of loved it.
She couldn't believe that she was standing next to a billionaire, couldn't figure out if she loved or hated that one either.
She knew that the Drummond family's wealth was measured in the tens of billions and that Drummond Airlines was just one tiny little part of their vast empire. It was rumored that the company was just a pet project for old Mr. Drummond who had started out with the carrier in the 1930s as a mailroom clerk and had then eventually become CEO, owner, international business tycoon, and Forbes List billionaire he was today.