Chapter 11 FIFTY PER CENT STAKE

It had all of a sudden become very awkward, and I was feeling extremely uncomfortable in the car with him after screaming that out to him. He had also become very quiet, and he looked away from me to see the road in front. His reaction made me feel as if I was sad about the fact that he hadn’t asked me out yet, which was not true at all.

I was definitely not complaining about it, but I said it to give him the most logical reason for why I couldn’t give up working and continue staying in his house. So, I didn’t have a reason to feel bad about it anyway, I had many other reasons for that. Losing my job topping the list, being unable to go once again to check out the apartment being the second one, and now an argument with the man I had a crush on since the very beginning.

Blaming it on my stars not shining right, I stayed mum for the rest of the ride. When we reached the museum, Charles asked me to get down with him. I was feeling very wrong about things going in this manner because I didn’t want him to show people that we were living together.

All of them weren’t thinking about him and I being just friends, but they had made their own theories. I was so sure that it was a bad idea, but I was hopeful that at least he would not terminate Kelvin as he agreed to what I said to him in the car. I explained to him that he didn’t have to be like Kelvin; he had to be a bigger man and forgive him for what he did.

The only purpose of me telling him about being fired was because it was his museum and living with him without telling him that didn’t seem right to me. There was no other reason than that. I didn’t want him to stand up for me because I was no way going to go back over there after knowing those people were talking shit about me.

When the doorkeeper opened the door for Charles, he was very surprised to see me with him. He greeted me the same way that he had greeted him, and because he called him “Sir,” he used the title “Ma’am” for me. I was feeling equally shy and found it extremely difficult to cope with everyone staring at me.

Because everyone already knew that Charles was coming to the museum, all the heads were present in the lobby itself. Soon after his first visit, everyone got to know that he was the new owner of the place in the little meeting that was organized for the staff. Everyone of them looked at me as if I did something wrong, or I was being taken to be confronted, I felt.

Since it was lunchtime, the museum was closed to the public, people were free from their assigned duties and were called in the lobby, it looked like. As we reached the reception, my manager, Kelvin, was already standing there, taken aback just the same as the other staff there. When we were right in front, Charles turned around facing them all.

Not being able to understand whether I should look at Charles or if I should look at the staff, I kept myself positioned in a way that I was looking at neither of the sides. Charles started to talk after a long pause. He said, “I have been made aware of the managers making decisions based on the thing their staff does in their personal life.”

Hearing those words from Charles’s mouth, I felt offended even though he was taking my side because I didn’t want Kelvin to be insulted in front of everyone, and as I was the only intern in that room, it was pretty obvious which manager their owner was referring to. I couldn’t do anything over there except listen to him, so I paid attention to what he was saying despite feeling small.

A long speech he was giving, and I was losing interest in what he was saying. But right in the middle of something that he was mentioning, he used the word “baby", and that caught my attention. When I looked at him, I saw his stare focused at me. I looked around and saw each one of them had their gaze fixed at me. I didn’t understand what was happening.

From my expression it must have been obvious to Charles that I was lost. So, he started to talk again. He said, “Olivia will not be reporting to work because now she owns 50 per cent stake in this museum.”

At that time all I could think of was that this man had lost his mind. When did I own 50 per cent stake in this museum? But because I couldn’t start another argument with him in front of his staff, I kept quiet and maintained my cool. I made sure the expression on my face was blank, and it didn’t show either confusion or happiness, and even anger to let him complete what he was saying.

Once he was done, he looked at Kelvin, who was looking completely shocked, and said, “Know who you are talking to,” and he held my hand and walked out of the museum with me while I was following him. Staring at him, I was talking steps forward as I didn’t know what he was trying to prove to everyone who was looking at us.

To be honest, it felt amazing to be given that status in front of everybody who I used to work with. But it raised more questions in my mind regarding why he would say that I own 50 per cent stake in the museum. I was not worried about owning it because I clearly didn't, and I knew it too well. It was just the why that puzzled me.

I kept walking with him to get back into the car because all my doubts could be cleared on the way back home. So, I waited until we reached the car and settled in it.