C3 3

"Where is your wife??" Isabella asked casually.

"Wife? I don't have a wife." Benjamin said.

"You don't?" Isabella asked with her eyes wide.

"No."

"You have a baby without marriage?" Isabella asked, wondering how he did IT without marriage. The thought brought colors to her cheeks. She lives among people who believe sex before marriage is a sin.

"She is my niece," Benjamin said, offended at her assumption.

"Oh okay," Isabella said, her cheeks still red.

'She embarrassed me and she is sitting there and blushing!! Weird girl,' Benjamin thought.

"You are the new errand girl right?" Benjamin asked and Isabella nodded.

"Benjamin Lockwood," he introduced himself.

"Boss?" Isabella asked in surprise. In the chaos of consoling the crying baby, she totally forgot she was inside the boss' cabin.

"Yes," Benjamin chuckled.

"Your coffee, Sir." Isabella pointed at the now cold coffee she kept on his desk a while ago.

"Great! I needed one." Benjamin said in gratitude.

He took a sip of the coffee and spat it out in the next second.

"What the hell!!" He muttered making a face.

"Why? You didn't like it?"

"Its bitter. So bitter. No milk. No sugar." Benjamin said, making a face at the black concoction in the mug.

"Uh!! You like milk and sugar in coffee?" Isabella asked in confusion.

"Why?? Did anyone tell you that I need my coffee black?"

"Aren't all bosses supposed to drink black coffee with no sugar??" Isabella asked, remembering all the harlequin novels she has read in her life.

"What kind of logic is that?? I like my coffee with milk and sugar." Benjamin said, shaking his head in disbelief.

The HR department has hired a girl with some screws loose. Hopefully she is on probation.

"Okay. Noted Sir," Isabella said.

"Benjamin," he prompted.

"Pardon?"

"Benjamin. My name. I prefer to be called by my name rather than Sir or Mr Lockwood." Benjamin said with a smile.

"Sure Benjamin." Isabella said and Benjamin smiled.

"Well. It was nice meeting you Isabella. Now get going. I suppose you have some work? Hmm?" He asked.

"Oh god. I was supposed to meet Tom after giving you your coffee. He wanted me to take some xerox copies. Micky started crying and I forgot everything." Izzy said.

"Micky?"

"Is it a Minnie??" She asked in confusion.

"What nonsense??" He asked.

"I don't know if she is a she or a he!!" Isabella said with a sheepish smile.

"I mentioned she is my NIECE."

"Oh I forgot." Isabella said sheepishly.

"And her name is Sapphire."

"Aww. What an adorable name for an adorable baby." Isabella cooed.

"Crazy," Benjamin muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Okay then. See you later boss." Isabella said and ran out.

Benjamin breathed in relief.

"Get back to work, Benjamin," he murmured and opened his laptop and started working.

His phone rang after a while.

It was his dad.

"Hello Dad."

"Ben. How is everything over there??" William asked.

"Good going dad"

"How is Sapphire??"

"Sleeping," Benjamin said with a smile.

"Are you able to manage alone, Ben. We will be back soon." William said apologetically.

"It's okay Dad. Let Mom adjust to reality. Give her some time. I will manage." Benjamin said.

Elizabeth had mentally broken down after Eleanor's death and every time she saw Sapphire, she broke into anguished sobs.

So Benjamin suggested his father take her on a short vacation.

As a result Benjamin had to bring Sapphire to the office and he couldn't leave the baby alone at home with the maids.

Maybe he should hire a nanny!!

But the thought of handing over Sapphire to a stranger felt so wrong.

Benjamin stood up from his chair and walked over to the couch where the baby was sleeping.

He touched her cheeks with his index finger.

She's so soft. Like a cuddly doll.

"I love you. I will always love you. Just like your momma would have." Benjamin whispered to the baby.

***

Isabella called Alice, her best friend during her lunch break to share the news of the baby and uncle.

"Can you believe it?? He was so nice. I thought all bosses in the world would be arrogant like in those harlequin novels." Isabella said.

"And the baby??"

"The baby is really adorable." Isabella said. "When she is not crying," she added as an afterthought.

"How is work? Will you make enough money soon?" Alice teased.

"I will. They offered a good salary. I will work for a year. Make loads of money. And I can get a loan if I get recommendations from a big company like this. Then I can start my own bakery." Isabella said dreamily.

Opening her own bakery is her dream. Since childhood.

She remembers her mother pinching her lightly when she cried for sweets when she was a little girl.

Her mother was a health conscious woman. So too much of anything was restricted at home. Her father used to sneak in sweets for her.

And the determined little girl that she was, had made the decision of opening her own bakery so that she could eat sweets to her heart's content.

The innocent dream had grown on her as she grew up.

"Yeah yeah. If your mother doesn't marry you before that." Alice said and Isabella huffed in annoyance.

Being born in a conservative Italian family, she never had the freedom to choose her man. Even though they have been living in the UK, their lifestyle remains the same. She knew she would have to bow down to her family one day soon.

"I will only marry someone who will support my dream," Isabella declared.