The Rise of Alexander Black (the Errand Boy)!

Chapter 5

There were gasps all over as Sandra fell.

After a second, just as she was scrambling to get up, they all burst into laughter. It was such an embarrassing situation for her and extremely funny to those watching.

“What, Sandra, did you see a ghost on the computer?” Someone jabbed.

Everyone laughed harder.

Alex remained composed as he watched everything unfold—even though he too wanted to laugh.

Of course it was funny to him. He knew what had just happened:

Sandra had just confirmed exactly how much he was worth and realized she was in hot water.

He watched silently as she finally got up, tried to straighten the embarrassment out of her attire, and then moved towards her computer with shame and defeat etched very visibly on her face.

Sandra's heart was beating fast; she couldn't hear herself think.

God, what have I done?

She tried to keep her raging thoughts out of her expression as she refreshed the computer again, but Alex could see that she was trembling slightly.

Sandra prayed that she'd seen wrong the first time. But the figures kept returning. The more she looked, the more she realized she was in serious trouble.

The man she'd called clownface wasn't just a millionaire but a multimillionaire. He had $100 million just chilling in his bank account.

She started to tremble. But then she scolded herself. She hadn't come this far by withering and falling when faced with situations like this.

She decided she would hold her head up and salvage the situation as best she could. 

She quickly began to rearrange herself, her hair, her attire—

“Sandra? Aren't you going to tell us what just made you fall?” The US president queried, his voice carrying only a tiny piece of jest now that it looked like Sandra was getting serious.

“Yeah, why so serious all of a sudden, Sandra?” Barbara added, craning her neck a little to see Sandra's computer.

“Guys, she's just going to ignore it; I'm going to take a look for myself.” Nolan stated and excused himself from his workspace, jogging over to stand behind Sandra, who was still adjusting her attire.

The others, of course, all left their posts and rushed to join Nolan.

As their eyes landed on the computer, they all froze, their faces completely stunned.

Sandra got up, having concluded her adjusting and primping, then walked out of her desk area to stand in front of Alex.

She bowed to him.

“Please forgive me, Mr. Black. I know that I have sorely overstepped my bounds; all I can ask for at this point is your mercy.”

Alex looked her up and down, doing his best to hide the amusement he felt. Money really did make the world go round. 

He decided to just ignore her.

“Take me to the bank's president now; I told you it was urgent.”

“O-of course, sir!”

She scrambled to a standing position, gesturing politely to his right.

Alex could have gotten his revenge back at that moment. He could have said whatever to her, done whatever to her, or made her do whatever, but he decided to keep things simple.

As it was, he didn't know the origin of this money; if it turned out to be traceable and was taken away from him, how would he face Sarah Winter then? He had to play it safe—for now at least.

“I will lead you to his office myself, sir; we'll be taking the private elevator reserved for only VIP clients like yourself.” Sandra explained, smiling like a waitress from Hooters.

It should have been an indication of what was to come—as Sandra walked ahead of him, Alex noticed a distinct change in her gait. Sandra had begun to sway her hips and move her ass more noticeably.

Alex almost burst into laughter. Was she seriously trying to get him interested in her?

He couldn't help but bite back a smile. She was probably a year or two older than him but because of his bank balance, he'd become a potential sugar daddy.

He couldn't care less, however; he had better things to worry about.

They stepped into the elevator and Alex knew for a fact that not just anybody could step into it. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, savoring the wealthy atmosphere.

“My, my, it feels hot in here. I need to have the maintenance guys come take a look.”

Alex's brows furrowed and his eyes swung open; it wasn't—

Of course.

Sandra was once again hard at work, trying to win his attention. This woman was unbuttoning her shirt, and he didn't need a prophet to tell him why.

She took out two buttons and, not-so-subtly, pushed up her bra, giving him front-row access to her breasts.

She turned to him and chuckled nervously, using her hand to fan her face.

Alex almost rolled his eyes.

He looked directly in her eyes and deadpanned,

“The air conditioning is working perfectly in my opinion.”

Her face turned red. She knew she'd been caught. But she didn't back down; she squared her shoulders and upturned her nose.

She was very gutsy; Alex had to give her that. But what he didn't give her was the attention she was trying to ferret out of him; he faced the elevator doors squarely and didn't spare her so much as a side eye until they got to their destination.

The executive floor.

It exuded quiet power—plush carpet muted every step, and corner offices with skyline views stood behind doors marked with understated brass nameplates.

At the end of the hall was the one that said "President."

His secretary was right beside the door and Sandra puffed herself up as she approached her, acting like she was about to speak to a subordinate, whereas it was obvious that the secretary of the bank's president was a whole lot of ranks above the receptionist of the bank.

“This is Mr. Black; he’s here to see the president. He's a VVIP client—much more important than Mr. Brummer—so you'd better drop whatever you're doing and attend to him.”

She eyed the secretary with a hint of disdain.

Alex's ears perked up.

He tapped her elbow.

“I'm sorry, what do you mean by what you just said about Mr. Brummer? He's one of your biggest clients, isn't he?”

Sandra gave a pretentious laugh.

“He's a big client, granted, but his net worth is about $50 million and he has less than 10% of that in liquid cash. You, on the other hand, Mr. Black…”

She batted her eyelashes at him.

“Not only are you richer, but you have way more spending power than he does.”

She lifted her hand to trace her fingers down his arm but he stepped subtly out of her reach.

Alex immediately saw this as an opportunity. He could get more information on uncle Tony and how he became rich from her.

“And what line of work is he into?” He asked, pretending to finally give her the attention she'd been craving.

To Sandra, this was her in; she wouldn't let it pass. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and gave a breathy laugh.

“On one condition… your number.”

Alex pursed his lips; he should have expected this. He hesitated for a moment, but he needed the info. And he could easily ignore her if she called him.

“Sure. 63 455 274 60.”

The way Sandra hungrily typed it into her phone, one would think the digits were the password to a vault full of gold.

Meanwhile, Alex saw out of the corner of his eye that the secretary who'd been silent this entire time was also saving the number.

He looked her over for the first time. Of course she was beautiful, even more than Sandra; plus, she was younger than Sandra. 

“Well,” Sandra snagged his arm to get his attention back to her, “According to the grapevine, Mr. Brummer took a loan to invest in a business with his friends. I don't know much about the details of the business or the two friends he was partnered with but,” she looked around, then brought her voice down a notch,

“I heard that just when things were about to change for the better for them all, one of Mr Brummer’s friends died in a car crash with his wife—”

“Sandra!” The secretary interjected, “This is why you should stay away from petty rumors and gossip, how do you know that's what happened?”

Sandra's face contorted in disgust.

“Who invited you into this disc—”

“Do you know the true details?” Alex addressed the secretary, cutting Sandra off without a care.

The secretary nodded politely.

“I believe I have more accurate accounts of the business and,” she gave Sandra a pointed look, “Hidden conspiracies of our VIP clients, due to my position, as you can see.”

Alex was more interested now. He liked the way she spoke and conducted herself.

“What's your name?” He asked, moving closer to her desk.

“Gwen Stanford, sir.”

Sandra's eyes widened, what the hell was happening?

She moved into Alex's line of vision and chuckled slightly.

“Ignore her, Mr. Black; she doesn't know what she's talking about.”

She turned to Gwen, annoyance and disgust etched on her face.

“For someone so against rumors and gossip, you're so eager to spread some, aren't you?”

Gwen gave her a small smile.

"Don't you think it's time you return to your post, Sandra? I'm very sure my boss wouldn't like to hear how you're harassing VIP clients.”

Sandra gasped.

Was this tramp threatening her?

Gwen pointed back the way they'd come and said in a mocking tone, “Go on.”

Sandra felt white-hot anger. This was the second time today that she was being one-upped by these whoring secretaries.

First the Chief Investment Officer’s secretary had snatched Mr. Brummer from her.

Now, when she'd thought the universe had favored her with someone better, this whore of a secretary to the overall boss had stolen him again.

She faced Alex.

“You'd better be careful with her; she's nothing but a lying snake.”

“This isn't over.” Sandra hissed in Gwen's face.

But she turned and left, grumbling and stomping all the way to the elevator.

She swore to herself that she would rise to the position of a secretary no matter what it took. Then, she would be the one stealing VIP clients from receptionists. She didn't deserve this.

Alex watched in shock as she stomped off. He couldn't believe the amount of office drama that he'd witnessed in one day at a bank.

One would think that a place like this, which managed billions of dollars, would have more professionalism and decorum but it clearly didn't.

“I'm sorry about that.” Gwen apologized politely.

Alex waved it off.

“You have no idea how much worse I've seen today alone.”

Gwen laughed lightly.

“Are you still interested in knowing about Mr. Brummer and his business or did she get to you?” She asked lightheartedly.

At this point, Alex was willing to ignore the matter that brought him to the bank just to learn more about his parents’ death from this young lady.

“Very much interested. I'm willing to pay anything; just spill.”

Gwen couldn't help but laugh.

“Calm down, sir. I think we should take a more civilized approach to this. How about you take me on a date?”

Alex's brow went up slightly. Smart.

And he didn't mind at all. Looking at Gwen, she was so pretty and Alex was a year or two older than her. She must be very intelligent or very connected to attain this position at her age. Her mates were still in school.

And then there was the manner in which she'd conducted herself since they met. She'd begun to fascinate him.

It would be doubly rewarding to take her on the date—he'd get the information on uncle Tony, and he'd get to know her better.

“Alright then.” He nodded, smiling. “Deal.”

“Deal.” She smiled back. “We can talk more about it on the date. I believe you have an important meeting?”

Alex sighed. Of course she wouldn't want to tell him now. She was playing it safe.

And perhaps the office wasn't the best place to discuss such matters.

He nodded and gestured for her to lead the way.

She led him through the door behind her, only for him to see that it was just an opulent waiting area. The president's office was behind another door.

She opened the door.

“Alexander Black to see you, sir.” She introduced them and then stepped back for him to go in.

Alex was welcomed by a man in his early fifties.

He had white hair and looked really responsible and noble. 

He stretched out his hand for a handshake.

“Welcome to Heritage Finance Bank Mr. Black, I'm its humble president, Godwin Taylor.”

As Alex took his hand, he knew this would be a very pleasant meeting.