Matthew spoke as if he already knew Clarissa was going to be there.
She curved her lips into a smile, but she didn’t go upstairs instantly.
She kept wandering around the room. Finally, she walked over to the window and said with a smile.
“Mr. Tyson, thanks for your generosity. May I know how much the rent for such a nice office is?”
Wow, is she planning to be businesslike?
Matthew raised his brows and curled his lips. He smirked, “Rent? Just repay me with your body.”
Clarissa snorted and answered. “No way. I’m being serious here. Please give me a reasonable rental rate based on the market price.”
“Haha… Clare, stop fooling around. I’m afraid that it’s going to burn a hole in your wallet.”
Matthew was actually telling the truth. Clarissa twitched her lips in response. That’s true.
“How about… are you offering any discount?”
“Hmm… Discount? That won’t make any difference either.”
“Fine. This place is only for the rich. I get it. You don’t have to keep emphasizing.”
Even it was quite difficult for Clarissa to accept the fact willingly, she still got to admit that Matthew was loaded. He was filthy rich. He was totally on another whole new level.
To be frank, Clarissa would reach where he was in her life as she was nowhere close.
The rent was too high for her. She couldn’t even afford it.
However, she felt uncomfortable for not paying a single penny.
Also, she didn’t want to be the drama queen to make Matthew bring down the price.
Clarissa just stood there hesitantly and silently, struggling to figure out a better idea.
Meanwhile, Matthew had already expected that Clarissa wouldn’t go upstairs to see him. Therefore, he might as well come downstairs on his own.
Obviously, Clarissa was being absent-minded. She didn’t even notice that Matthew was there already. She was drawing circles on the glass window while listening to Matthew over the phone.
“Clare, what’s your concern? We can come to office and go home together if you work here. Doesn’t that sound perfect to you?
What a perfect plan.
Clarissa pouted as she thought about the rent.
“Matthew, do you think I can be a billionaire in a few years? Maybe I can repay you the rent by then.”
Clarissa thought that might motivate her to work harder.
Matthew chuckled softly. “That’s likely to happen. You’re a smart girl. I don’t see any problem with you becoming a billionaire.”
“Really?”
Matthew’s words made her feel confident instantly. He had cheered her up in some way. “I’ll give you an IOU for the rent then. I will definitely repay you after I have enough money. Of course, that will include the interest and whatever cost.”
Matthew did not answer. Clarissa added, “I’m serious! Can you at least say something? I’m not very rich now, but we are allowed to have dreams, right? I’m thinking, what if my dream comes true?”
“Matthew?”
“Say something… “
Matthew was standing behind Clarissa. He put down his phone and reached out his hands to her. Suddenly, he carried Clarissa from her back and turned her body around to face him.
He couldn’t help but smiled slightly when he saw the frightened look on Clarissa face and her angry gaze.
He didn’t say anything. He lifted her chin up to kiss her lips. However, Clarissa stared him in the eyes, as if she was going to eat him alive.
Matthew continued laughing and kissed her. Meanwhile, Clarissa pressed her lips tightly. She wouldn’t let Matthew kiss her.
Matthew put another hand around her waist and pulled her body against his. When Clarissa was forced to raise her head, he kissed her harshly. Clarissa had no choice but to open her mouth because of the pain.
“Mmm… “
Clarissa could only gave a little whimper. In the end, Matthew pinned her closer to his body and locked his lips with hers.
After a long while, he finally let go of Clarissa. After that, he nibbled the corner of her mouth and cheek, finally, he sucked her earlobes gently. He didn’t do anything further after that kiss.
Clarissa pushed him in the chest and started complaining about her dissatisfaction.
“How long have you been here? Why don’t you say anything? Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Are you trying to scare me to death so you can inherit my credit redemption point?
“What is that?”
Matthew had no clue what she was talking about.
Clarissa couldn’t help but burst into laughter. She pounded on his chest and finally cooled herself down.
Then, she leaned against the window and pulled his collar, pouting. “Uncle Matthew. Mr. Tyson. Mr. President. Will you let me write you an IOU, please?”
The way she whined totally turned him on, his whole body was reacting.
Clarissa felt it instantly. She blushed as red as a cherry and frowned. “Y-You… “
Matthew smiled innocently and raised his brows. “Clare. As you see, you make such a huge impact on my life. Don’t ever underestimate yourself.”
“Get off me! I’m being serious here. Let’s get back to the topic. Matthew, why do you have to be like this whenever I’m trying to be serious? How annoying is that!”
Clarissa was really angry now.
Clarissa widened her eyes and stared at Matthew with an intense gaze, as if she could calm him down and take things seriously.
Fine!
He would try to be serious for her sake.
“Okay. Let’s get to the point. Do you have any good idea?”
Clarissa spoke in a muffled voice, “Anyway, I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
Matthew touched her face gently and pinched her ears.
“You’re not taking advantage of me. Clare, I’m happy to help you. Besides, what’s mine is yours in the future, isn’t it?
“But… “
“There is no but! I haven’t bought you a present since we got together.”
“How could this be a present? Besides… mmm… “
She wanted to refute but Matthew kissed her again for quite a while. Matthew had made up his mind and no further discussion was allowed.
“Stop talking. Else, I will kiss you every time you open your mouth.”
Clarissa’s lips were sealed, she couldn’t even speak. In the end, she had no choice but to accept this studio for free.
But of course, even Matthew decided to do so, Clarissa wouldn’t accept it without paying.
Anyway, she was thinking to herself.
Clarissa was distracted by her thoughts. So, Matthew led her into the elevator and went up to the CEO office.
Clarissa’s impression of that office was not a good one. Back in the day when she was still working there, Matthew would get handsy with her whenever she was in his office.
Hence, she pushed Matthew away instantly the minute she stepped in. She put her guard up and ran towards the sofa on the other side.
“Don’t worry about me. You can continue to do your work. I’ll just have a seat for a while. I still have to buy some stuff for my office.”
Matthew didn’t go back to his chair. He stood still, with his hands in the pocket. He looked like a beautifully painted portrait.
Clarissa blinked her eyes, she smiled as she turned away.
“What are you looking at?”
“You don’t want to be with me?”
“No. It’s not like that. We have to work during daytime. And you’re so busy. I don’t want to disturb your work.”
Then, she cupped her hands and put on a bright smile. “Am I a thoughtful girlfriend?”
Matthew smiled while shaking his head. “Come over. You can leave after kissing me.”
“Really?”
Clarissa’s eyes glowed upon hearing his words. She asked and jumped up at the same time. Without hesitation, she quickly jogged towards Matthew and looked up at him.
Matthew would definitely nod his head.
Meanwhile, Clarissa grinned delightfully. She tiptoed and gave him a kiss on the lips.
“Alright. I’ll get going then.”
Right after she turned around, Matthew pulled her back again. He wasn’t expecting just a simple kiss like that. He felt that Clarissa was brushing him off. He definitely wanted more than that.
Anyway, her lips were red and swollen when she left. She wanted so badly to wear a mask. How embarrassing!
A sense of guilt rose inside her, as if she had done something bad.
Finally, the office was no longer a problem anymore. She felt as if a weight had been lifted off her chest.
From now on, she was indeed a boss with her own studio. @clarissa.quigley was not only just an online writer but one with a studio.
She didn’t know what she was going to do specifically. But, thank goodness her staff were so capable.
Since it was such great news that she had finally found a place for her studio, Clarissa grabbed the opportunity to treat her staff to a meal. There was another three more staff other than Yael. They decided to have hotpot at an Asian restaurant.
Meanwhile, the three of them finally got the chance to get acquainted with Clarissa during dinner.
They were Christian, Mandy and Rocky. They were about the same age as Clarissa, and all of them were young and had some working experiences before.
Christian and Mandy went to college in D City. Thus, they stayed in the city after graduation. Meanwhile, Rocky was local.
Rocky reevaluated their boss for having a studio in Tyson Corporation’s building because it was such a good location.
As for Christian, he was more straightforward. “Clarissa, it must cost you a fortune to rent an office there. You must be loaded!”
Clarissa was feeling a bit shy, she replied humbly with a smile.
“No. My friend referred it to me. The owner offered me discount as well.”
“Clarissa, I was a huge fan of @clarissa.quigley before I met you in person. I didn’t think that you’d be so pretty! In my opinion, you look just like those female leads in your novel. I think you can definitely pull off those characters on your own.”
Mandy was an avid reader of romance novels. She admired Clarissa so much, to the extent of being familiar with every script that she had written.
Meanwhile, Rocky remained silent all this while. He was not talkative, but he was very capable as well.
They weren’t being selected by Yael for no reason.
They got closer throughout the dinner.
They went to a pub for a drinking session after dinner. The pub was having a karaoke night on that day. Yael even went on stage to show off her singing skill. The rest just sat there and listened to her. They were all having fun.
After a while, Clarissa picked up a call from Matthew.
Matthew heard the loud music from the other end of the phone. He frowned slightly, “Is it over yet?”
“Yes. We’re almost done here.”
“Ok. I’ll pick you up then.”
“It’s fine. We’ll take a taxi… “
“Clare… “
Matthew sounded domineering and bossy.
Clarissa answered resignedly, “Fine. I’m at XX. Give me a call when you’re here.”
After she hung up the call, Yael asked instantly before she could say anything.
“Your man is coming to pick you up?”
“Oh? Clarissa has a boyfriend? Come on, ask him to join us.”
Mandy asked curiously, she wanted so bad to meet the boyfriend of her role model. Could he be as handsome and charming as those male leads that Clarissa had ever written?
