Chapter 42: Live-in Driver

Chapter 42: Live-in Driver When Jamal and Stefan arrived at the towering glass building, Stefan, as always, took the lead since he always did the introductions for Jamal, who wasn’t keen on introducing himself and revealing his identity. They approached the receptionist, a well-dressed lady with a neat ponytail and a sharp gaze. "Good afternoon," Stefan greeted smoothly. "We are here to see Ms. Genevieve Harris." The receptionist glanced at him, then at Jamal, before nodding. "Do you have an appointment?" "She’s expecting us. Let her know Jamal is here," Stefan said confidently, though Genevieve was only expecting Jamal. The receptionist made a quick call, then gestured toward the elevators. "Top floor. She’s in a meeting but she will meet you there." Stefan nodded, and they stepped into the elevator. As they rode up, Jamal crossed his arms. "You know, you seem to be more excited about the meeting than I am." Stefan smirked. "Maybe that’s because you met someone again and got distracted from your feelings." As soon as they reached the top floor and stepped out of the elevator, Genevieve who stood there waiting for Jamal quickly swept Stefan up in an embrace. "Jamal!" She exclaimed happily as she hugged him and Stefan froze. Stefan had not expected such a misunderstanding. Jamal raised a brow and amused smirk on his face as he watched Genevieve take a step back to look Stefan over. Genevieve was dressed in an elegant navy-blue pantsuit, her long brown hair cascaded in soft waves over her shoulders. Her hazel eyes swept over Stefan and her face lit up with a bright smile. "I can’t believe you’re here," she said warmly, completely oblivious to Jamal’s presence. Stefan opened his mouth to correct her, but before he could, Jamal discreetly stepped on his foot. Stefan turned to look at Jamal and he gave him a subtle look, asking him to play along. Understanding dawned in Stefan’s eyes, but his confusion remained. Why was Jamal not correcting the mistake? Why was he playing along? Stefan pondered, still, he smiled and nodded. "Genevieve," he said, and Genevieve beamed at him as she stepped closer to him, pleased that he had called her Genevieve and not Dawn. "It’s been so long! You look... the same. You didn’t change much," she said, and Stefan chuckled while Jamal raised a brow. The same? He didn’t change much? He mused, wondering what exactly he remembered about him if she could mistake Stefan for him. "Well, l can’t say the same for you. You look even more beautiful now," Stefan said, and Jamal resisted the urge to snort at that. No. The Dawn he had known was way more beautiful than this. But he knew he would be insensitive and rude to mention that considering she had lost that beauty due to an accident. "Come with me let’s go to my office. I had to leave the conference hall the moment I was informed that you were here. I wanted to welcome you myself," Genevieve said as she led him into her office. Jamal followed behind and they entered a stylish looking modern lobby and the moment the Genevieve noticed Jamal following them, she paused and gave him a once over. "And you are?" She asked, doubtful that Jamal Jonas’ assistant would dress so casually when the man himself was dressed in this manner. Jamal saw the moment of curiosity in her eyes, the way she was trying to place him. He could tell she didn’t recognize him. Before either Stefan or Jamal could speak, Genevieve’s eyes lit up with recognition, "Oh! You’re my new live-in driver, aren’t you? You’re punctual," she said, and to Stefan’s dismay and confusion Jamal nodded. "Yes ma’am. I’m your live-in driver," Jamal answered, his voice calm. Stefan turned to Jamal in shock, but Jamal remained composed. Genevieve’s brows lifted in pleasant surprise. "That’s good. I really need a driver. My last driver resigned abruptly. I take it you are ready to start immediately?" "Yes," he said simply. Stefan frowned slightly, clearly wondering what Jamal was up to. But before he could process it, Genevieve smiled and took his arm. "Alright. You can wait here. I’ll let you know when I need you. Come with me, Jamal, we have a lot to catch up on," she said, leading Stefan into her office. Jamal watched them go, his face unreadable. A live-in driver. He had no idea what had possessed him to ask Stefan to play along or why he had said he was the driver when he could have easily claimed he was Stefan’s assistant, but whatever it was, he could see why it was a good idea. If he was going to get to know her better and decide to give her another chance, he needed to see for himself just how much she had changed. There was a limit to what he could find out what about her as ’Jamal’s assistant’ but there was little limit to all he could learn about her by living as her live-in driver. As her live-in driver he would be much more closer to her than even Stefan was to her. Just then, a young man in his early thirties who was dressed a black suit and a chauffeur hat walked in. "You must be the new live-in driver," Jamal guessed. The man nodded. "Yea. I’m supposed to resume today. And you are?" Jamal studied him for a moment before pulling out a business card. "Sorry, I took your job already. How about I offer you another job?" The man blinked. "What kind of job?" "One that pays better. One that doesn’t require you to be someone else’s chauffeur." The man hesitated. "Why? If you can get me such a job why did you take mine?" Jamal gave him a small smirk. "I have my reasons. But you can decide— stay here as a driver or take a shot at something better." The man glanced at the card, then back at Jamal. "...Where do I go?" "Take that to I-Global Hotel. Give it to the manager. I’ll give him a call before you get there. But you have to keep this between us." The man nodded, taking the card. "Good choice. Now I’ll need you to fill me in on what I need to know about you so that it would tally with whatever they have in your file," Jamal said, and the man introduced himself to him, telling him all he needed to know. As the young man walked away a moment later, Jamal’s smirk widened. Things were about to become very interesting. He hoped Stefan would do a good job of being Jamal Jonas.