Aira slowly woke to persistent beeping sounds bumping into her ears like drums. Opening her eyes she tried to sit up from her crouched position on the desk wincing as her neck and back protested against the sudden movement after such a long time resting in a wrong position.Trying to massage the back of her neck as it painfully flexed back against her fingers like some unruly child who didn’t want to be set straight, Aira looked around her through half-closed lids.Papers were strewn around her desk haphazardly with rough drafts of various characters. She had been pondering in her mind for a while waiting until the Idea completely formed in her mind. And last night they finally came to her.The drawings caught her eyes and she couldn’t help but look at them with amazement. In her furry, she had managed to complete the work of weeks within one week and only to finally sleep on her desk with her pen still in her hand.The persistent sound came through again and she turned toward the doo
The man standing before her wasn’t wearing a three piece suit like the last time she met him. Instead he was dressed casually in khaki pants and a simple white shirt, leaning against his desk with a document in his hand.Basically he looked like something out of the pages of a magazine,“You…” Aira said too shocked to say anything else.“Ah! We meet again!” The handsome businessman said with a smile, as he uncrossed his long legs and made his way toward them with the ease of a pather and the charm of a fox.“My, do you know each other?” Carter asked with a smile not seeming in the least bit surprised.“Miss. Aira and I had an unexpected encounter last week,” Vincent said, “ Though we didn’t get to introduce ourselves since she left before I could ask her about her name,” He said with a smile that looked too much like a smirk to Aira making her guards stand up to attention.Good lord, it had been him all along! And to think that she had made a fool of herself…“Yeah, last time was a bi
“What do you mean?” Aira asked looking at her friend who was looking back at the office door with a puzzled expression.“What do you mean by ‘What do I mean’?!” Maeghan said sounding surprised,“You were in there! Didn’t you see?! He was smiling! Vicent Valory was smiling! The whole time!” She said lowering her voice to make sure no one heard them.“Well, yeah. I guess he was smiling. Does he usually not do that?” Aira asked,“Usually? The man never smiles Aira! The best thing one could see from him is a tight business smile and that was solely reserved for people he conducts business with.” Meghan responded,“That’s weird. Since I met him he had always been like this. He was always charming and kind of easy to talk to.”“Aira, I’m telling you. In the years I worked here I’ve never heard anyone describe the man as charming. Handsome, maybe. Sexy, definitely, but never charming. They call him the Shark in the broad room and he does deserve that nickname if how he ruthlessly tears peopl
Aira stared at her hands on top of the table wondering how nice it would be if she had something to hold in her hands right now. It would probably help with how awkward she felt.“First of all, I wanted to apologize for what I did. Cheating on you like that was wrong. And I…”“You were doing it for a while, right?” Aira said finally gathering enough courage to look up at him in the eyes.He flinched for a moment, then he said,“How did you know?”“The real question here, Jace. The one that needs to be answered the most, is why,” Aira said calmly looking at the man who used to be her fiance.“I don’t know… It just happened…”“No, not that, Jace. Why did you want to marry me? Why did you go out with me, Jace?” Jace looked up at that question his eyes not hiding the surprise they held in them. Then as if trying to desperately hide it he looked down at the table.“I wanted to go out with you because I liked you,” He answered,“Maybe you did, I did too. At first. But things changed along
“Are you ready?” Ian asked Aira as he parked the car at their parent’s driveway.“As ready as I can be,” Aira responded with a deep sigh.“I can see how much you’re looking forward to this,” Ian said with a small chuckle,“Well, at least someone is going to take the attention of Dad off of you. He will have to grill you about the business trip later,”“And I’m very grateful for that, dear sister,” Ian said with a smirk.Shaking her head, Aira made her way out of the car. As soon as they got to the door it was swung open with an ever well dressed butler standing there to greet them.“Welcome home. Miss Aira, Young Master Ian,” He said with a slight bow and a smile,”“Gunther! It’s good to see you. How have you been?” Aira asked as he took her coat for her,“As good as I ever been, Miss. I would never have anything to complain about with your parents,”“Won’t or can’t?” Ian asked teasingly, “There’s a difference.”Gunther chuckles but never answered making Aira laugh and her brother fol
“I’m gonna do it,” Aira said with a sigh as she put her phone down.“Wait are you serious?!” Meghan said after choking on her coffee. She was still wiping her mouth with the paper towel the waiter brought by, clearly concerned about her wellbeing.A little too much if Aira had anything to say about it.“Yeah, it’s the only thing that’s gonna make her shut up about it! I mean, she’s been calling me every day asking me to reconsider it.” Aira complained“That’s very unusual,” Meghan said, “Your mom is never pushy with anything,”“That’s why I feel even more guilty about this! I mean she never asks me to do things like this. I think maybe the breakup and the accident were too much for her to handle at once. She’s worried,” “It’s fine, It’s just a date after all. No need to worry too much about it. Besides your mom said that he knows about the break up so it shouldn’t be too awkward right?” Meghan said making a cringing expression at the end.“Yeah, try saying it like you believe it next
Aira stood in front of the restaurant door staring at it for a while before sighing. There was no running away from this. She was going to have to suck it up after all…“Good evening, miss. Do you have a reservation?” Asked the hostess as Aira stepped inside,“Yes, it should be under the name of Willam Brooks,” Aira answered internally hoping that the hostess would tell her that there was no reservation under that name.Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.“Righ this way, Miss. Mr. Brooks is waiting for you,” The hostess declared dashing her hopes.Aira made her way through the tables wondering what her date would look like. Hopefully nothing like Jace. She’s had her fill of ambitious young businessmen looking for an heiress.As soon as she reached the table, Aira knew that her concerns were so far off the mark that it was almost funny.“You must be Miss. Aira,” Said a muscular young man wearing a turtle neck that made it even more obvious that he frequented the gym regularly, “William
“ So, how come you’re on a date with someone you don’t seem interested in?” Vincent asked as the waiter left their table to place their orders,“It’s a blind date. Something my mother had been pushing on me since I broke up with my ex,” Aira explained wondering if the situation could get any more confusing,She was having dinner with a man who wasn’t her blind date, but her client from work whom she had met in a car accident and who might know about the embarrassing scene where she found her cheating fiance.“Oh, sorry about your break up, by the way.”“Yeah, it happens,” Aira added not wanting to talk about that more than she already did.“Were you here on a business meeting?” Aira asked“More like a talk with a family member,” He said with a smirk, “ If we can call each other that anymore…” He muttered under his breath and Aira wondered what he was talking about.“I heard that Valory Developments is a family company. Must be interesting to run such a huge business with family member