“Nice to meet you, Dean Wess,” Dean said giving the man a business smile as he reached out to shake his hand. Mark Colt, a man in his mid-thirties, elegant, tall, and less full than Dean, Stood up to greet him with a charming disarming smile that didn’t quite reach his golden gaze. “Mark Colt at your service. I am so sorry to reach out at such a critical time but I had to meet you after what happened.” He said making Dean wonder why would he want to reach him. He’d met Mark Colt in the past on one of his business trips to Blue Ridge City. He had tried to offer Dean his company’s services but Dean had been preoccupied then by the sudden cyber attack that almost cost them their database. So he had hurriedly returned to Starlington ending any prospective talk of collaboration. To think that he had been this close to Nadia back then, had he agreed to meet with Mark, he would have had a chance to meet Nadia too. But she would have still been Mark’s fiance back then. Somehow, the though
Nadia took a deep breath and watched from afar as Mark walked down the stairs. He barely changed over the years, the same charm and elegance radiated from him, his disarming innocent smile which made everyone drawn to him, and those brilliant eyes which held a calculating glint that she’d failed to see over the years. He didn’t change at all. He never changes. The same old tricks. Helping out an employee with his documents, smiling at the security guard, and treating the cleaning lady well. Every single one of those gestures was calculated, but he always ended up using the same method. The same facade. And he was going to find out soon that his compelling means are becoming old. He would have to use better trickery if he was going to get to her this time. Not like she was going to let him… Nadia looked down at her phone once again sending a text to Dean that she was in a meeting. Foregoing picking up her laptop, she made her way back to where Kanna was waiting for her in order to w
“Thank you so much for agreeing to chat with us today, Starlington City had been dying to know what is the story behind the two of you. The most successful young CEO in this country and our most eligible bachelor, and his assistant who turned out to be the runaway heiress that everyone had been looking for all these years. Can you tell us how to two of you first met?” The hostess of their interview asked and Nadia smiled at her. “Actually the two of us met the day I had my interview as his new assistant five years ago,” Nadia said. “Right, that was the first time we met. I didn’t know until we started dating that she had changed her name and who she really was,” Dean added and the hostess smiled at them. “I bet you had the shock of a century realizing that one of your employees had been a secret billionaire all along. Although you may have left your father’s fortune behind, from what I heard you were already independent enough from him from the start. I heard that the fortune left b
Nadia silently stepped into her darkened apartment not bothering with the lights as she made her way inside. Dean closed the door behind him, his silence heavy between them. She had been doing her best to look normal in front of Leilah as they chatted in the car but now that they were back alone, she was faced with their earlier conversation. Clenching her fists, she looked back at him. His eyes were absently on the night view from her windows and as his blue gaze shifted to her she could see wariness in them. He was wary of her now. “ I don’t believe I told you this before but, if this is too much for you we can cancel it,” She said and his eyes widened as he looked at her. “What?! Why?” He asked looking at her with confusion. "Then why are you suddenly talking about that person? If you’re regretting this, there is no need for you to talk like that, I will be totally fine on my own. There is no need for you to look for another person to stick me with,” She said but Dean remained s
“Do you really want to hear about it? It’s not much of a story and you guessed most of it,” Nadia insisted and Leilah slapped her on the back making her recoil from the shock. “Come on! We’re here to listen to each other’s troubles if nothing at all,” She insisted. “I wonder where you get that strength from,” Nadia said rubbing her back, Leilah merely laughed at that. “You should go to the gym, I tell you! You and your computer. I swear in your past life you were some kind of computer analyzer or maybe a hacker… No wonder you get along so well with WhiteFlower.” Lailah said Nadia winced inwardly at Leilah’s accurate interpretation. One day, she was going to make a spot-on guess and Nadia is going to slip up and tell her the truth. “I will tell you. It’s not much of a story anyway…” Nadia said with a sigh, resigning herself to telling Leilah the truth. It was all out on the media now anyway and Leilah was going to need to hear this if she was going to manage their public image from
Dean sped up the car through the city street to arrive at the famous bar where Leilah had told him they were. XX was written with huge golden neon signs and as soon as he stopped his car in front of the door a concierge came up to him. “Mr.Wess,” He greeted with a smile and Dean smiled back at the young man, “Hi, Paul. How are you going tonight?” He asked, “Good, Sir. As always,” The young man answered as he stood back waiting for Dean to get out of his car. “How are exams? I heard you’re swamped these days,” “I bombed a few of them but I think I can manage to graduate thanks to you,” He said with a grin making Dean smile back at him. “Well, good. Otherwise, I won't have anyone to fill that position I had been keeping for you. Give me a call when you’re ready,” He told him with a smile and the young man’s eyes brightened as he nodded. “Keep my car close I will be picking up someone and heading out soon,” he said heading into the building. The manager was waiting for him at the
Nadia opened her eyes to the pounding pain in her head. She groaned shifting in the bed and reached out for her bedside table for her phone. It was still early, she had enough time to get ready for work and leisurely have breakfast. Sitting up, she rummaged through her drawer until she found her glasses. Although she rarely needed them unless she was working, but she found out that she usually has a much easier time with them when she was dealing with a hangover. Looking to the side she noticed the medicine bottle and the water pitcher at the side table and sighed. Dean probably put them there before leaving. She was going to have to talk to him, she had no way how she was going to face him today though. Making her way toward the kitchen, she tied her hair up in a bun ready to tackle her task when she was assaulted by a fragrant smell. Coffee… “Morning, I heard you waking up so I thought you’d want coffee,” And the one making the coffee wearing an apron in her kitchen looking like
Nadia wondered why she was always thrust into these kinds of situations. There should be some warning signs she could put up front for people to take into consideration. Her people skills can only take her this far in her professional environment. She was born a shut-in, a nerd with an introverted personality who just happened to have enough money in her childhood to be able to live without having to put up with other people and their social bullsh*t. Her tolerance can only take her this far and she was reaching her limits. No one should be subjected to this much attention when they hate socializing as much as she does. “You know that you actually need to smile when you greet people…” Dean trailed off as he leaned toward her. Nadia resisted the urge to pinch him in the arm which she was holding but decided against it knowing that there there was a slight possibility that she was being a grumpy bit** and that Dean was right. “This is as far as my social lever can take me. My health