Chapter 6: XAVIER POV

There she is. Standing in front of me.

She exudes confidence and pride. She's wearing a dress which is showing off the curves of her body.

She's changed completely. Her curls are a dark chocolate brown, giving her a darker look and making her emerald eyes pop even more.

Not to mention how much she's changed on the inside.

"Good afternoon, Mr King." She puts her hand forward and I shake it. Her hands and soft and warm.

"I hope I'm not disrupting anything?" I asked, trying to make conversation as I took a seat in front of her.

"If I had other plans, I wouldn't schedule this meeting for now," she said, cheekily raising an eyebrow. "Now, what exactly is the reason you contacted me?"

She has the non bullshit attitude, I can tell she doesn't want me to be here, and I couldn't blame her at all.

"Kings Corp. is losing money," I said, not wanting to beat around the bush.

"And what exactly am I meant to do about that?" she asked, crossing her arms against her chest.

"I want you to work with me to fix it," I said.

She's a bit taken aback by what I said but almost instantly recollects herself and sits in front me, looking dead in my eyes.

"Why would I do that?" Her arms are still against her chest, like a defence.

"Well, Miss Davis, when you worked for me, the week you were in charge of everything generated some of the best profit we’ve ever made," I began.

"765 million dollars in a week, right?" she asked, but we both already knew she was right.

"…and I would greatly appreciate it if you helped Kings Corp. get back on its feet," I finished.

"What's in it for me, Mr King?" she asked. Her hands were now on the desk, her finger tapping on the table as she asked.

"Well, I'm sure as soon as Kings Corp. is making money again, a suitable paycheck will be awarded to you," I said.

"I don't need your money. I want ownership—30%," she said.

"That's too much. 10%," I bargained. I already owned only 80% of Kings Corp. The other 20% was my father's.

She scoffed. "I'll make that much in my sleep. Mr King," she said, "I don't think you realize that I'm going to be spending my time and my money to help you out, so I'm being nice and saying 40%." She had a smirk on her.

"25%," I negotiated.

"Now, that's more like it. You have a deal." She shook my hand. I had a feeling 25% was what she wanted all along. "So now that we have my payment sorted, how can I help you?"

"I don't know what you did, but Kings Corp. never saw as much progress as that week you were in charge." It hurts me ego to admit she was better at my business than I was.

"We've established that already," she said before I could carry on. "Well, did you bring any spreadsheets or charts or anything that I could see now?"

My lips form a thin line and I shrug awkwardly as I realized I didn't bring any of it.

"Rookie mistake, Mr King." She sighed. "How did you manage to be at the top for so long?" she muttered more to herself afterwards.

"I can show you on the computer—if I can use yours?" I suggested. She nodded and pushed the keypad and mouse towards me.

After a few minutes of typing, I manage to open up some spreadsheets and show her all of. It was less embarrassing than I thought but I still wasn't happy about it.

Her eyes scan the data fervently, I could see the concentration in her eyes. After a minute or two she begins talking.

"From the looks of it, Mr King…" Her tone was a lot more serious now. "You've been in loss for the last 3 years."

My eyebrows furrowed. "The decline has only been for 6 months," I corrected her.

"But there was no increase either," she snapped back. "15 billion dollars is amazing, but it's been 15 billion every single year. That's not progress." She turned the computer screen to me.

I slumped into my chair. She was right.

"I have another meeting soon, so please see yourself out, and my assistant will email you when I can see you again," she said as she shook my hand.

I get up and get ready to leave.

I couldn't believe how much she'd changed. Every ounce of kindness was gone. She had completely changed into a self-involved and money centred person.

She became me.

It was hard to see her like this, I knew it wasn't the real her, but after everything she's been through could you blame her.

It was obvious her defence was high, but was she still the same, or could trauma really change someone from the inside out?

Honestly, I'm surprised she even agreed to see me again, maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought.

"Oh, and Xavier?" She called my name for the first time in 4 years.

I forgot how it sounded to roll off of her tongue.

I turn around as I'm about to leave.

"This meeting was recorded, and a copy of the discussed terms will be sent to you for my own security,” she said, holding up her mobile phone. "I know you have a habit of pretending things never happened."