Chapter 18 Chapter 17:
Alisha:
Here I am, early in the morning, parked a few houses down from Devon’s mansion, the sky is a deep shade of blue, the sun just beginning to cast an orange bright glow on the roof of the houses. The air is foggy and cold, thanksgiving and Christmas is a couple of weeks ahead.
I am seated in my blue Porsche, engine turned off while clutching a paper cup of coffee. I ordered it from a tiny coffee shop down the last two streets. The coffee has already cooled, and this irritates me. I squeeze, feeling the paper crumble beneath my fingers.
I always love that power of feeling in control. This obsession needs to stop, it’s seven in the morning and all I want to do is catch a glance of Devon, he hasn’t been responding to my calls and it makes me fucking bitter. Stalking is illegal, but I don’t care, I play by my own rules.
Devon leaves for work super early, so I hope I am in time.
And that Arya, she makes me so damn mad, I want to crush her like I did with the paper cup, reduce her to a mess and toss her aside. My phone pings and I stare at it, normally I would have ignored it, but my husband’s name flashes on the screen. Fuck, is he awake already?
Jasper: Hey babe, what’s up? Just wondering where you are, you are not in bed and I checked everywhere for you.
He inserts a cute face emoji and my stomach rolls, he’s always acting so cute, he’s the ideal husband type for any woman, but clearly, I don’t want him.
I hurriedly type out a response.
Me: I’ll be back soon. Just taking care of something!
Again one of the many lies that I have told him, I keep my gaze ahead just in time to see Devon’s door open, he comes out, dressed in a pinstripe suit that hugs around his chest, my chest tightens in the way it does whenever I see him.
I watch him walk towards his car, easily sliding inside his car, driving it out of the curb and towards the other lane, of course. He doesn’t see me.
Sighing, I gulp the coffee, wincing when the cold, bitter, black coffee hits my tongue. I take my phone and dial a number.
“Hey, Alisha.” Roy’s cool voice seeps through the other end, he doesn’t sound like he has just woken up from bed, people like Roy do not sleep, they operate at all hours of the day.
“We are moving on to plan b of getting rid of Arya.” Plan A which was getting rid of her by money clearly did not work, after all, there are plenty of ways to get back at someone. “Are you still getting the information that I asked about her?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Roy replies, his voice barely audible. I can tell he’s crunching hard on something.
“Goodbye.” I disconnect the call, before igniting the key, the engine roars alive and soon, I am driving out, as though I was never here in the first place.
\--
Arya:
“Arya! Arya! Over here.” Wanda waves over to me the moment I step into ClaraVogue; she hugs me tight, handing a paper cup to me.
“How was it? Did you get laid last night?” Her hazel bright eyes are widened, eager for information. “Do you want to go over the details?”
“Shut up.” I roll my eyes, walking towards the office; she follows me, hands raised in the air.
“Just tell me!” She says as we step into the office. Axel looks up at us from his computer, holding a bunch of folders. I place my bag on the table and sigh.
“Morning, ladies.” Axel says, adjusting his shirt, looking incredibly handsome. It’s hard to imagine that him- the guy in high school with shaggy brown hair and a lanky frame is the same guy now with a broad shoulder, and a smile with dimples that can melt even the coldest person’s heart.
“We have another pitch to present; unfortunately, we couldn’t get Devon’s family to purchase our clothes, our next family is the Duncans.” Axel says, standing up.
Wanda and I both groan, if we can’t persuade the Duncans, we are going to lose this year’s bonus, and hell I need it.
“It’s better we catch Theo at his lunch break. Come on, ladies. No time for discussing the location.” Axel says, grabbing his car keys. Wanda fixes her make-up and soon, Axel drives us to where Theo Duncan is.
Throughout the ride, Wanda is busy with her phone and I am looking out the window while Axel plays a nineties retro music from the car radio. The moment he pulls at the tall building, I hang my mouth.
What the hell is going on?
“Axel, why are we in Brookes technology?” We all come out of the car and my hands are trembling.
“Theo Duncan works here, so yeah.” Axel cheekily says and Wanda prompts him.
“Is he handsome? Is he rich? Is he young?”
“I don’t know, you can ask him yourself.” He rolls his eyes.
Why didn’t anyone tell me we were coming to Devon’s company? What if I run into him? There’s a very low chance of running into the CEO at his own company, so why am I scared?
My phone pings with a text and it’s from Sam, my older sister.
“You guys can go in, I will join you soon.” I tell Wanda and Axel and they nod, striding into the entrance of the company.
Samantha: How are you? Just checking in.
Me: Great, I have to go now, got work to do.
Shoving the phone into my purse, I hastily run into the lobby, I hear a crunch and I realize it’s from my high heels, fuck. Before I can balance myself, I fall to the floor, my purse swings towards the floor, the content spilling out- lip gloss, my phone, paper clips, and earbuds.
My cheeks redden, great now everyone must be looking.
“I am guessing this belongs to you.” I hear a deep chuckle and I whip my head to stare at a pair of smoky brown eyes, his blonde hair is refined. He has this sort of gaze that draws me in.
The intensity of his voice makes me blush, and I rush to gather my things into my purse. “Thank you.” I say timidly.
“No problem.” He smiles a bit and I can’t help but notice how genuine his smile is. He's broad-shouldered, wearing a dark suit that makes his eyes shine out.
“You should be careful, the floor is made of tiles, you could easily slip.”
I want to tell him that my heels broke but I don’t, besides. I have to find a way to get new shoes; I can’t see Theo Duncan like this.
“Are you here for a job application?” He asks me, still crouched on his knees.
I shake my head, smiling slightly. “No, not at all.”
“You have a lovely smile.” He points out, making my cheeks redden the more.
“Well, thank you, you have a great smile too.” Is this guy flirting with me right now and.....Oh gosh forbid, am I flirting back?
He smirks, stretching out his hand. “Theo Duncan.”
Immediately, all the color fades from my eyes. What the fuck? He’s Theo Duncan? Oh no, how could I have embarrassed myself in front of him? And how do I explain that I am here for him?
“Your shoe.” He points out, just great. How many people know about my shoe? “I will replace it for you.”
“You don’t have to; you didn’t cause me to slip.” I give him a half-smile that looks very awkward. “I have to go.” Standing, I hastily turn only to bump into something, or rather someone.
The person’s chest is rock hard, I can literally feel the hard toned muscles underneath. Oh just fucking great, how bad can my day go?
“Can you please watch where you are goin-” My words die quickly as I look up to meet a piercing set of emerald green eyes, the stupid pang occurs in my heart.
Devon’s wearing a crisp white shirt, he seems to have tucked away his suit jacket, right now, there’s nothing friendly about his cold stare not to mention how deep his frown is.
“I am so sorry, Mr. Brookes.” I don’t want to call Devon by his first name because I don’t want to attract attention.
Devon looks straight at Theo, there’s something so utterly chilling about his stare, turning towards me, he asks. “What happened to your shoe, Arya?”
“I slipped, no big deal.” I lamely say, bending to grab my broken heel. I don’t know what’s more embarrassing than this.
“Do you know each other?” Theo’s eyes flicker between us and then a flash of recognition passes through his eyes. “Oh! Arya Morris, you are the one on the internet, Devon’s girlfriend.”
Oh great, everything’s even worse, not to mention I am going to be speaking to him later.
The two men stare at each other with a glare that I can’t help but notice, is it just me or their tension is hard as hell? I just stand there feeling hopeless.
Theo lingers there for a few moments, before scratching his neck. “Well, I better get going, go to see you, Arya,” turning, he walks away making me sigh.
“We are replacing your shoes.” Devon informs me, bringing out his phone from his pocket.
I turn towards him, my cheeks flushed. “Honestly, it’s not a big deal, I can-” He waves his hand for me to stop talking, before placing the phone near his ear.
“Hello? Daphne.” He says calmly, dark green eyes fixed on me. “I need a designer high heel and a pair of sneakers, as fast as you can get them.” A few nods here and there, and he disconnects the call. “Done, she will be here soon.”
“I really don’t need a new high heel.” I say frustrated, besides, I don’t want him spending his money on me, we aren’t really together or anything and if anything, it just makes everything more weird.
Minutes later, Daphne strides effortlessly towards us wearing a midnight female blue suit, holding two pink boxes with the logo ‘Saint Laurent’. How did she get here so fast? What is she, some kind of robot?
“Miss. Morris.” She says with professionalism, how have I never heard her voice falter before? She keeps a straight face, handing me the boxes.
Their eyes look at me with expectation as I collect the box with shaky hands, yes. I have a few Saint Laurent heels at home, but I am guessing they are not as expensive as this.
I open the box, staring at the sparkling pristine silver heel, embroidered with their familiar logo; the other box contains a pair of sneakers.
Somehow, my chest tightens as I take it all in; I look up at a pair of glossy green eyes.
“Thank you.” I mumble, feeling my eyes water. “You really didn’t have to.”
Why am I getting so emotional over a pair of heels?
“You are here for work, right?” He asks.
“Yeah.” I hoarsely laugh. “I am pitching for someone that works here, if my team and I get rejected, I am going to lose this year’s bonus.” I don’t point out the fact that if not for him rejecting us, our team would have gotten the bonus.
“That means you will be here often, the floor is a little slippery so you can wear the sneakers anytime you are here and change them later.”
“Sir, I hate to interrupt but the meeting begins in twenty minutes,” Daphne speaks up quietly and Devon nods.
“Be careful on the tiles.” Turning toward Daphne, he says. “Let’s go.” I watch them both amble out of the company, hands in their pockets, something gnawing deep inside me, of course he’s a billionaire, it’s no surprise that he can afford such an expensive shoe in a short time.
I shouldn’t care, if it was any other woman who slipped, he would have done the same for her, honestly this isn’t a big deal for him, but the thought of him caring to even buy me new heels and sneakers is alarming, I don’t think my poor heart can afford this thoughtful gestures.
My phone pings with a text from Wanda.
Wanda: Where are you? We have a few more minutes before Theo’s lunch break ends.
Me: Coming!
I replace my broken heels with the sneakers and jog towards the elevator, all while grinning like an idiot.