I

“Earth to Alana, are you with me?” Malia’s voice brought me back to the harsh reality I live in, a reality where my parents are forcing me into an arranged marriage with… 

“I’m sorry, did you mean Daniel as in your ex?” Malia asked with an expression that made me even more anxious than I already was.

“Malia, for God’s sake, this is the third time I told you the same story. Yes Daniel, my ex.” My voice sounded so harsh it has surprised even me. The problem is my anger is not because of her, it’s because of my parents.

I’m pretty sure you are wondering what’s happening. Let me tell you. 

My name is Alana, Alana Steel. The one and only heir to Laura and Carlton Steel, who were the CEOs of Steel hotels, but now I’m the one who’s in charge.

If only that was all of it but ever since I took charge of our hotels my parents have been choking me to death, wanting me to get married so they can have grandchildren and if this happens the blood of the family will still run and that’s what they want because we are too much of a prideful family that we can’t even just accept that one of us don’t want to get married and have children.

It’s not that I don’t want to get married, it’s just I don’t want to get married to my ex, who hurt me and destroyed me. And what makes the case worse is that my parents know and they’re still trying to get me to agree to this marriage, parents of the year, right?

“I just don’t know what to do... I feel lost, Malia.” It was the very first time I’ve ever felt this lost. I just don’t want to disappoint my parents, but I don’t want to marry my ex as well. God, what am I supposed to do?

“Listen, just do what you feel is right to do, and if you don’t feel like agreeing with your parents’ decision, just tell them.” Malia said the words as if doing them was as easy as saying them. That’s my problem: no one gets what it’s like to be the only heir to the family as wealthy as mine.

“You still don’t get it, do you? I have to be perfect Malia.” I said with so much pain in my voice, a pain that always has been with me. Why? Because I always had to be the perfect daughter, I was not allowed to make mistakes or play with kids or skip school even if I’m sick even though according to them I never got sick. I don’t know how that could happen, but I never did, all of that because I was perfect.

Malia looked at me with a look of disbelief, then said in a tone that was filled with pain for me. “No one is perfect, Alana. We all have our flaws, even them... especially them and we both know it.” I knew what she was referring to, but she wasn’t the one that lived with them. She doesn’t see how much they think that they’re flawless.

“We’re just moving into dead ends with this conversation. I have to find a solution to this problem otherwise you’re going to be invited to my wedding next week.” I said as I got up and talked to the floor-to-ceiling window that I have in my office, looking at the huge City out there, a city I have lived in but I’ve never seen fully because I was always busy with being me, with being a businesswoman or the perfect daughter.

Sometimes I wish to let go for just one day. I wish I could become someone else for one day, someone people didn’t know, someone who meant nothing to them. 

I wish I can go to places where people will not treat me specially as if I was a queen which people said I am or wait no they never called me a queen. They called me the steel princess, even though I never understood why is it because I’m always coldly treating them or is it because of my steel-like hair or was it just a name they gave to me... a name which journalists Could use in their articles or TV presenters can use in the interviews or the news where they can use to the headline, I never really understood it and honestly I don’t think that I want to. 

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt Malia’s arms wrap around my shoulder as she pulled me to her while saying “listen I give you my opinion if you don’t want to do this then just tell them but just know that whatever you do I’ll be with you, what kind of best friend would I be if I wasn’t?” A smile reached my face, and I turned around and pulled her into a tight hug, then said softly, “what would I do without you, Malia?” 

She pulled away from me with a playful smile on her lips. “Well, for starters without me, you would have never gone to any party ever, you would have never gone clubbing or met new people but don’t worry I won’t force you to act grateful because I’m just being me you, know the cheerful one between the two of us.” 

I walked back to my desk as I was saying in a humorous tone “My hero but my hero has to leave because I have a meeting in about 10 minutes so I’ll see you tonight at the club you know so I can go clubbing and meet new people thanks to my best friend.” 

“Please, please there’s no need to clap or something I’m just being the good friend I am” she said and was about to continue but stopped immediately when she saw my expression that was always very scary to her but honestly I did nothing more than putting my CEO expression but what can I say for someone as playful and as joke full of Malia she could never handle having a serious face around her. 

She was on her way out when she bumped into Lena. My assistant who is always very hyperactive, which I still never understood why, but maybe it’s because everyone says that I intimidate people I think anyway, not the point.

“See you tonight Ally.” Malia said while waving at me, but I didn’t answer her since I needed to turn my attention to Lena, who was standing in front of me. 

“I thought there were still 10 minutes to the meeting. Why are you here?” I asked in a feelingless tone that I always used when I was... you know, being the CEO of a bunch of hotels.

“I um I know but there is someone that the security told me about that’s making a fuss down in the entrance so I thought maybe I should tell you because they weren’t able to move him away and if they don’t we’re going to be in a huge trouble with the press who are coming to stream your speech today.”

I only stared at her for a couple of more minutes because I was furious that I have security and I had a lot of employees who can’t get one man away from my hotel entrance. How lovely. “Fine, just tell the security to not interact with him anymore. I’ll go down and see what I’ll do with him, whoever he is.”

She nodded her head at me over five times, like I said hyperactive and Immediately pressed on her earpiece to tell the security to back away, just to be honest she was the one with the earpiece idea, not me and if I’m being more honest, it was a pretty good idea.

When I arrived at the lobby of the hotel, I centred my eyesight on the entrance where I could see the security standing on either side of the entrance but what caught my attention immediately was the man standing there looking almighty as he owns the place and looking around the hotel in a way that made me angry because he looked almost disgusted with the hotel which is something that I took personally. 

The closer I got to him, the more I felt like I’d seen him somewhere. His face was really familiar, but very distant. I didn’t understand. What caught my attention but the man himself was wearing a black t-shirt, black pants, black boots, everything was black. Even his hair was pitch black and his eyes... from what I saw, from what anyone would see a mile away, his eyes looked almost as blue as an ocean.

His arms and neck were filled with tattoos, a sight that someone like me will never see in a hundred years because I’m usually around more restrained people I think, But I didn’t give it that much though because now I had one problem in hand and it was that man in front of me right now.

“Excuse me, can I know what’s going on here?” I tried to give my voice as calm as possible because for someone like me to outburst in public, it’s going to be the end of my family’s name. 

I watched as his gaze slowly go up and down on me as if he was analyzing me trying to figure out what to do but slowly a smile made its way towards his lips and truth be told it was a beautiful smile but I should know better because I thought that Daniel’s smile was beautiful as well and look where that got me. 

“What’s happening Miss…” He trailed off waiting for me to tell him my name which I had to do if I was going to have a civil conversation with him so I slowly extended my hand to him and said “Steel, Alana Steel.” 

He slowly took my hand in his and shook it then said “What was happening Miss Steel is that I was disrespected in your hotel And curiosity is killing the tiger standing in front of you because I’m wondering how can someone as beautiful as you be working in a trashy hotel like this one.” For a minute I was about to punch him for saying that my hotel is trashy, but once again I stayed calm and try to solve the problem in the most diplomatic way possible. 

“I’m sure there must have been a misunderstanding between us and you, sir, but I hope we can get into an agreement to solve this problem as quickly as possible. Now can you please tell me how you were disrespected in this hotel?” 

“For starters, I ask for a master sized bedroom but instead I got one with two beds but I still said nothing, then I ask for food and I get something completely different from what I asked for and finally the quality of your soaps and shampoos are on the ground, I’m sorry but what kind of hotel does that to their guests?”

I swear if he says one more bad word about my hotel, I’m going to punch him in the face. “I’m sorry you had to go through this experience, although everything we have in this hotel has prime qualities and is from elite companies and brands but-” 

He immediately cut me off and said “I don’t need to hear more excuses, I want to talk to the owner of this place.” I looked down for a few seconds with a smile, then looked back at him again and said with some fake confidence, “You already are talking to the owner of this place.” 

For a second he let me see his shock over what I just said, but he covered it immediately which meant that he is from a family just as wealthy as mine because he was a master at covering his emotions which also means that I am in a bit of trouble because I don’t know who he is.

“Well, Miss Steel, I would like to have compensation because of my discomfort with your hotel.” He said with so much confidence that honestly made me want to laugh. 

“Listen, Mister, this is not a charity and also, I can’t allow you to disrespect my hotel. So I don’t think that I’ll be giving you anything and I will ask you politely to leave my hotel.” this time it took him a long while to recover from my words because when he looked at me again the mask was up again I could see some evilness in his eyes then slowly a mischievous smile formed on his lips before he stepped impossibly close to me, to a degree where we had to share the same air.

“What did you just say to me?” He said in a low but dangerous voice the held some sort of threat in it but I was never someone who backed down easily, much less someone who would get afraid, so in a very cold-blooded tone I answered “I asked you to leave my hotel.” 

My piercing green eyes never left his ocean blue ones. This was actually one of my parents’ rules that they taught me.

 ‘Never avoid the eyes of your enemy, otherwise they’ll think you’re afraid... and if they think you’re afraid, then you’re done for.’ 

His eyes roamed over my face and they stopped somewhere, somewhere I didn’t want to think about and then he looked back in my eyes and asked, “do you even know who you’re talking to?” Once again I could hear the threat in his voice and if I’m being honest, I felt a bit of unease But I stopped that feeling quickly so that it would not get to me.

I held my head even higher, then used the most intimidating tone I had. “No, I don’t, and I don’t care who you are. All I care about is that I want you to leave my hotel.”

He took a strand of my Steel-colored hair between his fingers and started playing with them as he said, “don’t worry sweetness, I’m leaving but I’ll come back and you...Won’t.like It.”

With that he let go of my hair then turned around to leave but stopped for a split second to say “how impolite of me, I should have told you my name… my name is Raymond Dalton.”