Chapter 5; Aftermaths of shock waves

On getting to the door of her room, Page slowed down and took in deep, haggard breaths before walking in. She sighed quietly then, began advancing towards her vanity. Setting down on it her phone and amethyst coloured purse which was gifted to her by her grandad a year ago on her birthday, she proceeded to slip off her cloths, piece after piece and willed her mind to waltz through her not so long encounter with Rowan.

Withdrawing from her thoughts and shaking her head rather too fast, she shivered and goosebumps could be seen surfacing on her skin, making her wear an irked expression.

“What was that?" She scoffed, asking no one in particular.

“Why is he suddenly behaving as though he cares after making it abundantly clear that he wants nothing to do with me?" She continued as she folded her right hand, putting her left one over it and placing her chin in between her index and middle finger.

The kissing of her teeth with her tongue sounded lightly across the room and one could tell that she was inwardly contemplating on something, the root she yet to discover. 

“Could it be that… “ she held herself from saying further and decided against thinking, ruling it as something wholly unnecessary.

Shrugging, she concluded saying, " after all, he never cared in the first place.“ 

Being someone who had herself totally immersed in her passion for music and arts, music always seemed to work wonders in relieving her of her myriad worries and thoughts.

She picked up her phone and in a few minutes, her favorite song filled the air with a stream of positive energy as she grinned widely and began swaying to the beat of the music. Taking the song as though it was one of her many pieces, she sang with her eyes closed as she meditated on its lyrics word from word. 

The melody of her voice mesmerized Rowan who was some rooms away from hers when she hit the high notes of the song's chorus. Moved by a certain force he couldn't quite define, he made his way to her door and leaned on it. 

Pushing down the handle of the door, he moved it ajar and walked in. At that time, she was completely lost in her own world, gyrating her hips with expertise to the beat of the next song. She had just her lingerie and a light, transparent robe on. Unknown to her that Rowan was in the room, she turned around, energy still running wildly through her veins and transporting euphoria throughout her body.

“Rowan! Oh my God," she gasped and stumbled back in shock.

“What the hell! Don't you know how to knock?" She spat and quickly grabbed her duvet which she wrapped around her body.

“Why do you seem so shocked? Is it wrong of me to walk around my own house?” He inquired with furrowed eyebrows.

" That doesn't justify anything. The least you could have done is knock. It's that simple okay,” she admonished. 

Clearly offended by the fact that he saw nothing wrong in what he did, she looked away from his direction and scoffed. In an attempt to soothe the anger that seemed to be swirling within her, she placed her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes, making sure that the idle one held the duvet in place.

Rowan who was still in the room slipped his hands into the pocket of his trousers and remained quiet as though he was anticipating what she would utter next.

“What do you want?" she asked calmly, looking up at him.

“You have a melodious and captivating voice," he complemented, ignoring her question.

“It seems that my attention was drawn solely by it," he finished.

“Thank you for the compliment but I certainly do not appreciate you barging in on me like that. It's not polite," she pointed out while letting her shoulders down, relaxing completely.

“I apologize," he said and walked out of the room without sparing her a second glance.

“That was awkward… “ she said under her breath after he shut the door.

Tilting her head slightly she blushed briefly. 

“I could swear I saw him ogling," she giggled.

Her expression quickly turned sour and her plump lips pooped out a bit, a sign of sadness.

“Does it matter if he did?" she said, opting to avoid habouring abstract thoughts. 

The arrangement of her duvet back on her bed ensued as she obliged with the voices in her head trying to get her to lay on the bed. Falling onto the overly comfortable king sized bed, memories of the fun and innermost peace she experienced at the art gallery flooded into her mind and she beamed when she remembered Will, the guy she met.

Although she wished she had let him have her contact, she wasn't upset she didn't. Fate was one thing she strongly believed in. Her stomach growled and it was only then she realized how hungry she was. Deciding against leaving her room without washing up, she quickly waltzed to the bathroom and took a warm, slightly long dip in her whirlpool bathtub. 

After slipping into her night dress, she dried her long, black hair before tying it into a messy, but cute bun. Sitting in front of her mirror, she completed her brief skin care routine then proceeded to go make herself something to eat.

She walked to the refrigerator and took out the crate of eggs. She was about to break an egg into a plate when Rowan who was behind her whispered close to her ear. 

“Page," he hummed. 

Jumping back, she gasped, dropping the fork in her hand and placing her palm on her chest. 

“What is the…?  You startled me,” she stated.

" Oh did I?” He chuckled with a grin.

Another strong wave of shock for about the third time that night washed over her.

" Rowan," she said with surprise dripping from every uttered word," did you just smile?" She asked.

Still wearing a beguiling smile and awaiting his response, she put the egg back in its crate and turned to look at him.

“I didn't mean to, “ he replied coldly.

" Why are you always like this? You behave like you are coming around and the next minute, you are back to displaying your cold attitudes and unreadable expressions. What exactly do you want from me? “ She asked as a pang of pain tugged at her heart.

" I do not owe you an explanation Page. Heat up the food on the dinning table and have some. “

Hearing that kind of response was like an intentional and unbearable stab in her spleen. How she would survive living with him, she was unsure of but what she wasn't going to totally condone was his ill manner towards her as it was an affront to her person. 

" Forget it. I just lost my appetite, “ Page stated and walked away, surprising Rowan who did not expect the vehemence of her answer. 

Speechless, he walked to the dinning table and pack up the untouched food to store away in the refrigerator. 

Chapter 6; Surprise visit

Page woke up early the next day with a slight headache which she ignored and had a schedule of her day's activities drawn up. Having been occupied with her dance classes and office work, she hadn't been able to go for her taekwondo classes in weeks. When she was done and decided to select the cloths she wanted to put on that day, she felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen.

Clutching her stomach and scrunching up her face in an attempt to subdue the pain, she gripped her closet's door and inhaled sharply. Typically, it was the result of not consuming a proper lunch and dinner the previous day. The pain was becoming slightly unbearable and she knew that if she didn't have something immediately, it could aggravate and metamorphose into something worse. 

Wearily, she swiftly exited her room and made her way to the kitchen to prepare a simple but mouth-watering breakfast for herself. In a few minutes, she was done preparing her toasted bread, scrambled eggs and sausages with a cup of americano coffee. Allowing the aroma of the food to impale her senses as she used her hand to wave it's scent into her nose, she took a bite of the eggs. Humming, she savoured the taste of the ambrosia and then, scarfed down the contents of her plate and washed it down with her cup of coffee. 

Satisfaction is indeed an understatement if one wished to describe how she felt at that point. Loathing the thought that she had to be at work really soon, she did away with the dishes before taking out a bottle of chilled water from the refrigerator.

“It was clear as day what needed to be done to ameliorate my headache," she said with a chuckle as she raised the bottle of water to her mouth. The coolness of water kick started her senses and she felt perky, ready to commence her day's activities. She went to her room, washed up and got dressed in a giffy. She picked up some documents she had placed on her bed and sat down on her to put on her stilettos.

“Is this one supposed to be here?" She asked herself whilst picking up a document from the ones she was about to neatly put into a red file.

She leaned forward to peruse the document more closely and after a while, sighed. 

“I must have forgotten I put it here," she said, ruling out her assumption. 

Page was an exquisite and intelligent young woman with myriad eccentric qualities who not only took pride in what she did but embraced it, making sure that she utilized her talents in ample ways.

It was a bit nippy outside but she didn't mind. 

When she was about to leave, she spotted Rowan at the front door, dressed in his suit but she said nothing to him and just drove off.

She took out her phone from her purse when she walked into Greencoves Conglomerate headquarters, one of the companies she was to inherit and grow when her grandad passes away and dialed a number.

It rang briefly and stopped. She was about to repeat the process when a group of men and women, members of the board of directors took their positions behind her.

With an adorable smile, she responded to their greetings and was too immersed in her conversation with one of the women when she heard the rythmic clanging of a pair of heels on the tiles. Sensing that the person was without a doubt approaching her direction, she turned effortlessly with grace and looked in the direction of the approaching person.

Page wasn't smiling and so were those behind her. She peered at the lady that was now in front of her, her face rid of any emotions.

The lady was clothed in a black high-waist pencil skirt and a white long sleeved silk shirt that accentuated the opulent pin she had on. Her black shiny stilettos matched the black handbag she carried pleasantly well and her thick, bouncy hair shone with lustre. She was indeed a definition of sophistication.

She gave Page a rather condescending look, overtly scrutinizing her as though she was an art piece to be sold at an auction. 

The air around them was awfully tense but Page found something to keep her focus on, the lady's orbs. 

Page gave her a once over and the corner of her lips stretched as she scoffed.

“You deceitful fellow, to what do I owe this visit?” Page asked with a menacing growl that could only be heard by those close to her.

"My baby," the lady squealed and hugged Page.

"I missed you very much. Hear me out this once please," she pleaded. 

“Lina, evacuate this vicinity at once," she ordered and started moving towards one of the company's elevator, feigning anger before Lina could say anything. 

Those behind her were now in a befuddled state. Lina was relieved that Page finally uttered more than just a word to her in two weeks then proceeded to give her response.

“Come on, is that how should treat your best friend who you haven't seen in six months?” She asked and followed closely beside Page.

"Oh remind me, is it the one that left me in my time of crisis and traveled to explore the world?" Page said, with hand demonstrations.

When they got to her office, she sat down on the chair in front of Page's mahogany desk then placed her bag on it.

Lina was a friend Page made in her culinary school and revered her because of her ability to raise one's spirit and inspire them. She was not just her friend but her best friend, one that had gone through thick and thin with her and stood by her every step of the way. 

“Okay, I am so sorry for everything I did. What I did was bad… “

" Outrageous,” Page interrupted, inputting the word she felt was best suited to describe her friend's actions.

“Yes, outrageous and I am so sorry that I wasn't here for you and traveled to France with my cheat of a boyfriend when you needed me the most, when you were going through a lot," she went on.

" I broke up with him after finding out that he had sex with my dad's secretary in my office, on my freaking chair!” she sputtered, irked.

“What the hell! He did what?"

“Exactly what I just said. I am over him and again, I am sorry," she apologized once again. 

" It's okay. We should catch up," Lina said out of sheer excitement.

"I couldn't agree more." 

“Yep, I have a lot of things to tell you about," Lina said, matching up her energy with her friend's. 

“I missed you," Lina revealed.

Page was about to say something when her phone rang.

“You are quite busy today Mrs. Cannon," Lina said with a sly grin.

“Don't call me that. Nothing but a marriage of convenience exists between us," she scolded.

“Well someone is getting all worked up," she teased whilst getting on her feet and picking up her bag.

“We would talk later darling. I would leave you to work now,” she continued and gave her best friend a peck on the cheek.

"Don't miss me too much love. Adios,” she said and exited the office.

Swiveling the chair, she picked up her phone and glanced at it's screen. Curious as to why her grandad was calling, she got up and answered the call. Pacing around while answering her calls was a new habit she had developed and embraced. 

“Hey darling, how are you doing?" His hoarse voice sounded.

“Good morning grandpa. Why did you call?” 

“Your uncle is back from his business trip and would like for you to meet with him this afternoon. “

" Uncle John is back? Why and where does he want to meet me? Do I have to go? Besides,I am busy," She fired all the questions all at once, trying as much as she could to conceal the overwhelming emotions that threatened to give her thoughts away.

“Yes, in a restaurant he booked a reservation and you must go see him, do you understand?" He asked in a feigned stern tone of voice. 

“Okay, I would contact him to know the venue,” she grumbled. 

The call with her grandad ended and she phoned her uncle. Her Uncle John was a nice and caring man but after she finished schooling and was old enough to fend for herself, he started traveling frequently for consequent businesses in different countries which lead to a fall out in their relationship.

His phone was ringing but there was no answer. She wondered where he must have kept his phone as it was unlike him to not pick up his calls as soon as his phone rings.

“Should I call him later? He might actually be busy," she put her hands on her curvy but slim hips and said.

Immediately, the sound of a knock on her door filled the confines of her well furnished office and she wondered who it was.

“Come in," she informed the person and just then, the door swung open softly. 

“Who is it?" She asked, turning on her heels.

Perturbed by the number of times she had to dial her uncle's number, she sighed and the moment her eyes came in contact with who walked into her office, she staggered backwards and twisted her ankle.

With a slightly loud groan which she made with the intention of preventing herself from screaming, she fell but before she could hit the hard and cold floor, a pair of big, muscle-built arms circled around her waist.

‘Hell! God bless whoever my hero is,’ she thought with her eyes remaining closed.