Four days later, it was a Monday morning, Grace had just finished her routine Monday 7km morning run along the beach near her apartment. Although she was busy, she found that running took her mind off things and kept her fit. She had showered and was having breakfast with her cappuccino at the Shore Café sitting in her usual seat by the window staring at the magnificent views of the water. She had found that there really were not a lot of places in Straco City that served cappuccinos, so when she came across this café, coupled with a great view, she knew she was on a good thing and decided to make it a regular place for her cappuccino and breakfast whenever she could. As her food and coffee arrived, Sean, Sebastian, Carter, Tyra and Kiara arrived to have breakfast. As they walked past where Grace was sitting towards the bigger table behind her, Sebastian greeted her with a “Good Morning”. Grace looked up briefly, greeted him with a “Morning”, she also smiled at the others, briefly starred into Sean’s eyes and then continued on with her work. ‘Looks like the man I saved doesn’t appear to have recognised me, although I’ve caught him staring at me, so maybe he does remember me. Oh dear, what if he does recognise me? I’ll just act cool and I’ll keep my head down working on my laptop and forget about it. It would be troublesome if he remembered’.
The last time that group saw Grace, Carter’s sister ‘Kiara’ was not with them, it was Luana (Sean’s niece) who was not with the group this time. As Kiara and the others sat down, she whispered to them “My goodness, she really is a beauty as you described Tyra. No wonder Sebastian and Sean are keen on her. Good Luck to you both, may the best man win. Although from what I hear, she seems to have given you the cold shoulder Sebastian”, Kiara whispered to them. Sebastian not ever wanting to admit defeat confidently looked and her and said “I think she secretly likes me and is playing hard to get”. Kiara was a beautiful 25-year-old girl with black long hair, brown eyes and a slender figure. Good looking genes ran right through the Watson family as her brother Carter was also considered very handsome by the amount of admirers he had. Kiara loved her brother’s two best friends Sebastian and Sean as if they were her own brothers, so she had the same banter with them as she did with Carter. “Oh sure Sebastian, sure she is playing hard to get. Have you both taken into account that she may already have a boyfriend? Girls with her looks and exceptional figure are rarely single.” Sebastian ever the more confident out of the three men turned to Kiara, “If she does, then she will dump him for me. I mean look at me, I have the looks and money, what more would a woman like her want?”.
The group, then talked about other things, whilst Sean kept stealing glances at Grace. He couldn’t help thinking that she looked familiar. ‘Why do I feel like I’ve met her before. It’s those deep blue eyes, I’ve seen them. Maybe it’s my imagination getting carried away because she is so stunning’. As she had her back towards them, Sean thought she had the perfect back, gorgeous wavy and curly golden hair that reached the middle of her back.
The group then noticed Arlo Brady come into the Café, pause momentarily and as he looked their way, he walked towards them. Arlo was 28 years old, had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and although he was handsome, he was well known for hitting on girls. The Brady family was one of the prominent families in Straco City whose main business was investing.
As he was walking towards an empty table near the group, he saw Grace and was instantly taken in by her beauty. He looked at her gorgeous face and then scanned her whole body. He was instantly attracted to her. Never being one to shy away from a pretty girl, he stopped at her table and whispered to her “Hey Beautiful, can I sit down and have breakfast with you, my treat?” Grace didn’t even look at him. She continued typing on her laptop and answered him “No thanks, I’m finished and about to leave”. He then leaned very close to her, stroked her face and said to her, “Not only gorgeous, but a beauty with an Australian accent. My name is Arlo. How about I sit here with you until you are ready and take you to my place up on the hill overlooking all the water and have some fun with you. Consider yourself privileged as I have no shortage of ladies that wouldn’t think twice at my offer”. Grace was shocked with his direct approach. She slapped his hand away from her face and shouted, “Mr Arlo, not in a million years, so do me a favour and buzz off.” Arlo did not like that she not only slapped his hand away but she also rejected his offer of going to his place, so he grabbed her wrist.
Grace clearly unimpressed with his actions shouted at him “Mr Arlo, kindly get your hands off me or I will make you regret it”. Just as Arlo was about to say something to her in response, Sean appeared and sternly said “Well if it isn’t Arlo, first you used to bother Tyra and now you are bothering this young lady”. Although Arlo still held Grace’s wrists tightly, Grace looked at Sean and said “Mr ….?” Sean responded, “My name is Sean Harper”. Grace looked at Sean and said to him, “Mr Harper, thank you for your concern, but I can definitely take care of this on my own”. She then looked at Arlo’s hands on her wrists and then at Arlo’s eyes. Her eyes darkened and she then twitched her lips from side to side which was what she occasionally id when she was about to take action. With anger and a raised voice, she looked directly at Arlo’s eyes and said to him, “Mr Arlo, you have five seconds to remove your hands off me and walk away before you regret it”. Sean stood there and watched in case he needed to step in. Arlo did not take her seriously but just held her even tighter. After five seconds, Grace twitched her lips from side to side and then lifted her arms up in a quick manner and flicked her hands and wrists down quickly which automatically released her wrists from Arlo’s hands. She then got up, and flipped him over her back and with a big thud Arlo landed on his back and was quite shocked and embarrassed. Sean had a smirk on his face as he was satisfied with the way Grace had dealt with Arlo and at the same time everyone in that part of the café were looking at what had happened and began muttering and pointing at Arlo whilst laughing at him.
Sean wanted to help Grace and ask her if she was okay but she quickly packed up her stuff, left some money on the table to cover her breakfast and took off out of the café. Arlo got up, dusted himself off and hobbled out of the café with an embarrassed look. ‘I’ll deal with that Aussie girl. No-one embarrasses me like that in front of people and gets away with it’ he thought to himself.
In the café, the group were gob smacked with what they just witnessed. “She is the girl of my dreams. She’s got some guts dealing with Arlo like that”, Sebastian remarked. “Careful Seb, she might beat you up too”, Kiara teased. Meanwhile, Sean couldn’t help but smile at the thought of what he had witnessed. ‘She really is a fire cracker, a really intriguing girl that has piqued my interest’, Sean thought to himself. Soon after, they all finished their breakfast and headed out.
“Just sign here, here and here”, said a man in a grey suit to Grace. Grace signed all the paperwork as instructed by the man. “Congratulations, you are now the owner of a new Apartment waterfront apartment over by Bluey Beach. I hope you will be happy there as it is not crowded, has great Ocean views and also is not far from the Central Business District”. Grace was so elated to finally have her own apartment in Straco City. It was becoming very cumbersome living out of a hotel as she was missing having her own kitchen. She couldn’t wait to video call her parents and show them the apartment. It will take about 6 weeks to process and then once all money due is paid, it will all be legally yours. The Land Title can be forwarded to you in the mail at that point but I like to personally to deliver it to my clients with a bottle of champagne we can celebrate with. Grace lived in a motel for 1 week when she moved into town, after that she moved into a small 3 star hotel in the City
(Two weeks later)Carter, Sean and Sebastian met up for some dinner and drinks at the ‘Oxford Club’. They tried to meet every few weeks. They occasionally discussed a bit of business but it was mostly just to catch up with each other about the what was going on their individual lives. They grew up together and these three friends were just like brothers. They always had each other’s backs whether it be in their personal lives, or in business. They were as tight as brothers could be. They had their own private room, so they could discuss whatever they liked and it stopped the girls always eyeing and approaching these three handsome men and bothering them. These three men were a great catch and were never short of admirers. Everywhere they went girls admired them and threw themselves at these men.“Grace is really something, isn’t she? It was priceless seeing Arlo’s reaction as she dealt with him. He’s such a creep. It really upset Tyra and Carter the way he tried to man handl
Grace and Tyra just finished their run along beach over by Grace’s new apartment. Grace was going to be moving into her new apartment in 3 weeks and pointed out to where her apartment was. “It’s the top level one over there. Of course, it’s not a mansion or a Penthouse, but it is absolutely perfect for me. In the evenings, I can sit out on the balcony overlooking the gorgeous view of the beach. I’ve got a dedicated room for a small home office when I work from home in the evening or when I choose to not go into the office. It’s close to convenience stores and not far from my new office”, she told Tyra. “Sounds like a dream, I’d love to see it when you move in”, Tyra told her. Grace had a good feeling about Tyra and somehow in her heart she knew she could trust this girl in front of her. “You’ve got a deal, maybe I’ll even cook you one of my famous lunches when I have you over”, Grace responded. Tyra squeezed her hand in response as she also had a similar feeling that Grace could
(A few days later)Now that Grace had settled on staying in Straco City (at least for the time being), she had settled on a new Lease for her company. It was over in the centre of town about a 5-minute walk from the Shore Café. Her new office was also a 12–15-minute drive from her new apartment she had just purchased at Bluey Beach. She hadn’t purchased a car yet, so was either using a motorbike she had bought as soon as she came into town or caught a cab where she had to go. The apartment was spacious. It had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a small room she could use as her home office. A nice sized kitchen that she would definitely take advantage of as she loved cooking and it also had a nice sized lounge and dining room. The garage under the apartment building was accessed via a secured roller door that only the residents in the three apartments in her building could access. She also had a balcony that she could sit on and watch the wave
Grace met her employees outside Blue Moon. She had paid for cabs for all her staff to and from the club. Once they arrived at the venue, Grace could see that the queue was very long. However, the owners of Blue Moon had arranged those waiting in the queue to be given a bottle of water each and some finger food whilst waiting to get in. The venue had beautiful lights shining onto the façade. There were security personnel at the main door checking bags for weapons and drugs and of course checking identification to ensure that those only 21 years old and over could get into the club.Although the line was long, those that had a room booked could go via a different door which had a much shorter queue, they just had to show their pass. Grace and her contingent lined up at that door. Grace was wearing a black tight skirt with sparkles that was just above her knees coupled with a mid-riff white top and black wedge espadrille shoes. The white
Once Sean and Carter returned to their VIP room, they explained to the others what they had heard. “So, the lease she signed a few weeks ago was with Harper Group. Her company is a tenant in one of the buildings you own which just so happens to be next door to the Harper Group building and to this day, she has no idea that you are Harper Group”, said Tyra to Sean. “Talk about coincidences, or fate”, said Kiara as she winked at Sean. “How ironic that Grace is the big boss of Messi Group. I would never have picked it. We all thought there was some bloke in charge. Goes to show that women should never be underestimated”, added Kiara. Sean was lost in thought, ‘hmm, there really is more to this woman than meets the eye. Not only is she smoking hot but she definitely has some business acumen’.Sean picked up the phone and went to a private part of the room and called his assistant Leo. “Leo, I need you to find
It was 11:00pm, there were numerous drinks being consumed and Grace was feeling a bit tipsy. Arlo happened to be there and sidled up to her with the help of one of his bodyguards. “Hey beautiful, remember me?”, he asked loudly over the loud music. She looked at him with scorn and tried to move away from him, but as she was a bit tipsy, she tripped over. Grace knew, her head was about to hit the dance floor, and in that split second, she was caught securely around the waist by Sean. They then locked eyes. ‘It’s him again, why is he always around’, she thought. Sean stared into her eyes and again there was a familiarity that he could not put his finger on, except that his heart was beating against his rib cage as he held her. At that moment, Grace released herself from his hold. She thanked him and then ran to the bathroom to get herself together. Arlo kept a watch on her as he was intent on having her. “No-one, I mean no-one gets away f
Sean and Sebastian left Carter’s office to head to their respective workplaces. Sebastian was meeting with a new band that he had managed to sign on and Sean had some paperwork and evidence to revise for a court case he was working on. As Sean was approaching the Harper Group building, the video of Grace using her swift defence and attack techniques to deal with Arlo and his bodyguard kept playing on his mind. Her capability put a big smile on his face. He was wondering where she would’ve learnt such fighting techniques as some of her moves looked to be a bit unique and not the usual martial arts type moves and at the same time, he wondered when he would see her again. Grace was on her way back to her office with a coffee in her hand after returning from inspecting the building site of the ‘Del Mare Hotel’ that was starting to go up. She was lost in thought about her next few meetings today, when she bumped into someone’s chest. His chest was so solid that she not only spilt he