A CRAZY FIRST MEETING

Adrian straightened his tie as he browsed the crowd tiredly, nodding his head in greeting to the few people he recognized. He could not wait to get out of the building, the fact that it was full of pretentious men and women, faking smiles and still betraying one another irked him. To be sincere, his father’s circle sickened him, the fact that he kept such toxic people around him just because of business was something Adrian could never stand.

The shining gold design of the hall was blinding and it seemed that the designer didn’t think that people would actually be in the hall, people that wanted to look at the area without cringing from the sight.

He twirled his wine glass, careful to avoid any spill while he kept his eyes on his father who looked like he was weaseling his way into someone’s mind and money. Clayton Tremont was already getting old as he was in his late fifties, but he refused to admit it, even to himself. Adrian’s father continued to dye his hair, wear the most expensive Armani suits, coupled with the finest of Italian leather shoes and take care of himself. 

Adrian wouldn’t admit it, but his father’s tactics worked, Clayton Tremont sometimes looked even younger than his son. The fact that they didn’t look anything alike didn’t help, while Clayton was masculine and tall, with broad shoulders and enough muscles. Adrian was rather lanky, but yet still tall, he didn’t have enough patience for muscles and it seemed like he would never be broader than his normal lanky state.

Where his father had jet black hair and startling blue eyes, Adrian’s features were much more feminine with blonde hair and the blue eyes that he acquired from his father. In his younger ages, he had been known to be too pretty, and he used that to his advantage as some girls actually liked that.

He got a whole lot of attention placed on him from high school even till college. The attention that he had gotten had irked him, he was not interested in being the center of attraction for some brainless females; he had greater ambitions than that.

He had focused on the goal that he had right from the start, and it was simply to take over his father’s company and improve it.

Adrian had always known that he was made for something great; he was the first son out of five children of the billionaire, Clayton Tremont. The Tremont family was one with old money, with lands, connections and companies, with each generation coming in with different ideas to make the family enterprise greater.

The Tremont’s owned one of the largest real estate businesses in the country, and it had been so for many years. It began from their forefathers owning stretches of land, to owning high rise buildings, houses and all of that.

Adrian had from a young age, been reminded by his father of how much responsibility was upon him. He had been told so much about the responsibility that he couldn’t even think of any other alternative type of life, other than the one that involved being the CEO.

It had been the major and even his only goal in life, though he sometimes thought he would be if he didn’t have his inheritance awaiting him, he usually came out blank, it seemed that his inheritance was the only thing for him.

His love life had been bleak as the few relationships that he actually took part in were very short-lived. The girls usually complained that he was too immersed in his job. He didn’t expect them to understand his job as they were very short sighted in their thoughts. He had ended up in settling for only sexual relationships, like the one he had with Nina.

His thoughts were cut short by the feeling of a sharp heel into his Italian shoes, the sharp heel pressed through his shoes and to the skin of his phone. A shot of sharp pain passed through his foot.

Ouch, he cursed inwardly.

Adrian looked up to his assaulter, and he was not surprised to see the caramel skinned, obviously brainless beauty in front of him.

“I am so sorry,” the lady said and Adrian scowled at her. She was wearing an expensive looking black dress and she looked like the rest of the party, her brown curly hair was styled in some exquisite style. She wore shiny and expensive looking jewels on her neck, her lashes were too long to be natural and way too much makeup was caked on her face. She was either the young trophy wife of one the businessman or a daddy’s girl. Either way, she was the type of woman that he hated and avoided by all means.

“Of course you are,” he replied, his tone hard and mocking. Her guilt filled expression turned to anger. Her earlier expression seemed so bland compared to the look on her face presently, it seemed like a fire had been lit on her face. If she had the right coloring, she would have turned bright red, she was light enough that even under the dark light of the hall, he could see some level of color change.

“I said I was sorry!” She seethed in a low tone that was a far cry from the tone that she had used for apologizing in the first place.

“Does that fix the pain in my foot?” He asked her, and she just continued to glare at him. “No, it doesn’t, and so your halfhearted apology changes nothing. Next time, actually look where you are going and try not to step on too much feet.”

He kept his tone as even as possible, which was probably not much, since his feet were still very much throbbing and his anger had not yet evaporated. She looked at him dumbfounded like she could not believe that he had said that, her mouth was slightly opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something, Adrian was not inclined to stand around waiting for her to get words into her mouth, he turned his back, dropping the glass of wine in his hand on the counter and walked out on her.

“Bastard,” he could hear the lady mutter and he couldn’t help but smile; she was absolutely something else, and very much annoying.

                            

“Son, there was someone I wanted to introduce you to at the party last night, but by the time I had seen him, you were already long gone,” Adrian’s father, Clayton Tremont said to his son.

Adrian’s attention was immediately piqued; he wondered who his father wanted to introduce him to. He could bet his injured foot that it was a fellow business man.

“I was a bit choked up and wanted some fresh air,” Adrian said, it wasn’t a lie, the ballroom had become too choking for him, and even more boring, the fact that a girl stepped on his foot was only a side note.

“Alright then, you will meet Trevor and his daughter soon enough,” his father said and Adrian nodded. They were both having breakfast in the home that Adrian and his younger siblings had grown up in. All his siblings were seated having breakfast, but they were all immersed in their various conversations.

Thomas, the brother closest to Adrian in age, was talking with William, the oldest of one out of the twins; they were no doubt talking about some football game. Alex, the other twin, was bugging Isla, the youngest and the only girl. All in all, it was a normal breakfast in the Tremont household.

“I am sure you will like his daughter, I am leaning towards a partnership between our companies,” his father continued and Adrian cocked an eyebrow, looking up the food. It seemed like his siblings’ ever sharp ears had taken note of the words of their father as they chatter died down and they were all waiting for Adrian’s response.

“What?” Adrian asked in the most poised manner that he could as he knew what exactly his father was hinting at, he had no intentions of marrying some dumb bimbo for the sake of the company, he wasn’t sure he would be able to survive it.

“Daddy means that you have to marry Mr. Trevor’s daughter,” Isla chipped in. Adrian could not have been more annoyed to hear his youngest and only sister’s chirpy and annoying voice. Isla was already seventeen, but she still acted and sounded thirteen to Adrian, sometimes even nine.

“That’s right Isla,” his father said, smiling at his younger sister as though she had made some discovery. Adrian blamed his father for how childish Isla behaved, his father was too protective of his only daughter and Adrian knew it was because of the fact that Isla reminded his father of their late mother. Isla had been sheltered right from time and Adrian feared that the real world would be too hard for her to handle.

“I won’t marry her Dad,” Adrian said to his father, better to let the cat out of the bag now, rather than dragging it on until it got too late.

“It will be a very profitable venture and I am only considering it. Trevor has not agreed yet,” his father said and Adrian shook his head, he knew that his father was just trying to stall; he had already made up his mind.

“You shouldn’t make up your mind yet, who knows you might actually like her,” William said, for the first time chipping into the conversation and Adrian glared at his younger brother, giving him a look that told him to shut up. He was the more active among the twins and much more talkative, Alex was calmer, and the most energetic thing he did was to bug Isla, when William preferred the outdoors and sports, Alex was more of a bookworm.

“William might be right, it will be so romantic. They might not like each other at first, but then they will turn out to be soul mates and live happily ever after, like in the novels,” Isla declared and Adrian just groaned.

“Isla you really need to stop reading those novels and watching those movies, they are not real, things like that don’t happen in real life Isla, people don’t suddenly start loving people that they hate, it is not real,” Adrian said sternly to Isla, he half expected her to start crying as that was what she would usually do, but the expression on her face was anger—not the crying type—it was hot.

“Just because you don’t believe it, doesn’t mean it is not real,” Isla said before standing up and leaving the dining room. It was the angriest he had seen her and her voice was the hardest he had heard.

“You shouldn’t talk to your sister that way,” his father said and Adrian rolled his eyes, he didn’t need his father to start preaching on what he should do or what he shouldn’t. Those words were long coming and they were the truth, he was not going to lie to his younger sister. She was too hopeful to even survive in the normal world; she had to get the mentality of love out of her mind. If she carried that mentality to college, Adrian was sure she would get her heart severely broken.

“I am going to the office,” Adrian said, standing up and taking his leave. He was ready to go to his office; little did he know what was awaiting him.