Chapter 7

Layla stomped out of Perficient Investment. She opened the car door and slammed it after she entered.

She hit the steering wheel, grinding her teeth. "That son of a bitch! Fuck you!"

She breathed heavily for ten seconds, thinking of what to do, but nothing came to her mind. She looked at the company entrance again and started the car to drive out. And as she wanted to reverse, Avery drove in.

Layla turned off the car's engine and parked. She watched patiently till Avery parked beside her, and immediately after Avery got out of her car, Layla winded down the car glass.

"Avery." She called.

Avery looked back and smiled, seeing Layla. "Layla."

Layla got out of the car and walked to Avery. "Good day. How’s your day?"

"My days are always the same," Avery sighed, joking, "as the star girl, who directors want in their movies, and with many ambassadorial deals from different companies, It's always busy and stressful going from one show to another."

Layla beamed.

"What about you? What are you doing here?" Avery inquired.

Layla withered her face. "I dreamed today would be great, but unfortunately, it’s not."

"Oh," Avery said, opening her mouth with concern. "What happened?"

Layla sighed and explained in a low voice. "I came here to see Asher, but he chased me out and said he didn’t want to see me again."

"Oh! No…" Avery let out a sigh of surprise. She grind her teeth. "Too bad of him..."

"Did you do anything to him?" Avery investigated. "Maybe you guys had issues with a contract in the past."

Layla nodded. "No. The first time we met was at your engagement party."

"Okay, let’s see if I can help." Avery said, wearing a comforting smile. She held Layla’s hand to walk in, but Layla didn’t take a step.

Avery looked back. "What’s it?"

"He has ordered his staff not to allow me in again." Layla explained.

Avery scoffed. "They may not allow you in when you are Theodore Layla, but right now, you are my best friend that disappeared."

Avery wrinkled her eyes at Layla, and they walked hand in hand, smiling in mutuality.

They got to the entrance, and the guard at the entrance bowed his head to Avery. He sighted Layla and tried to speak out.

"Ma-"

Avery raised her eyebrows authoritatively. "What? Who are you to question me?"

Avery hissed and held Layla’s hand more tightly, and they walked into the company.

They entered the top floor, and all the staff members, except Aria, stood up and bowed their heads to great Avery. "Good morning, ma."

"Good morning." Avery beamed. She took some steps forward and stopped in front of Aria, who fixed her eyes on her laptop screen and was pressing the keyboard non-stop.

"Hey!" Avery raised her voice. She looked around and took a deep breath to control herself. She lowered her voice and called, "Aria, don’t you see me?"

Aria sighed tiredly. She has known Avery since they were young, and she loathed her for a reason known to her alone. During their college years, Aria always picked a fight with Avery. But after Aria started working at Perficient Investment five years ago, she avoided Avery like the plague and decided to always pretend Avery was absent whenever she was present because her presence irritated her. 

Aria ignored Avery and continued pressing her keyboard faster, venting the anger boiling in her mind on the keyboard.

Avery tapped Aria’s desk. "Hey!"

Aria stopped typing and blew air with her mouth. She raised her gaze twice and made eye contact with Avery. "Can’t you just leave me alone?"

"Why should I, Hun?" Avery asked. "Before you started working here, you always picked a fight with me and blamed me for what I didn’t do."

"Why are you running away from the fire of hatred you set up?" Avery challenged.

Aria chuckled and declared. "I'm not running away. I'm just retreating because I don’t want to ruin things."

Avery scoffed. "You retreat because you don’t want your envy towards me to ruin your chance here. You are afraid Asher will sack you if I tell him to sack you, right?"

"Envy you?" Aria giggled. "If that’s what you think, you are wrong. I have never envied you. I've always pitied you since the first day I knew about your existence."

Avery widened her eyes, confused. "Pity me?" 

"You are a liar!"

"I am not a liar." Aria declared.

Avery clapped her hands twice, and a light chortle escaped her mouth. "Nothing happened to me. I have a better life. I have the best dad in the world. Everyone loves me. And I am getting married to the best man in the world.."

Aria looked at the roof, smiling. She stopped the smile and looked into Avery’s eyes. "Avery, some secrets are better kept in the bottle. So, let’s leave things the way they are right now."

"Why should we leave things now? Till when, hun?" Avery asked.

"Till when your heart is ripe enough to scatter." Aria answered.

Avery’s mind heats in anger, but she controlled herself because of Layla's presence. Other staff members aren't new to the heat scenarios since they have always witnessed it since their college days.

Avery wore a smile and looked back at Layla. "Don’t mind this lady. Let’s go in, please."

Layla nodded, smiling, and she took a step closer to Avery.

"The CEO ordered me to never allow her in. What do you think will happen now?" Aria asked. She wanted to piss Avery off a bit more.

"Who are you to stop me?" Avery queried. 

Aria placed her hand on her chest, beaming. "I'm Aria, a first-rank senior staff member of Perficient Investment, and the lady who has never and can never get into trouble because of you. I'm also the person who the CEO ordered not to allow Miss Theodre Layla in again."

Aria stretched out her hand in a questioning manner. "So, what's your position here, and why should I allow you to go inside with her?"

Avery embarked on a minute of silence. She raised her eyebrows elegantly. "I'm Mason Avery, the American fairy, the national goddess, and the fiance of the boss that ordered you not to allow Layla into this company."

Aria chuckled slightly. She opened her mouth to talk, but she ceased and changed the topic. "You can go in, ma."

"Better." Avery said.

"Not because of your unworthy introduction, but because I like Miss Layla. She is one of a kind, unlike those popular billionaire heiresses." Aria poured out.

Avery took a step backward to give a response, but Layla walked closer to her and held her hand before she could say a word.

"Let’s go in, please." Layla persuaded, smiling.

Avery smiled back at Layla, and they walked in.

After Layla and Avery walked to the corner, Natasha took a deep breath and looked at Aria. "Aria, put an end to this petty fight with Avery, please. Wipe your mind off everything that happened in the past."

"I want to, but it’s painful to see her living the gorgeous life that’s not meant for her." Aria voiced out.

************

Avery walked into Asher’s office with Layla behind her, and immediately Asher sighted Layla, he challenged. "What are you doing here?"

Avery wore a comforting smile. "Chill bae. I brought her here."

Asher kept quiet and eyed them as they walked closer. Avery sat down, and Layla sat on the chair beside her.

"Dear, Layla explained something to me." Avery spoke in a low voice. She was trying to start with an appropriate sentence that would make Asher hear her until the end.

"Is she now a friend because of the gift she gave you?" Asher flung a question as he opened the next page of the file on his desk, fixing his eyes on it.

Avery beamed insincerely. "No. Layla was my childhood friend," she withered her face, adding, "too bad she left me suddenly and went into hiding. But I am happy she is back now."

"So, what does that have to do with me?" Asher showed no interest.

"She wants to be a business partner with you, and I told her to come. Why did you chase her out?" Avery let out.

"When did you begin to intervene in my business relations issues?" He queried.

"Actually…" Avery wanted to make an excuse, but nothing came to mind.

"Why didn’t she say you told her to come?" Asher asked in a harsh tone, suspecting Avery was lying.

"I wanted to, but you didn’t give me a space for that." Layla intervened.

Asher paused, scanning the file, and he stared at Layla for a second. "Hop off, please."

"Now that I am here, will you give her a chance?" Avery broke in because she didn’t want Asher to drag it any further, so it wouldn’t ruin their chance.

"No." Asher answered with simplicity.

"Why?" Avery queried.

"I am busy." Asher answered.

"Okay. I still have three more slots for this month. Use one for her." Avery proposed.

Asher looked up at her in surprise and chuckled. "Did you badly want me to give her a chance?"

Avery nodded.

"Okay, I will order Nancy to fix a date with her in three months." Asher said.

"Three months? That’s too far." Avery opposed.

"You have two more slots for this month. Will you use one to make it quick? And if you can use the remaining two, I will have a meeting with her right away." Asher laid out an option.

"Hun?!" Avery opened her eyes wide in shock. She swallowed her saliva deeply and looked at Layla’s face before she embarked on a minute of silence.

"Okay, I will use it." Avery concluded.

Asher smiled with the left part of his mouth, shaking his head in satisfaction. "Okay, leave now, so I can attend to her."

"But…" Avery wanted to talk.

Asher raised his finger and shook his head in opposition. "A deal is a deal."

Avery sighed and looked at Layla’s face. "I will leave now. Have a nice day."

"Thank you. I will talk to you later." Layla smiled.

Avery stood up and eyed Asher with hatred for a minute before she hissed and walked out of the office.

Immediately after Avery closed the door, Asher closed the file in front of him and focused on Layla.

"Guess you want to work with me?" he smirked, asking, "I will test you. Do you accept it?"

Layla nodded with confidence. "Yes."

Asher picked up a file on the left side of his desk and put it in front of Layla. "This is the project I just won. You will build the mall and stock it with different native attires for many cultures in the universe,"

"According to the plan, we have three months to execute it, but to prove you are worth being my business partner, execute it within eight weeks." He added.

A surprised tone left Layla’s mouth. "Hun?!"

"You will fund the project with your capital. If you fail, it's your loss. No refund. But if you win, we will share the profit sixty-forty. Sixty for me, forty for you." He further. He gave her an annoying percentage to annoy her, so she would leave angrily.

Layla opened the file and looked at it from page to page. She couldn’t close her mouth in surprise. "But-"

"You can decline. It's not late." He cut her off.

Layla nodded and fanned her body with her mouth. "You want me to quit, but I won’t."

"Why? Do you like me that much?" Asher asked in an arrogant tone.

Layla burst into a mocking laugh that filled the air for a few seconds. She stopped laughing and gave him a serious look. "I'm not interested in your greatness because I don't even notice you are great. I'm still confused about why people give you 'the great Asher' as a nickname," 

"I want to be a business partner for three reasons,"

"One, to appreciate Avery’s efforts. I know nothing about the slots she used, but they seem to be precious. Two, I'm not the type that gets scared easily, so I don’t give up without trying." She stated.

"And the third reason?" He showed interest.

She scoffed and answered, "known to me, and won’t be revealed to you till the right moment."

"So, does this mean you accepted the test?" He asked.

"Yes," she answered, adding, "once I pass, I will automatically become a business partner, right?"

"Yes," he nodded. "But I bet you can’t. So, I will advise you to quit now."

She chuckled and picked up the file from the table. "The last time I checked, there was no crime in trying."

"Yes, but I don’t want you to waste your strength." He said.

"It’s my strength, not yours. Hop off, Mr. CEO." She said, standing up on her feet.

"Okay, let’s see how far you can go before you give up."