Vanya's pov:
I couldn't ever get used to seeing so many rich and influential people under one roof.
The cool air smelled of money and expensive cologne. I myself looked like one of these rich people, dressed in an exquisite dark red gown studded with gems on the plunging neckline. I had my hair done in a princess braid, tendrils of it framing my face and eyes. I held a champagne flute in my hand, sipping it occasionally. It was the good kind, the expensive bubbles tickling my tongue.
The dance floor was alive with couples in their attractive designer clothes dancing to fancy piano music. I stood on the balcony, drinking my champagne and watching the event. I had no obligation to be here, but I couldn't say no to the client's invitation.
How many of these events have I attended in just three months? A lot of them. And with each one, JAY’S CUISINE was there to attend to all the catering and interior decorating needs.
I think this one was a fundraiser for women cancer, I wasn't exactly sure.
"Good evening," I heard a rich voice say behind me. I turned to see a man, dressed in a light brown suit. He looked like another of those rich kids.
"Good evening to you too." I replied with a controlled smile.
"My name is Roman Stephens. And you must be Vanya Jacob." he extended his hand for a handshake. He had a cute look, with sandy blond hair and green eyes. I shook his hand, and his grip was firm.
One point.
"You know my name," I said bashfully. "Interesting."
He laughed. "Who doesn't know Vanya Jacob? All the dishes here today are a proof of your expertise."
I allowed myself to blush at the compliment. "Thank you, Roman."
"Care to dance?" He gestured to the dance floor.
"No thank you," I shook my head. "I'm not much of a dancer."
"Oh," His smile faltered for a while. "In that case," A waiter walked by with a tray of champagne. He took one glass, tipping his head in greeting to the waiter.
Two points.
He raised the glass to mine. "A toast?"
I clinked my glass with his. "To a wonderful evening."
The dance ended, the crowd erupting into rounds of applause.
"To a wonderful evening." Roman agreed.
This was a success by all definitions. Everything was going so fine so far. After a quick drink with roman, I excused myself to check in on my workers. I may be dressed for the event, but I'm still here as a caterer.
"Miss Jacob," My chefs at the buffet greeted with a small bow of their heads.
"How is it going?" I asked, giving them warm smiles.
"So far, everything has been hitch free."
I nodded. "That's very good. If anything comes up, please don't hesitate to call me."
"Yes ma'am."
I glanced down at my watch, it was almost eleven. By now the kids must be asleep, tucked in by Marco and Emilia. I sighed softly, a small smile on my face. Perhaps tomorrow I'll take them out for a picnic.
"Miss Vanya!" I heard Roman call. before I knew it he was in front of me. "Hey for a moment I thought you had left."
"Not yet." I replied. "Is anything the..."
I couldn't finish my sentence. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I heard a familiar voice.
"Mr Roberts! It's such a pleasant surprise to see you here."
Dear Luna, no.
"Miss Vanya?" Roman called, but his voice sounded faraway.
I felt my heart start to beat faster. I thought maybe I was imagining it, but I heard that voice again. My curiosity got the best of me and I turned around.
I felt like I had been hit in the face with a ton of bricks. Standing a few feet away was Josephine. To my horror, she was dressed in the very same style of gown I wore. Same style, same color, “is this a mere coincidence?” Her Hair flowed down her back, part of it over her shoulder. She had her arm hooked to someone.
Cian.
He looked even more handsome than I recalled. His suit hugged his body perfectly, his hair styled in a parting sweep. He looked like a vision of power, the alpha that he was. And by his side, Josephine looked like a perfect Luna. She looked like me.
I felt all breath knocked out of my lungs. Cian and Josephine! Right here!
The first thought that crossed my mind was to turn and leave. They hadn't spotted me yet. I could slip out without any of them knowing.
And then on second thought, I asked myself why? Why would I do that? Why would I run from these people who had humiliated me in that past? Why should I give them the satisfaction?
So I turned back to roman. "I'm sorry, lost myself for a moment." I said with a kind smile. "You were saying?"
"I was..."
"Vanya?" I heard Josephine. I pursed my lips, anger coursing through me. I quickly hid my annoyance under a smile. "Excuse me, roman." I said and turned.
Josephine and Cian walked over to me. Josephine had a smile so bright, like she hadn't taken everything from me.
"It's you!" She said, unhooking her arm from Cian. She reached out to me, trying to hug me. I stepped back, folding my arms. She looked down at my body. "Wow, we even matched! Our bond is so strong it's like telepathy!"
"Bond? You're delusional." I laughed, my eyes darting to Cian. "Don't give me that crap."
Cian stared at me. "Hello, Vanya." He said. "What a surprise seeing you here." He walked up to Josephine, placing a hand on the small of her back.
A small gesture, but with great significance.
I looked up at their faces, a scoff leaving my lips. "How disgusting." I muttered under my breath.
"What?" Josephine laughed. "Come on. You can't still be mad right? It's been four years."
I wanted to smash my champagne flute into her eyes. She can't be serious right now, right?
Vanya's POV:"I'll be taking my leave now," Roman announced, leaving with a bow. I couldn't say anything to him, my eyes focused solely on Josephine."It's been only four years?" I scoffed, my eyes wide with surprise. "Is that supposed to make me feel better or what?"Josephine giggled, turning to glance at Cian for a brief moment. "What's the matter babe? Did I say something out of line?" She asked, batting long lashes at me. I rolled my eyes.I resisted the urge to smash my champagne flute into Josephine's eye. Four years, I'm very sure to her it must have been just four years. but to me those four years were full of so much pain and agony that I can't even bear to look at the two of them right now without feeling like I want to smash my glass with my bare hands or scream out in frustration.I controlled my emotions, taking in deep gulps of air to calm myself down. There's no point in over reacting right now, I'm only going to give them the satisfaction that they're looking for. No
Vanya'sPOVI stared at Josephine for a good ten seconds as if she had magically spawned an extra head."You know, I have really high hopes for whoever it is," She said, her smile widening. "You were a former luna, so I wouldn't expect you to be fucking anyone leas than an alpha, right? I mean, it would just be so crazy and low value behavior.""What?" I gasped, my eyes wide. I can't believe the words spewing out of her lips right now. Does she really think this is what is happening? "Oh don't look so surprised." She laughed, waving me off dismissively. "That gown you have on, it's designer. Unless of course it's fake, I don't mind that too."She's talking nonsense. And I don't have the energy to listen to her rant right now. She's doing this to get on my nerves I know that. And it's working. It's fucking working right now."Have a wonderful evening." I snapped, turning on my heel."Leaving so soon?" Josephine called after me, her chilling laughter going down to my bones. "Don't tell
Vanya's POV:It's not like I didn't know Cian's heart wasn't with me. As he had said, I chose to live in my own fantasy bubble, believing whatever the hell I wanted to believe as long as I was happy. Believing that Cian loved me. Believing that the moon goddess finally answered my prayers and mated us together. Believing that we would be together till we died. It wasn't that hard to see if only I looked. How distant he looked sometimes, like something was on his mind. And later I would come to discover that something on his mind was actually on someone. And that someone was the woman I believed was my best friend of all time.I laughed softly. I was so stupid."Here," Tara said, handing a plate with a slice of cake over to me. We sat on the elevated platform right next to our catering van. About four of my staff were in the van, drinking some water and having light snacks. Tara poured some champagne for the both of us and we sat back to enjoy the small treat. I drank the champagne
Vanya's POV:"Come on Tara, I'm driving you home.""But why?" Tara drawled, her head bobbing on my shoulder. The stench of alcohol was heavy on her breath. She raised her head and looked up at me, cheeks flushed and lips bloody red. "How are you not drunk?" She asked, a hiccup leaving her lips."I have high alcohol tolerance." I said. I supported her, my arm over her shoulder as we stumbled to my car. "I'm sober enough to drive us home.""Okay," She mumbled. "I think I'm gonna be sick."Before I could stop her, she doubled over, throwing up the contents in her stomach on the ground. I patted her back, holding her hair back."Let it all out." I mumbled. She gagged and retched, mumbling half apologies about how she's such a mess. I heard approaching footsteps running toward us. I turned to see Mike holding a bottle of water."Is she okay?" He asked, worried eyes glancing at Tara."She's fine." I said, taking the bottle from his hand. I opened it and brought it up to Tara's lips. She dr
Vanya's POVThe next morning, I woke up late.I laid in bed for a few seconds, trying to remember what had happened that left me feeling so tired. Memories of the previous night rushed into my head, making me groan out loud and bury my pillow into my face.It all came rushing back. Cian. Josephine. Tara's breakdown in my car. Tara!I sat up in a start, looking around the room. I heaved a sigh of relief seeing the body lying beside me, warm brown hair sprayed all over the pink silk pillows. I leaned over checking to see if she was still breathing. Thankfully she was.I got out of bed, stretching my shoulders. I still wore my gown from the party, I must have crashed into the bed the moment I came home. So was Tara, she was still dressed for the party.I went about my morning routine, taking a shower and changing into my day clothes. By the time I was done, Tara was still asleep. The clock hanging on my wall read ten thirty in the morning."Marco will kill me." I muttered under my breat
Vanya's POVI watched Tara devour the plate of soup placed in front of her. She looked terrible, dark circles under her eyes. Her skin was pale too, lacking it's rosy hue. She had taken off her clothes from the party and ran a cold shower, now dressed in an oversized t shirt of mine. Now her hair hung in damp rattails down her back and shoulders. "You're such a wonderful chef, Mr Leon," she said, swallowing a mouthful of the chicken soup. "Just call me Marco," He said, passing her a glass of water. "And slow down, you wouldn't want to choke now."She nodded. "Thank you. Now I can see where Miss Jacob got her awesome cooking skills from.""Oh please." I scoffed in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I taught him everything he knows."Marco smiled, shaking his head. "Don't argue with her now." He said. "Just eat your food.""I'm never going to drink so much again." Tara groaned. "My head hurts like someone is playing soccer with a metal ball.""You'll be fine." I said, offering her a sma
Vanya's POVThe weekend went by in a blur. After Tara left and I had to spend a lot of hours appeasing the twins, I'm glad that Ryan finally understood what was going on and played along perfectly.All thoughts of Josephine and Cian were pushed to the darkest parts of my mind. I spent the rest of my weekend having fun with my boys. We had indoor picnics and went out for ice cream on Sunday evening. And by Monday morning, it was time to go back to our regular schedules."Here are the reports from the last event at the Rochester house." Tara said as she handed me a file. "From the figures we had a sixty percent increase in calls and project proposals. If we're to take all of them, we'll need more staff. ""More staff huh?" I took the papers from her and leafed through them. The figured were looking good. And I'm sure there was nothing there that would point to the breakdown Tara had at the events. She also looked better now, her cheeks were back to life and she had a cheerful smile on h
Vanya's POV:As I was packing up my bag to leave the office for the day, my secretary came into my office carrying a bouquet of red roses. They looked huge, tens of roses all clamped together and tied with a pink string in shiny paper."What's that for?" I asked, turning to face her."These came in for you." She walked up to me and handed the bouquet over. I reached out and hesitantly took it from her. The heady scent of red roses hit me hard, making me hold my breath.A note was attached to the roses. I took it out and read it. "Have a wonderful evening, Miss Jacob." The note read, from Roman Stephens. I shook my head, a small smile playing on my lips. Roman, of course I remember him from the party. But sending me roses after just one meeting, that's surprising to say the least."Should I get rid of them?" Tammy asked, watching me with curious eyes. "No, don't worry." I said, picking up my purse. "There's no need for that. I'll take them home with me.""Oh," She gasped in surprise.