EMBER"Do you wanna do this?" Zaire had asked in all seriousness, like he had no underlying meaning or any joke behind this. Like that was his pure intention and that's all he planned to stick to. It was his decision."I do," she said with her blank exasperated tone.Ember found it hard to breathe as she sucked in some air and held it in. It was not unbelievable that this was happening, neither was this unexpected. She had never even thought this, Ember and Zaire, could happen in the first place. It was a shock that he even so spared a glance at her because he was so gorgeous and successful, talented and even popular. He had girls swarming all over him, in any corner he wanted, but he didn't care for them.He had his eyes set on Ember, someone who wasn't even conventionally attractive in her opinion, someone who blend in with the normal people crowd way to well and did not deserve to be associated with someone like him. Deep down, she knew that he didn't want to be seen with her either
RUBYHer morning had just gotten progressively more and more stressful and worse. Like it just got more draining mentally till she had no capacity to even pretend it was there anymore. She had just entered the common room to catch a breather with silence and isolation. She would choose to be alone after stressful situations at any moment. It was a coping mechanism at that point.The last thing she probably needed was company, much less a company that was intolerable, the worst of the worst. And Ruby wished she didn't know who it actually was because the one person in the entire world she would rather not see walking through the door, even considering her dad, was the man in front of her. He had the magazine with his picture in the cover photo in his hand and Travis Prescott joined her, his eyes fixed in place of the magazine and not her that was a relief. But not for much long because his eyes snapped up when he felt the presence of someone else too. He took a few long seconds to regi
EMBEREmber was supposedly in an engagement or contract or deal, something similar to any of that, with Zaire Langston Hughes. Even though it wasn't much, it still felt far fetched. It wasn't a lie that Ember sometimes refused to believe something even happened between them or he could even be attracted to someone like her. It all felt like a dream or just her imagination, hallucination, if that made sense.But it was there. Even though, she couldn't say it out loud or even pretend she cared even a little about it, it was there. He did not even look at her in the halls or in meetings or whenever there were people around. He pretended to deny her existence by all means, talking very little or close to nothing when they were around anyone. But then he'd press her up against the wall beside his cabin door and kiss her like that was all he thought about the whole time. It was so confusing yet thrilling at the same time. She loved that control.Everyone in the office was on high alert when
EMBERShe stepped out of the washroom in her towel and fell on the bed immediately. She was tired but her stomach hadn't stopped churning since the moment he said those things to her. She couldn't stop thinking about it and all the things that could happen, her smile never leaving her lips. But the fear never left. Will he really end it all after once or after they sleep together because he got what he wanted. She wouldn't be able to take it without feeling completely wronged. She didn't want it to leave that soon, she wanted it to stay for as long as she could. But even so, she couldn't force someone who had made up their mind, especially if it was Zaire. No matter how tough she tried to look, she had a huge soft spot for him along with intimidation.She was scared of him and scared of losing him. That was something that was fixed when it came to him. Ember picked up her phone and dialed Samantha right away, she needed to make sure everything was done smoothly and then only could sh
ZAIREHe had been at the meeting with Florence and Iris prime executives for almost 2 hours by then. He sat there, listening mostly because that's all he had to do until his department comes up, until then, he just watched them speak, sometimes zoning out as well.Travis Prescott sat right opposite to him at the conference table and stared at Zaire, trying to somehow catch his eyes every now and then but Zaire never met his gaze, he didn't want unnecessary reminders of how good of a friend Travis once used to be and what had become of him now. He didn't want to remind himself of all the things he tried to do to ruin Zaire's legacy that he built with his blood, sweat and tears.Megan and Brad were also there on opposite sides, Megan sat beside him and Brad sat opposite to her, next to Travis. The other Florence representatives presented the plan and the wants and needs on the white screen. The department head of one particular sector was noting it down, so Zaire really had nothing to do
EMBERThe sun was strikingly bright that day, enough to be distractive enough to drag someone out of their dreams. Similarly, the target was Ember. The bright sunlight hit her eyes and cracked them open, someone had left the curtains open and she knew she had to blame Ruby for that. Slowly, Ember turned to the other side from her position and felt comfortable enough to go through another round of sleep.She was just about to doze off when she realised that she felt her skin against each other too clearly and closely. It felt as if she was naked underneath a blanket. Her eyes snapped open upon the grave realisation but Ember was indeed in her own room. Then why did she feel that way? What had happened that-She looked down exactly at that moment and her eyes widened like she had seen a ghost. She was still in her bathrobe, naked underneath as if she had freshly got out of the shower, the towel on her head had slipped off. The big realisation dawned upon her when it came to her that she
EMBER"SPEAK UP!" Zaire's voice thundered across the room, startling everyone and making the people almost gasp as they witnessed him lash out at Ember. Her stomach settled in deep, her mind going everywhere."Yes sir," she let out, making people's gazes travel back and forth. "Then why was Samantha the one handling something that was supposed to be your responsibility? Why was it that you had left something so crucial and important for everyone standing here and just went away? How did you think it was even okay to be that responsible?" He lashed out, taking a step forward as he was actually fuming, she could see it in his face with absolute horror, she was scared."I am sorry sir, I understand but I didn't think it would be a problem because I left it in safe hands when Mrs Samantha had offered to help. Please just trust me, I'll fix this. I will draft another progress report for Candice by myself," she said, almost fighting for everyone to be easy on her because those eyes were giv
EMBEREnd it.He wanted to end it and she didn't know what triggered him to finally do it.She always knew that it wasn't all that important to him, she also knew that at the end of the day it was her who would get hurt because he was the one who wanted no strings to bind him back. Even though same went for Ember, she was already bound to him with a million strings, she was already attached she just pretended she wasn't.But there he was, calling her a burden on her face, wanting her to leave probably. She just stared at him with a mix of emotions at how she didn't even have the right to be sad or angry because they had nothing between them, what was she even supposed to react with?"We won't speak about this ever again, neither will we even look at each other like we had something. If it's ending, it's ending completely," he said, she didn't know why he was trying to drag the conversation, maybe because he wanted to pull out any kind of a reaction from her. Maybe he wanted her to figh
EMBER"But I never talked to you because I knew I didn't deserve you yet. You were all I could imagine wanting and it only grew after that night when I tried to make you stay but you left the next morning. I knew I'd see you again and I was determined to have you the next chance I got with you," Zaire said with a grin because she knew he meant that the next chance meant them right at that moment."I.. had no idea.. but.. why me?" She asked, not being able to understand."You're seriously asking me that question? Have you ever known yourself enough? What exactly do you think you don't have? You're perfect, you're absolutely perfect. And you're the only one I need. I'm sorry for all the times I've hurt you, it was all because of shortcomings. But none of that would happen again. I promise to keep you happy with all I have," he said and it sounded so genuine, it wrenched Ember's guts. She was too high up on the clouds."I think I'm falling for you," Ember let the words slip out."Glad. I'
EMBER"We totally understand and apologize for this regrettable situation and we are deeply sorry-"."For nothing," a voice came from the opposite side of them that dragged all the attention. Someone had walked in with a bold voice and a knowing smile on their face. Ember's eyes widened and so did others. That's when Ruby Ramirez walked into the scene, bringing a wave of shock and confusion. "They have to apologize for absolutely nothing.""What do you mean.. and who are you?" Mrs. Davis asked but not with conviction but curiosity. Her eyes widened as she recognized her from the news all over, Travis Prescott's alleged girlfriend."I am Ruby, a former employee of Sarte and currently an employee in Iris. And I can assure you that you'll believe me when I saw Sarte has done nothing unprofessional," Ruby said, confidently."Hey! What are you talking about?" Melvin Harvey chimed in, trying to control the situation."That's right, I should just show you what I'm talking about," Ruby said wi
EMBER"We'll see," she muttered. His hold only got tighter on her, making her lips part a little."I'll show you. You're trapped, I'll show you how long you can be trapped here, hmm?" He said, and Ember's blush turned into something just a little more sinister. The game wasn't over yet. She looked to her side to see someone passing by, towards their direction. Zaire saw Ember look at people passing by who can easily spot him holding her, which would be quite scandalous. But her eyes were set, and afraid he would read into it wrong, he started moving his hand away to not be noticeable. That's when Ember's eyes snapped up towards him."Keep holding me, that's the next challenge," she said, knowing for sure that this would push him way out of accepting. Her job was only to make the challenges hard enough for him to back down. And he definitely wouldn't want a scandal so he would surely accept defeat. He surely wouldn't..."Perfect," he said immediately and that's when his hand wrapped ar
EMBEREverything looked exceptional. So magestic and gorgeous that there was no way anyone could even think of a better way than this. Every inch of it looked straight out of a mythical movie.Ember sure had to know they were all professional and talented enough to modify the theme "heaven" given to them to something like this. Sarte has added lots and lots of detailings that embraces the dark elements. Like black vines and rust like textures on the while that looks like the darkness or hell is infiltrating the heaven's gate.It was grand and if Ember could recall it properly, she knew the kind of costumes Iris had prepared, it would look so good together. If only the whole idea passes and no one steps in to say a word against it. Technically, Sarte was breaking the rules by not following the theme entirely but incorporating heaven theme into hell because they were misled by Sarte.The only saviour would be if the fashion show preparations overall look so good that it impresses Mr and
RUBYIt went on and on, the only entertainment being Melvin Harvey's scowling face at her. She tried not to laugh at his face every time, it was weirdly entertaining."So, because Sarte asked for some more time, we are going to have to display the fashion show we prepared once again so we need to get everything ready by the end of the day," Max said and everyone noted something down but Ruby didn't bother."And what about the models? What timing were they given to report here so that we can do the rehearsals beforehand?" Travis asked and suddenly it got a little silent as they all looked at each other. "What's going on?""W-we didn't know we had to give them the time right away before the meeting so we didn't give them the time yet," Cara explained and that made Travis visibly annoyed."What does that mean? Shouldn't you have completed that before coming here? I didn't expect this from you," Travis said but Ruby noticed something very strange. It was unusual but not surprising but prob
RUBY"W-what did you just say? What does that-""You know exactly what that means. I am demeaning you for the way you run your team by gaslighting hate into them. You're misusing your authority, bet half of them don't even know why they actually hate Sarte," she shrugged like she had said enough."You think you can badmouth our company and I'll just stand here and hear you out?" He was visibly running out of words to say because of being caught off guard. He was threatening to report her to someone but that was just funny at that point."You can say whatever you want. You can even bring the board of directors, the managers, even your Chairman out here and I'll still repeat the exact same words. Don't take me for a fool like you do with everyone around you, you are a coward anyways," Ruby could feel the satisfaction coursing through her veins as she told him off, watching the colours fade from his face too fast. "It doesn't matter who I am dating, I'm not afraid to speak up so don't ev
RUBY"Fine then, you really think you're that slick when you are anything but that. If that's what you're deciding to do then I'll do something too. And something that you won't be able to hold against me because in your style, technically, I am not going against the deal as well. That's okay, I'm guessing?" She said, with a menacing look on her face that emitted what she actually felt and it certainly cannot be faked."You can't do that, it will be a clear breach of the contract and it certainly would not be as well explained as mine because there's no such detail written in the papers as well," he said, a little defensive in her opinion but something that can be very well recognised through his body language. She knew she didn't have to work that hard to unleash the goal.Ruby offered him a bitter smile before turning around and pulling out a piece of paper. It was the copy of the contract they signed and Travis watched her carefully as she opened the paper and started running her ey
RUBYRuby didn't know on a scale of one to ten, how angry she was and how larger it can grow. Maybe her anger might just break and split open the scale because she was furious.She had no idea how this happened or how it was even possible because when she agreed to the deal with the unscrupulous man he clearly said he wouldn't come in the way of Sarte or disrupt the project at all. But they did it, they completely sabotaged Sarte by giving them information about a fake theme. They had been planning on doing Hell as the theme the whole time but Sarte was told the theme was Heaven.This was clearly breaking the deal and the rules, it was totally unacceptable.Ruby could feel her mind going blank with anger as she rushed through the gate of Florence building and up to the floor given to Sarte and Iris. This was her first day of work as a member of Iris and it was bound to be strange. But when she got the news from the Iris group chat, how they fooled Sarte into believing a completely diff
EMBER"What are you thinking?" He asked, finally breaking the silence."So, anything, right? Anything I ask you, without questions," she made sure, as a trick to test him."I already said it, anything you want," he answered right then, with no hesitation at all. Ember thought, if he wasn't hesitant, what was her excuse? The drive was still going on and the wild idea took over her. "Okay so..", she started, not giving him time to comprehend he was going to be given a task right at that moment. "Stop this car in the middle of the road and kiss me."His head snapped to her at that rash and unusual task but Ember knew she was doing it to see to what extremes he would go. That seemed fit enough for the first task. He scanned her face and realised she was serious. A quick look behind him and he immediately brought the car to a stop at that exact moment, 0 questions or hesitations.Hurrying, he leaned in and snapped off her seatbelt and in one moment, he had swept her off her seat and placed