CHAPTER 4: FIRST IMPRESSIONS LASTS

“HEY, RUNE, HAVE YOU MET this Sven Rosworth in person? I mean, your best friend is working for him, right?”

Rune turned to Riven De Villalune who was sitting beside her. He was the youngest member of Tactica’s Cyber Security Team and came from Ivslight, the realm of the humans. Calix brought him here to set up the materials for this meeting. She frowned when she saw the crooked, black-rimmed glasses that almost cover his face. She fixed it for him and the young man mumbled a ‘thank you’.

“Nope. Usually, Brenner and I see each other outside work. They have also a different company structure than ours and although, he told me that Sven was the best boss out there, it’s not every day that he mingles with them or the rest of his employees for that matter.” she answered. “Why did you ask?”

Sebastian ‘Sven’ Rosworth was the CEO of Rosworth Pharmaceuticals. He was a licensed chemist and the only heir of Rosworth fortune, a close relative to the current monarchs of the Kingdom of Larran, billionaire philanthropist and one of the most eligible and hottest bachelors in the five realms. From scientific, business to women’s magazines, she couldn’t count how many times he had been featured on them and how many articles had been written about him. Most of these write-ups centered on his physicality and his wealth but now, his face was everywhere due to a very different reason.

Riven just shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just curious. I’ve heard from the ladies in our team that they’re dying to meet him. I just don’t understand the fuss.”

Calvin, who was sitting on the opposite side, chuckled at the young man’s bluntness.

“Women. Don’t bother yourself understanding them, kid. Just stick with your beloved computer because it would take you ages to able to do so.”

Rune raised her brow at Calvin’s words. Between him, Calix and Wren, he was the ‘Casanova’ of the trio, he could easily deal with women with his handsome face, charm and suave moves, so, it was a revelry hearing him say that he himself didn’t understand women that easy. Actually, her friends had joined the list of these so-called hottest pieces of meat in town when Tactica was featured in magazines as well. They caught the media attention when a high-profile client was ambushed and Calix and Calvin was there to save the day. Magazine features and interviews followed. Soon, Wren joined the two on the list, but with how business-minded these three were, they used the opportunity to attract more clients and it worked. 

“Except Rune of course, she was an android from outer space.” Calvin snickered.

She gave him a sour smile. “Yeah right and if I have my laser gun with me right now, you’ll be smoking in no time.”

Calvin’s laughter filled the room as she shook her head in annoyance. Men around her always treated her like she was one of them. Well, she couldn’t blame them since she had always been boyish and way lacking of feminine charms. Frankly speaking, she was not all different from other girls; it was just that she had a much simpler taste in everything compare to others and being practical helped her save most of her time, especially that her work demanded more of it than anything else.

Being one of the boys was both annoying and rewarding for her. Rewarding in a sense that these men trusted her not only with their secrets, but with their lives as well, annoying because most of the time they forgot that she was still a woman and was differently built than them. Sometimes she couldn’t take the roughhousing and the crude jokes. Luckily the men around her were not true-born a-holes and she was glad that they let her freely speak her mind and listened to her, especially if it was too much.

She faced Riven again. “He does have a point though. Anyway, just focus on your studies and don’t be like him who changes girlfriends just like he’s changing clothes.”

Riven had started as part-timer with them but due to financial issues, he stopped going to his university. He was now working full-time with them and opted to take online courses because already liked his job. Since he was the youngest among their employees, everyone treated him as their baby brother much to his annoyance.

“That’s harsh, Rune.” Calvin said with a fake hurt expression on his face.

“The truth always hurt, my friend.” she countered with a smug grin on her face.

Riven just shook his head at their banter before proceeding putting the Manila envelopes on the table while Calvin checked his watch, any moment now their visitors would be here. She looked around in this big room. It had the minimalistic aesthetic in decorations. White paint covered the walls with dark brown and black accents. The long, mahogany table where they were sitting at the moment was situated in the middle and could host a dozen people. Despite that, a simple black sofa was added for extra chairs. A state of the art projector was located overhead and the screen was already drawn, ready for the presentation later.

They were currently in Tactica’s Base Two, a private compound located in the southern part of Hypnosia City. This facility would take a forty-five minute trip to reach. It also served as the training ground for their protection staff and housed some of them as well as their investigators who didn’t want to be drowned in the city noise. Their data collection base was also located here, so, this place was private and secured from prying eyes both offline and online.

Yesterday, Calix received a call from Sven Rosworth himself requesting to meet somewhere private. He was still a hot topic for news organizations due to the stolen drug and these news outlets probably sent someone to tail him wherever he went. Her boss didn’t give them the specifics but she had a gut feeling that Calix already accepted the case and this meeting was just a formality. He also asked Riven to dig on someone and although the kid didn’t tell them anything, these envelopes probably had all the information he got on that person. Both Wren and Calix were down to greet and fetch him and his company.

Their attention was caught when the door knob turned and the door opened. A short, cute and plump guy with a mop of golden-brown curls and familiar soft-blue eyes under a round, wire-rimmed eyeglasses popped in. She smiled and excitedly stood up to greet her best friend.

“Brenner!”

A grin broke on his lips as he opened his arms to hug her back. He chatted last night that he would be going with his boss for today’s meeting. Both of them was born and raised in Rivermoon, the largest town in the State of Nyx but the farthest from the capital. The Greysons sort of became her foster family when her parents died and when her older brother went missing. They were a good family friend but somewhere along the way, she decided to leave the town and made up her mind to look for her brother. After a year, Brenner followed her and from then onwards, they became each other’s support.

“Come,” She took his hand as she led him towards the chairs.

Calvin stood up from his chair and offered him his hand. They knew each other through her.

“It’s been a while, Brenner. How are you?” he warmly greeted him

Brenner took his hand and firmly shook it. “I’m okay, Cal. Better than last month.”

Calvin then gently patted his shoulder with his free hand. “You did well.”

Brenner gave him a small smile. “Thanks.”

She then introduced him to Riven. They already saw each other once or twice because sometimes Brenner would wait for her outside their building, but they never got the chance to personally meet each other.

“Nice to meet you too, Riven, I’ve heard a lot about you from Rune.”

“Really? Then I highly doubt it that you’ve only heard the good things about me.” Riven quipped with an amused expression on his face. The young man’s words earned laughter from the three.

“By the way, where are they?” Calvin asked Brenner pertaining to Calix and the rest.

Brenner was about to answer but was cut off when the door opened again. This time Calix and Wren came in along with other two gentlemen. The first one was a tall, gaunt, strict looking man with eyeglasses as well. He was wearing a gray suit and holding a black brief case in his hand. He had brown hair, light-brown eyes and fair skin.

Her hazel eyes went to the second man and met his bluish-gray orbs who held her gaze. She already knew him but at that moment she could say that all those magazine covers and features didn’t do him any justice! Looking directly into his eyes, she felt like staring at his soul and him staring back at hers.

Wearing a navy-blue suit over a crisp, white shirt and black tie, he looked dashing. Tall and broad-shouldered with short, black as night hair, perfect jaw lines with stubbles that gave him that dark, Prime Alpha look. She remembered an article about his sensual, pinkish lips. It said that it turned him into an object of lust every time he was biting or licking them.

Well, hell. She could already imagine her knees buckling if ever he would do that in front of her, because holy freaking hell, why didn’t anybody tell her that Sven Rosworth was this ATTRACTIVE in person?!

As he greeted them with a smile, the room suddenly lightened up. “Hello,”

His voice was not that deep but it had this sexy drawl that made it sexier? Maybe it was that husky sound underneath? She wasn’t sure but it was very enticing in her ears, like if he commanded her to do something for him, she would definitely follow him to the ends of their universe. Rune swallowed hard.

‘Oy, Rune Navarre, what on earth is happening?’ That question from her own head made her snapped back to her senses and she immediately removed her eyes from him. She couldn’t blame herself for asking such question because it was unusual for her to find a guy attractive much less to gawk at him like there was no tomorrow.

Once in her life, she fell in love with someone with the same devastatingly handsome face as the guy in front of her but unfortunately, that didn’t end up well for her. That incident marred her perception in love and realized that a good-looking face would never make up for a good character. Admittedly, it made her a bit of a cynic when it came to the matters of the heart. In order to forget, she focused her attention on the things that she needed to do and when Tactica came, her life revolved around it that she didn’t paid any attention to anything beside her work. She let out a sigh discreetly and collected herself.

“Everyone, this is Eugeny Bernstein, Sven’s EA.” Wren pointed to the strict-looking guy.

Eugeny Bernstein bowed his head a little before he shook their hands

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

She gave him a curt smile when he took her hand. He then took his place beside the man who unexpectedly caught her attention. Calix then turned to the said man.

“And of course, meet Sebastian ‘Sven’ Rosworth, the CEO of Rosworth Pharmaceuticals.”

“Sven, man, it’s been a while!” With huge smile, Calvin approached him, shook his hand and patted his shoulder.

Calvin already mentioned to her prior to this meeting that he already met and acquainted with Sven. She guessed it was because of Wren and Calix. The funny thing was she didn’t have any interest in meeting him and now look at what was happening to her.

Rune did try her best but as Sven moved through the room; her eyes seemed to be following him. Taking in his smiling face, the mirth in his eyes, the sound of his voice, his graceful movements, the way he carried himself and everything he did was slowly embedded into her mind. Calix then introduced Riven and her.

Her boss stood beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. “And this is Rune Navarre.”

Sven’s eyes met hers again. And she just wanted to poof and disappeared. But of course, it didn’t happen. As if. I’m not into a fantasy story or something for goodness sake! His left brow raised itself as he looked at her along with an impish grin on his alluring lips. If anyone asked her if she was affected by it, she wouldn’t deny that it sent shivers on her spine and she felt goose bumps all over her body.

Truth be told, she was at loss of words on how to describe what she was feeling at the moment. It was like his whole existence ignited something inside her and it was getting warmer, hotter by the minute. And at the back of her mind, she regretted that she was not wearing something special than her common get-up of white shirt, black pants and her trusted sneakers. Plus, that she still had a plaster on her temple from the incident three days ago and that she didn’t even comb her hair for effing sake!

But getting conscious of her appearance like a teenager, having felt this tingling, weird but good sensation all over her body within just minutes of meeting a stranger was all new to her. It was far from what she had felt before and truth be told, she didn’t know how to deal with it.

“Rune Navarre, I’m glad to finally meet you.” His grin became a warm smile as he offered her his hand.

The way he spoke her name made her knees buckle and if she didn’t quickly compose herself, she’d probably be on the floor right now. She just stared at his hand not knowing how to take it but when she looked back on his face, his smile widened letting her feel a bit more comfortable. So, she tried to smile back and took his hand, but it immediately faltered when she felt a strong bolt of current rushed through her when their hands clasps.

She gasped inwardly and her eyes automatically flew into Sven’s face. His smile was still there but his eyes seemed to be darker. The air around them shifted, her breathing hitched, her heartbeat accelerated and that warmth inside her turned into something molten. Hot and ready to burst. But then someone cleared their throat and she found herself looking at Calix, who was now having this peculiar expression on his face.

“Shall we now start this meeting?”

She simply took her hand back not to make the situation more awkward and smiled at Calix. “O-of course.” She forced herself to meet Sven’s eyes again. “Right, Mr. Rosworth?”

There was something unexplainable in his eyes before he agreed with her. “As you wish, Ms. Navarre.”