ELEVEN

Once again, Diane was in the conference room with the shareholders of the company. She rocked her chair as she stared into the faces of the men sitting before her. It seemed so unbelievable that she would be heading a meeting consisting of about five smart, rich, wealthy and powerful people.

She rocked her chair slowly, her face grim and unsmiling. “Well?” She broke the tense silence. “What should we do?”

“We should invest in the cement company,” Derrick Hale said – for the umpeeteenth time- coldly and harshly. “I don’t see any reason to invest into junk foods.”

“The only reason why you want to invest in the cement company is because it happens to be one of the companies you also invest in,” Edward McClain said to Derrick Hale, giving him terrible eyes.

“What is wrong with that?” Derrick Hale spat out vexedly.

“Everything is wrong with it,” Jasper Harrington said with a narrowed look. “Mr. Hale seems to have forgotten that we do not include personal lives in business. This is a business,” he said, placing emphasis on the ‘this' “and we only consider what will be good for the business.”

“Investing in the cement factory will be good for the business,” Derrick Hale argued heatedly.

“Mr. Derrick Hale,” Logan Langston called. “There is no need to get angry. But the truth is that investing into junk foods will be better.”

“Of course you would think so,” Derrick Hale said angrily. “You would support her,” he said, pointing accusing fingers at Diane who just rolls her eyes but quickly rebukes herself for been unprofessional.

“Mr. Hale,” she called out calmly and professionally. “There is no need to go all hot and angry like that. We need to consider our options carefully. I already scheduled meetings with Alec Enterprises and Lasrag Company separately. We would listen to their proposals and take votes before reaching a decision.” She stood up. “I guess that’s all.”

“What if we don’t want to listen to the proposals?” Derrick Hale asked, his face grim with anger.

Diane glanced at him wryly, raised her brows, smirked and walked out of the meeting with her head held high.

However, as soon as she got to her office, her shoulders dropped and she sighed tiredly. She slumped into her seat, rubbing her face with her hand as she relaxed into the chair. She closed her eyes. Seriously, when she decided to take on the company, she didn’t expect that the experience will be as terrible as it was. The stress was taking a toll on her. And sometimes, all she wanted to do was to shed tears.

Her eyes still closed, her mind wandered towards the night she and Nicholas had spent together, watching movie on the couch. That was three days ago. God, it felt just like yesterday. She couldn’t remember the name of the movie or whatever the movie was about. All that remained fresh in her memory was Nicholas’ arm around her, her head on his chest and his chin on her head; the warmth that emanated from him; his enticing scent that had stuck with her since that night.

Her eyes suddenly flew open.

She swore under a breath, frustrated that even though it happened there days ago, she still couldn’t stop thinking about that night. She had told herself countlessly to stop bothering about that night, especially when Nicholas saw her the next day and ignored her, pretending that nothing had happened between them the previous night.

It hurt her badly. She had stared at him for minutes, hoping to see a sign that whatever they shared last night was not a fluke; maybe a smile or a greeting or a wave; anything at all. But he looked past at her, walked towards Ashley and kissed her deeply.

Thinking about it, Diane muttered a curse, hitting her palm on the table.

Seeking for a distraction, Diane reached out and picked her phone up. Scrolling through her contact list, she selected and dialed Jayden’s number. It was lunch break and she was bored out of her mind. Gosh! How come no one told her been the C.E.O of a company was this boring because she was bored as fuck.

The phone rang thrice before Jayden picked up at the other end. “Hey,” Diane said casually and calmly.

“Diane!” Jayden exclaimed. “Hey! How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” she said, hesitating. “Jayden, I…I just wanted to ask if you were up for lunch?” she asked, her tone cautious and her heart beating really fast.

“Of course. I’m on my way,” he said and hung up immediately.

She sighed. Finally, someone to distract her from her crazy mind and crazy world and just cheer her up at least.

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“Hey,” Diane greeted, her lips stretched into a full smile as she opened the door and climbed into the car. She sank into the passenger seat and closed the door. Turning her head, she smiled at Jayden who was sitting at the driver’s seat. “Wow, you got here really fast.”

“Yeah. I have this baby with me,” he stated, patting the steering wheel. He turned the key and started the car. “What’s up?” he asked as he drove.

“Nothing. Just needed a break from all the office work,” she said. And from thinking about Nicholas, she thought to herself. “So, did you take a leave from work or what?”

“Hmm, something like that,” he replied vaguely. “I got a reservation at this really nice place,” he said, changing the subject.

“Really? So quickly?” Diane asked. “I was thinking we would just go the restaurant at the other side of the road.”

“Er, no. I found a really nice place where we can have lunch. It’s not a very popular or busy place so, it was easy to find a reservation. Plus, it’s a nice restaurant.”

Diane shrugged her shoulders. “Fine by me,” she stated.

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Nicholas opened the door to his car and got down. He leaned on his car, his arms and legs crossed, waiting for Ashley to surface. He made sure he was properly disguised in his sunglasses. After waiting impatiently for a couple of minutes, Ashley appeared out of the building. She sighted him and gave him a wave, hurrying towards him in her six-inches heel. “Hey babe,” he greeted as they kissed.

“Hi, Nick honey, have you been waiting for long?” she asked, sliding her arms from his chest to his neck. She placed her arms around his neck, kissing him softly.

“No, not for long,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing her towards himself. “Ready?” he asked, leaning to nibble her ear.

She giggled. “Yeah, of course,” she replies, pulling herself away, and turning around to get into the passenger seat of the car. “So, did you get a reservation?” she asked as they got into the car.

“Yes. I found this very nice and quite place. They’ve got some nice foods too,” he said.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” she asking, tucking in her seat belt. “Let’s get going.

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Jenny laid on her bed, her legs spread out. Her laptop was on her thighs and a movie was loudly playing on it. There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Jenny called out.

The door opened and Mina stepped inside. She closed the door behind her. “Mistress, you called for me.”

Jenny did not reply. She paused the movie, placed her laptop on the small table beside her and swung her legs across the bed so that her feet were touching the floor. She stared silently at Mina, who was staring at the floor. Then, she said, “Mina.”

Mina glued her eyes to the floor, unable to look at Jenny in the eyes. The last time she looked at her in the eyes, she got slapped for being disrespectful. “Yes ma.”

“You helped Malvika and Natasha play a prank on me, my brother and Ashley,” Jenny stated bluntly and calmly.

Mina's eyes widened and she glanced up, earning a glare from Jenny. As soon as she realized her slip up, she quickly sent her gaze back to the floor. “Ma?”

“I know about this. And you know I can make you lose your job anytime.”

Mina went down on her knees. “Mistress, please, I don’t want to lose my job. Please. I beg of you.”

Jenny half smiled, reached out her hands and stroke her hair slowly. “Sweetheart, you won’t lose your job, I promise. I just need a little favour from you.”

“What is it? I’ll do anything,” she said frantically, tears pooling in her eyes.

“I need you to recount everything they planned and did. Right from the very beginning.”