Frustration seemed to be the only word in Chris' vocabulary that weekend. Sunday had come and gone, and he seemed to have hit all the possible dead ends regarding the damn woman. By Monday, he was beginning to think he would never see her again. It. The ring.
Work was hell. All his associates who didn't come to the party were passing by his office to congratulate him on the promotion, preventing him from getting any real work done.
To make things worse, he could feel the suppressed hostile glares from a few employees. They clearly resented being overlooked for the promotion due to what they saw as nepotism. It wasn't.
It would have killed his mood on a different occasion, but he had too much on his mind already to allow some frustrated old men to get under his skin. He knew his worth within the enterprise but really wanted to create a better environment than the one his father imposed. The harsh dog-eat-dog company culture was probably what he hated the most there.
Unable to get anything done that faithful Monday, he opted instead to pursue the matter that truly occupied his mind. He called the agency a few more times, but they were useless. Asking Michelle for the girl's name was also a fruitless job. How come she hired someone she didn't even know the name?
His only other option was to go back to his childhood home and try to find the maid who cleaned the room. Maybe she still had the stuff and the thief's phone could be a major source of information. He chose to leave work early, earning a few more dirty looks from the employees.
During the twenty-minute drive, he kept wondering how he could avoid the questions his mother would have. The last time he saw her during the party, he was still talking to the Jacksons and their daughter… Florencia? Fernanda? Whatever. And he was sure Mrs. Patricia Wright would have a full interview ready for him.
He planned on getting in through the backdoor and make his way to the kitchen, where he could ask Gloria about the room. The chief housekeeper ran the staff with an iron fist and was his best option at the moment. Life didn't smile his way, and the first voice he heard when he got to the kitchen was enough to know his plans would not run smoothly.
“Gloria, the duck was awfully dry today. I hope you have better plans for dinner”
Chris knew the duck must have been spot on, and the only reason his mother was troubling the poor woman was that she was bored. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he opted to fall on his sword for the sake of the old maid.
“Mother, so great to see you” She turned around wide-eyed and strolled to him, forgetting all about her previous rampage. Mission accomplished.
“Christopher! What a nice surprise. Did you decide to leave work early to spend the day with your mother?”
“Slow Monday, you know how it is.”
“I do” She didn't. All her Mondays were comprised of bossing the staff around and restocking her already filled to the brim closet. “Come, make your mother some company over afternoon tea” The figurative sword he fell on twisted inside his guts.
“Of course, Mother. Why don't you go ahead and sit? I'll bring it over in a minute”
He watched his mother leave the kitchen and turned to Gloria. He only had a couple of minutes before his mother came back to complain and he planned on leaving the kitchen with the information he came to get.
“Gloria, I need your help. Who cleaned my old room after the party yesterday?”
“What kind of question is that, young man?” She always had that slightly pissed off tone with him, but it was obviously just a front. Despite having to clean up most of his messes from his childhood years, the woman adored him. She was always the first to provide an excuse to rid him of his parents' scolds.
“I just need to know who cleaned it up.”
“Sorry honey, I don't know. Why do you ask? Is there something missing?” She assumed an outraged stance, clearly mad at the prospect of an immoral member among her staff.
“No, nothing like that.” Well, actually it was exactly that, but not in the way she was thinking “The artist from last night. She left her stuff here; I'm trying to find it to give it back to her”
“Oh, why didn't you start with that?” She turned to one of the other girls in the kitchen “Get me Carina, will you?”
Then she turned back to Chris and casually said the words that made his heart speed inside his ribcage.
“The girl just won't shut up about how she's meeting that circus girl today”
An awfully shy girl came into the kitchen, scared to have done anything wrong to earn her a summoning in the middle of the afternoon.
“Carina darling, Mr. Wright is looking for you” He hated being called Mr. Wright, but let it slide to pay attention to the shaking girl in front of him.
“Hi, Carina. Don't worry, I just need your help. Gloria mentioned you'll be meeting the artist from Saturday's party. Can you tell me why?”
“Hi, Mr. Wright. I… I helped her out the night of the party because her sister was ill, and she needed an uber. Then she couldn't get to the room to get her bag because there were people inside and I called the uber and gave her my number and she called”
The girl didn't even catch a breath between sentences, and by the end of her speech, she was sucking in air as if she just ran a marathon.
“Calm down, beautiful” He flashed that million-dollar smile. He knew it was unfair to charm up the girl, but she clearly had the information he needed and that was just the easiest way to get it. If her widened eyes and crimson blush were any indication, the girl was ready to talk.
“Now, tell me about your plans to meet her”
*****
Author's Note: Thank you for reading my book! If you liked it, please be sure to leave a review. If you want to know more about my books, follow me on facebook at @PixieAuriBooks
Once he sorted things out in the kitchen, Chris proceeded to the tearoom to talk to his mother. He was not in the mood for it, but she was expecting him and there was no excuse he could think of to get away from it.Patricia was leisurely preparing a backgammon board for them to play together, a habit they acquired during his father's long trips abroad. It was a fun activity and a great distraction from the impending sense of abandonment that surrounded the house during those periods. That specific board was a gift from Edgar after a particularly long trip to Japan. It was his mother's favorite, with sev
Kiara got to the coffee shop earlier to grab a bite to eat. She was on practice all day and was eager to reward herself with a nice meal. The place Carina suggested was really cute and had an extensive menu of light and healthy options. The girl must have thought she was all into healthy food, being a circus artist and all. Kiara snorted at the idea, thinking about her undying love for good food in all its forms and shapes. She chose the avocado toast with smoked salmon but asked for a poached egg on top to make it more interesting. It was still healthy, but at least it tasted like real food. If she had to eat another bitter melon, quinoa, and black beans mix with no seasoning whatsoever, she’d kill someone.
Chris was left dumbfounded next to his car. That wink sent an electric shock down his body, landing right on his crotch. He shifted his weight, suddenly uncomfortable in his tight jeans. Shit. What the fuck was that?He tried to replay the scene of their encounter to understand how things so indisputably fled his control. The goal was easy: meet the woman, get his ring back, make her feel sorry for her petty existence. The final result was her number saved on his contact list and a semi-hard cock.That last part wasn't his fault. The woman was a damn seductress, standing there with her sports clothes and messy after-practice hair. She was clea
Kiara felt like she was heading straight to a prisoner exchange that sunny Tuesday afternoon. A ring for a bag. Surprisingly, she was feeling more excited about it than scared. Their last encounter was interesting, to say the least. She had a blast seeing that bulked man caving to her, giving her phone back and getting nothing in return. She was hoping to get that thrilling sensation again. It felt like those times in her childhood when she took her father's weapon from its not-carefully-enough hidden spot and just held it in her hands, hoping the man didn't wake up from his lazy Sunday naps. They had agreed to meet in the same spot as last
Kiara was taken into custody by a surprisingly gentle officer, who didn’t even cuff her to take her in. When she virtually told Chris to shove his crazy deal up his ass, she knew he’d make good on his word, but was kind of hoping he didn’t. Despite the thrill that came by standing up to that man, she was absolutely terrified.Having grown up around police stations, she thought it might be easier to face the whole going to jail procedure. But she was never on the perpetrator’s side of the table and it wasn’t the same station she used to know like the back of her hand. It was a whole different feeling. To make thin
The public defender assigned to handle Kiara’s case was sketchy, to say the least. She disliked him immediately but was unwilling to pay for a lawyer for something so petty, as the charge’s name suggested. It was not even considered a felony. It was classified as a misdemeanor, whatever the hell that meant. Those were the terms that shady lawyer was telling her non-stop for the last half an hour, making her head throb with a crushing headache. It was worsened by the fact she couldn’t speak her mind to the man, who insisted she called him Greg instead of Gregory. “Gregory,
“What now?” She demanded. Chris watched her turn around rolling her eyes and was glad to hear the annoyance in her voice. She was incredibly underdressed for a day in court but still had been more comfortable in that room than the four men in suits. He was utterly delighted when his move threw her off and hoped to leverage it now that the legal part was over. “We need to sort the payment out” He didn’t try to hide the amusement in his voice, and it did the trick. Her eyes squinted into thin lines and… did she bare her teeth? Oh god, that was perfect. He almost wished she would growl.
Kiara sat at her small kitchen table literally bumping her head into the wood. Several times. Why the hell did she agree to spend four days in a fucking island with loaded snobs she knew nothing about? Of course, she didn’t know exactly what she signed up for before she accepted his offer, but she knew it came from the guy who sent her to fucking jail and said yes anyway. And based on what? A hunch. Something so intangible and arbitrary she would