Axel Lysander was not a man who liked to yield. Neither was he a man who appreciated things not going according to plan. He was many things, but patient. Except when conducting delicate business, that is.
Today had not been a good day. The Creek Falls committee meeting had not turned out well. Sudden demands that had not been previously expressed were suddenly brought to the table. All he wanted to do was open a branch of his company in the small and useless town, which would have given them a lot of benefits. Maybe even more benefits than they deserved.
Axel could now see why the town never really grew. Each time they were presented with a once in a lifetime opportunity, all the townspeople committee members could think about was getting as much as they could from their prospective developer. They didn't care what they lost, those greedy people.
Axel had heard stories about their lack of foresight, but he had seen it in all of them today. The whole lot were idiots. The last thing they wanted was the good of the community. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. It had cost him a lot to come here and present a solid development plan. He had even offered to build all major roads leading to the city!
He was glad he came in person. Who knows what his staff might have decided. He shuddered to think they might even have negotiated with the money hungry folks. Not a dime left his pocket to the town, he made sure of it.
After the stressful meeting with people who definitely lacked intellectually, all he wanted to do was go home. His private plane was supposed to arrive two hours ago, but it had been caught in a storm and it was too risky to fly all the way over the ocean. He could not stay in this godforsaken town one more day.
So he did what he thought was best. He ordered his staff to clear out the First Class compartment of the only plane in Creek Falls headed for New York City. Who cared what the townspeople thought? He felt a little thrill just punishing them for their lack of sense. The uproar that resulted when the airport staff cancelled all the First Class tickets was music to his ears.
He felt a strong sense of satisfaction. Maybe after today, Axel thought, they might reconsider and chose better people to represent them. He saw her then. Standing in the crowd, talking to someone on the phone. He saw the moment her expression changed and knew she had just been informed her flight was cancelled.
He watched with interest as she tried to talk to the staff, then almost laughed out loud at her outrage.
"Something wrong, Axel?" Donald, his right hand man, nudged him gently. "You've not been paying attention."
He had been trying to show him a few reports from other projects they had. Axel took the files from him and shut them.
"Let's do this later."
Donald raised his brows. "Who are you and what have you done to Axel?"
Axel scowled at him. "Leave me alone, Donald. I'm trying to concentrate."
Donald followed his gaze to where the lady in the suit and pants was giving one of the staff hell. "On what, the young woman? Why is she a person of interest?"
Axel turned away from the half open door to face him. "You sound surprised."
"I'm sorry, Axel, but you're the last person I would ever imagine would even spare a woman a second glance, except maybe she's your business partner."
The voice of the security man outside reached them. He was telling the lady who had suddenly approached their convoy off. The way she handled him made Donald chuckle.
"Now that's some woman, alright. Most people would have backed off the instant they were told to."
Axel agreed. She was already threatening the poor security man. He did not want matters to get out of hand, so he asked to see her. At least that is the reason he gave for wanting to speak to the lady. His actual reason, though, was mild curiosity. And he wanted to see the color of her eyes. He knew if Donald knew the real reason he wanted to see her up close, he would not let him hear the end of it.
The security man tried to talk him out of it, but even before he made it clear that he was not going to change his mind, the woman shoved him clear out of her path and warned him to stay off. She surprised him, he had to give her that. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Donald regard her warily. He was probably weighing how much protection he could give Axel without being overbearing.
When she turned those eyes on him, he lost his ability to speak. Since when did women render him speechless? He had seen his fair share of beautiful women. He even had one riding with him in his convoy. He never felt anything other than irritation when in their presence. Why was he not irritated now? It was those infernal eyes. They were ocean eyes, and seemed to drown him in their orbs.
Axel did not miss the look of surprise that crossed her face when she got a full view of him. He was very handsome, and he knew it. Part of what contributed to his arrogance was being aware of how attractive he was. He blinked once, and the surprise was gone. All he saw now was cold fury. He felt Donald shift towards him and lifted a finger for him to keep his position.
"You're him?"
Those were the first words that came out of her mouth, and Axel laughed inside at her look of embarrassment. He knew she was probably asking if he was the one who had cancelled their flights, but he ignored her question and just stared at her rudely. She had a lot of gall, coming to challenge him for a decision he had made because of her townspeople.
"Listen. I don't care who you think you are. I don't care that you imagine yourself important. I don't care that you are selfish and arrogant enough to change the plans of many people. But I need to get on that plane."
He saw that his silence was frustrating her, so he didn't say a word.
"Did you hear anything I said?" Her voice was deceptively quiet and soft.
When he didn't reply, she opened her mouth and yelled. For a full minute, she described his arrogance in words that were very creative and colorful. He sat there, drinking it all in. He felt himself getting irritated. This is why he didn't like women in his presence. They tended to get too loud. He hated noise, and few people dared to raise their voices at him.
"Get her out of my sight."
His whispered command was audible enough, and the security man outside grabbed her.
She bit him. Axel could swear he saw her teeth sink into his flesh. She had this wild look in her eyes when he touched her, like she didn't remember where she was. Donald shifted until his chest was pressed to Axel's back. The security man was too surprised to defend himself. When the look cleared, she looked horrified.
"Oh no. Oh no." She covered her mouth, then reached for his arm. "I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that."
She turned the arm with a tenderness that made Axel's heart ache. The security man winced slightly, and she paled.
"Where does it hurt? Here?" She pointed at a spot where her teeth marks were visible. "Here?"
The man was turning as red as an overripe tomato. "It's fine, it doesn't hurt much."
She lifted her eyes and remorse was pooling in their depths. "I didn't want to hurt you."
Axel scoffed. So much for her threats. She was a big softie at heart, but she sure knew how to defend herself. She did not look at him when she asked Donald for a first aid kit. The security man stammered his protests, but she was having none of it. Her practiced moves told him she had done this often. Could she be a nurse?
Maybe. If she was, could she take his blood pressure? Because she made his heart race. And his heart had never, ever skipped a beat. He knew he sounded really cheesy, but it was true. She was talking to the man in a soothing voice.
"I'm just really upset, is all. How can someone who claims to be human leave people stranded in a town like this?" She pointed at the crowd. "Look at that old lady whose daughter just gave birth and needs her. She is one of the many examples of people here who need to leave for some kind of emergency."
Donald leaned over Axel. "What's your emergency?"
"Oh, me?" Her face lit up and she gifted him a heart stopping smile. "I just have this amazing job opportunity I have been dreaming about my whole life, and in Lyn Corporation, of all companies."
Donald did a double take, but Axel remained expressionless.
"No way! You're kidding."
"Oh but I am serious!" Her smile bloomed even further. "I know it's hard to believe. Lyn Corporation is like…the company of my dreams."
She waved her hand about to make her point, and all Donald could do was encourage her.
"Yes, it is so big and far reaching. Congratulations."
"Thank you. I mean it's just an interview but I'm so excited." Her face crumpled suddenly. "But I guess I've lost the opportunity now, since I can't get on the flight."
She turned hurt, enraged ocean eyes on Axel, and at that moment, he knew he was lost.
Claire simply could not get over the way the rich guy looked. She sat at the back of the plane, by the aisle, staring at his profile. She should have been thinking about what made him suddenly change his mind and let her take the flight, but she didn't want to. She couldn't.She had sent a quick text to Danielle and had gotten an even quicker reply. Her friend must have been so worried that she stayed by the phone. She assured her that she would get on the flight and will call as soon as she landed. She could not wait to tell Danielle everything.Danielle was an amazing listener, and an even better support system. She always talked about anything on her mind, and Danielle would break every bit down and classify them. She basically sorted her thoughts, like one would the laundry.The announcement to put on seatbelts came over the speakers overhead and Claire settled in for the long flight. It would take them about sixteen hours to reach New York, and Claire was not looking forward to t
Lisa knew she looked downright evil, but she couldn't bring herself to care. How could Claire wiggle her way into Axel's heart so quickly, when she had been trying so hard for years? She knew the moment he pulled up her profile that his cold heart had taken a solid punch. The cracks in his icy nature were very obvious. He even invited her to join them for lunch!Anger had made her leave the compartment earlier. She needed a good plan, and fast. She could not let a nobody like her take Axel away from her. Finding out about her basic information was easy. Claire McLennie was born and bred right there in Creek Falls. Her profile was not so interesting in Lisa's point of view.She had never travelled out, and all the schools she attended were public schools. Her file was inaccessible. Lisa thought that was odd and called her investigator."What do you mean, you can't access it?""It's exactly as I said." Lisa tried opening the file again with her phone. "It's asking for an encryption key.
Axel knew Donald was baiting him again, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Her question had stumped him. Granted, all she had done since he had met her was surprise him. He had not been paying any attention to what Lisa was telling him. All he heard was her voice as she reacted to Donald's teases. She even teased him right back! Lisa was right. He had changed. He had never enjoyed female company. Now, all he wanted was for their banter not to end. He sat back in his seat and let Donald work his magic. Donald was more than a friend to him. They had been together through thick and thin. Anyone who could pass Donald's "like" test was one step closer to being Axel's acquaintance. He completely trusted his judgement, and apparently Donald was quite taken by Claire. It was not easy for Donald to trust anyone. His background made sure of that. Yet, Claire had snuck past all the walls of hate that injustice had built in his heart. She had snuck past all of Axel's defenses too, and so eas
Claire didn't know why Axel took her side. No matter how much she thought about it, she always arrived at the same conclusion. He had nothing to gain from defending her. In fact, he stood to lose. Afterall, Claire did not want an enemy like Lisa. She was simply too vicious.Claire was happy she would not be around her anymore. After this flight, she hoped to never see Lisa ever again. She would miss Donald, but well, that was life. As for Axel…she grudgingly had to admit that an hour of lunch with him had made her feel that maybe there was more to him than the arrogance he projected.She also felt it would be good to stay away from him. He was starting to affect her in ways she didn't even want to dream about. If she ever thought about it, all she saw in the end was disaster. She couldn't wait to get off the plane, get settled, and start her life, away from these people who were way higher than her social class.She couldn't sleep again, so she resorted to staring out the window for t
Claire completely forgot about the near death experience as soon as she stepped foot in her apartment. Tears quickly filled her eyes as she looked around at what she could call hers."You've out done yourself this time, D." She had been willing to settle for a rundown apartment in the slums of New York, but Danielle was not hearing of it. She refused to take any money from her friend, so Danielle made her work her backside off to save enough money for the down payment on the apartment.Danielle insisted on paying the rest, asking Claire to return the money if she so wished once she started earning. Now, Claire was glad Danielle had insisted. From the plush sofas to the rugs on the floor and the marbled counters, it was obvious just how fortunate Claire was. It was not big or grand, but it was more than enough.The bedroom had an inbuilt walk-in closet, so Claire threw her carry-on bag inside, jumped on the bed, picked up the pillow and screamed into it. She took her phone from her po
Lisa could not believe her ears. Was he so shameless to openly confess his feelings for Claire right in front of her? Donald gave her a satisfied smirk."You shouldn't have bought the dress." He leaned in and whispered. "Stop trying so hard."Lisa gave him a bored look. "I don't know what you're talking about."Donald gave her a knowing smile. "Sure."Axel cleared his throat quietly again and they were forced to cease their bickering."I'm open to ideas."Lisa smiled and placed a hand over Axel's on the table. "That's something you need to figure out for yourself, Ax. It's your first time in love and a wonderful moment. You should learn by yourself."Axel pulled his hand out from under hers and turned to look at Donald. Donald shrugged."You're asking the wrong guy, Axel. I've never been in any serious relationship."Axel sat back in his chair and moved it slowly to the left and right."I guess I'll have to do this on my own then." He stopped moving the chair when he was directly facin
"What do you mean, your subject got away?"The person on the other end of the line stuttered. "Someone came in a car and drove her away.""Are you proud of yourself? I gave you just one job, to ruin her clothes so she will be late. That way, she is going to miss the interview. How difficult was that?""I'm sorry ma'am.""Oh, you will be, if that bitch gets the job!" Lisa yelled and disconnected the call.She sat in her car, heaving. Why was nothing going her way? At this rate, she would just have to do the job alone. She spied Axel's car turning into the parking lot and hurried out of her car to meet him. He nodded to her in greeting as he emerged from the driver's seat.Lisa looked around. "Where is Donald?""He said he had something to take care of.""And he didn't mention where he went off to?"Axel shook his head. "Why?"Lisa gave a delicate shrug. "It's an important day today. Surely he can't let anything go wrong. He has to be here to supervise most of the events."Axel bent in
After Axel had left her at the car park, Lisa had gone to check if Claire had arrived at the interview hall. Sure enough, there she sat at the waiting room, talking to someone on the phone. Lisa moved over quickly to the other side to get a better view, but Claire must have seen her and stopped saying whatever she had planned to.Lisa stood in the hallway for a while, just breathing. She needed to control herself if she was going to get any of this done. When she was sure she would not suddenly lash out, she adjusted her outfit and walked in. She kept her head down, using one part of her hair to cover her face."Hello. Are you here for the interview?" She asked, staring down at her phone.She held her breath, praying Claire did not recognize her."Lisa?" Claire squinted at her. "What are you doing here?" Damn! Lisa thought, how did she recognize her so quickly? She brushed her hair back and looked up. She contemplated telling Claire that she owned the company, but decided against it.