It’s Friday morning and Howard couldn’t take his eyes off the documents he is reading for his meeting with the potential investors a couple of hours from now. He wants to make sure that everything is settled and well. He is always hands-on with everything that is going on in his company and he doesn’t like it when anybody disturbs him from what he is doing that’s why he ordered James not to let anyone in inside his office unless it is very very important.
“Good morning. Mr. CEO,” Howard heard the sound of his office door being opened and he creased his forehead annoyingly upon hearing James’ voice. He was prepared to scold him for disturbing him.
“What is it James? I have told you not to disturb me because I am in the middle of something important!” he yelled without bothering to take his eyes off the documents.
“I’m sorry, should I just leave then?” he abruptly looked at the direction of his door and was taken aback upon realizing who just spoke.
“Sorry, sir. She said it was urgent so I let her in,” James who is standing at the door with Natasha winked at Howard and flashed a playful smile.
Howard don’t have any idea why Natasha came into his office so early in the morning. He arranged the tie of his suit and stood up.
“You should have called me first, Ms. Lucero. I didn’t know you were coming.”
He invited her inside and ordered his assistant to close the door.
Natasha gave him a sweet smile. “Consider it as a surprise visit, but if you are busy, then I will just ask your assistant to schedule a meeting with you.”
“No, you don’t have to. I am not that busy.”
“Should I lock the door and forbid anyone from entering, sir?” Howard didn’t realize that James is still there with them.
“Should I just it leave it open, sir?” James asked seriously again but Howard is sure that he’s dying to tease him right now.
“Get out, James.” He ordered.
“Okay sir, I will lock it.” he chuckled and finally closed the door.
“Take a seat, Ms. Lucero.” He stood from his swivel chair and led her to the sofa.
She obliged and sat comfortably.
“Would you like some coffee?”
“Oh come on, Mr. Clemente. I didn’t come here early in the morning to drink coffee with you.” she said which slightly shook him but instead of being annoyed, it made him turned on. He didn’t know she was this straight to the point.
“Stop calling me Mr. Clemente, that’s too formal.”
“Alright, Howard. Let’s proceed to business.” this is his first time hearing his name being called by her and he is resisting the urge to kiss her but couldn’t.
He sat next to her and stared at her while she’s speaking. He is not listening to her, he is too mesmerized with her face. He have always dreamt of being this close to her.
He moved closer and suddenly grabbed a taste of her lips that made her stopped from talking. She was stunned and sat frozen for a while.
“I have to do that, I’m a man. I couldn’t resist the temptation.” He said instead of apologizing.
“Wow,” she said in awe.
“Then you have to accept the deal I am going to make no matter how risky it is,” she said.
“I will only agree with that if you will let me kiss that flavorsome lips of yours again.”
“Do you know why Jacob cheated on me?” she asked, her expression turning serious.
“Why?” he asked, not expecting the conversation to turn out this way.
“Because I was not good enough to pleasure him, so if I were you, stop fantasizing me.”
“That son of a bitch,” he murmured.
They spent the next half hour discussing the proposal Natasha have prepared.
“Mavro’s company will celebrate its 65th anniversary this coming Monday,” she started and he listened.
“It will be a better opportunity to crash in the celebration and ruin the night,” she continued.
“What are you planning to do, Natasha?” he asked.
“I am going to sabotage his plans.”
“How?”
“I need your men to do the job for me. You just need to order them to enter their system and manipulate the videos that will be played in the party.”
“This is going to be a big event, Natasha. You have to think again before finally proceeding with the plan.”
Natasha cupped his cheeks seductively. “I have thought about this all night, Howard. Trust me, it’s going to work out.” She breathed flirtingly.
“If you say so,” Howard couldn’t resist her.
“How about having dinner with me later so we could talk about this a little longer?” he offered.
She glanced at her wrist watch and realized that she’s going to be late for her meeting if she doesn’t leave now.
“Sure,” she smiled and stood up.
“I will get going now, Howard. See you tonight.” She said and turned to leave without waiting for his response.
“Yeah, see you tonight.” He mumbled while still watching her walk towards the door and the sound of her stilettos embodied the room.
He pinched himself to make sure that this is all really happening. This is all real. She is finally within his grasp. Everything is turning so fast that he just couldn’t believe it’s really real. Just a few nights ago, he was watching her at the bar, drinking alone but now, he can see her up-close and he pinched himself again to be certain.
It’s 7 pm and Howard parked his car on the parking lot of the same restaurant he and Natasha went to in their first meeting. They have agreed to meet on the same spot and on the same table so he rushed there and was relieved to see that she’s not still there. He doesn’t want to look like a jerk and let her wait for him so he prefer it if he comes in the venue first. He was about to walk towards the table when a familiar voice of a woman spoke to him.
“Why are you in a hurry, Harold? Too excited to see me tonight?”
He turned to see her and gave her a smile. “How long have you been here?”
“Just a while ago. I just went to the restroom.” She said and led the way to their table.
She’s wearing a black dress tonight and Howard couldn’t deny how beautiful she looks no matter what color or type of dresses she wore.
“Then, you’re the one who is excited to see me. Given that you arrived here first. And by the way, it’s Howard, not Harold. ” He teased and pulled a chair on the table for her.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Howard.” She chuckled, giving emphasize on his name.
“Have you ordered?” he asked.
“No, not yet. I have realized that you know the specialties in this restaurant better than I do.”
“Why? You liked the dinner they have served us last time?”
“Absolutely.”
He chuckled and raised his hand to call the attention of a waiter.
“What would you like to have, sir?”
“Parmesan crusted chicken and a red lobster,” he said.
“And a bottle of wine,” Natasha added.
The waiter repeated their order and asked if they needed anything else. They both shook their heads.
“So…” Howard started once the waiter left.
Natasha looked at her and raised her eyebrows, indicating that she’s ready for the conversation.
“Why did you chose this place again and insisted that we should sit in this same table?” Howard continued.
Natasha leaned on the table and rested her palm on her chin. Her eyes looked at the scenery outside the window.
“I fell in love with this place the first time I saw this,” she said.
Howard looked at the view outside, the city lights and people going to and fro are visible in their views.
“It’s beautiful,” he said.
“Thank you.”
Howard creased his forehead, “I was talking about the view. It’s beautiful. I didn’t say that it was you who is beautiful.” He emphasized and picked up a glass to drink some water.
“Oh, come on, Howard. You don’t have to deny it, I know you’re in love with me.”
He almost got choked by the water with what he heard.
Natasha couldn’t contain her laughter because of his reaction.
“What?” Howard asked.
“Oh my gosh, why did you react like that? Was it true? You’re in love with me?” she teased.
Howard stared at her for a while, it’s great to see her laugh this close. For a moment, he was nervous because he thought she knew he’d been watching her all along and have been in love with her for so long.
“You wish, Natasha! I am not in love with you, okay? Stop assuming for god damn sake,” he said as if the situation didn’t affect him at all.
“Whatever!” she said and rolled her eyes.
Just then, the food they ordered have arrived. It was obvious that Natasha really enjoyed their festive dinner because she couldn’t get enough of it, she even ordered an additional servings for the Parmesan crusted chicken.
“The food here was fabulous,” she said after swallowing the last bit of food.
“You have to thank me for introducing you to this place.”
“Thank you for introducing me to this place. Now let’s proceed with the main agenda of our meeting tonight.”
“Just like that?” he asked in awe.
She nodded. “What do you want us to do, then? Stare at each other for the whole night?”
“We can do that,” he agreed.
“I refused to do it, now let’s proceed.”
They discussed what they needed to do and concluded their meeting after an hour.
Howard invited her at a party he would attend nearby but she declined it.
“See you on Monday, then.” He said.
She just smiled, turned her back from him and started her way to the parking her to drive her car and finally go home.
Chapter 5It’s almost 6 pm and the notorious business owners in the country are invited to attend the most awaited event for tonight. The 65th anniversary of Mavro’s Company will be held inside the prominent hotel in the center of New York City. Everyone is anticipating the event because they see it as an opportunity to widen their connections in business industry.Jacob have been preparing for this event, he wants this to be special and he wants everyone to remember who he is and how successful he became. Mavro’s company is the legacy of his father who died in a car crash when he was 18, and he wants everyone to realize that he can handle the business without his dad.When Jacob arrived at the venue, almost everyone turned to look at him. He flashed a smile for the camera and greeted the audience. He wears a dark-colored navy suit and tie together with a navy trousers. He went around the venue and engaged with small talks with the g
It’s 9 pm and they went to a small pub just a few blocks away from the event’s venue. Natasha ordered a shot of tequila while Howard asked for Mojito. He doesn’t want to get fully wasted tonight.He thought this is going to be an easy night for the two of them, a night full of celebration for accomplishing their plan. To his dismay, Natasha appeared to be lost and discouraged.Natasha have asked him to order his men on sabotaging the video that is going to be played at the 65th anniversary of Mavro’s company and he agreed to do it. He was flabbergasted to know that Natasha did not received an invitation to the party when he knew she took part on planning the event when Jacob and her were still together. He needed to bribe the security team in order to get her way inside the venue and enjoy the show, he thought it will put a smile on her face once their plan have succeed but he was wrong. She still looks heartbroken and it hurts him.
It was 3 pm when she woke up and searched her room for her phone but couldn’t find it. She tried to remember where she put it and went to her car to find it but found nothing.She heaved a sigh when she realized that she probably left it at Howard’s house. She has no choice but to pick up her car keys and drive back to Howard’s.“Good afternoon, ma’am,” the same maid greeted her.“Hi, did you happen to see my phone?” she asked.“Mr. Howard came here a while ago and I gave it to him. He told me he’ll just drop it in your office.”“This is exhausting,” she murmured and drove back to her building.She reached her office after 10 minutes of driving and went straight to her secretary’s desk.“Did Mr. Clemente drop my phone here?” she asked.“Yes ma’am. He’s actually waiting for you in your office right now.”
Natasha drove her red Bugatti, she does not know where she is going. She do not want to go home for the fear of remembering the moments she had with Jacob in every corner of her house. She just drove as fast as she could. The surroundings is getting darker, and she did not notice that she’s driving in the wrong side of the road. A car is heading towards her direction but it was too late for her to notice it. Fortunately, the driver of the other car maneuvered his steering wheel and avoided her car.“Watch where you’re going!” the driver yelled.She seemed shaken by what happened and abruptly stopped her car. She leaned her head on her steering wheel and the tears she’s been trying to hold finally stormed out of her eyes. She was so mad at herself for being stupid. She was furious at Jacob for fooling her. She feels so little and unworthy and lost that she just wished for the pain to stop.“You’re an asshole, Jacob!&rdquo
It has been weeks since Natasha disappeared without a trace. Howard stopped on trying to find her and focused on what is left with him. Finding her will be a waste of time. She will eventually need to come back to New York to deal with her own business here, she can’t just leave her company behind.“Make sure to close that deal if you don’t want to get fired,” Howard told one of his employee as he received the report that one of their business partner is trying to back out.“But, sir, he seems eager about it--” the employee stopped at the middle of his explanation when Howard dropped a pile of papers in his table loudly and darkly looked at him.“You’re fired,” he said while looking in his employee’s eyes with no remorse.The employee panicked and immediately apologized to him but he did not listen. He kneeled in front of him that made James enter the scenario. James have been watching beside the
Howard woke up on his bed the next morning, he looked at the photo on his table and felt a mixture of happiness and pain in his chest.“When are you coming back, Natasha?” he whispered as he stared at her photograph. He missed her every day and he always wished to see her every time he wakes up so he placed an image of her in his room to remind her that she is real, that she is not just an imagination he created inside his head. She’s someone who urge him to live. But sometimes he doubts himself from thinking that he met her because there is no trace of her that he could hold on to in order to prove that she exists and he once held her hands. And if she does existed in his life, would there be a chance of seeing her again? He is not sure about it. But the photo on his table reminds him that she is not just a dream, she’s real and he have to fight for her.Yesterday night at the bar, he told James about his plan of getting Mr. Guerzon in his side
Jacob Mavro is working on his desk inside his office when Kate suddenly knocked on his door and entered.“Hi baby,” he said when she closed the door and invited her to sit on his lap. He smelled the sweet perfume of Kate that lingers around the room.Kate, his secretary, walked towards him but she stopped in front of his desk looking serious. The playful smile on his face suddenly faded. She did not greeted him back.“What?” he asked impatiently, trying to find out why she has a serious aura early in the morning.“The board members called for an emergency meeting. They want you on the conference room this instant.”He stood up and walked closely to her. He brushed his fingers on her shoulder and whispered on her ear. “Just tell them I am busy.” He thought something really serious came up, but it’s just an emergency meeting so he did not pay much attention to it. For sure, the board members just
Jacob’s life has been a ruin since his investors started to cut ties with his company. The operation of his business is a wreck and he’s been trying to do everything he could to rise again. He blames his brother for what is happening to him, and all of the pressures surging inside him makes him more mad and furious. He haven’t met Howard yet since all of it happened, and after all of this, he swears to make sure that Howard will get what he deserve. A place in hell.Jacob has been so busy meeting with people and getting his reputation back while Howard stayed silent and watch him suffer.There are times that he choose to get drunk and forget, then burst out. He thought of Natasha and thought that it would be much easier if she is here. He won’t have to suffer alone. He waste it all. Whenever Kate consoles him, all he can think about is how different she is from Natasha. He regrets it but he knows it is too late. She disappeared and it may