RYLAN
This wasn't how I had imagined the day to turn out. This day was supposed to be enjoyable for Ava. Instead she shed tears. I was one second away from getting the hell out of this place but stopped when Ava nodded to a milkshake.
That brought me back to the thoughts of a feisty little waitress.
Elena.
I was intrigued the moment she stepped in and shielded Ava. Why would she do it? Out of pure goodwill? Or was it how she planned on earning Ava's complete trust for some reason? That would justify Ava's undue attachment to her.
It's difficult to believe that in today's world people would lift a finger for someone else unless it's serving some ulterior motives of their own.
Could be depressing, seeing things from my perspective but I deemed it advisable. That's how things work in the real world, one works their way up the ladder and stays on top of their business.
My thoughts were interrupted when I saw her walking up to us. "A chocolate milkshake for the pretty girl!" She stopped before us and most dramatically placed the glass in front of Ava who in turn giggled.
"Elena, he is my Daddy." Ava grabbed my hand and beamed at her. I supposed that was my cue to introduce myself.
"Rylan Parker." I stuck my hand out and noticed her look at it. There was this split second of contemplation in her crystal blue eyes before she overcame it.
"Elena Smith." She passed a polite smile while taking my hand. I stared at her hand and was irked at how perfectly it fit in mine.
Retracting my hand, I gulped down my annoyance. "You defended my daughter there. You were risking your job." I slightly tilted my head, awaiting an answer.
"That woman was clearly crossing her limits." Her face contorted a bit in annoyance before she exhaled and the small smile was back on her face.
"Would you like to order?"
"A black coffee." She nodded and took her leave. Leaning back in my seat, I watched her retreat till she was out of my sight.
The moment we walked in through the door Ava left my side, hopping her way to Stacey.
"Did you and Daddy have fun?" She asked, bringing in a lot of enthusiasm in her words.
"Hm…A lot of fun!" I drawled to which Ava seemed to take no notice. Stacey on the other hand raised a brow at me. "What happened?"
There couldn't have been a more appropriate timing for my phone to ring and interrupt us, saving me the trouble of engaging in an otherwise long conversation. I however was less amused the second I saw the name flashing on my screen.
"Ava will fill you in." I excused myself and walked off to my study and closed the door behind me. I had a fairly good idea as to what this call was about and would kill to not have this exchange.
"Dad."
"I suppose now is a good time to talk?" The start of the conversation was hint enough that it was exactly what I thought it was about.
"Yeah, pretty good."
"You have been avoiding my calls." He said dryly. I let out a humorless chuckle.
"I had no reason to avoid your calls, did I?" There was a crisp edge to my voice. Even if he did catch on to the note of ill-disposed sarcasm in my words, he didn't show it.
"None I could think of." He took a beat. "Your grandfather's will, I hope you remember that." I rarely regretted my decision. It was one such instance. I regretted picking up the call.
"I do."
"And?" I heard him heave a sigh of disappointment.
"Rylan, you have worked hard for Parker Realty and I hope you know how much effort I have put into our business, in taking it where it is. I would hate for it all to go to waste."
"I know."
"And what have you done about it? You only have six months left, Rylan! Have you found someone suitable for marriage?" Narrating our experience at the diner to Stacey seemed a more tolerable alternative to the discussions I had been thrust into. In fact I would have done anything to get out of this.
"I'm seeing someone." The words were out of my mouth without thinking.
After a long few seconds of silence he asked. "You're seeing someone?"
It was done and now I couldn't go back. "I believe that's what I said. Yes."
"So why haven't we met her?" His question came out quick and with a tone of underlying suspicion.
"Well, I wanted to know her, make sure I wasn't making any bad decisions." I kept my voice even.
"Right. Bring her to dinner this weekend." This told me he still had his doubts. I wasn't surprised by it though. He was my father and knew me too well.
"I'll be busy." I made up at once. There were a few meetings but nothing that couldn't be rescheduled.
I pressed my lips together in sheer annoyance. He wasn't letting it pass and I wouldn't be able to avoid him for much longer. "Next month."
"Well, now that it's settled I would like to get back to my work now."
"Of course." Only after he hung up did I take a moment to realize the consequences of my unthinking lie. I had until next month to find myself a girlfriend.
FUCK!
ELENA "Mom!" I called after closing the door behind me. I had moved back in the day Dad was back from the hospital. I wanted to be there for him. Well the other half of the reason was that it actually helped with minimizing the expenses. "In here." I followed her voice to the kitchen. She stood behind the counter making dinner for Dad. I went straight for a hug. She patted my shoulder, returning the hug. "Well, you are happy! What is it?" I loosened my hold around her. "I got the job at the Knight's." Her face broke in a grin once the news settled in. "You got the job! Well done, honey!" She gushed. "I never doubted my daughter for a second! I knew you would get it." Dad's eyes shone with pride and that one sight alone could compensate for all of my hard work. "I know, Dad. You always believe in me." I sat down beside him. Putting my head on his shoulder, I heaved a sigh of relief. Dad placed his hand on mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I need
ELENA "Elena. Here me out." The way my name rolled off his tongue did something stupid to my stomach. Did I just relish the sound of my name from the mouth of the person who had offered me a marriage contract? Yeah, I was worried for myself. I sat back down and tilted my head to the side, waiting for him to get on with it. "You would get a job here and I'll offer you thrice your current salary. You won't have to work two jobs. We need to be married for only a year. After that we can go our separate ways." I replayed his words in my mind. Yep. He did miss the part where he explained what he would get out of it. "What's in it for you?" He seemed to be reflecting on his answer, stroking his chin in the process. "My grandfather's will. I need to get married by the end of this year or I'll lose the business to someone." The first thought that came to me was that this 'granddaddy' must have been demented while alive. Mom always thought that we should
ELENA "You're late." Rylan declared as soon as I got into the passenger seat of his shiny black Maserati. The inside of the car smelled of musk and rich leather. I tsked, annoyed at him and it had been only a couple of seconds in his vicinity. It was what, five minutes past the stipulated time? "Can you shut up? I don't wanna hear your voice right now." He did shut up but sat there staring ahead. Weren't we getting late like a minute ago? Being in such a closed space with him was enough of a punishment. "Can you drive already?" I watched Rylan cock his head to the side and assess me with one silent gaze before he leaned towards me till he was completely in my space. I squeaked, the spice and musk in his cologne making me feel a little dazed. The coffee and hazel eyes turned into something relatively darker, an indecipherable look passing through them. His overwhelming proximity had screwed with my head because my gaze dropped to his lips for a quick second.
ELENA "You have a beautiful room, Ava!" She looked up at me, a toothy grin splitting her face. It was all shades of pink put together. Pink was probably Ava's favorite color. Explained her obsession with strawberry milkshakes. The bed was in the middle of the room, almost filled with plushies. My eyes fell on a drawing, presumably the one Ava was at before she got distracted. "Do you like butterflies?" I asked picking up the sketchbook. "Yes. They're so pretty!" I smiled at her. My eyes were still lingering on the partly coloured wings of the butterfly when Ava blurted the question out of the blue. "Are you Daddy's girlfriend?" My hand stilled on the sketchbook before I put it down. "Who told you that?" I casually asked. "I heard Daddy telling Stacey that you're his girlfriend." She replied, unhesitant. Did she snoop in on our conversation? I sighed. "Well, that's true." "Are you going to marry him?" Ava fired the question just as soon. I l
ELENA "Girl, I still can't believe you bagged that God-like man." Liv's eyes sparkled with excitement as she loudly whispered to me. I chuckled. Me neither! "Such a cliché! The hotshot billionaire falls in love with the beautiful little waitress." I resisted the urge to scoff at her dreamy expression. Love! Right! She couldn't have been farther away from the truth! A week back, Liv wasn't this ecstatic about the whole affair when I first broke it to her. First on the list was suspicion. Can't blame her! You just don't one day out of a sudden announce your boyfriend to your best friend. They know from the very first eye contact. So this abrupt relationship was a bit much for her to stomach. It took a whole lot of convincing and when we were finally past that phase, she felt betrayed. She said that I had curbed her rights as my best friend and it was an absolute breach of best friend policy. Yep, she could be a bit dramatic. It made me feel even worse about lyi
ELENA I was going through my mail when the phone rang. "Elena speaking, how may I—" A familiar voice interrupted. "My cabin. Now." And there was a beep indicating that he had hung up. I blinked while still processing it. Did no one ever think of teaching him some manners? "Sure!" I answered the line which was, well, dead. I took the elevator to his floor and was very soon in front of his cabin. The CEO'S cabin was on a completely different floor, just the one above mine. He grunted a 'Come in' on knocking. Except his gaze wasn't trained on his laptop screen unlike usual. It was on me. "How may I help you, Mr. Parker?" Rylan's eyes twitched for an imperceptible moment, what I had picked up from our interactions, was a sign that he wasn't pleased about something. "It's Rylan for you." "I'm afraid you're my boss here." "And that's why you do as I say." He stated, too calmly, as if raising his voice was beneath him. "You're infuriating!"
RYLAN "Tell me, does Rylan treat you right?" Grams seriously asked her like Elena was dating a depraved or morally questionable man and not her grandson. Elena forced a smile on her face. "He does. He is a gentleman." Grams nodded to herself in approval before I saw her eyes shining with excitement. "So, how did you two meet? I asked Rylan but his vague answers didn't do it for me. I want the whole thing. Besides, he said that I would like it a lot better from you." She rambled and I saw the slightest trace of nervousness flickering in Elena's eyes. Something told me the reason wasn't Grams but Dad. His silent watchful presence could be a bit unnerving. "I used to work at a diner where Ava used to visit with Stacey. Rylan had come along one day and that's how we met." Well, this part was technically true. "I don't believe it was love at first sight and all. This guy here doesn't have a single romantic bone in his body." Grams spoke with disapproval in her voice
ELENA Ten minutes into the drive and we still hadn't exchanged a word and I wouldn't have traded this silence for the world. I prefer him looking pretty and his mouth shut but rarely get what I want. "So, you have been narrating this to your family and everyone else, I was after you like a love sick puppy." His tone told me that he was anything but impressed with the story. Well, I wasn't aiming to do that either. "Nice, isn't it?" I kept my eyes trained outside the window. "With all that shit you made up about me, flowers and the sunset proposal, I'm surprised that Grams believed you." "What would you prefer I say? We signed an agreement and you slid the engagement ring across the office desk? I bet it would sound like you!" I snapped. He could have just told them about our 'meet cute' himself instead of pushing it to me. Frankly, it wasn't just his remarks that had annoyed me. It was Rose. I saw her hanging on to every lie I told. She was genuinely