CHAPTER 5.

RUSSEL'S POV.

”One expresso martini, on the rocks please.” I said to the petite looking bartender who batted her eyelashes at me in an attempt to look seductive, but she just came off looking like she had a concoction. She wasn’t bad looking, far from it actually. In fact, she was way over the average looking girl and if I was still as young and immature as I was in high school and my first year of college then I might have offered her a second glance. Unfortunately, at this stage of my life, my priorities had become entirely different and trust me when I say that wasn’t entirely a good thing.

I should be used to these advances by now, given that women had been throwing themselves at me at every slight opportunity, from a very young age, simply because I had money and a handsome face, but I just couldn’t get used to it no matter how hard I tried.

When I was younger, I reveled in the attention because apparently being famous in high school was an ultimate requirement for having the best high school experience. It didn’t help either that there were two of me seeing as Charlie made it his life’s mission to go everywhere I went. I joined the basketball team and he did the same, and when I decided that my newest hobby was swimming, there he was being a pain in the ass as usual. Eventually I started becoming associated with his cocky personality and I had no choice but to hang with his very loud and obnoxious friends. Most people couldn’t tell us apart so most times I ended up having to take the blame for his stupid mistakes, Whether it was with annoyed exes or with the teachers, he had a knack for causing trouble and disappearing, leaving me to deal with the consequences. And even now, Ten long years had passed but we were still playing the same endless game of tag with him running and me always trying to pin him down.

I shook my head, refusing to let my mind to drift again towards a certain woman whom I had been trying and failing not worry about all day, but every time I thought about my brother, thoughts of Elisa always followed closely behind and there was nothing I cold do about it.

At the end of senior year, I was crowned prom King, alongside one Betty Holloway who I couldn’t give a damn about, but apparently I was supposed to be dating. I kept up with her for appearance sake, but immediately after graduation, I couldn’t get rid of her fast enough. As I got older though, I began to realize the pointlessness of it all, which was why throughout my college years I kept a mostly low profile, or at least I tried to, but being the grandson of the David Fox, One of the most successful businessmen, entrepreneurs and prominent business moguls in the state

it was a little difficult to manage. Still, I deliberately made a conscious effort to avoid the spotlight for as long as was possible. Eventually, I completed my college years and as soon as I joined NNT, working my way from the grass-root level to my current position, there was no more hiding for me. I was immediately plunged into the very spotlight that I had struggled  That didn’t mean I had gotten used to the attention. I simply learned to live with it because there was no escaping it.

“I think she likes you.” My friend Sam who  sat beside me on a bar stool pointed out, gesturing towards the girl who had since busied herself with making my drink.

“No shit.” I replied sarcastically, earning a soft chuckle from my friend.

I mean, she wasn’t even trying to be discreet about her advances, and although I wasn’t paying her any attention, she didn’t seem to be getting the hint. At this point, I couldn’t decide whether to commend her on her perseverance or to scream at her to go get some self respect. Either way, I just really wished she would hurry up with my drink because I was really starting to lose my patience.

“Seriously man…” He began, earning a glare from me because I knew that whatever he had to say couldn’t be reasonable. “Given your circumstances, I don’t think you are exactly in the position to be turning down women.”

“Tell me about it. “ I lamented, feeling sorry for myself.

“I’m serious.” Sam continued when he noticed that I wasn’t paying him much attention. “The next shareholder’s meeting is barely two months away and if I remember correctly, you are supposed to have a wife by then. Now how are you planning to achieve that feat if the thought of simply talking to a woman makes you recoil in disgust.”

“I’m not disgusted at the thought of women.” I told him in a bored tone, but he simply stared at me with a raised brow as if to ask, seriously?

“Yes seriously.” I replied, in answer his unasked question. “Look I’ve just been too busy to think about dating so except you expect me to approach the first woman that I come across, and wife her, l would advice you stop pressuring me and let me do things at my own pace.”

“Of course I don’t expect you to marry the first woman that comes your way.”Sam returned. And it was my turn to stare at him with a raised brow because I could swear that that was exactly what he was expecting of me. I wanted to retain my position as the CEO of NNT, but not enough to make me want to shackle myself to a strange woman for the rest of my days. It simply wasn’t worth it. “What I do expect however, is that you at least make a conscious effort, and do you know where a good place to start would be? Finding a girlfriend. Except of course you are willing to lose the CEO position to the likes of Charlie, or your stupid cousin Junior.”

“How can you even say that? You know how hard I’ve worked to get here. Besides, Charlie isn’t even interested in the position. You know my brother, he’ll rather keep being the playboy that he is.”

Simply speaking about my brother was riling  me up in ways I didn’t want to think about so when Sam decided to switch the topic from him, I was quite thankful.

“What about Junior?” He asked, earning yet another glare from me.

“I’ll rather lose a leg than let that tick come anywhere near my company.”

“Your company huh?” Sam teased. “I doubt your uncle would agree with that idea of yours. He seems to think that NNT belongs to him and his son. Trust me there are more than a few people who are hoping you don’t meet your grandfather’s requirements before the next shareholder’s meeting.”

“Uncle and junior would love that very much wouldn’t they? Too bad I have no intentions of letting them have their way, at least not without a fight.” I replied, more to myself than to him.

My uncle had been working tirelessly for years behind the scenes to secure the company for his son who was a spoilt brat by the way, and had no real experience in running his own life, talk more of running a company.

I knew without a single doubt that if the company was placed in their hands, they would run it down within a month. They had no real love for the job, no real passion for the company. Yet, they felt the most entitled to the company than anyone else. They didn’t say it, not in literal terms or direct words but I knew that they hated me. Junior always saw himself as my rival, and the fact that I had managed to fall into my grandfather’s graces at their expense intensified that feeling all the more.

I didn’t care, not really. I mean, I’d have preferred to be cordial with the only other family I had other than my dickhead brother but when it came down to it, I was willing to do anything to protect my grandfather’s legacy even if it meant picking up a few enemies on the road.

“In that case, the only existing solution for you is to go out there and at least try to find yourself a decent human being. You don’t have to love her, you just have to be able to stand her for at least a couple of years, or at least until all of this is behind us.”

I sighed in response because I knew he was right. Still, that didn’t make the task ahead of me any easier I mean, it’s not like you could just walk into a store and pick a woman off a shelf. If only I had more time…

“Whatever you choose to do you better do it fast, because the next major shareholder’s meeting is in 2 months, and if you don’t have a wife by then, you could lose your position as CEO” Sam continued as if he was reading my mind, and I groaned into my now empty glass. Sometime during our conversation, my drink had arrived and I wasted no time in gulping it down because God knows I needed it. I sighed in contentment as the liquor burned a hot trail down my throat, a burst of bitter flavor exploding on my tongue.

“I just can’t believe my father even agreed to this stupid arrangement.”

“He is a member of the board and he has power to some considerable extent, but at the end of the day, he can’t exactly make decisions on his own. The board agrees with your grandfather’s demands so there is really nothing you or your father can do about it.”

“Oh he can, trust me. He just likes the idea of me settling down way too much to try anything. He has been on my case about it for a while, and now, he just got a perfect excuse to lock me down.”

“Oh the horror that is your life.” Sam said with a sigh, and i couldn’t help but glare at him for probably the 1 millionth time today.

“Remind me why i’ m friends with you again?”

“Because you are such a grump, and nobody else wants to be friends with you.”

“I know people who would pay good money just to be in the same room with me for ten minutes, and you think you’re important? I asked with a scoff. “Think again.”

“Ouch.” He lamented, clutching his chest like the dramatic person that he was, causing me to laugh and shake my head.

I was never going to admit it to him but where the issue of friends was concerned, he wasn’t exactly wrong. I actually did have a small circle of friends, but not because I was a grump as Sam so eloquently phrased it. It was more because I just found it a little difficult to maintain friendships. I wasn’t a social butterfly like my brother Charlie, and I most certainly wasn’t a crowd-pleaser like Sam, both of which apparently were requirements for having a lot of friends.

That didn’t mean I didn’t like my life. In fact, I loved it. Having few friends helped me to focus more on my career, and look how far that had brought me.  I had achieved so much in so little time and I was literally excelling in all ramifications. Everything was going great for me, except you decided to consider the whole getting married within the next two months issue.

I wasn’t opposed to marriage. In fact, getting married was definitely in my plan for the long run. I often pictured myself with a wife and a couple of kids, running around the house and doing…well, doing what families usually do. What I didn’t appreciate was being tossed into this life way sooner than I had planned. The pressure that came with that was too much to handle, and I really could not deal with that.