Chapter 9:The Nemesis and his troubles

Devon drove them both to the venue for the party. By the time they got there, the paparazzi were there. Immediately they noticed the presence of Devon, the paparazzi people turned their cameras towards Devon and Zara. They began to ask different questions. Some of the questions they asked were,

"Who is your date?"

"Is she your girlfriend or just a one night thing?" 

"We haven't see you with any woman recently until now. Have you given up your playboy attitudes?"

Devon wanted to ignore but he knew he couldn't drag Zara into all his drama so he decided to reply the first question. In as much as the reply he wanted to give was not what he wished to say, of he knew he had to protect Zara. 

"Zara here is my secretary," he said.

With that he pulled her and they made their way through the crowd of paparazzi as Men in Black came to their rescue.

"Where have you been? I told you guys to wait for me at the entrance," Devon said angrily as he spoke to his security who happened to have arrived at the party before they did.

"We're sorry sir," one of them said.

"I guess you don't know your jobs; I should probably fire you after this occasion," Devon said as he and Zara walked into the beautiful hall. 

The room was beautifully decorated with chandeliers hanging down the ceiling. Everyone was beautifully and gorgeously dressed. Devon moved around to greet a few people while Zara stayed back on Devon's order. Zara grabbed a glass of wind from one of the servers that were roaming the hall. Just as she took the first sip, a young man appeared in front of her.

"Who had the guts to leave a beautiful woman all by herself at a big event such as this? Doesn't he know that she'd be snatched up by another man?" the stranger said.

His words caused Zara to blush a little. 

"I'm not alone; I came with someone but he has gone to greet a few people so I'm just hanging around here waiting for him," Zara replied the stranger.

"Ok then, I guess I'd missed. Anyways, I go by the name Holland... Holland Bramston," the stranger introduced himself, stretching his hand out for a shake.

Zara took his hand and said,

"I'm Zara... Zara Smith."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Zara. So, are you a business owners or someone's date?" Holland asked.

"Uh... I came here with my boss," Zara said truthfully.

"Oh that's nice and who could it be?" Holland asked curiously.

"That would be me," a voice said from behind Holland.

He turned around to be faced with Devon. Both men looked at each other with so much hatred in their eyes. Zara could sense the air becoming thick.

Apparently, Holland and Devon were each others' nemesis. Holland, despite wealthy and successful in his business, was really jealous of Devon for reasons best known to him. All he ever wanted was Devon's downfall. They have both being at loggerheads. 

"Is there a problem guys?" Zara asked, looking at both men.

They turned to face her with a fake smile and at the same time, they said,

"No problem, Zara."

"Zara, is this who you're here with?" Holland asked.

"Yes, this is my boss, Devon Kings," Zara introduced.

"Oh I know him well. Anyways I'll see you around, Zara," Holland said as he winked at Zara before walking away.

"Who's that?" Zara asked Devon.

"He's no one," Devon said, filled with rage which appeared on his face.

"Are you sure he's nobody? You look so worked up," Zara said.

"I SAID HE'S NO ONE," Devon raised his voice a bit at her but that's when he realised he made a mistake.

Before he could apologize, Zara walked away hurt. She didn't know why Devon would speak to her in that manner. Soon, the party began and it was an award party where businessmen were given awards of various kinds. Devon received 5 of those awards but he didn't seem to be happy because Zara was avoiding him all along. 

Soon the award giving event came to an end but the party continued and Zara was still avoiding Devon. Devon tried to approach Zara to apologize some more but a group of business associates pulled him away to give their congratulatory greetings. While he was consumed by the crowd of well-wishers, Holland approached Zara again.

"Hey Zara," Holland said, with a smile.

"You again; what exactly is going on between you and my boss, Devon," she asked.

"Oh it's nothing; just a little misunderstanding but I plan to settle things with him," Holland said.

"It didn't look like a little misunderstanding; it looked much more than that with the way he reacted," Zara said 

"Don't mind him; Devon likes to overreact," Holland said.

Soon the two began to talk and Zara was beginning to enjoy his company. Holland cracked jokes and made her laugh, causing her to draw attention to them. It was later in the evening that Devon saw Zara and Holland laughing together. He was beyond pissed as he approached them.

"Miss Smith, it's time to go," he said as his face reddened in anger.

"I'll be right there with you, Mr. Kings. I just need to..." Zara was saying but was cut off by Devon.

"NOW, MISS SMITH," he said, his voice getting harsher.

Zara couldn't believe he was speaking to her in that time again but she didn't want people to have the impression that she was being rude to her boss so she said her goodbyes to Holland, grabbed her purse, glared at Devon and walked out of the building.

Little did she know that Holland was only trying to befriend her so that he could use her to destroy Devon.