10 Chapter 9

Ryan's P.O.V.

I stepped on the brakes with so much force that the car stopped with a jerk and the sound of tires screeching could be heard. I was beyond pissed. No one had never even dared to raise their voices at me and the nerve of this woman! She threw wine at me. But more than pissed, I was intrigued and curious to know that why in hell would she do that. I didn't even do anything wrong. All I did was try to help her. Then why do I get wine splashed on my face for trying to help someone?

After angry-driving around the city for almost an hour, and after when I was calmed enough, I revved the engine and sped to my house. Passing the living room I saw Rowan sitting on a couch, digging in a large tub of chocolate chip ice cream while watching something on T.v. When he noticed me, he grinned.

"Bro wanna watch..." He started.

"Not now Rowan." I cut him off, warning him.

"Ohh... seems like someone is in a bad mood. Wanna pick a fight?" He teased, raising his hands up in boxing style. But I just ignored him and trudged towards my room.

After making myself comfortable in bed I tried to sleep but as much as I wanted to hate the fact, I found myself wondering about Claire. Despite my anger towards what she had done tonight, I still pondered over different scenarios for her state. I have never seen her eyes filled with love and life. They were always hollow. For anyone, she is really professional and tough, you won't know if she is being sarcastic or real professional because she is talented.

But when you look deeply in her, see her silently, her foggy gazes, her gloating face, her parted lips when she is thinking harshly, forcing herself over things, you would notice all those things. She sometimes looks so broken from the inside which makes me wonder that why would a daughter of a millionaire, perfect in literally everything be so upset and empty all the time. Why won't be there any life within her? And these were the only thoughts in my mind until I fell asleep.

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I came to the office the next day, engaged myself in work, reviewing tons of files, having meeting one after another. I had seen Claire when I came in the morning but she averted her eyes immediately. We both were busy with our work so there was no interaction between us.

After the meeting with the finance manager of all my companies, I came back to my office. I was answering some emails when Claire entered my cabin.

"Don't you think you should knock before entering someone's office?" I fired at her, looking at her with my peripheral vision. I could feel her surprised look at my sudden behavior but she covered it immediately.

"I will keep that in my mind next time," She said calmly.

"Good for you," I murmured, saving files on my laptop.

After a few moments, she cleared her throat and spoke; "I think I am here to talk." She said with a suggestive tone.

"Oh Yes. Of course. Please...," I looked at her, motioning her to continue. She bit the inside of her cheek and slightly rolled her eyes.

"The hotel renovation is complete. I want you to come with me because the decorators' team is going to be there as well for instructions for the opening ceremony--" I cut her off.

"I will come when I would be free," I said going back to work.

"But this is important," She said in urgency.

"This.." I pointed at my laptop and said; "is also important. Now If you excuse me I would love to get back to my work." I said looking at her.

A few moments later she took a deep breath and said; "I think we should keep our personal life away and concentrate on our work professionally, so stop being childish Hernandez."

I leaned back on my chair. Resting my elbows on the armrest I clasped my hands in front of me and chuckled dryly.

"Personal.." I paused. Raising my eyebrows I said again; "I don't think we have some sort of personal life which we should keep away from our work Claire, and about the decorators, aren't you the one with the master's degree in Interior? You know these things way better than me, so doing it alone shouldn't be a problem but if you are here asking me to come over and check your work even after I told you can work with your style it means you do not have enough trust on your abilities and you think I can change anything?"

For a moment I swear I saw some emotions flickering through her eyes that made her tensed and calm at the same time but she covered them immediately.

"You're right. I don't need approval. You know what? You sit here and I can utilize my master's degree on my own without further need of suggestions." She said turning away and leaving my cabin with a look of confidence on her face. She always amazed me with how gracefully she carried herself.

The next two days were in a blur without any further interactions with her. It felt like she was trying her best to ignore me. But for some oddness, not being able to talk to her but being able to see her was messing with me, making me go nuts and impatient.

After finishing my work that night, I grabbed my things and got out of my office. At the parking lot, I saw Claire from afar talking to someone. She looked frustrated and was lightly pulling her hair. The man with her seemed to be in his late forties, wearing a casual black suit. With his physique, anyone would say he was a bodyguard, not too muscular but strong.

"This is going nowhere. I am freaking tired of getting nothing but always setting hopes high, Liam." She said with a defeated sigh. The Liam man put his hand on her shoulder soothingly.

"Rest tonight Claire. We will talk tomorrow again and try not to dwell on this too much. Everything is gonna be fine, really soon."

Claire was about to reply when she saw me and stopped. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just accidentally listened so I silently walked towards my car and hopped in. Putting keys in the ignition and revving the engine, I looked at her through the rearview mirror only to find her already looking at me. She didn't avert her eyes. It seemed like they were pleading to me an unknown prayer.

It was me to avert the eyes first and speeding off to my house. That night, again I tried to sleep but Claire's face kept invading my sleep. Her thoughts made me impatient and curious about her, made me thinking of different scenarios of her frustration. One thing was sure, there was actually something, something very big bothering her and I was dying to know it, not for my curiosity but with the strange determination to help her. And I slept somewhere in her thoughts.

I was sleeping peacefully until the bright light penetrated through my eyes, making me groan. I shifted on the bed and buried my head in my pillow and again started to drift off but my sleep didn't last long because my good-for-nothing brother decided to barge in my room with a freaking guitar.

Wakey wakey, Yo

Wakey wakey,

Yo... Let's hits the treadmill.

Yo... Let's do some exercise.

Yo... Let's make some abs.

Yo... Let's make girls swoon.

Wakey wakey, Yo

Wakey wakey,

"Ryan.." He shouted after singing the worst song, made-up by him in my ear.

"I am not deaf. You dimwit." I yelled throwing a pillow at him. He didn't listen instead just kept singing the stupid song in my room. At last, I gave in. Huffing I sat up on my bed.

"What do you want?" I said, trying to be as serious as possible.

"Oh, you are up already. I thought I would have to work my way through your sleep. Well, let's join me for some exercise. You have 5 minutes." He said going out of my room.

I huffed at his bossy behavior, clearly not interested but still got up because if I didn't do what he said, he would come back with even a ridiculous song.

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