24

LUCAS' POV

I stared at Stephanie speechlessly, and immediately bent to her, trying to see if she was still breathing.

"Damn." I muttered, realizing she wasn't breathing, and lifted her into my arms. She was quite heavy for a woman, and I had to grunt to adjust her properly in my arms.

Then, I placed her back into the car, and got in, trying to drive to the nearest hospital. I didn't know if she had a medical condition, but if anything happened to her, I could easily be blamed, and apart from being blamed, I'd feel terribly guilty.

I hated being around victims. Somehow, my mind always found a way to blame me for their condition. Crazy, isn't it?

Damn…

There seemed to be traffic on the road, and I kept glancing back at her, to ensure she didn't fall off or stop breathing.

No matter how I disliked her, I didn't wish for her death. This was the second time she was showing signs of being a weakling—something I hated in women.

They all thought they had to be weak to be perfectly feminine. Well, they were mistaken. In my dictionary, females were strong creatures, who were stronger than men using their brains, wits, and their charms.

They could think long, and deep, and were able to plan in ways men couldn't… those were traits I adored in women. Not a weak one who seemed to have all her worst fears unleashed on her in a panic attack because a guy rejected her.

Just then, I glanced back at her to check on her, but after returning my gaze to the road, I turned back to her almost immediately. I had seen something.

There was a little smile on her face, which quickly disappeared.

It felt like someone had turned on the steam in me.

My face turned a bright red, and I looked for a safe way to veer off the road.

After safely parking at the edge of the road, my fingers fumbled for the door knob, and I pushed it open, slamming the door harder than I should have.

I opened her door, and pulled her arm harshly, forcing her to leave the car. She was startled by the sudden jerk, and stumbled, almost falling to the floor, but I didn't stop until she was outside.

Then I let go of her hand, which made her fight to regain balance for some seconds.

She looked a little scared, as she tried to regain her swaying balance, and when she balanced, she scoffed.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, rubbing her wrists, and looking at me in horror.

"That was a pretense? What do you take me for?" I asked, hotly, not believing she had made me panic for nothing.

How could she fake fainting, and get my heart rate up? What exactly did she gain from that?

The corners of her lips turned upward in a little smile, and there was something like pride in her eyes.

Was she proud of doing something like that? My eyes lit up in disgust, as I watched her rock backwards, and forwards on her heels.

I didn't think I disliked a woman more than I disliked her. She was downright shameless.

"I was just trying to tell you not to hide your feelings." She drawled, ending her words with a skillful pout.

"What? What feelings?" I asked, getting really irritated.

"You like me, but do not want to admit it. Immediately I fell, you went bonkers, trying to raise me, and get me to the hospital. Your hands were shaking. You were worried about me." She said, raising her hands, and shaking them to represent my shaking hands.

"Exactly what I'd do for anyone who faints." I pointed out, like it was obvious. It probably wasn't obvious to her because she was obsessed with getting me to like her.

I continued, "Be it a man, a woman, or a child… It's called instinct, you know. Honestly, I just can't believe you. How could you joke with such a thing? You think you can just do as you please? You're despicable. If you think I'll ever like you, then I'm sorry, as this is giving you more hate than you can get from ten people altogether.

"Staring at you is like staring at something deformed. My skin crawls. You're not deformed, but the woman in you is. Does any man actually find you attractive? Do you think you can just decide to scare people like that? I have to admit that I couldn't think when you fainted because I, unlike you, think too deep, and do not allow childish reasons to define my actions.

"Is this how you find men? Get them to like you? Date them? You pretend to faint then have them rush you to the hospital, and make them feel you have to be protected? You disgust me." I spat my last words out with such intensity that she let out a little, unintended gasp.

Clearly, she didn't expect me to take it so serious.

I left her standing there, and pulled open the door of my car with a jerk.

I got in, slammed the door, and pulled back onto the road, leaving her standing there in shock.

Ever since I was young, I'd never been able to turn a blind eye to anyone experiencing difficulty.

I always had to help in some way, or I'd feel guilty, scared, torn, and annoyed if I couldn't do anything.

When she had fainted, I had been really scared for her, and all I could think of was getting her to the hospital. There were lots of health reasons related to someone fainting unexpectedly, and those reasons were never good.

How low could she go just to snag my attention?

I drove back to the house, and went straight to the room I was given, and lay on the bed.

She annoyed me sick. It made me angry that I had been worried for no reason, and she'd probably seen the worry on my face.

It was a thing John teased me about. He'd always said I ought to be a doctor, not a businessman, or someone working in a facility for impaired children, so I could help as I wanted, and satisfy the longing I had to help people.

Trying to help didn't feel bad until you realized you were frantic for nothing, and the person you were trying to help, had been laughing at you from behind.

~

The next day, I didn't see Stephanie anywhere. She didn't even come down for breakfast. Mrs. Mayer and I talked about business while eating, but it felt more like a casual conversation.

Thereafter, we shifted to a topic of despicable businessmen we'd met during business; it was such a fun topic, as I had met a lot of douchebags in suits, and Stephanie was one of them. But of course, I didn't mention her name.

"So, I came up with a tech idea. I don't know if it would be for everyone, as not everyone has the same problems, but I think it will be really useful for the old, and specific people." I began, after we had settled on chairs in the balcony, with a bowl of fruits, and a beautiful scenery before us.

"Okay, go on, I'm all ears." Mrs. Mayer said, tucking her gray hair behind her ear, as the wind blew it across her face.

"So, yesterday, we were by the seaside, and I noticed the roll, and crash of the waves appealed beautifully to my senses, and made me calm— so calm I wanted to sleep. I began to wonder. What would people who have insomnia feel about a tech product that could help them sleep better? What if there was a way we could hypnotize people to sleep, set their minds at rest, and push their worries aside for the next day?" I proposed, taking a strawberry from the tray.

"That's a brilliant idea." She remarked, staring into space, like she was already imagining how glorious the product will be. "You know," She turned to me with more interest, "I have trouble sleeping. Every so often, it's so bad that I take a walk around the house, and the garden just to feel more tired than I already am, still it doesn't work. On days like that, I'm left awake until the wee hours of the morning. It could be at the first blush of dawn when I'm finally able to sleep, only to wake two or three hours later to catch up with an important meeting, or stuff. If we could make such a tech product, it would be beautiful." She said, tossing a grape into her mouth.

"I thought as much. You don't need to worry anymore. Once our product is made in the form of a mini robot that can talk, and perform a few more functions, you'll no longer have these problems."

"You're so confident," She said, with a smile. "So what do you have in mind for the product name?" She asked, and I smiled.

"I spent all night thinking about it, but I finally decided on one I thought you might like." I said, and her eyes lit up in admiration.

"Really?" She asked, holding up another grape.

"Yes. I came up with LuxNight."

"LuxNight." She repeated, rolling the name over her tongue slowly.

"Luxury Night. A night of luxury. A night of bliss. A night without worries. And because it also sounds like Knight. A warrior; I want us to add something like: LuxNight, will fight for your Night." I explained, and she seemed impressed.

"LuxNight will fight for your night. Damn, that's good. Our LuxNight is a knight fighting for us." She laughed, and clapped her hands. "I like that. Now, I know we did not come here for nothing. So, how do we do it? Are you sending your people to New Zealand, or I'm sending my people to L. A?" She asked, crossing her legs.

"I'd like it if you sent your team over to L. A." I replied respectfully, and she nodded.

"We'll go over the contract once more, and sign it. Then you'll be free to leave." She said, smiling.

~

The next day, I prepared my things to leave, making sure I didn't leave anything behind.

It was funny to see that I had left John's house without any clothes, but was returning with a bunch of them. A lot of them, actually, and some of them hadn't even been worn once.

I had breakfast, and Stephanie didn't come down at all. Mrs. Mayer didn't seem to mind, and chuckled merrily. She would have escorted me to the airport, but she got an urgent last-minute call; we both laughed because almost every businessman has had those annoying last-minute calls when they were about to do something important.

I bid her goodbye, and began my journey to the airport. Honestly, returning to L. A made me excited for some reason I couldn't understand.

Tray would be too happy to see me, only to realize a few days later that he wanted me to go away on another business trip.

I chuckled at the thought of that. He was, in a way, the worst, and the best personal secretary. Always arguing with his boss, and talking back to him, but in the end producing results that were beyond the capability of ten people put together.

I paid the taxi man when I got into the airport, and walked with the wheels of my traveling bag gliding smoothly behind me. The excitement of having business with Mrs. Mayer was still bubbling in me, and I couldn't wait to let my employees know I was successful in signing the contract.

"Lucas!" I suddenly heard someone scream, and when I turned around, it was Stephanie, wielding her way among the people, trying to get to me.

I looked around, and wondered if walking away from her was the best thing, or I was to hear what she had to say.

She looked as if she had something else up her sleeve.