Chapter 4

I don't understand why Alex is teasing me and what exactly is his mission in my office but I can't find the voice to question him, not when he just places a kiss on my cheek, very close to my lips. He does that on purpose and I know.

"Don't even pretend like I'm dumb..." He whispers in my ear again. "...I know your dirty secret," this time, he speaks we authority and my heart skips. Not in pleasure but in fear.

He looks at me, this time I was looking at his hazel eyes turned red, just the way it was that night. He squeezes his palms and still grins at me. I'm now shaking in fear, no one has been able to squeeze out my breath with just a warning.

"Are you okay?" A familiar voice, that familiar voice that keeps saving me asks. I open my eyes and here she is sitting beside me, on my bed, in my room. I jumped on her and hug her tightly with my eyes closed, I just dreamt of him again. Alex Williams.

Vicky pulled me away from the hug.

"I haven't seen you so frightened. Where you attack in the dream?" She asks and I nodded, still lost for words.

"Will you like to take a break from work today? I mean, you're already late," she pointed to the digital clock on the wall of my bedroom. I sigh before standing up from the bed, I walk to the mirror and look at myself, my scattered hair, puffy eyes, and pale face.

I'd finished reading about the Williams yesterday, I'd also cooked a little dinner for myself which I ate. I'd wanted to call Vicky to come over when I fell asleep. The result of the substance I added to my coffee.

Standing right in front of my mirror reminds me of the big mess I have become over the years. No doubt, I have worked myself to become this successful. I have always wanted to be successful and powerful, my wishes have been granted, and my name has been written in the hall of fame. It's all my sweat, confidence, consistency, and diligence.

Mum and Dad left when I was still too young to comprehend, Jack has been my only family, he took care of and nurture me into the woman I am today. It hasn't been easy but I can't say it isn't worth it.

"Here you go again, going all emotional. I can say you're thinking about your parents again," Vicky teased as the tears drop from my eyes.

"You will surely find love. I'm quite optimistic that it's very near," she wrapped her arms around me and rested her chin on my shoulder, I places my hand on her cheeks and smiled at the best-supporting part of my life, Vicky, just smiling at me.

She selected a dress for me while I took a shower, I took my time to let the warm water run through my skin for many hours before coming out. I got dressed and here I am with Victoria, she is gving me a quick makeup session.

I frown at her when the brushes swift across my lashes, she pouted and I chuckled at her display.

"When are you introducing him to me?" I questioned with a look at her.

"Introduce who?" She snapped at me with a confused look, the brush at the left side of my cheek.

"Don't try to play dumb, I know you're in love with someone,"

"I guess you should know the someone as well," she giggles.

There is silence for some minutes as Victoria and I are now concentrating on the makeup session, I didn't want to press her with more questions. I know my bed friend enough to trust her silence, if she's not telling me then it means the situation is not worth telling.

"Tell me this outing is not your dirty usual kind of outing?" With a look at Victoria, I asked.

She waited for some second before muttering a word.

"Ladies kind of outing. Shopping. How does that sound?"

"Sounds dumb," I scoffed.

"Nothing impresses you," she frowns at me.

My phone beeps and it was Mabel calling, I accepted the call and put it on a loudspeaker while placing it on the table.

"Hello Mrs. Moore, this is a reminder that we're having a business dinner tonight. I will text you the address immediately after this call, this is put together by our company and the Union firm."

"Wow! A business dinner sounds interesting, more reason we should go shopping," Vicky screams with her hands in the air, what a psycho.

"Who said you were invited? Business dinners are strictly by invitation airhead," I teased with my tongue stuck out of my mouth, she snapped at my hands and I laugh.

"The almighty Victoria Jackson needs no invitation to be present on any occasion," Vicky boasts, making me laugh at her self-confidence.

Soon, we will be done with the makeup session. I decided to follow Victoria's idea and we went shopping, not that I lacked what to wear, just to please my shopping freak of a friend. It took us the whole day to select and settle for the best choice, and we ended up returning home late, leaving us with little time to prepare for the business dinner night.

It's in our nature to capture the heart and tonight's is going to be no exception, realizing that Alex William is going to be there resulted in me taking more time to look charming and gorgeous. We stepped into the cold night, the weather has just changed drastically. Unlike the past days, today feels extraordinarily cold, just a sign of something— whether good or bad, I guess we will find out.

Vicky held my hands as we walked into the fancy hotel. I must admit, the venue is beautiful and classic. Just a perfect place for a business dinner.

My eyes caught a figure, he gave me flirtatious smile and I tightened my grip on Vicky's. She noticed my anger and touches my shoulder to calm my nerves, she whispers "Don't give him the impression," and I nodded while taking a relieving breath.

Darren walked towards us anyway, he has his usual evil grin with a cup of drink in his hand.

"Hi, Victoria," he stretches his right hand but Vicky declined.

"Hello beautiful, you look amazing tonight," he said to me, nudging my shoulder playfully.

"Thanks, Mr. Balls," with that, Vicky dragged me away from him.

At the round table seated my business colleagues, there sat Mrs. May, the managing director of Union firm and there also is Emily, the lady with a gorgeous smile and red hair. They were discussing and laughing in low tune with my company staff. Mr. Balls isn't here, I guess the reason why he sent Darren. I greeted them with a peck while introducing Victoria to the new team, she's familiar with my company's staff. My eyes searches for one more person, the same person whom my heart is also searching for, I sigh in frustration when I notice that he isn't present.

"What about your managing director?" The question left my mouth before I could process it. I'm feeling Darren's intense gaze on me but I don't care a whit about him.

"Talk about the devil," Emily scoffed and the whole attention was turned to him. Dressed in a black tuxedo, he walks in with all confidence, he gave me one of his warmest smiles and I felt the butterflies in my stomach welcoming him.

I don't know how he does it but he has so much influence on me already. Vicky raised a suspicious brow at me when he sat beside me, his hands brushes through mine and my heart skipped, his strawberry cologne was doing some things to my breathing capacity.

Our dinner is served according to one's choice and here we are, discussing the newly signed deal while eating along. The drinks taste great as well. The discussion is smooth and low, with Alex William contributing and stealing attention to himself, I must admit that he is really smart when it comes to the business. Of course, I'm not left out, I'm just pitying my friend who seems clearly bored with all the business discussion, you can easily tell by the way she's picking on her meal and looking down at her phone every passing second.

Darren didn't leave any opportunity in showing off, I feel disgusted by the way he's trying to prove Alex wrong by arguing unnecessarily. He is doing that on purpose. Alex on the other hand seems so unmoved by Darren's antiques, that's clearly because he doesn't know who he is.

I reached out for Vicky's hands and squeeze them gently while leaning closer to her.

"You don't need to make your attitude more obvious, remember you decided to tag along, right?" She scoffed at my sentence.

The business discussion came to an end but the party continues. It was decided to make it more fun by joining the party and I guess this is Victoria's favorite part because she ran off to the dance floor, leaving me to giggle at her. I took my cup and smiled, tonight has been cool, I'm enjoying every bit of it. I don't know why I'm praying for this to last longer, maybe because of him.

Yes, him. He is smiling at me once again with a wave and I returned his smile.

"Need a drink?" Alex is yelling from where the bar is, I raised to cup to show him that I'm with one.

Minutes later, Alex is sitting opposite me with his eyes fixed on me. I can't contain how I'm feeling right now, but I'm definitely sure that I'm over the moon. His smile is captivating and I can't even look away from his hazel blue eyes, devoid of anger but just some unexpressed emotions, I can read them by how intense it is.

I clear my throat to break the awkward silence that is growing between us, we've been staring at each other for some seconds now in absolute silence.

"Mrs. Moore..." He muttered with a smile.

"... it's a big pleasure to finally sit with you, just this moment is priceless," he added, making me wonder what he meant by 'finally.'

Has he been dreaming to have time with me? Oh my God, don't tell me because I'm going crazy now. I blushes at his statement but hide it away immediately.

"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Williams," I managed to utter a word. My cheeks hurt from smiling too much.

Taking a sip from my cup, we are back in silence. This time, not gazing at each other but staring at something, someone rather, Darren.

He walks to the chair beside me and sat with his hands crossed on my shoulder in form of a side hug. I noticed the change in Alex's behavior the moment Darren kisses my cheeks, he smiles but this certainly differs from his genuine smile. He was faking it, probably trying to suppress something.

I uncrossed Darren's hands from my shoulder and excused myself, leaving the two men to themselves. I'm having a bad feeling now, their expression and little but hidden show of jealousy are choking me.

Wait, is Alex jealous of Darren?

Just a thought of it is making me smile, I had my face washed before looking at the restroom mirror to be sure I wasn't dreaming again. I have had plenty of dreams lately, but now I'm not certain if this is reality.

Cleaning my face with the face towel, I breathe in for some seconds trying to process all that has transpired tonight and all that's yet to come. The night is still young and I'm excited— excited that I'm gaining Alex's attention but I'm also afraid— afraid of Darren and the other unknowns.

Lost in deep thought when the washroom door cracked open without warning, my brows raised at the person in front of me. He smiles and matches towards me without an invitation.