Chapter Thirty-Seven

The shareholder meeting ran longer than Gabriel was hoping, with many putting forward ideas for ways to tackle fraud in the casino and make expansions to the hotel with the money they reclaim, while others had thought against the new software put forward for the online casino and wanted to share their thoughts.

It was moments like that when Gabriel wished he had Julian to write down everything they were saying so he could pay attention to it later, barely hearing anything that was discussed and muttering the generic response he usually does.

He wants nothing more than to return home and see Athena. He has missed her since the moment they parted last night, left with nothing more than the lingering feeling of her lips on his, and the quick fading warmth from her body pressed against him.

Not bothering to check in with the receptionist if he has received any phone calls, he quickly returns to his office to lock himself inside. He checks his cellphone and sees one missed call and a voicemail from Julian, instantly checking the message he left.

His heart nearly leaps out of his chest when he is informed that Julian has talked Athena into visiting the office in hopes of asking him for help with her family, giving him the opportunity to expand on the other night when they were interrupted. Without wasting any time he hangs up his phone and rushes over to the closet to change his shirt and jacket, spraying on a fresh layer of cologne.

While he is trying to tidy up, his office phone rings.

"Yes?" he answers.

"Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Monroe, but there is a woman here claiming to know you and wants a personal audience with you. Shall I send her up or tell her to come back?" his receptionist at the front desk asks.

Athena is the first person who comes to mind when no name is mentioned, assuming she wants to keep her identity a secret while here, knowing that some might recognize her as another employee at the casino and think she is there for ulterior reasons.

"Send her up, thank you," he says and hangs up, looking at himself once more in the mirror on the closet door before the office door opens.

His smile quickly falls when he sees the familiar figure and face of Verona walk in, dressed in what looks like a trench coat and heels from the way her shoes click against the floor as she walks in.

"Verona, what are you doing here?" he asks, not trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. She quickly picks up on it and fights the irritated frown that threatens to take over her face, knowing he was probably expecting her to be Athena Rose when she refused to give her name to the receptionist, which can only mean that Athena has visited his office before.

"You haven't had the time to come and see me since I got here, I assumed it's because you've been working so hard, and it seems I was right. I wanted to come by with a homemade lunch and eat with you." She takes out a thermos of soup and sets it down on the desk.

Gabriel has no reason to refuse her invitation but the disappointment that she isn't Athena is more irritating to him than he thought, and he prefers to be alone at the moment, not even considering the fact that she is still coming.

"If you don't have the time, I understand, I did come here without telling you in advance," Verona suddenly says, pouting slightly and taking the thermos back. Gabriel feels a pang of guilt for having ignored her all this time. He is well aware of his feelings towards her, but that is no reason to completely forget their friendship and be so cold towards her.

He sees no harm in at least having lunch with her and knows that his receptionist will call Gabriel once Athena and Julian have arrived, giving him time to have Verona escorted out through another exit before she comes up.

"It's alright, Verona, it was really thoughtful of you to put the work into making me lunch, how can I refuse it," he says and pulls up a chair to the front of his desk.

Verona quickly changes her attitude and takes out two bowls in her purse, setting them down right in front of Gabriel and grabbing the chair he put out for her and setting it down next to him instead. She pours out two servings of chicken and potato soup before he can say anything, setting down only one spoon between them.

"Did you not bring another one?" he asks her, but she ignores him and stands up to remove her coat to reveal a lacey brassier top underneath paired with a skin-tight skirt that stops just below her bottom, leaving very little to the imagination. Gabriel can already see right through her plan now but has already agreed to have lunch with her.

If he asks her to leave now, she will no doubt kick up a fuss and report everything back to his mother, adding on more grief for him and further suspicion for his mother of Athena. If his mother ever learns that he is refusing the arranged marriage with Verona because of someone else, she will do everything she can to make things difficult for both him and her, to get him to change his mind.

His mother has always been keen on having things go her way, which is one of the many reasons his father sought the help he needed for his drinking addiction. If it were purely up to his father, he would've reserved himself to dying behind his desk. The main reason Gabriel has avoided visiting his father is because all he cares to talk about is business and try to intercede his opinion on the way things are now being run.

Gabriel has worked hard to earn the Monroe Company the respect and recognition it has now from the slums it was stuck in before and descending lower under the control of his father. He can't deny that without the bottle, his father is a genius businessman, but he has long fallen from grace and his judgement can no longer be trusted.

"I'm expecting a client, this won't be a long lunch break," he says, turning back towards his computer. "Since you only brought one spoon, you can have your serving first."

"Nonsense, you need your nutrition more than I do. If you're that busy, I can feed you while you work," she says and scoops some soup up in the spoon, hovering towards him.

Gabriel instinctively moves away, but accidentally hits her elbow and causes her arm to become unsteady and spill the spoonful of soup onto his shirt.

"Ah, I'm so sorry! That was so clumsy of me," Verona cries and looks for something to wipe it up with. Gabriel lifts his hands and backs away from her.

"It's alright, I have a sink here I can wash it off with," he mutters and quickly excuses himself, thankful for the breath of fresh air from that situation.

While he is gone, Verona picks up a few of the things on his desk and messes them around, making it look like there was a slight struggle on top of the desk and things were pushed around, even dropping a file on the ground. She poses on top of the desk and waits for Gabriel to return.

The phone rings as she is waiting.

"Mr. Monroe, there is another guest here, a Miss Rose she says. She says she has an appointment with you, shall I send her up?" the receptionist speaks before Verona says anything.

"Yes, you may send her up, Gabriel is just using the bathroom, he is done with his lunch appointment. Thank you," she says and hangs up.

"Oh my, this couldn't have worked out better."

Gabriel walks out of the bathroom with a slight wet spot on the front of his shirt from where she spilled the soup, quickly covering it with his jacket.

"You may leave, Verona, I'm very busy and have much to get done, I can't see you out," he says and walks over to the desk, pausing when he sees the condition it's in. "What did you do?"

Before she can answer, the door of his office opens, and in walks Julian.

"Julian, what are you doing here?" Gabriel asks, his tone irritated and tired. He is about to reprimand him for walking in without knocking, but everything in the room seems to come to a halting stop when he sees Athena trailing in behind him.

She looks at Gabriel, then takes a slow look around the room, spotting Verona still poised on the table, a cruel smile on her face, before her eyes come to land on him again, narrowing in on the still wet shirt he has on, no longer covered by the jacket.

"Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Monroe. Looks like we'll have to reschedule," Athena says in a flat, mono-tone voice despite the raging storm swirling inside her and turns on her heel to leave.