Chapter 34 : I Miss My Little Pumpkin

She knew this wasn't the time to lose her cool so she gathered herself and walked over to her seat with slow but heavy steps.

Mr Jones on the other wasn't any better than Martha. He thought he had forgotten her. After 18 years of being away from his precious, he thought he could continue living life normally but it seems he underestimated his love for his daughter.

The moment Martha walked in, he had the sudden urge to embrace her. When he saw her eyes full of longing and guilt, he wanted to pull her into his arms telling her not to cry and that everything will be alright.

But then again, he remembered her expression when she chosed a man over her family, over him. When she decided to get married to that man even when he warned her not to make irrational decision. How she proved stubborn by marrying a man his age.

All this thought brought him back to the painful reality that his own daughter doesn't love him anymore. She disrespected and abandoned him them and even now when her so called husband had been divorced.

He cleared every unnecessary thought from his mind and put on his usual boss like expression. But underneath, he was glad he got to see his daughter, face-to-face.

Drake saw the unpleasant exchange between Mr Jones and Martha so he cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Good day Mr Jones. It's a pleasant surprise and my honor of course to see you here" Drake greeted Mr Jones with a hand shake.

"You are Kim's son huh. You really take after your dad" Mr Jones said with a chuckle after their handshake.

"If you don't mind I'll begin the presentation" Drake said while scratching his head in awkwardness.

Martha gave Drake a thankful smile because she knew she won't be able to give her presentation first with her current state of mind.

Drake started off by summarising Beautys achievement over the last 4 years. Their growth has been going up for straight four years and only experienced a slight fall which is almost negligent.

He then went off to give a brief summary on their next product which Mr Jones had been waiting for. Martha was the one with the detailed presentation so Drake stepped down after a brief introduction.

After taking a deep breath, Martha went up. She connected her laptop to the projector which showed some classy eye catching outfits.

The first display was of a crop-top to jacket. The jacket was worn with a singlet inner that ended just below bra length. The inner was nothing special. It had a few black stripes crisscrossing each other with Beauty's logo at the center.

The jacket on the other hand, was one you never would have imagined existed. It was light weight with a very succulent and comfortable fabric bounded with chains at the bottom. The jacket in the picture was a light shade of yellow. It's collar was beautifully designed with black stripes like the one in the inner. Moving down to the sleeve, two black stripes crisscrossed each other with the silver chain in between. The sleeve which was split in two was held by the chain with the black swipes dancing besides it.

The main body of the jacket however wasn't too fitted nor too loosed. It was just perfect on the model and ended on top her navel. Both sides of the jacket had black swipes that looked scattered but form a beautiful spider-web like design when placed together. The chain at the bottom started a little above the sleeve chain and dropped a little to be picked again at one side of the collar. It then dropped all the way to the end of the jacket to be pinned down with a beautiful jade. The same thing happened to the other side and both jade forms a eagle when placed together.

The bottom was a mini fitted skirt with same black stripes design as the singlet inner. It's chain was a little less as it only appeared from one side of the waist to the other in three steps making a U-like design.

One thing about the outfit was that it was light even with the chain. It could go with flats, sneakers,or even heels ,it would still look great.

The following outfits were similar designs with just the colour and chain different. Every new colour had a corresponding and fitting chain. The stripes also formed different things when placed together but one thing was for sure, they were all beautiful.

Mr Jones and his subordinates were mesmerised buy how beautiful the model looked. Even without a handbag or jewelry the wearer will still look stunning. After Martha has given a rundown of the outfit, it's component and how well teenagers and youths will love the outfit, Mr Jones had no objection and was very eager to sign the contract.

If their new necklace and earrings together with the leg chains were paired with this outfit...

He couldn't stop fantasising how girls will react when they see this. Beauty planned on launching their new product a month and few weeks from now, which is the perfect time as students will be on vacation after their exams.

Martha looked towards her dad to see his smile. Even Martha herself was impressed with the handwork of the designers.

"Impressive impressive. Beauty sure lives up to their name" Mr Jones praised the outfit with a smile.

"Thank you da...ehm..Mr Jones" Martha corrected herself as quickly as possible when she mistakenly called him dad. She was very happy when she saw him look at her with his usual doting gaze but was disappointed at second glance. It was as if she was hallucinating seeing him smile at her.

Mr Jones heart was aching with the way she addressed him. Didn't she love him anymore?? Has she really sever the connection they once shared??

He had a happy expression on his face when his daughter gave such a brilliant and fantabulous presentation. He was proud to see that his little pumpkin has grown up to be an independent woman. He was even more excited when she called him 'da' but his happy face turned sunken when she addressed him like an outsider.

"Send the contract over to the corporation for further clearance before we can officially be partners. Besides my son is the one handling the business not this old man so the contract will have to go over." Mr Jones tone has changed back to the man who runs a successful ancient empire with power in his voice.

There was also longing deep within his eyes which no one noticed when he looked at Martha. He left the other representative behind as he hurried out of the building. He stared at Martha deeply as he rushed out wiping the tear drop that only Drake saw due to his sitting position.