Chapter 3 Three

Charles pinched the bridge of his nose. The past few days have been a mental hell for him. Apart from his norm of attending meetings after meetings, the fact that he was so close yet far from his real family members tortured him.

And there was the fact that he had not found a suitable time to devote to searching for a wife.

He needed a break, he needed some sort of entertainment. At that moment, in order to find his plans working out perfectly he needed a clear mind.

Charles picked up his phone and called in his secretary.

"Sir, you called me."

"Yes," he poured himself some whiskey, his one and loyal company. ",are there any events in town that I can attend? I need a break."

"I don't know..."

"Miss Kane, you are good at what you do, instead of telling me you don't know any, I should be hearing you will be finding out if there is any."

The slight cruelty in his voice did not appear to move her, that was one of the reasons he had her promoted to the status of being his secretary. Unlike some of his employees, she never looked startled whenever he was being the angry, thorough boss. Christina Kane nodded her head slightly and said, "I will make sure to find out if there is any."

"Just call me to tell me what you have confirmed. I don't want to be disturbed either, take the rest of the day off."

"Alright sir."

Few minutes later, she called to inform him about a charity event holding the next day. Slipping off the chair onto the rug, Charles resumed his drinking. He had found his entertainment.

~

The whole room reeked of boredom. Nothing fun was being done. Neither was the exact reason of the gathering being discussed. Everybody just wanted to connect and walk home with a huge smile after a successful agreement.

Rubbing his huge recently moisturized hands, Charles reasoned it would have been preferable to spend the whole day locked up in his room with his thoughts and his indulging work than to be at that event.

"Christina." He faced his secretary who he had decided to take along as a means of relieving her since she was going to be stuck with him for a while. As usual, she was dressed to kill. If not for his morals and principles, Charles knew he would be taking her right in the bathroom. But even if he did that, he would not like what follows.

He might decide to fire her or she might take his move as an invitation to be with him romantically.

"Yes, Charles." He had given her the liberty to call him by the first name.

"When is this supposed to end?"

"In two hours sir."

"How long have we been here?"

"Ten minutes, sir."

"Um," he hummed and he gave Christina a side glance. Apparently she had her eyes all glued on him and that made him feel suddenly at unease. Charles could read her loud and clear, Christina wanted him. At any cost.

Shifting a bit, his hand clutching his almost empty wine glass a bit harder, Charles's eyes travelled to the entrance and at that moment, the most unexpected sight greeted him.

Realizing his heart was thumping, Charles shifted again, cleared his throat and pocketed his hands into the silkiness of his suit trouser. Within a swift second, Charles gathered his ego, pride and masculinity into one big attitude, he could not afford to appear weak as he just felt.

His eyes going back to Isabella who was walking hand in hand with some tall guy towards a small gathering, he observed to see how much she had changed. She had not changed a lot.

She was dressed in a red, long sleeved pencil gown which held her in the right places. Isabella always looked good in red. Always. It made her eyes appear fiery like the character she was. Or rather, the woman he knew.

Her hair, brunette and long was curled into layers and they kept dancing as she talked and laughed with the people she was with.

Charles closed his eyes as the image of her closing her eyes in satisfaction whenever he ran his hands through her hair, came to his mind.

Opening his eyes, with locked jaws, Charles noticed further that there was something missing in her eyes. They still looked fiery but they lacked the happiness that always made him smile whenever he saw her.

Wondering who the man she was with was, Charles chastised himself for bothering himself by recalling the past. Instead, he could be dealing with the present the way he wanted. He smirked to himself as he imagined what reactions would be on the face of the woman that was meant to be his wife.

"Christina?"

"Yes?" He extended his arm for Christina to hook hers onto.

"It is time for us to mingle with the crowd." Charles returned the smile Christina gave him as her slender arm went around his. He could still feel Christina's eyes on him from time to time.

That was her problem.

What was on his mind at that moment was the woman in red and how he was going to make a re-entry into her life.

After six years.