Chapter 10 Cara and Keith's Encounter

"Are you kidding me?" Aries gawked at Simon and the latter shook his head. "Why would I delete the only evidence of that night?"

Simon pulled a chair and sat across from him. "What will you do if you find her?" He asked. "Will you marry her?" He raised an eyebrow.

"What rubbish!" Aries gave a ridiculous look.

"Will you force her to sleep with you?"

"Of course not! I never force women to sleep with me," Aries retorted.

"Then why the fuck are you wasting your energy to find her?" Simon shrieked.

"I just want to know who she is!" He said.

"And what will you do then?" Simon asked and Aries had an 'I don't know,' look on his face. Simon picked up Aries's phone and handed it to him. "Here, delete the video and get over your obsession with her."

Aries groaned, taking his phone from Simon. His brain agreed with what Simon said, but his cold heart continued to win against his head. Pulling a long face, Aries deleted the video as he believed the heart always tries to mislead you.

"Good boy!" Simon patted his back when they heard a knock on their door.

"Come in!" Aries called and his secretary walked in.

"Sir, Miss Sasha Lewis is creating a scene outside our building." She said and switched on the television where Sasha was accusing Aries of cheating on her and putting more allegations to tarnish his image.

Aries's cold eyes were pinned on the television screen when he heard Simon. "Aries, you need to stop her! The award ceremony is in a few days, and I'm afraid her stunt could hamper the chances of our hotel winning."

***

Cara was sitting on the stairs of the back exit of the club thinking about a possible encounter with Alfred Doyle, Cynthia Glazier and Isla Glazier. She took out her phone and opened her father's picture. The old memories resurfaced in the back of her mind and tears slipped from her eyes.

"You can do it, baby girl!" She recalled her father's encouraging words. "My girl is the strongest!"

"I can't do anything, dad! I am not strong enough to fight with them," She stared at the picture.

"Hey, what's up?" Jasper appeared, and Cara quickly looked up at him, wiping her tears. "Were you crying? What's wrong?" He asked, sounding worried, and sat next to her on the stairs.

"Tell me what's wrong?" He nudged her shoulder and Cara smiled.

"Umm.. nothing! Just missing mom and dad." She said, turning her phone off and Jasper stared at her.

"Where are they?" He asked, and Cara took a long pause.

"Somewhere together," She said, looking deep into her thoughts.

"Is there anything you wish to share?" Jasper whispered.

"Nope! All good," Cara answered.

"Come on, get up!" Jasper rose from the stair and extended his hand in her direction while Cara gave a puzzled look. "Your shift starts at six, right? We still have twenty minutes. Let's go for a coffee," He said.

"Okay," Cara easily agreed, as she needed a coffee to keep herself sane and they walked to the nearby café.

***

Grayson Group Of Hotels,

"What do you want?" Aries asked Sasha, and the latter smiled.

"I want you back!" She said seductively and Simon rolled his eyes.

"Not in this life, and especially after the stunt you pulled outside my office!" Aries said nonchalantly. "Try something else!"

"I heard you've had a great bond with Joey Brandon? The famous filmmaker!" Sasha said, and Aries suppressed his smile.

"Now you are talking sense!" He said. "Go ahead!"

"I want him to launch me!" Sasha demanded. "Do something and get me the role in his upcoming movie!"

"Done! Anything else?" He asked.

"What, really?" Sasha widened her eyes.

"Do you really think I had no idea why you got into this arrangement with me?" Aries raised an eyebrow. "You thought the filmmakers would approach you, but sadly...." He gave a defeated look, and Sasha glared at him.

"If you don't have any other demand, show yourself out!" Aries gestured. "Joey Brandon will call you in the evening."

Sasha nodded and rose from the chair, "But remember, if you tried to fuck with me again, I will fuck up your life!" He threaten and judging the look in his eyes, Sasha was sure he wasn't kidding. The intercom rang, and Simon picked up the call.

"Okay, send her in!" He said and turned to Aries.

"Alyona is here to see you!" He said and as Sasha reached the door, Aries's assistant opened the door for Alyona and the former rolled her eyes walking past her.

"Alyona, good to see you!" Aries greeted her as she walked further in.

"I hope I didn't disturb you." She smiled, and they hugged each other.

"Not at all!" He said and gestured for her to settle on the black leather couch. "But you had a flight back to Russia today, right?" He questioned, settling on the couch opposite her.

"Yeah, but I decided to extend my trip for a day!" She smiled, looking up at him.

"I've some work so I'll take my leave now," Simon said and walked out of his cabin, but Aries didn't miss the look he gave before leaving and it screamed louder than words.

"I DON'T WANT ANY FUCKING PROBLEM NOW!"

"So what's the purpose of prolonging your stay?" Aries asked.

Alyona stayed quiet for some moment before opening her heart to him. "I hate to admit it, as it makes me feel like losing control over myself, but I felt something last night." She said, and Aries knitted his eyebrows. "It wasn't just a one night stand for me. I felt connected with you!"

"But you said you're not interested in relationships?" Aries questioned.

"Yeah! But.... I don't know how to put my feeling into words! I can't explain how I feel about...." She fidgeted with her finger and before she could complete her sentence, Aries cut her off.

"Let's go out for dinner tonight!"

***

At the police station,

Keith drowned himself in work. It was past the time for him to get off work, but he still overloaded himself with work to forget about his cheating girlfriend. One of his colleagues and close friend, Janet, appeared and peeked inside his cabin.

"Keith! What are you doing?" She asked, and he looked at her through his bloodshot eyes. Janet opened the door and walk into his cabin. "Hey, what's wrong?" She walked to him and rubbed his back.

"Nothing!" Keith said, opening the next file, but Janet closed it.

"Tell me!!" She demanded and Keith sat comfortably in his chair.

"I'm fucking loser, Janet!" He said, throwing his head back and closing his eyes.

"She is a fucking loser as she couldn't recognise a gem like you. Stop blaming yourself!" She said. "That fucking bitch needed to exit so that the right one could enter."

"I don't think I could trust anyone from now onwards!" Keith rubbed his face and focused on the file, but Janet closed the file again. "What?" He groaned in frustration.

"There is this new club in the town I'm going to. Join me!" She offered. "Who knows? You might end up finding the right one for you?"

Keith declined. "I don't want to go!" He said but Janet was adamant and finally dragged him out.

***

Club Desire,

The night was young again, and the club was filling up with the crowd. Cara got ready in the same black and white waitress uniform and she opened the first two buttons of her white shirt when the manager glared at her.

She doesn't like the lustful gaze of drunk men on her cleavage and closes the two buttons whenever the manager disappears in the crowd. "Cara!" Jasper called him to the bar counter and pushed the tray full of drinks in her direction.

"Thank you!" She smiled, taking the tray to serve the drinks with a polite smile on her face.

Outside the club, Janet stopped the car, and Keith chuckled. "This place again!" He murmured.

"Did you say something?" Janet asked, turning to Keith, but the latter shook his head.

"Nope!"

"Okay, let's have a drink and then I'll drop you home. You badly need to rest and get over your ex-girlfriend!" Janet said, and they stepped out of the car.

***

Aries took Alyona to an Italian restaurant. The server poured wine into their glasses and Aries took a sip, focusing on Alyona, who was playing with the rim of her glass and smiled when she found his piercing grey eyes pinned on her.

"Don't stare at me like that!" She said, looking down at her glass and Aries cleared his throat.

"You are a good woman!" He said and Alyona glanced up at him as he continued. "But I'm a scarred soul who can only offer scars in return. I don't have any sad back story to support my dominant side. This is just how I am and I don't want to change myself for anyone!" He stressed more on the word than anyone, and Alyona understood what he meant.

"If there is a scar then there must be some unhealed wounds!" She said, and the side of Aries's lips curved up.

"Healed wounds too leave scars sometimes to remind what you've suffered!" He countered. "Alyona, you can get any man you desire!" He said.

"Except the one I really desire." She raised an eyebrow.

"I am not good enough for you!" Aries slightly raised his voice and Alyona chuckled.

"Calm down! I understand what you are trying to say and I respect it. Don't worry, I won't pester you to try things out with me!" She said and took another sip of his wine. "You're a charming man, not just by looks, there is something enchanting in you that seems to attract women." She smiled. "And I'd say this again, if you're ever tempted to try a genuine relationship, just know someone in Russia is willing to try things out with you."

"I'll keep that in mind!" He smiled. "Come, I'll drop you at your hotel," He rose from his chair.

"Airport! I'm leaving for Russia tonight," Alyona picked up her wallet, and they walked out.

***

Club Desire,

Janet and Keith settled at the bar and ordered drinks for themselves. "This place is so good!" Janet said, looking around the wild crowd and Keith bottomed up his drink. "Let's dance!" Janet exclaimed, pulling Keith to the dance floor. She forced him to dance, but Keith wasn't much interested.

Cara served the drinks and joined Jasper behind the bar counter. He was busy entertaining the other guest and Cara stood in the corner watching him making drinks when his eyes fell on the manager who was glaring at her.

Cara quickly opened the first two buttons of her shirt and watched him disappearing in the crowd when her eyes met with electrifying blue eyes pinned at her. She watched Keith taking steps in her direction and gulped in nervousness.

"Get me a drink!" He asked rudely, sitting on the high rise bar stool and Cara, biting her lips, served him a drink and stood rooted in her place instead of walking away. "I want to talk to you!" She said. "Please hear me out!"

"Not a fucking single word!" He glared at her. "I know the girls of your standard very well. Cheating, scheming and lying are some of your traits to trap men. I just saw what you did when that man was staring at you. You tried to lure him!" Keith insulted Cara and tears filled in her eyes. "But all this doesn't work on me!"

"Please listen to me once!" She pleaded, but Keith was in no mood to give her a room for explanation. While on the other hand, Janet saw a known face, and she followed him out of the club without informing Keith.

"Cara!" The manager appeared, and she quickly composed herself, turning to him. "Come with me!" He said and Cara left with him, glancing at Keith for the last time while the latter turned to find Janet and leave with her.

"Dump this garbage!" The manager said, pointing to the big black garbage bags and Cara nodded. More tears slipped out of her eyes, recalling Keith's insults, but she quickly wiped them and pulled the garbage bags out of the back exit. She reached the trash bin in the dark alley and dumped the garbage bags when she heard loud gunshots followed by the loud cries of a man.