Chapter 7 No.7

LUCAS' POV.

I had not been on the road for long when Tray, my beta, called me. I snapped out of my thoughts of the mysterious woman and cleared my throat.

"Lucas. Where are you right now?" He asked; immediately I picked the call.

"What? You're not going to let Lucas rest, even a few hours after he flew into Los Angeles?" I asked, and he gave a little chuckle.

"You know, things like this always happen whenever you're around. When you were in Paris, this didn't happen. It's happening only a few hours after you made your way back home. I'm sorry about that, but it's important." He said, although his voice didn't sound apologetic. If anything, he seemed happy to be burdening me with work.

Tray and I had been best friends since middle school, and we were known to be troublemakers. Although, ever since he had been assigned my beta, he held a bit of respect for me, but that did nothing to dim the light of our friendship.

"Important, I see. What's it about?"

"Mrs. Mayer decided to see if the contract was worth signing with us and sent her granddaughter to have a chat with you. She'll be the one making the decisions, apparently, because whatever she says to her granny as her evaluation of you will be accepted." He replied, and I sighed.

"Mrs. Mayer, Mrs. Mayer. She's one important business partner I do not want to lose. Damn. When did her daughter fly in?" I asked.

"Yesterday. We ought to have told you since the day before yesterday, so you two could meet today, but you were unreachable. By the way, how was your flight?"

"Nasty. Couldn't get a wink of sleep and ended up doing something nastier yesterday." I said, thinking of the stranger once more.

"Whoa, something nastier?"

"I'll tell you about it later. Where's Miss Mayer? Is she waiting, or is she yet to be at the meeting spot? And where's the meeting spot?"

"Correction. She doesn't like to be called Miss Mayer. She prefers to be called Miss Stephanie." He corrected, and I rolled my eyes.

"Like Granny, like daughter. They're both picky on needless things." I muttered.

"Don't let her know about that, though. So, uh, you just have to go to one of the restaurants close to the company. What's the name again? Uh, damn, I can't believe I forgot."

"Taste?"

"Nah."

"Jinxed dishes?"

"No."

"Coker's? Grits? Perfection? Buds and spices? Jane's kit..."

"Stop, stop, stop. It's perfection."

"Crazy. She'll expect me to pay the bill, won't she?"

"Like the bill's a problem for you. Anyways, Alpha Lucas, she's already waiting."

"What? Why is she there already? She doesn't know if there'll be a lot of traffic, or if..."

"She called me just now, before I called you, and told me she just got to Perfection."

"Why is she that way?" I asked.

"No idea. Ladies all act weird for different reasons." He replied. "So, I'd love to talk to you more, as your friend, but the personal secretary you found in me has to finish up a ton of work you cruelly left behind." He said, and I chuckled.

"You're something else. I'll be there soon." I replied and ended the call.

However, my son turned out to be two hours late, as the traffic seemed to be really bad.

I had sweated down the chest of my shirt and had to order a new one when I got to a restaurant close to Perfection.

I changed in their restroom before walking to the restaurant called Perfection, where Miss Stephanie was waiting for me.

When she saw me, she got to her feet with a bright smile.

She was a lady of average height, with dark, silky, straight hair, which flowed down to her waist and had the left side held back from her face by a luxurious hairpin.

She wore a bright red blazer with large golden buttons, and her heels were also blazing red. The only thing she carried that matched the dark color of her hair was her little black purse.

She was beautiful, but definitely not enough to snag my attention like the mysterious woman had done.

"Good day, Miss Stephanie." I greeted, and she held out her hand.

"Nice to finally meet you in person, Mr. Granger." She said, and I took her hand.

Small, soft, smooth... but nowhere near as the hands and skin I had felt the previous night.

I shook my head slightly. Was I going to start comparing every woman to her?

"It's also a pleasure to meet you." I said, and gestured with my hands for her to sit.

"I apologize for being a little late. There was a lot of traffic on the road."

"Oh, it's fine. I know all about the exceptional traffic today. L.A.'s a busy city. I should expect just as much. Also, if it interests you to know, I passed my time reading comics, so my time waiting has been nothing more than me having a normal, relaxing day, deciding to go out, see people, read books... stuff like that."

"Oh, I should be grateful to the comic then." I said, and she laughed lightly. A laugh that came off to me as very controlled- like she was trying to laugh in an enchanting manner.

Nevertheless, I smiled.

"What about you, Mr. Granger? What would you do if you were in my shoes?"

"Well, I'm a very busy man, so I'll likely cancel the meeting and attend to other things." I replied frankly, and she gave a coy smile.

"That's my style. The man who doesn't wait. We're very different, but you know what they say? Opposites attract." She said, lowering her tone, and I tried hard to stop myself from rolling my eyes. It was obvious she had begged her granny to stay back and let her come to L.A. so she could see me.

I got annoyed and irritated by girls like her easily, so I decided to forget about signing a contract with Mrs. Mayer because I didn't want to mind being very rude.

"What do you think about that? Opposites attract?" She asked, drumming her fingers gently.

"In my case, I don't really fancy girls who don't reason like me."

"Oh come on, we might have some similarities. This is just one difference. So, tell me... What's your exact type? Who knows? I might be just the right lady."

"I thought we came here for business." I replied curtly.

"We came here for business, yet I waited over two hours for you to get here. You at least owe me thirty minutes of light chatting before we get weaved into the problems of business and all."

"Oh really? So you want my ideal type, as light chatting?"

"Of course, every lady wants to know the ideal type of a handsome man, so they can be it."

"Well, I love simple girls and detest the pushy, clingy girls-the girls who force themselves on men. If you look at me, Miss Stephanie, you will see that I'm dressed in expensive and luxurious things. It's just the same for the girls I like. I love expensive and luxury girls, and not cheap ones." I said, looking at her directly in the eye, and her eye twitched.

Her long-faded smile returned uncomfortably, and she licked her lips.

"Your gaze is quite intense. You make it seem like you're talking about me."

"I'm trying to say I'm not interested in you and will never be. Do you still want to continue with business, or will you let me go on with more important things? I don't waste my time on things that make me uncomfortable." I said, and she scoffed, although I could read the hurt on her face as clear as day.

Well, that was what happened to ladies who went around throwing themselves at men.

"That's... That's quite harsh and really careless. You're here to sign a contract with me. At least you'll play pretend just to get the contract signed. Men do this. They do whatever to get what they want. You should play along... maybe you don't want the contract and the money?"

"For money I will bow to no one. I'm not a slave to money. If it's money that will make me play along, then it's impossible because I already have that in abundance. I'm afraid you'll have to look for another way to make me bow." I blurted out, and she scoffed again, looking like her eyes would water any minute.

"Then let's not bother thinking of signing a contract."

"Have a nice day, ma'am." I said, getting to my feet, and walked away from her.

It hadn't been a complete waste of time. All that was left was to drive to see my dear nephew.

It was evening already, and I could see signs of the sun beginning to set.

How had the day gone by in a flash?

I drove away from the restaurant and received a call from Tray.

"What did you do to Miss Stephanie?" He asked, and I chuckled.

"She called you that fast?"

"Yeah, she told me to forget about signing a contract with Mrs. Mayer."

"Of course, she did the right thing. I'm signing a contract with my pen and not with something else." I said, and it took a few seconds for Tray to understand; he burst into laughter.

"She was making advances at you?"

"It was disgusting."

"You shouldn't blame her, but your handsome face."

"Oh really?"

"Where are you? Are you still around the company?" He asked, and I looked around.

"Yeah, want to meet up?"

"Sure, meet you at the coffee shop down the road." He replied, and I drove to the coffee shop, parking safely.

I walked in and ordered snacks. I was famished and needed to chew something seriously.

Shortly, Tray came and sat in front of me. He was tall, with neat brown hair, shaved at the sides. Trey was the exact opposite of me. The only attribute we shared was handsomeness, and our major difference was the fact that I was reserved, but he was a great flirt. Trey was the kind who would have a one-night stand and not get freaked out about it.

"What's the deal with Miss Stephanie? You could have tried to play along and..." He began.

"That's exactly what I detest. I like pure business. Not one tainted with sexual desires or romantic feelings."

"This is why your dating history is so poor. Back in school, you got 'A's, while I got 'F's. If dating was a subject, you'd get something worse than an 'F.' He spat, and I chuckled.

"When I want to date, I have my ways."

"Oh, really. You do?" He said, and I nodded with a smile, until my eye caught the time on my watch.

"Jeez, I'm sorry, Tray. I'm late. My nephew's waiting."

"Oh, I forgot you were going to his house first." He intoned flatly.

"Yeah, he told me to stay at his house pending the time we'd move to the other building. I think he said he was cooking something. You know me; I'd never eat anything warm that turned cold and might have to break his heart." I said, and got to my feet, making Tray shake his head.

"Heartbreaker should be your middle name. You had me running down here, only to leave in a minute?" He asked, and I chuckled.

"You missed me, right? Don't worry; you'll be begging for me to leave once I resume back to work." I said, and heard him laugh as I dashed out of the coffee shop.

I drove down to see my nephew and bought a few things I knew he'd like on my way. However, upon arriving at his front porch, I heard a woman raging at him. He was trying to talk back, but she didn't stop shouting. It had to be none other than his fiancée, whom he had told me about.

What could have caused such a sweet woman to raise her voice like that?

How hard could they have fought for her voice to be so loud?

Then, she said it was over, and my eyes widened. I decided to step in so they'd stop fighting, and maybe when she calmed down, she'd see that breaking the engagement wasn't the best thing to do.

I tapped in the passcode and opened the door.

"John." I called, and he looked at me.

The woman turned sharply, making me take a step back in shock.

Memories of the night came to me sharply. Soft skin, light voice, beautiful face, angelic smile...

John's fiancée was the mysterious woman I had slept with.