Chapter One
Emma glanced at her wristwatch for the hundredth time. She was late for work, which isn't going to end well with her boss Mr. Joe.
He had told her to come very early that day because she had an important presentation to propose.
"If not for this mechanic who disappointed me today again eh, my car would have been ready by now," she said angrily while flipping her long hair backward to prevent it from entering her eyes.
She footed on the pavement to get a better view if a taxi was coming while standing there looking angry but cute at the same time which annoys her sometimes because her friend often tells her, her angry face looks too cute to show her angriness.
She stood there, waiting for a taxi to arrive when a car spattered rainwater all over her body while trying to save her face from the dirty water, she missed a step, this made one of her heels to break.
"What the hell just happened?" Emma screamed in bewilderment. She noticed the car stopped a few meters from where she stood. She couldn't even think of walking towards it because of her broken heel.
The car's door was unlocked and a chauffeur dashed to where she was standing.
"Ma'am, I'm really sorry, I never knew water was there," He said apologetically looking at her stained dress. She bent her head to see how bad the dress was ruined, "Shit" She murmured.
He tried to clean the dirt away with a handkerchief
"Just leave it, else it will spread
"Okay thank you, and I'm sorry once again, it wasn't intentional"
"It's okay I..."
Emma was interrupted by the presence of a man who got down from the back door of the car. Her breath was taken away by his arrival and aura of confidence. He looked like a freshly baked cake with his fragrance dominating the air.
While she was admiring the strange good looking man, her cell phone rang. This tugged her back to reality. "Jeez, my boss," she knew, she was late and he will be furious.
Mr. Joe is all about his money and he makes sure he gets it with hard work, and of course, with the help of Emma, he knew she was a great asset to the company, she had finalized multiple deals and she was about to finalize one too. She picked the call.
"Hello, s..."
"Get your ass over here now!" Mr. Joe interrupted her greeting with a yell and hung up.
"Damn it" She looked at her clothes again in frustration, Just then the good looking man whom she was admiring walked closer to her and his chauffeur.
"Get her into the car and take her to a boutique," he said handing his credit card to this chauffeur.
Emma was taken aback by his arrogance and supremacy which irritated her.
"Excuse me, is that the best thing to do?" She looked at the stranger's face trying to maintain strong eye contact which isn't really working because his eyes were so intense, she felt like she was looking into his soul
He wasn't expecting that response at all, he thought she would be excited about it. "That's what most ladies craved for," He said nonchalantly.
"Well I'm not most ladies," She said and removed her broken heels, she walked away from the man and his chauffeur, both of them were stunned.
"Wow, arrogance at its peak, an apology should've come first, they fucking ruined my dress and my heels got broken for goodness sake" She grumbled
She sighted a taxi coming closer to her, she quickly walked towards it, not caring about her ruined dress or broken heels. Her presentation wouldn't let her bother about such things at that moment.
"Um, she's fierce" The stranger grinned then, he signaled to his chauffeur to get into the car and they went on with their ride. When he was inside the car, he remembered the lady again, he tried to shake the thoughts away but he couldn't get the fierce lady out of his mind.
His inquisitiveness took the best out of him and he asked his chauffeur about the fierce beautiful lady since he was with her before him. " Did she tell you her name? He asked his chauffeur Brand who has dedicated his attention to his driving.
"No sir, she didn't mention her name" Brand answered surprisingly.
"Too bad" He responded, then opened his phone to check his mail.
Brand was surprised his boss asked him about the lady.
An hour later, Emma, got to her destination and ran to the restroom to clean up the specks of dirt on her dress. On her way out, she met her colleague Debbie, who was her best friend also, they started their friendship from college, they shared the same goal and both are ambitious, this made them inseparable.
"What happened to you? Debbie asked worriedly.
"Babe I will gist you later. I'm late for my presentation and my boss called me already.
"Oh, he asked me about you some minutes ago, you look like a mess babe", Her friend said.
"I know, when I am done with the presentation, I'll do the needful, but for now, there's no time for that. See you later babe".
She left her friend and walked towards the presentation room, praying to God to help because the deal meant a lot to her and to her boss too, and she must finalize it else her boss would be furious, and disappointed in her
She entered the room and all eyes were on her. She looked up and got the shock of her life when she saw the good looking stranger whom she encountered an hour ago, sitting confidently on the reserved seat, that was meant for the lead sponsor of the deal she was about to seal.
She couldn't believe her eyes as she looked at the name tag which was in front of the handsome stranger and saw his name boldly written on it, 'Kieran Jones'.
Kieran too was surprised, and shocked at the same time, when he saw Emma at the entrance, looking like a lost puppy with her jaw dropped.
Emma's boss winked at her to start her presentation. She blinked her eyes three times before she came back to reality. "God, what have I done? I almost insulted him awhile ago" she whispered to herself regretfully.
She cleared her throat, then she composed herself, and started her presentation. Praying to God to help her, in her dilemma. Shortly after she finished her presentation, her boss told her to excuse them, while he reviewed the deal with the boards.
Emma left the room trembling because the deal meant a lot to the company, and it meant a lot to her too. She would be promoted and become the Managing Director if the deal got finalized.
She glanced at the stranger who has the final decision on the deal, as he gracefully sat down on the chair looking at her with an unreadable facial expression, She left hurriedly as she went to meet her friend, Debbie.
"Debbie!" she said
"You're done?" Debbie asked, then she stood up, from the chair she was sitting on in her office.
"Yeah, almost, you wouldn't believe this" Emma said nervously.
"Try me" She replied her eagerly
Emma narrated what happened, between her and the sponsor to Debbie, who was rolling on the floor with laughter.
"It's not funny" Emma screamed
"No babe, it is" her eyes were watery as a result of laughter. "What will I do now, tell me? I know my mouth would land me into trouble one day, but I never knew it would be this way" She lamented.
"Take a chill pill babe, you don't even know what's going on there, besides, you did nothing wrong sweetie".
"Hell no, I did something wrong" She protested
Debbie signed at her friend's words "Hmm, okay maybe you did, but I'm sure he would overlook it if the deal makes sense. Business is business" Debbie said trying to calm her nerves down
"Emma!," Her boss called her.
"Oh my God", she ran towards Mr. Joe nervously, she looked at his face and was surprised to see his face's expression.
"We got the deal!" He shouted happily stretching his hands forward for a hug. She hugged him and took a deep breath.
"Thank you, Lord," She said silently.
"We are having a party tonight for celebration, I will send the address to your email," Mr. Joe said with this face gleaming with happiness, then he left.
When she got home, she was skeptical about attending the party, because she knew Kieran would be there. But on second thought, she knew it was mandatory, for her to attend.
She dressed herself up looking simple, yet elegant because she doesn't want stares from people that day. But she knew she would still attract them no matter how she dresses.
When she arrived at the party, she greeted the guests and they exchange pleasantries. When she was done, she sat down checking some messages on her phone before she noticed the presence of someone.
"Hello, beautiful" A rich deep voice greeted her. She needed no soothsayer to tell her who the voice belonged to. She doesn't know how to react after the little encounter they had in the morning, but she knew she had to reply to him to avoid being rude to a sponsor.
"Hi," She said gently not looking up. Kieran raised her head, up gently, with the tip of his index finger.
Emma gazed at his eyes and couldn't help but admire God's work on this face. She wouldn't deny the fact that she found Kieran attractive.
Kieran on the other hand, stood still, enthralled by Emma's beauty and softness. He couldn't help but stare at her sultry lips, as some thoughts played through his head
"I'm sorry for what happened in the morning," She said gently as she turned her head away from his finger, he dropped his hand down.
Kieran knew she must be surprised as much as he was, to see her at the presentation room "It's okay, besides, your presentation was promising. He sat down next to her, and his nostrils were filled with her perfume.
Kieran had met lots of women, but the glorious soul sitting gracefully beside him is unique. And different from the women who surrounded him. He looked at her angel-like, face shining bright.
"Mind if we go somewhere quiet? He asked unexpectedly.
Every control button in her mind popped up, telling her not to fall for the emotions running through her head but she couldn't help it, but listen to her heart. She nodded her head, and he stretched his hand forward. She put her left hand on his hand, which felt small compared to his big hand.
They stood up together and left for somewhere closer, and quieter.
Emma inhaled the fresh air
"Nothing beats nature," She said smiling beautifully
He looked at her beautiful face "You can say that again", he tucked his hands inside his pocket
"So tell me, what you craved for? Kieran inquired suddenly looking directly at her
"Excuse me? " She said confusingly
"You said you were not like most ladies in the morning, so tell me"
"Oh about that, mm-hmm..." do I need to answer that?"
He smiled at her cuteness. "Yes you do"
"Why?"
"Well, maybe because I want to know you better, and get to know what you craved for instead of going to a boutique and get anything you want"
She cleared her throat, not sure of where to start from, but she knew she had to answer his question.
"Well, an apology should have come first," She said
"An apology? "
"Yes",
"Why?" he raised a question
"Why?", She looked surprised "You fucking ruined my dress"
"I didn't" He protested
"What?"
"Yes, my driver did that, not me" He defended himself
"Well, fair enough, but an apology should have come first," She said
"Then the boutique stuff should follow? He said jokingly
Emma could see the humor in the question
"Well, you can say that again," She said and they burst out laughing.
"What the fuck is going on here? Vivian yelled angrily when she saw her ex-boyfriend, Kieran, laughing with a lady. She couldn't restrain the anger boiling in her, as she met him laughing wholeheartedly with a lady when he had never done that with her while they were dating.
She knew she was more into the relationship than Kieran was, but she tried everything she could do, to hold unto him even after he broke up with her a week ago. She tried calling him but he wouldn't pick, She even went to his office and was denied entry.
Emma turned to see who the angry voice belonged to, and was met by the presence of a sophisticated lady, gazing at her with hateful eyes. The lady is the kind of lady, who steps into a room and make other ladies conscious of their dressings.
She wished she had paid more attention to her look and outfit immediately she saw the refined lady.
"Is this the bitch you left me for? Vivian said with contempt while staring at Emma.
Emma was taken aback by the utterance, she had no idea what was going on, at that moment but she couldn't care less, all she wanted, was to leave before any additional embarrassment.
"I'm out of here," She whispered, she was about to leave when Kieran quickly held her hand, to prevent her from leaving, but she jerked his hand off and left hurriedly with her eyes almost teary. She felt embarrassed because few couples were there, and they looked at her with condemnation. They thought she was trying to snatch a man away from his woman
He followed her immediately but kept his distance from her, to avoid embarrassing her again. Vivian stood there, surprised by the gesture Kieran showed to the lady in her presence.
Emma left the party for her house immediately.
"I have never felt so useless like that before, she walked up to me and called me a bitch? She said angrily, after some minutes she showered and tried to sleep but her phone rang.
She looked at the screen and it was an unknown number.
"Hello," She said
"Hi it's me," Kieran said hopefully
Immediately she heard the voice she knew who it was.
"Please don't hang up" he pleaded.
"What do you want?" She said
"I'm at the front of your house"
"What?!" She screamed
"I'm sorry it was unexpected, but I want to explain what happened earlier, and to apologize for what she said to you.
"You owe me no explanation, and as for the apology, you can keep that to yourself, so please do yourself some good and leave," Emma said.
"Just hear me out please, please," he pleaded
Emma doesn't know what to do. She doesn't want to go and meet him, to avoid further pain but deep down she wanted to hear his part of the story.
To be continued