Chapter 14

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Kara’s POV

*

I took a sharp inhale as I waited calmly for the call to be received. It rang several times and the automated woman spoke, ‘the person you’re calling is not available,’ eliciting a deep groan from me as I ended the call. I tried it again and like the first time, I waited patiently but she still wasn’t picking.

Then I tried it the third time. Adrian groaned immediately she picked my call. “Kara, why exactly are yo-”

“Emergency, Adrian. There’s an emergency.” I announced, pulling the covers further over my chest. I bit on my lips and released a shaky breath. Adrian scoffed and could already picture her doing an eye roll. It had not been more than twenty minutes since I woke up but the reality of my current situation seemed to have just dawned.

Young master asked me out and we were now ‘fake dating.’ Then he also wanted me to start calling him Stephano because we were now supposedly going to be more civil with each other.

“Uh...what’s up? I knew you’d call me this afternoon and not morning but what made you change your mind?” Adrian asked me, her voice groggy from her disturbed sleep. I drummed my left fingers on my lips. What if she didn’t understand the gravity of the situation when I told her?

Oh, now I began freaking out. It was better I called her and watched her expression because she would probably mirror mine. If she didn’t, then I would have to start conducting interviews because I needed a new friend as soon as possible.

“I need to see you! I’m calling.” I ended the call quickly and called her on Skype. Thankfully, she instantly picked it this time.

“You didn’t even give me time to dress properly. What’s up with that?” She screamed but when she saw my serious expression, she frowned. “So... what’s up?” I knelt on the bed and whipped a stray tendril of my hair out of my face, tucking it into my bonnet.

“You won’t believe what I’m about to tell you but honestly, young master has been acting weird for the past few days. Yesterday was the worst.”

“What did you do?” She asked with a hardened gaze as if I was the one who caused him to act so weird, “What happened and have you taken him to the hospital? Is he down with the flu or is-”

“Girl, shut up. Let me explain okay?” I interjected quickly.

She huffed. “Whatever.”

“You won’t believe what happened yesterday.”

“Apart from you going out and promising to tell me after...let me guess.” She sported on her serious look which only made her look dumber than she already was. “You want to tell me that he tried to throttle you in your sleep and you’ll expect me to believe it. You lying swine.” She completed suspiciously, mumbling the last two words which only earned her a glare from me.

I wouldn’t blame her. Anyone who saw the young master would take him to be a respectable and reserved man while I on the other hand would obviously be taken for the liar between the both of us if I dared accuse him. Even mama thought I exaggerated because he never directed me those glares whenever she was in sight.

“He asked me out.” She looked at me suspiciously, squinting in the process and then all of a sudden, Adrian burst into a fit of cackles. Taking me aback, I gritted my teeth in irritation.

“You’re not serious. Yo- you probably had too much wine to drink at that event or whatever it was that you went. Oh my goodness Kara...” She cackled some more and threw her head backwards, heaving a contented sigh as if she just got some funny joke.

“Adrie...I’m serious.”

“You’re no-”

“I am. We even kissed. We reached a contract proposal agreement that stated we would date for a whole year.”

At this, she graced me with her concentration, her eyes widening. “He really did that?”

“I mean it.”

“Lip to lip?” She whisper yelled.

“Yes. It has me confused at the moment.”

“Then what happened after the kiss?” She was now completely serious. She wasn’t even blinking and I wouldn’t be surprised if she had also stilled her breath.

“He said he didn’t regret it.”

She squealed and shook her head, leaving me confused. “Yes, I knew it!”

“What?”

“He likes you. He really does Kara.” I did an eye roll, clicking my tongue against the edges my upper teeth. Just when I thought she wanted to say something serious, Adrian succeeded in cracking the joke of the century.

“Yes he does.”

She displayed her perfect white teeth. “See? I tol-”

“And a pig just hit my window while flying.” I completed. Her shoulders slumped.

“I’m being serious here.”

“Same. I am.” I scoffed. Just when I expected her to be serious, she was anything but.

“Okay. Maybe he doesn’t like you but tell me. How was the place you went?” A dreamy sigh escaped my lips.

“It was actually beautiful and also quite classy. You know I’ve heard of the New-City gate center but never been there. The halls wer-”

“Oh please. Who cares about the decorations? Dumbo. I meant you and him. How did he act around you?”

“Oh. Well he was acting his usual cold self but there were times he did act like a gentle man. You wouldn’t believe it, he actually held my hand and I think that was sweet. Seriously!” I giggled.

“Hmm,” She hummed. Whenever Adrian hummed, something was obviously going on in that head of hers. “What else did he do?”

“He got so irritated when a man tried to have a dance with me. He actually denied several men before that one but the both of us danced after a while.”

“Then?” She said in a bored tone, meaning for me to continue.

“Then, he kissed me and I was rambling like my usual self but he kissed me again. Then said he wanted to see me and when we got home, he proposed the contract thingy.”

“Tada. Got what I needed.”

“Which is?” I asked curiously. I could see her already typing something on her other phone.

“Don’t worry. Your savior will be back soon. Till then, you just be the perfect girlfriend. I ship you guys already.” I gawked at her.

We were supposed to be freaking out together. Had she lost it? Who even said anything about us actually truly being together?

I called her this early in the morning, expecting her to help me out here but she was saying she shipped us. Like who does that? Maybe last night was a figment of my own imagination... No. It couldn’t have been because I could still feel tingles whenever I replayed the scene as it happened.

“Are you even listening?” Adrian shrieked dramatically.

“What?”

“My cousin is coming over and I want you to take him to Brady, Shawnie’s cousin.” She sometimes called her boyfriend Shawnie because they gave each other some stupid nickname for some dumb reason I didn’t even want to know about.

“Okay. Why didn’t you just send him there directly?”

“I want you to meet him. It’s the model I’ve been telling you about and he needs a real guide. Not some stupid tour guide, he’s never been to Italy before.”

I nodded. “So he’s coming over to our place?”

“Yeah duh, he’s heading straight to your young master’s place.” She teased and I felt my cheeks go warm. I tried to ignore the effect but my cheeks grew a bit warm as blush slightly appeared on my cheeks. Ugh, she was only teasing me!

“Okay then. I’ll be waiting.” I softly mumbled.

“You better be. Are you blushing? aww.”

“Yeah right, like I’d give you the pleasure to ever see me blush.”

She slapped her forehead dramatically. “Oh please, like you can fool me.”

“Whatever.”

“End the call immediately. I have to receive my boyfriend’s call now.” She joked, now staring at her other phone.

“Yeah, rude much? Love sick brat.” I snorted. “But I’ll gladly leave you to talk to that sweet guy who has to endure putting up with your annoying ass. Bye.” I ended the call before she could even start protesting and searching for a good comeback.

~°~

Stephano’s POV

*

“The meeting has been adjourned.” Andre announced. Each member began to take their leave, some stopping for a little greeting while others just headed out immediately.

“We’ll see in a few days’ time. Have a nice evening.” Mr. Sharks greeted with that camouflage smile he didn’t know I could now see through.

Bloody traitor wouldn’t know what hit him until I was through with him. He thought it was wise to invest in my company and then steal information from me in the process but that wasn’t a really wise decision he’d made.

From the time I found out, I immediately had him under my watch.

“You too.” I replied calmly and kept my gaze on the annoying man as I watched him leave the conference room. Getting up, I took my briefcase which Andre had just neatly arranged all my files into.

“Should we set out for the impromptu meeting now?” He asked. In appreciation, I placed my hand on his shoulder and saw him relax, as if he knew I did it in an appreciative gesture.

As if he needed that pat on the shoulder.

I had never been the mushy kind of person with any of my workers but these past few days, I and Andre were really working hard and we already got the names of ten people who were involved in the dirty businesses that were bringing unwanted attractions to thieves and scammers in this field.

I knew we both deserved some accolades for our hard work.

I’d stumbled across a video on Instagram last night before sleeping, where Usain Bolt the runner gave a random man— who was helping him make sure he had all the needed props for running — a hand shake.

The smile on the man’s face was something I wouldn’t be forgetting in a long time. He looked like he had won a lottery and that had brought a smile to my face. I liked reading motivational and inspirational quotes on Instagram and I even followed a few.

Now just thinking about it, I began to wonder if Kara was on Instagram. I wondered if she followed all those scrawny boys and decided to search for her possible username when I got home. I really hoped she was using her name and not a nickname because I knew nothing about those.

On Instagram, I had thousands of followers but I didn’t really follow so many people, except those I knew were making positive impacts in my life due to their motivational posts. However, if Kara was on Instagram, I would follow her immediately.

“Sir?” Andre brought me out of my random thoughts. I raised a brow as I hadn’t even registered him asking any question. “I asked if we should set out for the impromptu meeting now.”

He met my gaze. Andre always met my gaze.

“No. I changed my mind. Send someone over from the HR department and go home.” I dropped my hand from his shoulder and left the conference room, knowing he would follow me.

Instead of going back to the office, I checked the time. It was already four thirty PM, so I decided to go home since office would close at six PM anyway. I could complete today’s work at home and I could also get to see my sweet Kara cooking.

“I’m leaving. Check the offices and send me any forgotten file.”

“Boss.” He nodded with a little quirk at one side of his lips. “Have a good night rest sir.”

“As always, Andre. You too.” I left for my car. I liked Andre, he was a good guy; based on the little I knew about him. He was just twenty three but already making connections. Connections I encouraged him to make because I saw my younger self in him and I wanted him to grow in the business world. I wasn’t afraid that he might turn around to stab me in the back when he was now popular and had a company of his own because I had so many companies around the world and was still building so many.

Investment wasn’t forfeited too because it would profit when the time came. When I got home, I went straight for the door and opened it. I looked around, trying to hide the small smile on my lips but that immediately morphed into a scowl at the sight I was greeted with.

Kara was holding a guys’ hand, her smaller hand was encased in his bigger one, which he was using to caress the back of her soft hand. She was giggling at what he said and he was looking down at her in a way that only I should have the right to.

The urge to rip someone’s throat off hadn’t been more appealing as I felt irritation seep off me in waves. Was he another rival I had to defeat? “Yes, who are you?” I asked immediately, my tone hard and my expression blank.