Chapter 14 How long to keep running away from him?
“What are our benefits in this?” One of the investors stated after listening to what Aiden said.
“I can’t say yet but I assure you would benefit quite a lot from it as it is a huge project.” Aiden replied and all the other investors nodded
“Alright then but before that, is there not any official document to back up this project?” Another of the investors said.
“That would be given to all of you in our next meeting which would hold on the 15th of this month as we would also be talking more on the project.”
“That’s good. We accept.” One of the investors agreed.
“Okay then. This meeting is over.” Aiden stood up and left the conference room.
Wayne who has been waiting for Aiden outside the conference room walked up to him.
“Tell the person preparing the project proposal to meet me with the proposal in my office right now.” Aiden ordered.
“Okay.” Wayne bowed and took the elevator while Aiden went to his office.
He sat on his chair with legs crossed against each other. He brought out his phone from his pocket and saw seven missed calls from his grandfather.
He had put it on silent mode when the board meeting was about to start so it wouldn’t distract the meeting.
But what could his grandfather possibly want from him again after forcing him to dates?
The phone rang again disrupting his thoughts. It was grandfather again.
He sighed and accepted the call.
“Thank your stars for answering this call else I would have come to that office of yours to deal with you.” Grandfather threatened.
“I was in a meeting with the investors and you know fully well that my phone is always on silent when I am in a meeting to avoid distractions.” Aiden explained.
“Oh yes! You were in a meeting yesterday too that you have refused to pick my calls, right?” Aiden didn’t say a word as grandfather had already caught him in his own game.
“You have refused to give me feedbacks on how your dates went.”
“It’s not that grandfather.”
“Then, it is what?” Aiden kept silence.
“You see, if you don’t give me what I want before this week runs out…..”
“You want a baby before the week ends?” Aiden interrupted with widened eyes.
“Why are you so dumb, old man?” Grandfather asked from the other side of the phone.
“I meant you should get someone who would give you a baby before the week ends.”
“And I don’t want to know how you do that.” Grandfather said again and cut the call.
Aiden brought down his phone. He stared at it for a while and tossed it on the desk.
“What a pathetic old man!” Aiden muttered as he rested back on his chair.
The door opened shortly revealing a nervous Tihana. She held some files on her right hand and used her hair to cover her face with the other hand, leaving one of her eyes to show.
She tried not to let her nervousness show as she walked towards her boss.
She dropped the files on his desk carefully, making sure her left hand doesn’t leave her hair.
She made to leave and Aiden scoffed.
“Weren’t you trained to greet your boss when you come into his office?”
She closed her eyes and opened it again. It totally slipped off her mind. She turned back to face him but with head bowed.
“I’m sorry sir, please forgive my manners.” She stuttered out. She was silently praying he wasn’t going to recognize her voice.
“Are you the newbie in the research and development department?”
“Yes sir.” This also came out as a stutter. Gosh, why couldn’t she stop stuttering?
“How presentable are this?” Aiden said staring at the files in front of him.
“They are very presentable considering I followed all the instructions given to me sir.” Tihana voiced out trying not to stutter this time.
“You can even check for yourself sir.”
Aiden took his eyes from the files and focused it on her.
He narrowed his eyes at her, wondering why she has been covering her face.
“Are you that ugly looking that you don’t want me to see your face?”
Tihana scoffed within herself and didn’t reply. It didn’t surprise her at all.
“Just make sure you don’t infect my company with your ugliness. You can leave.”
That gave Tihana a great relief because the next seconds, she was already heading out in a hurry.
She breathed out a sigh of relief with her hand on her chest when she got outside Aiden’s office.
She just couldn’t imagine how messed up the situation would have been if she was caught but how long would she hide from him?
********
Wayne stared around the restaurant but there was no traces of her. He sipped his juice as he checked his wristwatch. What was keeping her so long? She should have been here by now.
“I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting.” Diana said as she came to Wayne and drew out a chair for herself.
“I had a lot to do on my table in the office so I couldn’t keep up with the time we agreed on. Please, pardon me.”
“It’s nothing actually, I understand.” Wayne smiled at her and she smiled back.
“Thanks.”
“Have you ordered anything yet?”
“Sure, a juice.” Wayne nodded and raised his glass of juice.
“Is there any other thing you would love to have?”
“No, I’m okay with this.”
A waiter walked up to them.
“Can I take your order, please?”
“Yeah. Just get me a sandwich and a glass of apple juice.” The waiter jotted down her order and left.
“So, why did you call me here?” Wayne asked staring directly at Diana. That was when Diana remembered her actual motive there.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Diana hit her head slightly in a nervous smile.
The nervousness, they were back again. She took in a deep breath and put her two hands on the table.
“Ummm….” She started but paused when the waiter came to drop her orders.
“Here is your order, ma’am.” He left and now Diana was left with Wayne.
Diana started eating her sandwich, leaving Wayne in great suspense.
“Why am I here?” Wayne repeated his question after seeing she wasn’t ready to speak.
Diana hesitated for a while before summoning courage.
“I want you to be my boyfriend.” She dropped the bombshell and Wayne was taken aback.
What was she saying?
“Look, I know this sounds crazy like, seriously crazy but I just need your help on this.”
“I don’t understand you Miss.” Wayne said perplexed.
Never in his life has he witness a lady proposing to him to be her boyfriend. He had only seen that happen to Aiden and not him.
“What part don’t you understand?”
“Everything.”
“What is so difficult that you understand?”
“And is it a crime if I don’t?”
“Alright, I’ll start over again. My father wants me to settle down but I’m not ready for that yet and we agreed I was gonna get myself a boyfriend.”
“So, what’s my business with that?” Wayne sipped his juice, not taking his eyes off her.
“I ain’t ready for that either. So, I’ve come up with a decision that I would hire a boyfriend and…..”
“That person is me.” Wayne chipped in.
“Now, you understand.” Diana said in relief.
“But why do you think hiring a boyfriend will do when you had the chance to get one that wasn’t even ready?”
“I don’t understand.” It was now Diana’s time to be confused.
“You were to go on a date with Aiden Turner on the weekend but instead you gave it to someone else. Is it that you were born to oppose things and you feel hiring people to do it for you is the best?”
Diana widened her eyes in extreme shock. How did he find that out?
“What are you saying?” She tried saying but her voice failed her.
She took in a deep breath.
“How did you know this?” She said after seconds of silence.
“How I knew isn’t a problem but there is a question I will love to ask. Why did you reject the date and made another person go in your place?”
“That isn’t your business.”
“Many young ladies would have jumped to the offer but you? I don’t understand.”Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.
“Well sorry to disappoint you, I am not them. I am different, Diana Watts is totally different.”
“It seems like you don’t accept this. Well, it’s fine. I’m out of here.” Diana grabbed her purse, about to leave the restaurant but Wayne held her back before she could stand up.
“It hasn’t gotten to this yet. You don’t have to get angry, I was just trying to ease my curiosity. I don’t have any bad intentions.” Wayne sighed.
“You said you wanted to hire a boyfriend, right?”
“I explained that to you earlier.” Diana rolled her eyes and Wayne sighed.
“I accept.”
Diana face brightened up as she tried to fathom what she heard.
“I said I accept to be your boyfriend.” Wayne chimed and Diana smiled widely.
“Really?”
“Yes but I hope you’re telling the truth.”
“Sure, I am.” She was very happy.
“Thank you.” She said again.
“My pleasure.”
Diana couldn’t stop smiling as her plan was finally falling into place.
***********
Tihana typed on the laptop in front of her as if her life depended on it.
It was closing hours already but it didn’t seem like she would stop whatever she was typing soon.
“You’re still here?” She heard and she took a glance.
“I’m almost done ma.”
“What are you still doing? It is closing hours.”
“I know that Mrs Linda but like I said, I will be done soon.” Tihana said with her eyes still on the laptop.
“You can continue from where you stop tommorow.”
“I was asked to submit it first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Really?” Tihana nodded.
“Why don’t you come before work resumes to finish it up?” Mrs Linda suggested and Tihana paused what she was typing and faced her.
“No Mrs Linda, I would finish it soon.”
“Thanks for your concern.” She flashed her a smile and Mrs Linda sighed.
“Alright then, see you tomorrow.” Mrs Linda waved at her and left.
Tihana continued typing, that her fingers were beginning to feel the pain.
Few minutes later*
Aiden was passing by Tihana’s office with his phone on his ear. He was trying Wayne’s number but it wasn’t going through.
He stopped walking when saw the light in one of the office on. He found it weird because it was closing hours and he expected all the workers to have gone home, so why was the light still on?
Tihana was done with her work and was now preparing to go home when her office door opened.
She widened her eyes when she saw Aiden Turner at her door, staring keenly at her.
She tried covering her face again like she did in the morning but it was too late.
Aiden entered fully into the office, still staring at her. He was trying to see why the face looks so familiar to him.
“Have we met before?”
“Ummm, yes sir. We met this morning in your office.” Tihana said in a nervous smile.
“Apart from this morning, have we met somewhere else?” Aiden threw another question that want to make Tihana pee on her skirt.
She was now beginning to regret why she didn’t heed to Mrs Linda’s words of going home then, maybe she wouldn’t be facing this by now.
“I don’t think so sir.” She disagreed immediately.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes sir, very sure.”
Aiden still didn’t look satisfied as he was still staring at her and Tihana had to bow her face a little.
“You can go.”
Tihana picked up her bag instantly and rushed out, making Aiden more suspicious of her.
Tihana made sure not to look back to avoid being called back by him.
She entered the fastest taxi she could find and that was when her mind finally settled.
For how long was she going to continue running away from him?
What has Diana gotten her into? And most especially what has she gotten herself into?