Sparks Fly (An Aleheather Story/AU)

Chapter 2

"I'm home!" Heather jangled her keys as she walked inside her penthouse and changed into her slippers. She had just arrived back home after the networking event.

"Hey, how was your day?" Courtney, her roommate and best friend walked out from the living room, a smile on her face. Courtney worked as a lawyer at one of Canada's top tier law firms.

"It was alright, I just came back from a networking event. How was your anniversary date with Duncan?"

"It was great! We went to a movie and then Duncan took me to this really fancy Italian restaurant!" Courtney gushed.

"'Fancy' and 'Duncan' in one sentence? Now that's a first," Heather teased. Duncan was Courtney's boyfriend - they had first gotten together in high school, broken up and then gotten back together again in college. Minus their 'break up', they'd now been dating for 6 years.

"Hey!" Courtney laughed. "It's the effort that counts, right? Oh and he also got me this cute bracelet!" Courtney beamed, holding up her wrist for Heather to see.

"You can't wear it if it's not my jewellery brand," Heather smirked. Courtney pushed Heather playfully. "I'm your biggest fan! I don't take off my Illuminate jewellery, even when I'm sleeping," she protested.

"I know, I know, I'm just messing around," Heather laughed along. She was happy to see her best friend so happy.

Heather had only been in one relationship, a 3 month relationship during the Summer break before eleventh grade of high school. Just before the new school year, her ex broke it off with her, telling her that she was a stuck-up and snobby person and that no guy would ever want to date her. Whilst Heather refused to admit it, the rejection did hurt her self-esteem. During college, Heather only focused on her studies and preparing for the launch of her business. She didn't have any close friends (aside from Courtney), and she never really went to any college parties, but she didn't mind. She didn't have the time or energy for boys, nor did she need a man in her life, she told herself. My focus is on my career and business only.

At that moment, Heather's phone lit up with a call. She looked at her phone screen and saw that the call was from her mother. She frowned. Her mom had been calling her quite a lot lately, although Heather never picked up. What was the point, she thought. They hadn't spoken in 4 years and their relationship was like shattered pieces of broken glass - irreparable.

"Are you going to answer that?" Courtney asked.

"Oh, it's an unknown number, probably just a spam call," Heather quickly lied.

"This late at night?" Courtney was sceptical.

"Yeah, I guess they must be desperate!" Heather faked a laugh. "I'm going to wash up and go to bed, good night."

"Good night," Courtney nodded. She watched as Heather walked up the stairs. Something's up, Courtney thought to herself.

***

Alejandro sat in one of the chairs in his father's study room. José, his older brother and J&B Co's other Co-Chief Operating Officer, sat in the other chair, a bored expression on his face, whilst their father Javier was positioned in front of them at his desk. Alejandro was reporting back to their father about the new business contacts he had made at the networking event this evening and the industry news and gossip that he had learnt of.

José rolled his eyes. If he hadn't been sick today, he would have also been at the event, and he bet that he would have made double - no, triple - the number of business contacts Alejandro had made and been able to find out so much more industry news. José could never stand to see Alejandro take credit for anything, and today was no different.

"Thank you, son." Javier nodded at Alejandro. "You've done well today." Alejandro couldn't help but beam, feeling proud that his father had praised him. Take that José, he thought to himself.

From when they were kids to now adults, José would always find a way to mock or embarrass Alejandro and attempt to prove that he was better than Alejandro - whether it was school, extracurricular activities or even when it came to women. Alejandro hated it, and hated José with his guts. It was unbearable that they were now working together in their father's company, but Alejandro was determined to show that he was more than just José's 'shadow'.

"Is there anything else I should know?" Javier asked, interrupting Alejandro's thoughts.

Alejandro hesitated for a moment. Then the words came out of his month. "Illuminate Jewellery is planning on signing on Dakota Milton as their brand ambassador."

His father paused and then nodded. "Very well. It's getting late, you better go get some rest."

"Goodnight Papá." Alejandro stood up and walked out the door. José grudgingly got up to follow after him.

"José, stay back," Javier said. José grumbled and plopped back on his chair.

Alejandro couldn't wipe the smile off his face at seeing José's reaction as he walked upstairs to his room. Once he had showered, he laid on his bed and scrolled through the various apps on his phone. He then opened his laptop to check the evening news for the day. There was nothing new. Then, without thinking and almost as if he were acting subconsciously, he found himself googling 'Illuminate Jewellery'. He clicked on the first search result which was Illuminate's website and looked through all the different jewellery designs on the site. Not bad, he thought. Not bad. He went back to the Google search results page and kept scrolling. A video of one of Heather's interviews popped up. Perhaps it was out of curiosity, or perhaps it was because he was just bored, but he found himself clicking on the video. I'll just watch the first couple of minutes, he decided.

Before he knew it, 50 minutes had passed and he had almost finished watching the entire thing.

Alejandro was distracted by footsteps in the hallway and then the sound of a door shutting. That must be José, he thought. Alejandro checked the time. It was 11:03pm. He frowned. José had been chatting with their father for a long time.

He turned his attention back to his laptop screen, and a new, uneasy feeling came about him as he realised he had spent nearly an hour watching a video of this ... woman who had turned him down. That was just market research, he convinced himself. I need to understand our business competitors; it's purely strategic. And with that, he closed his laptop and went to sleep.