What He Wanted (Book#1 of The Runaway Club)

Chapter 19 : The Playboy's Night Plans

OOOHH! Look! That's our model playboy Aaron here! Does it mean he is coming back? HE HE HE (thats an evil laugh, if you didnt get it). Read on, guys!

~Adam's POV~

"Sir?" My intercom buzzed to life and I looked up. I answered it and asked, "Yes, what is it Celine?" I lazily fell back on my chair and pushed away the black file in front of me. 

"Sir, your business partner in India has requested a video conference with you.", she said through the intercom. I played with a pen between my fingers. India? That thought alone brought a raven-haired and emerald eyed Indian beauty into my mind, with a smile that was worth dying for.

"Sir?"

Celine's voice brought me crashing down to the reality. I shook my head, unable to to take that provoking image from my brain. "Yes Celine, send me the repective files and connect me in five." I ordered and the intercom went dead. I leaned in and opened my laptop.

Why  is it that I can't get her out of my head? Ever since Ria and I left Virginia day before yesterday, I turned disfunctional. I cannot concentrate on my work anymore. Everwhere I look, I see her. Every single thing reminds me of her. When I close my eyes, all I see is her. Yesterday, I even woke up all sweaty and hard, dreaming of her. When the sun sets, I am dying to hear her voice. Gosh, I am pathetic! I need help!

I sighed and opened the files that Celine had sent me. Name of the joint ventures; White Lillies. Cliche. Number of branches; 4. Not that much of a profit. Name of the partner; Mahendra Malhotra. Malhotra? Dammit! There I am thinking of her again. I ran my fingers through my blonde hair in frustration. Why do I keep doing this? Malhotra is a huge Indian family, so big that its far members do not even know each other. I myself had met a dozen of Malhotras who dosen't know of each other's existence. Everything dosen't have to relate to her, for Christ's sake!

I pushed away those disturbing yet tempting thoughts and answered the request for the video call flashing across my laptop screen.

"Good Evening, Mr. Lexwood!" A salt-and-pepper haired man appeareed on the screen before me. I fell back authortatively on my chair that swung back slightly under my weight as I continued toying with the pen. I kept a cold and calculative stare on the man, my face devoid of any emotions. "It's Good Morning here." I pointed out deadpan and the man laughed.

"My bad. Good Morning, young man. I am Mahendra Malhotra, your business partner. Your father and I have met but I believe we haven't, am I right?" The man asked and I warily eyed him, as if to say 'can you get on with already?'.

"No. We haven't met." I said emotionlessly and the man sighed.

"Coming to the matter at hand, I believe I have submitted a few proposals about opening new branches of White Lillies a few months back. I have also pointed out the merits of opening new branches of hotels in other major cities of India, considering the rapid increase in tourism here." The man said, an obvious fake smile plastered on his face.

I brooded over the man and tourturingly slowly I leaned in. "Indeed your plans are exciting Mr. Malhotra but I must say, your current perfomance is not upto the mark. Your increase in profits form the last four months are quite on the low side. Without a steady increase in profits in the branches that are now present...how can I invest in more?" I asked in an exceptionnally cool voice as  I cocked my eyebrow.

The man's broad smile fell by a fraction and he inched closer to the edge of his seat in a slight anxiety. "Mr. Lexwood, I admit that the monthly profits are falling slightly for the past four months but I have my reasons. But I can assure you that investing in hotels here will not bring you any losses." He argued.