Just Maybe...

CHAPTER 4- ASHER GRACE: "Nouveau Départ"

Walking up to the center of the hall to address everyone my mind spun with overwhelming thoughts and emotions and probably this was the moment it hit me,

Finally, all this is happening. My own interior designing house which will soon become a brand. "ELITE'S INTERIOR BY ASHER." But it was hard to believe if it was even possible if Darren wasn't there. He sponsored my designing house. Maybe that's what elder brothers do.

I was happy at the thought and kinda laughed at the last point that came into my mind, maybe because I and Darren didn't have that kinda close relationship anymore. After I raised my glass for a toast and addressed everyone present there, I thanked them for coming here today and showing their support. I had been way too nervous for this day because a lot of big names in the industry and big sponsors had been invited. So to have a confident aura about me, I had prepared a lot which included mugging up an entire speech that I was planning on giving when I addressed them. I had it so down to my reflexes that I don't even remember when my body went into auto-pilot mode while my eyes continuously searched the crowd for the reactions and responses.

It was only until my eyes fell on Diana standing there next to Ivie. From her body language, I could tell she was nervous by her surroundings probably because everyone here was unknown to her except Ivie which explained why she was standing so close to her, but she handled herself amazingly so much so nobody could tell, not until you were staring and observing her the way I did. That's when the realization of the creep stare hit me and I threw back into my sense and abruptly looked away.

As I was done with my speech, I introduced everyone to my sponsor, my partner, my brother Darren Grace. Although he was only a year older than me, he never let that go and always showed the control he had as we were younger and even now as we get older. Even though I always liked to claim, I was smarter seeing as how he dropped out of college in his third year; he was a finance major and management minor so he decided on starting his own company and became an entrepreneur and now he is seeing expanding his business. With me starting my own business came as the best opportunity for both of us. We have always been compared to each other, which pleased neither of us. He was a good looking and smart man, but our parents were initially disappointed in him when he dropped out of college. He never wanted to go to an Ivy League school, and we were so different when it came to college and studies.

I was rushed back into reality when I heard Darren's voice all over as he spoke, addressing everyone in the room again. Everyone cheered up, raising their drinks. I saw Ivie and Diana grabbing their coats because maybe they were leaving. I glanced at my watch, it was around ten. It was late for them as they had their college the next morning.

"You both are leaving?" I asked.

"Yeah. By the way, congratulations on your new beginning." Diana replied.

"Thanks. It's very late. Should I drop you both home?" I offered.

"No thanks, Ash. We got our car. Let's meet someday later this week. I am sure Ana can also accompany us." Ivie said, smirking, maybe noticing the difference in my tone while offering them to drop them home.

"Sure. Why not?" I replied. I saw Ana blushing from the corner. There's something different about that girl.