We Were Meant to Be

23 | awakened

I don't fucking care whether they're just his girl toys or whatever they are to him. I'm talking about business confidentiality.

He shakes his head in disbelief. "Like father like son, always not fond of these pretty ladies. You two are missing out." He laughs.

I'm trying my best to keep a straight face, but I unknowingly ball my fist under the table. Whether this person realizes it or not, he just disrespected my mother.

Calm down. He won't look this happy anymore once he finds out that the shareholders have agreed to transfer most of his company's assets to mine.

"Fine." He sighs. "But I feel like you should loosen up. You look tired. Have a drink first."

"Just one beer," I say to the waiter standing by beside our table.

Alex clicks his fingers to call his assistant, and before I can object, he commands, "Bring the other two girls here."

I say nothing.

He gives me a meaningful look. A smirk creeps on his lips. "I told you. It's about time you have fun. I can assure you that they're as sweet as honey."

This is why I hate working with him. He thinks that I would let my guard down just because of this kind of bribe.

Little does he know that it would never work for me. And it's not only because I don't want it. It's because I can't.

I don't like Alex's approach, but I don't refuse his offer. I decide to play along. A part of me wants to prove to myself that I'm not that fucked up. A part of me wants to heal. I can't let those nightmares haunt me forever.

Just as I expected, two girls in sexy dresses lean next to me. The one at my left wears a dress with a slit so high that it exposes all the skin on her upper thighs when she crosses her legs, and she's doing it on purpose. The other one doesn't hesitate to touch my chest, and when I look at her, all I can see is the cleavage between her breasts.

"Our business talk can wait for a while," Alex says with amusement.

He takes my silence as a yes, not knowing about the nausea that begins to consume me. I feel sick, like the air is suddenly becoming too overwhelming.

"It's too hot for you to wear this suit here. Let me take it off," one of the girls whispers seductively in my ear, and I allow her to peel off my suit.

I try to breathe on her neck, expecting to feel something. Anything. That excitement. That pleasure.

But I feel nothing but this horrible nausea.

The sound of Olivia's moans echoes in my ears, and I squeeze my eyes shut.

Fuck. All I can see is her again. All I can feel is my nightmare again.

Everything else around me feels like shutting off. The sound of Alex laughing as his companions tease him feels so far away.

"Easy. Let me make you feel better." The girl next to me leans closer to me and guides my hand. The next thing I know is that I'm cupping her breast.

But the darkness consuming me becomes even worse, and the feeling of her soft skin feels like burning my own, as though I'm touching fire. It makes me not want to touch her again.

Fuck. This isn't working.

I know that I will have to make them leave.

Immediately.