Sparks Fly (An Aleheather Story/AU)

Chapter 1

Heather looked into the mirror inside her office and reapplied her pink lip gloss. She straightened her blouse and pencil skirt. She pulled her long raven black hair up, as if to tie it into a ponytail, then decided against it. Her hair flowed down her shoulders and she took a deep breath. There, all done.

"Hey, you look great," Nathan smiled as he knocked on Heather's office door, which was open. "Can I come in?"

"Sure."

"You ready?" Nathan smiled.

Heather rolled her eyes. "Nathan, you know how I feel about networking events".

"Yes, I know you hate people in general." Nathan chuckled. "But this is meant to be one of the largest business networking events for the fashion and jewellery industry in Canada. Think about all the new contacts we could make, particularly at such an important time for Illuminate. And I just know you'll blow everyone away."

Heather smiled. It was nice to have Nathan's support - he was probably one of the only two people in the world she felt she could properly trust, the other being her best friend Courtney. Heather had met Nathan during business school, and she had thought him to be a smart, loyal and determined person - someone who would be good for her business. Heather had worked hard on executing her jewellery business idea, Illuminate, all throughout her college years, and when she finally launched a year and a half ago she asked Nathan to join her as the Strategy and Operations Director. He accepted the position immediately.

In recent months, Illuminate had been growing at a rapid pace and sales were booming. Her business had also made into Canada's 'top 30 fastest growing companies', and Heather had even done her first few interviews as an entrepreneur. They were also on track to sign on the famous actress Dakota Milton as Illuminate's first ever brand ambassador. All was going well.

"I'm ready!" Lindsay, Heather's secretary, waltzed in. Lindsay wore a red minidress.

"What did I say about knocking," Heather muttered then blinked when she saw Lindsay's outfit. "Um, the dress code is meant to be business professional."

"Oh, I thought we were going to a party?" Lindsay frowned. "Sorry, I'll go change."

"Don't worry about it, we don't have time," Heather sighed. "Where's the papers I asked for?"

Lindsay handed Heather a few printed sheets. "Thank you," Heather rolled her eyes, thinking that Lindsay had finally done something right for once. She turned around back to Nathan. "You sure you don't want to come?"

Nathan chuckled. "Yeah, it's fine, I still have some work I need to finish before tonight. And plus, you don't need me there, you'll be amazing."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then."

***

Heather walked around the event hall. They had only arrived for about 10 minutes, and Lindsay was already nowhere to be seen. She sighed. Not that she really needed her anyway. She grumbled and reached in her bag to take out the printed sheets that Lindsay had handed her earlier. She had asked Lindsay to compile a list of the names, photos and descriptions of the people to focus on for this event.

Her eyes widened when the title of the sheets read 'top 10 nail salons in Canada'. "Great, just when I thought she finally got something right," she muttered to herself. "Ugh, why haven't I fired her already!" Exasperated, she crumpled the pieces of paper into a ball and tossed it into a nearby trashcan.

Heather fiddled with her hair and looked into the distance - all around her, people were chatting, food and drinks in their hands. Heather wasn't particularly fond of meeting new people, although she well knew that for the sake of her business she had to at least pretend to have an interest. She mentally cursed Lindsay again for not putting together that list of names. 

As she scanned the crowd, she was oblivious to the fact that someone was walking up towards her.

"Good evening hermosa, I must say you look a bit down this fine evening. May I help you to ease your troubles?" Heather glanced up to see a tall figure flashing a smug grin at her. He had medium dark hair, tan skin and piercing green eyes.

"First off, none of your business. Second, who the hell do you think you are?" Heather retorted.

"Ah my apologies, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alejandro Burromuerto, and I'm the Co-Chief Operating Officer at J&B Co." Alejandro was quite taken aback by Heather's reaction but quickly kept his cool. He certainly wasn't used to being rejected by women - this was perhaps the first time that a woman had shown disinterest when he attempted to flirt with them.

Heather's ears perked up when she heard the words 'J&B Co'. J&B Co was a well established and renowned jewellery company, and it was run by Javier Burromuerto, a prominent businessman. This must be his son, she thought to herself. Alejandro could tell he had sparked her interest and continued on, a smirk back on his face. "And I can already just picture which pieces of our latest jewellery collection would look stunning on you and complement those beautiful grey eyes," he smirked, making sure to stare right into Heather's grey eyes with his green ones.

"If you think that's going to work on me you should just give it up right now." Heather crossed her arms and turned her head away from him.

"A feisty temper", Alejandro grinned cockily. "I like it."

"Ugh, why don't you just go and flirt with yourself in the mirror?" Heather snapped, although she could feel her cheeks flushing a little. It's just hot in here, she told herself.

"Very well. I will leave you alone as you wish, señorita." Heather turned back around to see Alejandro gone, disappearing almost as quickly as he had appeared. 

2 hours later

Heather was tired and decided she was done for the night. The rest of the evening had been quite productive and she had made several new contacts which would likely be of use to her business. The event was coming to a close, and the majority of attendees were leaving.

Now she just had to find Lindsay - she didn't know where she had been all evening. "Where are you???" she texted. When she didn't get a response, Heather angrily phoned her. Still no response. Annoyed, Heather walked around the now almost venue in an attempt to find her. She mentally asked herself for the second time tonight why she hadn't yet fired Lindsay.

Suddenly, she heard a ringtone in one of the small meeting rooms near the end of the hall, and a giggling voice that sounded like Lindsay's. Curious, Heather walked towards the door and when she found it was unlocked, she twisted the doorknob open. She gasped at what she saw next.

"What the fuck?"

Lindsay was lying on top of Alejandro on the couch, and although they were both still fully clothed Alejandro's shirt was now half unbuttoned.

"Oh Heather, um, sorry, I got a bit distracted." Lindsay immediately stood up and straightened her dress. Heather rolled her eyes. She was certainly not surprised by that. "Yeah, that I can tell." Heather glanced at Alejandro on the couch, who was now buttoning his shirt back up. She caught a quick glimpse of his abs and immediately scolded at herself in her mind for looking.

As if on cue, Alejandro stood up and headed towards the door.

"You - again," Heather glared at him.

As he walked past her, Alejandro noticed her long straight black hair and how she stood with her arms folded, silhouetted against the bright white lights. She looked almost...angelic. He quickly shook his head to snap himself out of it.

"Heather, is it?" he said, a softer look on his face as he walked out the door. "Pleasure to meet you today. Perhaps we'll cross paths again in the future."

"I hope not", Heather muttered under her breath.