JASMIN MARTINEZ
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I pulled out a piece of paper from my purse and wrote my number. At the bottom, I put a dash with my name.
I went to the kitchen and filled a glass of water. I went back to his room and put the paper underneath the glass of water.
I picked up my purse and phone and softly closed the door. I heard the front door open up and made my way towards the door. Connor entered with two big bags of food.
"He's asleep," I informed.
"Thank you." He put the bags of food on the coffee table.
He looked back at me, raising an eyebrow in question, "How long do you plan on being mad at me?" I blurted.
Yeah, just go straight to the point. Fucking dumbass.
"Mad?" He questioned.
"Nah." I rolled my eyes. "I was just wondering how one could be so happy."
"It's not hard, yo—" I cut him off by going closer to him and wrapping my arms around his torso.
"I'm sorry," I mumbled into his chest. "I'm sorry I didn't keep in contact with you. I just wanted to be alone. I needed to be alone. If I were to have you by my side, I wouldn't have been able to move on. I would constantly see the vivid picture of them together in my head. I know I shouldn't have pushed you away but at that time that was the only right thing I thought was to do."
He didn't reply. After a while, I felt his arms go around my waist.
"I understand." He spoke ever so quietly.
I lifted my head off his chest to look up at his blue irises, "A lot happened that day. Yes, it was a selfish decision but it was a decision that I needed to take."
"I know, and I'm so fucking sorry for what you went through. But, I swear to god if he had another choice he would've taken it immediately. Heck, I would've done the same thing for my sister or you. I do wish everything didn't go so wrong."
"It was for the best. It wasn't meant to be." I faintly smiled.
"Yes, it is. Mark my words." He put his hand over my shoulder moved to the side of me to show point towards the window displaying the beautiful sky. "They always have a plan. What's meant to be will always be." He said referring to the stars glistening in the sky.
I couldn't let my heart have control over my words right now. I needed to think logically. I have to use Connor to get to Chase. As much as I hate to do this I have to. "Maybe."
He looked down at me and smiled, "Give it one chance."
"Okay." I breathed.
I only agreed because of the bounty. I wouldn't have agreed otherwise. I won't allow myself to go down the path that can cause me more pain than I can even describe or comprehend.
He hugged me again and I hugged him back. Although agreeing with Connor was a part of the plan, apologizing to him wasn't. I did that from my heart and I hope he knows that.
"I have to go." I pulled back, he nodded. "Can you inform Chase to come to my office?"
"Yeah, why?" He asked.
"I want to see the evidence."
"Okay, I'll let him know." I nodded.
"Thank you. Bye."
"Bye!" He yelled as I left through the door.
God, why is life so complex?
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The next day I got ready, deciding to wear an all-white outfit. I put on white pants with a matching corset top paired with an oversized blazer. I curled my hair, twisting one little strand in the front to the back. I put on my necklace and small diamond studs. I quickly put on my white pointed heels before leaving my room.
I went downstairs and made myself a quick coffee. Moana meowing around my feet as I moved around in the kitchen. "Yes, baby? Are you hungry?" I asked.
I poured her food into her bowl and allowed her to eat while I refilled her water. I watched her eat while drinking my coffee and having a moment to myself. No distractions, no unnecessary thoughts.
I finished my coffee and washed my cup. The house cleaners were going to come today to deep clean the penthouse. I waited for Moana to finish her food because I wanted to take her with me to work.
Once she finished, I picked up my purse. I took her in my arms before leaving through the penthouse. She was excited to leave the penthouse.
I opened my car door and settled her into her crate. I didn't close the door because I didn't want her to feel suffocated. I closed the door of the passenger side and went to the driver's side. I turned on my car and put on soft music. I pulled out of the basement onto the main road.
I arrived at my office and I saw Moana sleeping in her crate. I gently closed the door and before taking the crate out of the car. I carried the crate to the elevator to my office. She was awake now so I opened the crate and she went to her cat tree in the corner.
I sat down on my office chair and logged into my desktop. I had a meeting with my investors again as they wanted to try and own some percent of the company. I wouldn't be selling any of my company to stupid investors.
I heard a ruckus outside. I picked up the phone that was on the table and dialed my assistant's office. "My office," I spoke as she picked up.
"Coming, Ma'am." I put the phone back and opened my planner.
"Come in," I muttered.
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Why is there so much noise outside?" I asked.
"Mr. Knight is here." I nodded. "The investors have been waiting for you. And, now that Mr. Knight came and told them you have a meeting with him they seem to be enraged." I rolled my eyes.
"I swear to go these investors will be the death of me," I muttered as I stood up. I picked up my MacBook and phone. "Can you please have someone give me the contracts for the investors?" I was so done with them.
All they do is be a pain in the ass. They have made me lose multiple deals since many companies do not like many of the investors. Although my company is doing well, we do run into many problems as well.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," I answered. "Stay in my office please. I'll come back," I told her because I didn't want Moana to be alone. I left my office and headed to the meeting room.
I opened the meeting room to see everyone ganging up on Chase. He looked unbothered. He wasn't even giving them any attention as they were enraged. His eyes flicker to mine and he exhaled a deep breath.
"Okay, shut the fuck up." He yelled. "I'm not fucking interested."
"Good afternoon, any problems?" I asked as I made my way to my chair. I sat down at the head of the table while the rest of the investors filled the seats of the other chairs. Chase seating onto my right.
"Yes, we were just talking to Mr. Knight."
"That seemed a bit more than just talking, no?" I questioned.
Chase's hand was on the table playing with the small crystal that was on the table. He rolled his eyes.
"We were just asking Mr. Knight if he would like to invest in this company?"
"And, who gave you the right to ask?" I snarled.
"Since we are the investors, we thought it would be a great idea." He babbled. "Last time, we asked he wasn't interested so we thought we could give it another shot."
"And, why am I not interested?" Chase asked. Mr. Digon swallowed a big lump in his throat almost scared that Chase would expose them. The rest of the investors looking away. "Ms. Martinez, please ask them about the reasoning they gave when they asked for me to invest." I looked at Chase and his eyes met mine.
What the fuck is Chase on now?
I asked for the reasoning and nobody responded. "Cat caught your guy's tongue?" Chase snickered. "Let me tell you then," He looked back at me. "In exact words: 'We need for you to invest into the company, therefore, we can have the company succeed further and since it's run by a female the company will not be successful. A company needs males to make the big decisions in order for it to improve and reach new heights.'"
"Oh, really now?" I asked Chase could be lying right now but I knew these investors would say something like this. Fucking sexist bastards.
"We didn't say no such thing." Mr. Anderson tried to argue.
"Yeah?" Chase smirked. "I'm sure Ms. Martinez has cameras around her office. She could just watch the footage." Anderson immediately shut his mouth.
"Great fucking investors I have." I humored.
"Chase is pretty inexperienced himself. He wouldn't know." Mr. Digon stated.
I don't why but I felt the urge to defend him.
"Inexperience you say? But weren't you the same people asking for him to invest in my company?" I raised my eyebrow. "His company has skyrocketed since the moment he started. Let's talk about your company. Since you are a male figure, well known I suppose, what profits are you making that are significantly better than ours?" I asked.
"Five hundred thousand annually." He stated in arrogance. Not even a million.
Chase and I burst into laughter. Our laughter was echoing through the meeting room as Mr. Digon tried to compose himself. His face was red now.
"And, the rest? How much do you guys make?"
I really don't care about how much anyone makes or not but to these snobby bitches, I was willing to brag a little.
"The same." The rest muttered.
They had the audacity to say my company needed a male figure. I think they needed a female figure who actually had brains to help out in their business.
I was so glad that their contract was coming to an end.
We were still laughing as they all sat in embarrassment. I set my hand on the table.
"It's pretty good." I guess. "Considering the mindset you guys really have."
Chase turned to me. "Do you mind pulling up the statistics of your company before them investing and after them investing?"
I nodded and pulled up the data on the projector. Before they started investing my profits were sky high but afterward, they kept going down. I didn't even notice that. My company was still successful but just not as much after they started investing. When their names got connected to my company, the profits did start to go down.
"Great influences you all are." Chase scoffed.
"The exact reason we were trying to have you invest in the company." Mr. Digon spoke. "The company needs a little help."
"I think the company was doing perfectly until you guys came along. The fault is in you investors, not the company or Ms. Martinez." Chase stated. "Her efforts and determination is what is still pulling the company together. She won the most successful business of the year award. She would be much higher up the scale if she didn't have your guy's names attached to her company."
Mr. Digon rolled his eyes. "If she didn't have our names attached with herself, the company would not have been popularized at all."
"Oh yeah?" I challenged. "It's a good thing that the contract has come to an end then right? We can see exactly how successful this company is without your guys 'influence'."
On cue, my employee walked in with the contract files and handed them to me. I threw the files of their contract to the middle of the table. I leaned back into the chair as they began opening them. My hand felt something warm.
I saw my hand touching Chase's hand. I looked over at him. He was wearing a dark gray suit. He looked over at the investors as they read the contract they had signed from the beginning. Always read the fine print.
I have to thank Xavier for that as he told me to put a time limit. He said I can always renew the contract if I needed to.
Chase's gray eyes met mine, amusement flowing through them. I looked back at the investors and rolled my eyes.
"Sign the dotted line," I told them. "No signature will result in a fine. I'm sure you guys have bills to pay, children to feed, etcetera."
"Any questions, contact my assistant. It was absolutely not a pleasure working with you all." I smiled. "Have a lovely day." I got up from my seat.
I closed my MacBook and picked it up. I picked up my phone and looked at Chase watching my every move. "Let's go."
He got up and buttoned his suit. We left the sexists investors in the meeting room as we walked out. We were side by side walking, his hands in his pant pockets while I was holding the computer to my side.
I pressed the button for the elevator and sighed.
"They are quite the people."
"Tell me about it." I breathed. "I get a headache every time I talk to them. Thank god, the contract ended."
He chuckled as we stepped into the elevator. "Thank you. I don't know why you stood up for me but thanks."
"No problem." I nodded.
This felt weird. I don't know why we were getting along. Although it was weird, it didn't feel like it at the moment. It seemed like we have been like this our whole lives.
Cut it off, Jasmin. I snapped at myself.
This is only temporary. You only defended him to get close to him. No other reason.
The elevator opened to my office floor and I stepped out. We walked to my office. He opened the door and I stepped inside.
"Thanks, Myla." I thanked.
She looked away from Moana and towards us, "No problem."
Her eyes going to something behind me. Or should I say, someone behind me. I went to my office chair as Chase took a seat in front of me.
Chase's eyes did not once flicker to her but her eyes remained on him. "Myla, please email me the updates on the process going at Mr. Knight's place."
She didn't reply as Moana purred around my heels. I picked her up and placed her in my lap. I looked back at Myla to still see her daydreaming, "Myla." I stated a little louder.
She jumped, "Y-yes Ma'am. I will send it right now." I nodded and she left.
I breathed, running a hand through my hair. "Do you have the evidence you were talking about?" I asked, looking back at Chase.
He nodded, as he pulled out a flash drive from his pocket, I took off my blazer.
He handed me the flash drive and I plugged it into my desktop. Moana jumped out of my lap onto the ground.
I took a deep breath before clicking on the file and starting the video.
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[ 2610 words ]