Paige's POV
"Gone to have breakfast with Dad. Jane has prepared breakfast for you. Love you xo," I wrote on a piece of paper. I dropped it on the table next to her phone, making sure she sees it.
I wore a black simple dress that slid in and reached halfway down my thighs with black Gucci heels accenting my long legs perfectly. A neat ponytail with eyeliner and bright red lipstick finished off the look.
Once ready, I grabbed my purse and took off.
My father came from Italy yesterday and today we were having breakfast together. He's a famous businessman, and always has several meetings to attend to; the company has taken so much of his time. However, he has always been there for my mother and me.
We met for breakfast at Le Pre Catelan. The typical French breakfast reminded me of old times with Chloé- the croissants, omelet, French toast, and the fresh orange juice.
"Hello Dad," I said as I rushed to give him a hug.
"Hello my little princess," he said, hugging me back, before taking a seat.
"How's the business class?" my father asked as the waiter, poured some tea into our teacups.
"Good, good. I have my finals next week," I answered, taking a bite of the baguette.
"You're almost done, I can't wait for you to take over," he chirped.
"Me too," I concurred, giving a smile.
I actually really want to take over the company, always have. The faith my father had in me always kept me going. I couldn't wait to finish and take over and make my family proud.
"So haven't you found any guy yet?" My father asked, rather randomly making me almost choke on my tea.
I looked at him with wide eyes and dropped my drink on the table slowly and simpered.
Never has he ever asked me about boys. Why the sudden change?
I've made it clear that I didn't want to fall in love and they had accepted it.
"I thought you would have met someone."
"No...I haven't. I've made this clear before."
"I just want you to be happy with someone to share your times with."
"Don't worry Dad. I can make myself happy. Who needs love when I've got you, Mom and Chloé?" I assured him.
He just nodded and smiled as he took his fork and continued his meal.
An hour later, we were done and I followed my Dad outside after paying the bill.
"Paige, Come and have coffee with me in my office," he said as we waited outside the restaurant for the chauffeur to get us the car.
"Alright, but I can't stay for lunch because Chloé's here."
"Oh really? That's nice. You guys will have so much fun here together," he said, smiling.
"Yes, she came last week."
We got into the car and headed to the company.
*****
Walking towards the elevator, I was welcomed with greetings from the staff, exchanging a few smiles and waves. I knew almost all of them because I had visited several times. I waved to the receptionist, receiving a wave in return. There was a guy with a pretty good posture speaking to her who turned back and then uninterestedly turned his face away.
Excuse me?
I furrowed my brows and became curious as to who this person was; I had never seen him before. I noticed everyone admiring him as they had just seen an Abercrombie model. He didn't look like one of my father's staff.
As I was staring, he ran his hand through his dark hair, making me smile at how his hair looked. He seemed handsome and svelte even though he had his muscular back facing me.
Turning around, he caught me shamelessly staring. He quickly winked and glanced at me with that slightly crooked grin. He met my gaze, but with a blunt refusal to avert his gaze first. I then turned my face away and focused my eyes on my father, with my mind somewhere else.
Ugh, Paige what the fuck!?
How did you let yourself get caught!? My inner self yelled at me.
"This will soon be yours," my father said happily, looking around the company on our way to the office. I smiled gratefully and followed my father back to his office.
After an hour, I decided to leave and go home to Chloé and push her to get ready. Chloé always took a lot of time to wake up. Especially after her rough day yesterday, she would be drowning herself with remorse and tears. I had to pull her out and distract her to make her forget and cheer her up.
I walked out of the office and headed towards the elevator and clicked on the ground floor button.
As the door was about to close shut, I saw a masculine hand trying to hold it before it closed. The same guy who caught me staring walked in with a proud smile plastered on his face.
Oh, could this get any worse?
"Hey," he said, so smoothly with a smirk- smoother than the cream cheese spread on a bagel.
"I remember you. Aren't you that lady who was checking me out a while ago," he continued, teasing me with his eyes.
Great, cool.
It just did-.-
"Don't flatter yourself."
These were the only words I could come up with; my head went blank. Who would confront a lady after that? No one, but him.
All I wanted was for the ground to open and swallow me. His arrogance still didn't discourage me from constantly admiring how devilishly handsome he looked.
If only his personality matched his looks.
"Oh man, I knew you'd say that," he laughed as he shook his head.
Okay, what?
Did he just say that I was predictable?
I tried to ignore him by making myself busy, so I took out a mirror and my red Chanel lipstick from my bag.
I mean what other way to look busy than re-apply lipstick, even though it was still good.
"There's no need to be so self-conscious or try to look good when I'm around. Don't worry you look good though," he blurted out, plain and raw.
"Uh, self-absorbed no?" I cut him off as I lowered the mirror. I looked at him irritatedly and raised my eyebrows uninterestedly.
"I was just messing around," he beamed as he winked.
"I haven't seen you here before."
"I've been here a few times, but this is the first time I see you here. You work here?"
"No, I'm his daughter."
"Oh, Harold's daughter?"
"The one and only," I said as the elevator's door opened.
"He has mentioned you several times. Been curious to meet you."
"Well, here I am," I said.
I packed the mirror and lipstick into my bag and walked quickly out of it, towards the exit door.
Standing side by side, we both waited for the valet parking to get our cars.
"I'm Dylan Sparks," he muttered, stretching out his hand.
I turned to face him so that I could see his face properly. His eyes were deep and catastrophic- a dazzle of wonder. Distinct cheekbones with a perfectly angled jawline and tanned skin made him look devilishly handsome. He had thick and lustrous dark brown hair which seemed to look tousled because he'd probably run his hands through it several times.
"Paige. Paige Williams." I smiled and shook his hand.
I noticed some writing inked in bold on his neck and for God knows what reason I wanted to know what was written although I could barely see it.
I averted my eyes and straightened myself to avoid any cocky remark about how I'm gaping at his physical appearance.
My car then arrived and I got into it and left, leaving the attractive stranger who I might never see again behind.
°•°
I was stopped at the red light. Looking over to my left, I saw Dylan in an Audi R8 which had a matte black body- my favorite. It suited him.
...Nice car.
He looked at me and smirked. Stepping on the fuel paddle, he made the car roar, declaring a race.
Alright...if he wanted to race, he'll get a race.
I nodded my head and smirked as I prepared myself.
Little did he know that I race.
On the green light, I pressed down on the paddle of my red Mercedes-AMG SL giving the car a high boost propelling me forward with high speed.
He was a little bit ahead of me and I smiled as I re-stepped on the paddle. I quickly steered to the right as I overtook a car on the highway and smirked when I looked at the mirror and found out that I have gotten ahead of Dylan.
We were on the highway and there were a few cars so it wasn't too risky or difficult to race.
The position of the cars was an advantage because there were two cars in front of Dylan at each side, blocking him from overtaking them and making it harder for him to win.
He somehow managed to get away from them and reached my level. I gritted my teeth as I turned to my left and saw him winking at me.
I wanted to win him. I was a really good car racerback in high school, until one day.
One day where a mistake changed my life. A mistake I dread to remember. A mistake that haunted me for years. A mistake that visited my nightmares for a while.
The pain I felt, how suffocated I was and the horrifying scene still haunted me.
I accelerated the car to try to take over Dylan when suddenly a car a few miles ahead jerked forward. I quickly skid to the left to prevent my car from catching up and collapsing into the car in front of me.
Dylan made sure to stay ahead. It was easier for him too because there wasn't any car in front of him- it was all a matter of luck when racing on a highway.
Lucky bastard.
He continued for a few miles and then slowed down as he parked on the side.
I lost.
Doing the same, I parked my car behind his. He came out and leaned on his car smirking at his victory.
He looked so relaxed and carefree as if he didn't have a care in this world. His smirk was changing into a wide smile. His hands were crossed over his chest, as he looked at me from the corner of his eye.
"I couldn't let you lose all the way. Did you think you'd win me?" he said, with sarcasm, raising his eyebrows. The smirk was still plastered on his handsome face.
"Oh yeah?"
"It wouldn't be fun. Would it? And besides, you'll think of me more often now. You're good though," he said.
"Of course I am."
"I definitely exceeded your expectations of Harold's daughter," I found myself saying.
"More than you'd imagine."
I laughed as I shook my head.
Before I could answer with a witty retort, my phone rang. It was Chloé. She seemed to have gotten up, I thought as I got out my phone.
"It has been two hours."
I brought the phone to check the time: one thirty-five P.M.
"Sorry, I'm coming. I'll be there in ten. I got interrupted," I told Chloé.
"Alright."
"Boyfriend?" Dylan questioned as I closed the line, before I could even look up.
"No," I smiled, shaking my head, "I don't do boyfriends," I continued.
"Oh, that's tough. Never fallen in love? Or that one boyfriend broke your heart and turned you into an ice queen?" he asked, questioning me.
"Curiosity killed the cat," I said, winking. I then turned around and walked towards the car.
Before getting into the car, I turned back to him and smiled, "see you around, Dylan."