That night, I skipped dinner. Part of it was because all three of them were still pissed about not getting the deal and were speculating the probable reasons, mostly blaming it on the employees' inefficiency. I, who did know the reason, could not sit there with them and pretend to be unaware. The other part of the reason, ironically, was the dinner plan with Mr Woodwords.
I paced around my room, trying to come up with an excuse to avoid the meeting. My brain seemed to have stopped working as, even after almost twenty minutes of walking around my room, there was still nothing that I could think of.
Also, if I did manage to come up with an excuse, would it make a difference? For a man like Mr Woodwords, who doesn't ask and was not willing to take a no for an answer, how long was it going to take him to see through my lie and know I was trying to avoid him? I bet, no longer than it would take me to say the words.
I massaged my temples because the stress made me feel like my head was going to explode. My phone buzzed and I sighed. I did not wish to talk to anyone at the moment, but seeing Nadia's face on the screen made me change my mind. Just like a drowning man reaching for a floating buoy, I jumped on my bed to grab my phone.
"Perfect timing, Nadia. Perfect timing!" I said, dramatically.
"I asked you to stop by my place after work," came the monotonous reply. Right. She had.
"I was going to." Since I could sense her hidden anger behind the monotonic tone, I chose my words cautiously. "But then Mr Woodwords offered to drive me home."
"Aaron Woodwords?" She asked. There was a slight change in her voice from the earlier monotonous one. It was a good sign.
I hummed in response.
"He doesn't hate you? He is not planning your murder? After everything you did? Oh wait, don't tell me he threatened you," Nadia's tone was starting to get higher in concern.
"He asked me to have dinner with him," I told her.
The other end fell silent and I had to take it away from my ear to check if Nadia was still on the call or not. She was.
"Did you say yes?" Nadia asked. She sounded cautious.
"Actually, he didn't ask."
Another thirty seconds of a pause followed before she spoke again.
"Are you sure it's for dinner and he is not planning to take you to a remote location and kill you?" I had not thought about that earlier, but now I do wonder about the possibility.
"That's not the problem here, Nadia," I sighed. In all honesty, if he actually wanted me dead he would not need a remote location; all he had to do was politely ask my dad and he would happily bury me alive. "He asked me for dinner and you know Lahaina is after him."
"Why do you care about her? Let her cry all she wants," Nadia said in a tone of indifference.
I went on to tell her how Lahaina was not the one I was worried about, it was my father. The Brooklyn deal rejection was also an important detail to my situation and I left no details when I told her about it. Nadia listened patiently, pausing me sometimes in mid to ask a few questions which I answered earnestly.
"Now give me a good excuse. One that might actually work," I begged.
"Do you really not want to have dinner with him, Caro?" she asked.
The question sent me into deep thought. I was too focused on why I can't have dinner with Mr Woodwords that the thought, that it could also be my voluntary choice, had never crossed my mind. I had been so hell-bent on saying 'no' to him that saying a 'yes' did not even look like an option to me.
Aaron Woodwords was, no doubt, a charming man. He was incredibly handsome and undeniably smart and yet, the few times I had talked to him, he conversed with me like I was an equal. It was one thing I had not expected, especially after the way we met. It was also something I was not used to. My family never saw me as an equal. At work, I was just an assistant to one of the managers of the firm and at home, I was just someone who shared the space with them.
Lahaina was always given preference over me. Dad never looked at me if it was not to glare for something I had done wrong, or for something he thought I had done wrong. Being one of my father's business associates, I never had any expectations with Mr Woodwords—except him suing me for what I did.
Yet, he would always have some spare time to have a brief conversation with me. Instead of being angry, he would tease me about the incident. Also, the way his green eyes looked at me with such intensity, gave me the jitters.
"I can't," I whispered.
"There is a huge difference between you 'can't' and you 'won't', Caroline," Nadia said.
"I told you his father was here a few days ago and they were talking about some arrangement with Lahaina. So I shouldn't."
"He wouldn't have asked you out if he was planning on having an arrangement with your step-sister, you idiot. He is clearly not into her." Nadia continued, "do me a favor, Caro. Don't think about it much and please go have dinner with him. Tell the jerk family you'll be with me and if they create problems, tell them to give me a call."
I chuckled at the enthusiasm with which she had said the last sentence. Always ready to take a fight.
"Thank you, Nadia. I love you so much," I told her with pure sincerity.
"Don't thank me, Caro. I haven't forgiven you for what you did today," Nadia said and it was only then that I remembered the breakfast incident.
"Right. I'm so sorry about that. What did Dylan do?" I asked, curiously.
"I hate him," she declared.
"What for?"
"For being the jerk he is! He is sick, you know that? Totally sick. He needs a doctor and I doubt the best doctor in the world would also not be able to help him. He is a jerk. In fact, he is the human form of that word," Nadia kept going on and this time, I listened patiently as she complained about Dylan being the absolutely worst person she had ever met in her life.
The next morning, I was peacefully having my breakfast with the three other members of my family when I heard dad speak.
"Do you have any plans for tonight?" He asked.
My head snapped up to look at him but he was looking down at his plate, focusing on his food. Juliea and Lahaina, who had been discussing something till now, stopped their conversation in mid. Did he get to know about my dinner plans with Mr Woodwords? How did that happen?
"No. Why?" Lahaina said and I exhaled with relief.
"Your mom and I will be attending a ball organized by Jenkins tonight. Join us, I think Aaron will be there as well. Try and talk to him about the collaboration," dad said.
"Sure," Lahaina smirked, giving me a look. I frown in response. Why does she do that?
Dad and Juliea finished their breakfast and left for work, Lahaina stayed behind but went out of the dining room. I sat in my seat, gently poking the vegetables, on my plate, with my fork. He was going to be at the Jenkins ball? Did he forget about the dinner? Or was it just a random statement? Was he messing with me?
Lots of questions flooded my head but they all ended with me thinking it was for the better. I should not feel anything for him, not when my father was trying to tie him down with my step-sister. It still hurts for some reason. I felt embarrassed to think that I had spent a major part of my night thinking whether the dinner was only a formal courtesy or an actual date. Guess, I'll never find out.
Reaching the office, I drowned myself in work. Surprisingly, Laci was still at work. The first thing she told me as I went inside her office in the morning was how, even though she met my father in the morning, he did not fire her, nor spoke ill to her, which was a startling change.
I was arranging the files on Laci's shelf when I heard my phone buzz on the desk. It was only when I completed my task did I check who the message was from and was startled to see Mr Woodwords' name displayed on the screen.
'I hope you haven't forgotten about our dinner tonight, Ms Marshall.'
I had not realized I was smiling looking at the text until Laci came inside the office and gave me a knowing look. "Boyfriend?" she cooed, taking her seat behind the desk. I shook my head and as casually as I could, walked out to my desk.
'My dad said you'll be attending the Jenkins ball tonight' I messaged him back.
"I have better plans. Be ready at 7. No excuses.' came the instant reply.
The rest of the day, I was grinning ear to ear. Since the cancellation of the deal, the work schedule had gone back to normal, so I was home by 6 in the evening. I did not want to be late and sixty minutes felt too short of a time.
With a quick shower, I dressed in a pretty blue dress that I had chosen this morning. The next half an hour was spent looking at myself in the mirror and constantly trying to perfect the way I looked. When the doorbell rang at 7, on the dot, I was still staring at myself with lips twisted in confusion.
Ignoring my constant urge to look better, I ran down the stairs to get to the door. Since everyone else was already at the ball, there was no need to worry about being seen. I stopped when I reached the door. Taking a deep breath, I put on a smile and opened the door.
There he was, looking as handsome as ever in a navy blue tuxedo that was tailored to perfection. His hair was gelled back and his green eyes stood out in the moonlight. He smiled as his eyes drew in my appearance.
"You look gorgeous," Aaron said, making me blush a little.
"So do you," I said without thinking.
His smile widened with that comment and he broke into a chuckle. The action made me blush more.
"Thank you, Caroline," he teased. "I did not know we would be matching."
I looked at my dress and then at his suit. Coincidentally, we both were wearing blue. Different shades, but the same color.
I stepped out of the house and walked towards his car. He walked beside me, too close that I could feel the warmth of his body. He was taller than me, almost by a foot and I felt too small walking next to him.
"Remember this car?" he asked, opening the door for me to get in. "I'd have never thought I'd be taking you to dinner in it, Caroline."
I narrowed my eyes at him as he fought to maintain a straight face. He purposely brought it up just to taunt me again.
"Neither did I, Mr Woodwords."
"We're on a date, Caroline. I think it's more appropriate if we call each other by our first names," he said. The way my name rolled off his tongue, I felt butterflies in my stomach.
And.... we were really on a date!
I ducked inside the passenger seat of the car, while he walked around to the driver's seat. Aaron pressed the start button and we drove off.
- Analia