-Will's Point of View-
'Why did I buy this?'
I fiddled with the necklace in my hand.
'Or more importantly, why did I buy this for her?'
I twirled the diamond-shaped pendant around so that the engraved name Shannon glistened when the moonlight hit it from the window. I still couldn't believe I went all the way back to that town and bought this for her. What was I doing?
I expediently put it back into my pocket when I saw someone approaching me.
"Mr. Prescott," The owner of Cummings Business came up to me and smiled, "Delighted to finally meet you. I'd love to become a partner with your most famous company."
"Well, we'd absolutely love to partner with you, Mr. Cummings." I answered politely.
"Is your father here also?" He chimed in. I cringed when he said the word father, but quickly removed it from my mind. I had to act very professional among these famous business men because Prescott Industries needed more business allies alongside them.
"Will," My uncle appeared from the crowds of business men, apologized to Mr. Cummings, and pulled me aside, "You're doing great, kiddo. You're a pure charm." He handed me a glass of champagne from the waiters walking around the fancy hall.
"Believe it or not, he's actually a people-person." Karen appeared next to us and grabbed champagne for herself. She patted me on the back before turning back around to talk to some people.
My uncle followed behind her as I looked around for Shannon. Drinking champagne made me remember that I brought her along with me. I invited her along to the business convention so she wouldn't be alone at the hotel room. She told me she just wanted to sit down at one of the tables, but she wasn't near any of them.
I started walking around to search for her when someone stopped me.
"William!" A random man hugged me, "Mister Jacobs." He introduced himself.
"Mister Jacobs," I shook his hands, "A pleasure."
"You're business has surely grown immeasurable. I hope you pass my greetings to your father."
"I-I will, Mister Jacobs." I stuttered, "Our Company is thankful to be partnered up with Jacobs Industries."
"No, no. Our company is most thankful for Prescott Industries. You have done great things for our company name."
"It's our delectation, sir." I respond.
"You are such a young, refined man. You know I have a daughter about your age. I think you guys should definitely meet one day."
I didn't really catch what he was saying because I finally caught a glimpse of Shannon from the corner of the hall, talking to a very touchy waiter. I could feel my face fill up with anger when he touched her arm. WHAT THE HELL.
"If you could please excuse me." I gritted my teeth, completely ignoring his last few statements.
"Oh, of course, you must have a lot of business inquiries to attend-"
I trailed away, not letting Mister Jacobs finish, and stormed my way to Shannon. This guy better think twice before flirting with her!
As I approached the two, I could hear Shannon panicking. "I-I'm sorry, but I have a boyfriend."
"Come on," He grabbed her arm forcefully, "Stop with the lame excuses."
"L-let go of my arm." She pleaded and I vigorously released his grip and looked at him with enmity. Who the hell did this man think he was?
"She said to let go." I roared at him while Shannon practically ran beside me with relief.
"Who the hell are you?" The waiter rubbed his arm as if I hurt it.
"The boyfriend that you called a lame excuse."
He chuckled for a moment as if this was all too funny for him. "Come on man, I was joking."
"Funny." I snarled, "If you touch her again, I'll punch the hell out of you."
His laughing face soon became prideful and serious when I said that. He looked at me angrily, "Dude, chill. I'll touch her if I want. You're not my damn boss."
I could feel my body shaking with irritation as Shannon held me back. "Will, please don't. There are people here."
"Right," I huffed, "This man isn't worth my time."
Just as I was about to leave, he grabbed Shannon again, "Babe, I bet you're very touchable."
With that, I turned around and punched him straight on his face. I couldn't contain myself as Shannon gasped and held me back from throwing anymore punches. He fell straight to the ground with a thump and groaned. Blood started running down his nose like a stream of water.
I shook my hand from hitting his nose really hard as a bruise was starting to form alongside my new bloody knuckle. But I didn't care, because it was so damn worth it.
That's right, asshole. Touch her one more time.
Luckily, no one saw since we were near the kitchen area. I was about to walk away when the head chef came running to see what this scene was all about and gulped when she saw one of her employees on the ground, bleeding.
"What the hell is going on here"- She froze when she saw me-"Mr. Prescott." Her eyes widened with shock, "I hope you're enjoying our catering." She smiled nervously.
She glanced over at her employee grunting on the floor and looked at him with pure disappointment. "I-I'm very sorry if this man caused any commotion, Mr. Prescott."
"Your employee kept provoking my girlfriend," I asserted as she squinted her face with embarrassment, "I hope he doesn't further interrupt any of our guests here."
"I apologize deeply, Mr. Prescott." She helped the employee up from the ground and ripped off the name tag from his shirt furiously that it made a tear, "You won't be seeing any of him anymore."
As she dragged him outside, Shannon wrapped my bloody knuckle in her delicate hands. She quickly led me to a sitting room, inside the hall, and sat me down on the couch.
"Will, why on earth did you do that?" She sighed, wiping my hand with the paper towel she found on top of a cocktail table.
"Because he was being a complete asshole."
"Yeah, but you didn't have to punch him!" She stopped wiping and glared at me. I couldn't help myself, he was infuriating me!
"He was touching you, Richelieu. What'd you expect me to do?" I yelled at her. Why the hell was she getting angry at me, "No one gets to touch you like that or treat you like a damn object."
She stayed quiet for a while and continued to wipe my hand clean. She sighed again after a while and looked up at me. "I'm sorry, Will. I just didn't want you to set up a bad impression amongst your business men. I was just looking out for you."
I looked at her like she was crazy and started laughing. "Look out for me? Dammit Richelieu, I'm always looking out for you. You're such a freakin' handful."
She smiled when I said that which made me smile.
Dammit, this girl. How did she somehow know the right words to make me smile?
I reached down into my pocket with my free hand when I realized it was the perfect moment to give her the necklace I bought her.
"William." A voice came out of nowhere and made me completely freeze in my position. No, it can't be.
Shannon quickly rose out of her chair as that man inched closer to us.
"William." He repeated again, "Aren't you going to greet your own father?"
I got up and slid past him as if I didn't see him at all. Why was he here?! He didn't care about anything or anyone except for himself!
"Dammit, William. Would you please stop walking away from me?"
"Why do you care what I do?" I shouted. Some people in the hall started noticing the commotion as my dad shut the door close, "You never care what I do." I continued.
"William, please just stop."
"No! I won't." I came closer to him and started to feel hot with anger again, "I will never stop pretending you don't exist in my life. I will never stop acknowledging that you are my father. I will never stop blaming you for making my mom walk away."
His face didn't change one bit as he walked over to me with his hands intertwined behind his back. "Don't talk to me like that and stop being childish. I am your father no matter what your arrogant mind thinks. You know it was your mother's choice to walk away."
"It wasn't her choice," I heatedly disagreed, "She caught you sleeping with another woman. You cheated on her and for that, I will never forgive you."
"William-"
"What. Are you here to tell me that you're getting married again? I'm sorry, but I lost track after your fifth wife."
He looked at me with furious eyes and then slapped me across the face. "Useless and pathetic." He spat as he opened the door to leave.
I huffed with rage as I touched my face. I could feel the anger still fuming inside of me as I jolted away from the room. Without one glance at the business employees, I hurriedly walked to my car inside the parking structure.
I was about to enter into my car when Shannon caught up to me. "Will, please..." She said out of breath as she carefully touched my shoulder.
"What!" I yelled at her with fury, "Do you want me to stop walking away from you too?!"
She looked frightened. "Will, I'm just here to-"
"To what?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, "Feel pity for me? Well, there. Feel all the pity you can. You wanted to get to know my private life so badly ... well there you go! You don't have to spy on me to find out about this. You had a front row seat."
She looked at me with disappointment. "You're being too harsh."
"Oooh, I'm really sorry, Princess." I sarcastically said, smashing my car door shut with my bleeding knuckle, "Don't forget! You're not my real girlfriend, so stop trying to pry yourself into my life and make me feel better or whatever! You're just someone who's selfishly using me for a better grade in Politics, remember?"
I could see tears forming in her eyes. "Will, stop."
"No! Don't tell me to stop, Richelieu. You we're supposed to get Charlotte back with me, but guess what? She's not the hell with me! You fail, Richelieu, just give up and consider your plan a complete downfall."
I open my car door, fuming with anger as I didn't dare turn back at her. "You're just my employee like the rest of those people in there so stop trying to pretend you're part of my life."