Scarlett scrunched her eyes to the brightest light that made its way through her closed eyelids. She felt defenseless and heavy, mentally. It was next to impossible to move her hand, head or her body. She tried to open her eyes, attempting to get back to life, but the heaviness was just too much, leaving no choice but to stay still, the way she was positioned now. Scarlett wanted to scream aloud, but her throat went dry, making it hard for her to speak.
"Where am I?" Scarlett wondered.
She could feel a ray of light hitting against her closed eyes, but she could not dare to blink. In addition, suddenly, she ran out of breath, her forehead dripping with a large amount of sweat and her heart raced even faster, like eardrums.
Ultimately, using all of her strength of will, she opened her eyes, it burned like never before.
Scarlett gasped loudly, breathing as fast as she could, taking in the necessary oxygen as she sat upright on my bed. She felt the sweat run down at the sides of her face, going down towards my neck.
"It was a dream," she muttered coherently, taking a long sigh. The sunlight continued to hit right to her eyes, bringing her back to reality as she heaved a sigh again. Scarlett had a bad, creepy and strange dream. She was bewildered. "What was it all about?" She wondered aloud.
Meanwhile, Scarlett could hear her cell phone ringing mercilessly. Its sound was humiliatingly unpleasant to her ears as she scrunched up her brows in disturbance.
Slowly getting up, she placed the device against her right ear, without caring to glance at the caller ID.
"Yes," she yawned, her voice coming out shaky.
"As expected," Leah muttered, slight anger dripping from her tone as she frowned. Before she could ask, Leah added in a demanding voice, "I wonder what today's date was?" She mocked, and immediately, her brows met together in uncertainty. The sleepiness she was feeling was gone instantly after hearing her voice and her mind was already on its way to thinking about the speciality of that day. However, Scarlett was quick enough in figuring out the reason for her grumpiness this morning.
It was her birthday. How in the world could she forget?
"I'm so sorry Leah, I completely forgot about it," Scarlett responded in an apologetic manner as in response, she made a low rumbling sound, letting her know about her ill-temper. Unlike Scarlett, birthdays and anniversaries have been so important for a girl like Leah. No matter how grown-up she'd become, according to Scarlett, she could never stand her closed ones, forgetting about her special days.
"Happy birthday to the world's most amazing and fantastic friend," Scarlett cheered, taking her steps to her closet as she took out her outfit for the day.
"You're forgiven this time," she huffily replied, making Scarlett chuckle. She knows that her best friend turns childish sometimes and at other times, she is like the most experienced person on the whole planet. Leah continued, "This better be your first and last time. I understand your difficult times, but that doesn't mean you could forget about your one and only BFF," she went back to complaining, making her shake her head in disbelief. She could not be angry for more time either and that is something Scarlett deeply likes about her.
"Lee, I was so worked up these days, it totally got out of my mind and..." she cut her off.
"Okay. I got it," she hissed tediously and further added in a commanding voice, "I certainly want to remind you to be at my place by evening. I'm throwing a big party and by that I mean, a really big one," Leah said from the other side. Scarlett could imagine her wiggling her brows.
Scarlett chuckled thinking about the kind of party that Leah was going to throw. She was known to be one of the biggest fans of parties. She is also named as a party animal and turns wild after drinking.
"Uh-hm...Okay," Scarlett said shortly, glancing at the big wall clock and she was already running late.
"Get up you sleepyhead, I think you are late." She laughed.
"Thanks for making me late." Scarlett scorned.
"Okay..," she started to say something but she hung up on her. She could imagine Leah cursing. Generally, it is always her, disconnecting Scarlett's call in the middle of talks, just to piss her off and today, right on her birthday, Scarlett dared to do it.
She ran quickly making her way to her bathroom, took a quick shower, and changed. Grabbing her bag, she rushed out, driving to work.
"I am not late," Scarlett stated, taking her seat as she glanced to her side at Grace as she shook a little.
"I can't spot Mr. Stevens?" She raised her brow at her as she shrugged.
"Well, we can't wait for him," Scarlett glanced at her watch and it was already a few minutes late. Mr. Stevens was one of the important employees of the firm, though. "Let's start," I ordered as our marketing head, Mr. Brooks started placing his points in front of me, regarding the new plans of advertising and marketing methods.
"My research suggests that we should change our strategy and use the one used by our competitors," Mr. Brooks started as Scarlett intently looked forward to his explanations. "It is only then the people would choose. But it should be done carefully, they do not only include profits but it has a certain range of risks involved," he stopped as he glanced at everyone. Evidently, Scarlett Davies was not pleased. She thought – he was thinking to opt for something that is not filling for the present status of the economy.
Therefore, she started, grabbing everyone's attention, "Well, I happen to disagree on this Mr. Brooks," her brows twisted in disapproval as he nodded, waiting for me to explain further, "My opinion on this one would be about introducing the innovative programs and methods, to attract the people. We don't need to use the same old strategies, in fact, don't you think, we should provide original and exclusive services instead of copying the strategies from our competitors," she paused and had a look at the other board members and they appeared quite pleased.
"Mr. Brooks, people get attracted to new things. Copying is a big no," Scarlett shook contemptuously. She then added, "I want my firm to be left as the way it is now which is matchless. I do not want the media and people to start comparing my organization with any other one. It should always stand out." She completed decisively and every person in the meeting approved and valued the fact that she was trying to connote.
Abruptly, the door busted open in urgency as everyone's eyes darted towards it. "I'm so sorry, I'm late," it was Mr. Stevens. My brows snapped together in annoyance as he looked at everyone apologetically.
He rushed to his seat, breathing heavily.
Ignoring his negligence, for now, Scarlett asked him, making the atmosphere professional, "So, are you ready with your research and presentation Mr. Stevens? We all are waiting for your tactics and measures for building the new strategies?" She leaned back, folding her arms, as he looked befuddled and clueless.
Scarlett vaulted up her brow at him questioningly as he cleared his throat," I am afraid, I have no knowledge about it," he shrugged, smiling at everyone.
Scarlett was riled.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Her eyes glared towards the head, as he looked apprehensive, "What is going on?" Her voice suddenly turned octave, as she looked at Grace, she replied, "Actually, he was not present in the last meeting." She informed her.
"Great," she muttered sarcastically.
"Do you have an explanation for that, Mr. Stevens?" Scarlett roared at him.
"I want detailed information about his work, Grace," she dictated as she nodded in compliance.
"The meeting is over for now," Scarlett declared, standing up gruffly, "Get your presentation done by noon and then we will be discussing further. I want you people to take this thing and the turnover seriously. Now back to work," she loudly commanded and with a swift motion, she went back to her office carrying a huge amount of temper. In no manner, she could stand the reckless behavior of her staff.
+++++
"On what basis did you decide to fire me, Ms. Scarlett Davies?" The door to her office room suddenly opened with a bang as she stared at Mr. Stevens cross-eyed for barging in like that.
After knowing about his deeds inside her firm, he thinks he has the ability to question her and on top of it, he thinks she would let him continue.
The moment Grace brought her his file, it was clear that he'd performed every other thing but work related tasks in the office. He would frequently smoke and distract other employees and constantly disturb them by bitching over everything running over the firm.
"Well, Mr.Stevens, I have every right to reject and fire smoking candidates." Scarlett lashed out as he glared at her incessantly.
"You are an ungrateful woman, who knew nothing but to romance with her partner." He affronted, leaving her flabbergasted as well as peeved by his sudden disrespectful behavior. However, she was quick in maintaining an icy expression.
"Grace, get him out of my property and warn all the security systems, not to let him wander close and around my firm." She sternly ordered her as she took care of him.
No matter how hard she'd tried, she could not stop the hurtful words he'd spoken, that echoed in her ears repeatedly.
It was almost seven in the evening when Scarlett averted her attention from her desktop screen to the wall clock. Wrapping up everything on her desk table, Scarlett took her bag with me. She stopped by Grace's workspace.
"Prepare the documents and place them on my desk tomorrow, before I arrive for work," she smiled despairingly at her as she nodded.
She was about to leave when she interfered, preventing her from going, "What about the tenders?" She inquired, her brows raised in question.
"Damn! I'd totally have forgotten about it." She ruefully exclaimed. "I'll forward it to you in the coming morning," she added right away as she pressed her temple.
Grace passed her a sheepish smile followed by a nod. She stared at her, "I can't believe I forgot about it. I even forgot Leah's birthday, can you imagine that, I never did, it was the first time." Scarlett shook in dismay as she sighed. Grace shrugged as she tapped her shoulder, "It happens, sometimes."
"You rock, each time you show your skill, Scarlett," she stopped to study her expression, which could be easily termed as blank. She continued, "And you're an incredible employer one could ever have." She completed as Scarlett gave her an unconvinced stare. She laughed a little, "It's the truth." Grace retorted and she shrugged her shoulders.
"Thanks for the positive words though, Gracy," Scarlett teased to which she made a disgusted face. She knows how badly it irritates her while she calls her by that name. Chuckling a bit, Scarlett finally took her leave from the office.
Once she was alone, Scarlett ended up being lost, again. She felt repentant for forgetting things lately. She internally felt disturbed as she found herself unable to think fittingly and on top of it all, she always found herself tired, emotionally.
After reaching home, Scarlett opted for a warm shower first. Then, she chose a red dress with a cowl neckline for Leah's birthday party. The dress had an attractive look with a golden, slim metal belt that contrasted around her stomach.
She braided her hair to the right side quickly and pushed the remaining locks over to my left side. Usually, Scarlett didn't like to apply make-up, but since it was Leah's party, she needed to hide the dullness on her face and so, she applied a little bit of it and wore matching studded earrings.
Before she went, she put on her open toe heels as she took her clutch, shoving her phone in it. Soon, she hit the road, driving off to her best friend's place, which was at least an hour drive from Scarlett's mansion.
+++++
Scarlett observed the big impressively decorated hall once she entered. She chuckled in amusement, upon noticing the crowd. It appeared as if she'd invited the entire city. "Typical Leah," she shook disbelievingly at her madness.
"Scarlett," I heard an unfamiliar tentative voice from behind as she turned on her back, only to meet a familiar guy at the most unpredictable time, not to forget, at Leah's party.
"Out of all the places, I get to meet the great Mason Barnes at Lee's party, wow!" Scarlett exclaimed in wonder, as he shrugged carrying a wide grin, which played permanently on his lips.
"You look amazing, Scarlett," he smiled looking at her from top to bottom as he initiated a little hug.
"Look at yourself, don't you look great," Scarlett complimented back as she smiled astoundingly and he again shrugged.
"A drink?" He requested as she nodded right away.
He questioned glimpsing my side as they together made their way to the little bar that Lee had at the corner of her big foyer.
"So when can I show up to pick you up for dinner?" She passed him a baffled stare.
"You said I look great," he signaled towards himself as she laughed at his banter, "I thought I could take you on a date, Scarlett," he continued his play.
"You think we're still in high school?" She laughed, reminiscing about their secretive play where they had posed as a couple for some time. "Anyway, wrong call mister," she chuckled as she showed him her engagement ring.
"Ah, I am too late!" He exclaimed spectacularly, "Again!"
"Shut up!"
Mason laughed, "Of course, everyone knew about your engagement with Aaron," he chuckled as he forwarded Scarlett her drink, as she obliged. Before she could ask him anything else, Leah showed up suddenly as she glared at her playfully.
"Happy birthday," Scarlett grinned at her, "You look fabulous," she went on to hug her and she pulled her away, leaving her frowning endlessly.
"You traitor," she hit her arm lightly, "You decided to meet this douche first, instead of me!" Scarlett only laughed at her silly act.
"Oh, the birthday girl is so jealous of me," Mason meddled in, messing with her only to get a glare from her, "I'm telling you, Scarlett, she's in love with you," He pretended to say that in a low whisper as he continued further, "Be careful and believe me, I have caught her planning evil things to break off your engagement." Scarlett laughed richly whilst Leah could be found hitting him on his arm.
"Jerk," she hissed at him.
"You guys behave just as before, grow up." Scarlett sniggered as Mason continued to joke with her.
"I'll be back," she said only to get another mocking statement from Mason.
"No, don't bother to come back, Leah, we'll adjust without you." He bantered as she glared at him.
"It's obvious, Leah didn't invite you?" She rather asked as he chuckled.
"I invited myself," he grinned, bringing a smile to her face.
Scarlett found herself gasping for air when a deadly familiar face caught her attention.
Again? Scarlett moved a little, to have a clear look at him but at the moment, she could not see someone already approaching her way and his drink spilt on my dress.
"Shit!" Scarlett cursed.
"I'm sorry," his apology was so quick and before she could react, he disappeared.
"What is wrong with me? I seriously need to get a hold on myself" Scarlett thought to herself. Was she again imagining things? Scarlett realized she's been thinking about Dylan unwaveringly and that was leading her to presume things lately.
Not long after that, she walked towards the restroom as she briefly cleaned the stains that were highlighted on her red-coloured dress.
Involuntarily glancing at the mirror in front of her, Scarlett fixed her hair, which went a bit out of place.
She drew in a breath before opening the door.
A loud gasp escaped her mouth and her heart almost came out of her mouth. He'd left her utterly shaken, by unexpectedly appearing at the other side of the door making her stumble onto her back clumsily. However, before she could meet the cold floor, he was there, catching her arm and pulling her towards him instantly; preventing her from falling. Scarlett's head hit his hard chest and his arm instantly curled back to her waist, making her breath hitch to her throat.
He still stood there, with a permanent smirk plastered all over his face. It was crystal clear. Scarlett wasn't hallucinating. She was never wrong. Indeed, it was Dylan, back there in the living area and she dismissed herself by thinking that she was being delirious.
Shifting back to reality, Scarlett jerked away from him, yet his hold on her back stayed firm. She glared at him but that did not affect him even a bit as he unrelentingly gave her an unreadable expression.
Finally, he removed his hold on her as she stepped away from him. "Will you ever think of leaving me alone?" Scarlett harshly hissed as he let out a dry chuckle.
She stepped aside intending to walk away; pushing him but he was quick enough in taking her arm as he made her stand, facing him.
Scarlett, as a response, shot him a fierce look and ignoring her glares, he raised his hand slowly making her frown in confusion. Dylan lovingly removed a strand of her hair away from her face.
"You still have the skill to capture my mind and heart. You look breathtakingly beautiful, Angel." Dylan whispered, pulling her closer to him as his arms found my waist again. His gaze slowly traveled down, stopping by her lips and then again, lastly at her eyes, "I was not able to take my eyes off you." He continued and all she could manage was to stare at him but continuously make efforts and try to wriggle out of his arms.
"There's no meaning for all these words now," Scarlett somehow managed to respond bravely, giving him a blank, unreadable look, "As you can see, I'm engaged." She stated firmly, showing him her ring and instantaneously, his gaze darkened, though only for a moment as he soon maintained a cool expression leaving her skeptical about it. What was he actually feeling at the moment was a question for Scarlett. A moment he's all dark and inexpressible and right after, he's suddenly all calm and careless?
"Well, who are you kidding, Angel. Your eyes speak everything that you keep on holding inside," the smirk residing back on his lips. "I know it still isn't over for you. You just need to agree to it and we are back together," he announced as he finally stepped back, fishing his hands in his pockets, eyeing her from head to toe.
Not so long after that, Dylan again stepped closer again as he leaned towards her ear, making Scarlett's heartbeat rise. "Doesn't the thought of us again being so close together, allure you, Scarlett?" He whispered, his breath directly making contact against her skin leaving her speechless and weak.
Dylan was right. He still had that effect on her and she extremely hated admitting it.
Nevertheless, getting herself together, she gritted coldly, "Forget about being together, I despise the moments in which I had to share the same space as you. And the truth is, you could never imagine the amount of hatred I feel for you. So get over your conceited thoughts and get a clearer picture, Dylan Walker."
He stared at her amusedly as if she'd cracked the biggest joke. He shook as he chuckled in incredulity, "I know you still love me, I can feel it and I have happy news for you, it isn't over for me either," he whispered, again giving her a haughty smile.
"No. I am not," Scarlett dissented right away and he just chuckled, leaving her incensed all over again.
"Just go away from where you came back. I don't value your existence anymore," Scarlett shot back angrily. She was pissed more by herself for still putting up with his haughtiness and for being so clear and obvious.
"Trust me, darling," he suddenly again leaned dangerously close, his breath fanning on her cheek as he whispered in a husky voice, "I am back only for you. I'm going to claim what's mine." Dylan's voice brought shivers to the bottom of her spine.
His gaze turned intense and traveled, stopping by her lips. Scarlett could clearly view the desire in his eyes, the same kind that she'd often witnessed in the past, which drove her crazy all the time.
A little more effort and his lips would brush against hers, the thought of it made her internally passionate. Before it was too late, Scarlett managed to drift back to her senses as she immediately pushed him away, and this time she'd succeeded in doing so.
Dylan grinned at her devilishly, "If I could wait all these long years, then waiting for another day is not a big deal for me, Angel," he grinned, tracing his finger on her cheek and she jerked away with a defiant stare, that directed towards him. He snickered, "Next time, those sweet delicious lips are mine." His words and the tone of his voice did not help her to put a stop to those superfluous sensations and every cell of Scarlett's body screamed, conveying her about the effect he and his words had on her body.
"I'm not yet done. I'm still here, Angel," he winked, and passing one last grin, he vanished.
Scarlett sighed, shaking her head in disturbance and displeasure.
**********