How To Win His Heart

A date gone wrong

Allison’s POV

“I look like a stupid teen,” I screeched over the phone, earning few looks from the people passing me. I hugged my body with my free arm and stared at the road as cars passed by.

“Alli, it’s a floral dress and you look cute,” Jayme replied and hung up the line, leaving me alone. I slid my phone into my purse.

She gained pleasure from my suffering.

“I’ll wait till it’s 8,” I mumbled to myself.

I clutched on the metal chains of my purse with one hand and the other smoothed down the skirt of the dress.

Mom picked out the spot as she knew I could never turn sushi down. That woman was smart.

If my date didn’t show up, I would still go inside and order my favorite sushi. Food had a special place in my heart.

I watched as people walked past me, parents walking with their children, couples going on dates, and here I was waiting for my date, who was late.

Deep down I wished that things would turn out right for me, I needed some action in my boring life other than work.

After a while, I checked my watch, and it was 8 p.m. I looked again at the street before entering the restaurant. My body felt warmer as I entered the place, the outside was cold. I knew it was a stupid idea to go on a date.

“Reservation for Ms. Miller,” I asked the waiter by the entrance. He checked it out, then nodded.

He called for a waitress to guide me to my table in the VIP section. It was better to stay away from the paparazzi.

The VIP tables were at the back of the restaurant and they were separated by walls from the regular tables. I set my stuff down and wait for my date.

I saw none of my mom’s friends’ children and there they were playing Cupid, matching their children together. Parents these days.

Few minutes passed, and they turned to half an hour, still no sign of him.

Great, I just got ditched.

“Good evening ma’am, I’m Kai and I will be your waiter tonight,” the waiter caught my attention, I ordered my regular, and he wrote what I said.

“Anything else, ma’am?” He asked after he was done writing.

I wanted red wine, but I remembered that I had to control myself, I already had a lot of alcohol this week.

“No thanks,” I replied with a smile, then he left to get my order ready.

Ditched or not, I was still eating sushi. It was his loss anyway.

I picked up my phone and went through my messages; I kept scrolling down the screen. Each message screamed work just by looking at it.

The phone rang while I was scrolling; I knitted my eyebrows as it was an unknown number. He better be apologizing for ditching me. I answered the call and pressed the phone to my ears.

“… ugh.. so, what are you wearing or how do you look, the waiter left me hanging.” He chuckled nervously at the end. My eyes roamed the place for someone talking on his phone.

When I noticed a guy talking on his phone, I answered back. “I’m right behind you,”

A pair of piercing blue eyes met mine, he smiled at me, then hung up the phone and approached the table.

“I’m really sorry for being late, the traffic was crazy,” he apologized as he sat down.

“It’s okay,” I mumbled, stunned in my chair.

Holy God of heavens, if their children were so freaking hot why mom didn’t tell me at least.

He was handsome, his hair was a mess set of brown curls, and when he smiled dimples appeared.

Did I mention his muscles? He was wearing a tight black shirt, hugging his muscles. I was drooling mentally.

He cleared his throat when he realized I was staring. “I’m Scott,” he introduced himself.

“…uh...I’m Allison,” I stammered. God, why did I shutter?

I think my brain was having a mini-stroke.

“So, our moms are playing Cupid.” He chuckled.

Man, he was so true about that.

I rolled my eyes, which made him chuckle again. “Tell me about it.” I felt my muscles relax, and I gained back my confidence, feeling comfortable around him.

That was me breaking my own rules, I never felt comfortable on dates, but this guy seemed normal to be around.

“I guess you already ordered because I kept you waiting.” He said as the waiter handed him the menu.

“Anyway, I never ate sushi before,” he said after the waiter left, “I would like your help.” I smiled and suggested my favorites.

The rest of the date went smoothly, and I was on my way home. I stopped at a red light and zoned out, thinking about Scott. He was a nice guy and handsome too.

The light turned green, and I drove a little faster as the building was on the next corner. I parked the car in the building’s parking lot and headed to the elevator.

My thoughts went back to Scott again as I entered the elevator. He told me how his mother set up many dates for him as my mother did for me. And the great thing, he didn’t know that I was Allison Miller.

When we reached the work topic, I told him I work in the fashion industry and he told me he had a modeling agency, not a huge one, but he was working on it.

I was shocked that I liked this date; it had been a while since I went on a good date.

Maybe I had a chance with love. I thought as I entered my apartment.

I changed my clothes and laid on the bed, then I remembered that I had to check some emails before I went to sleep. I stacked pillows behind me, then rested my back.

I grabbed the tablet and opened it. A lot of notifications popped up, but two emails caught my attention. One from Cooper’s office and another from Jordan Solano.

Why would Jordan Solano try to contact me after these years? I asked myself and archived his email, focusing on Cooper’s instead.

"He better be apologizing," I mumbled as I opened his email.

After I was done reading it, I wanted to bury Holland Cooper myself. “If he wants a war, I will give it to him.” I clenched my hand into a fist.

He wanted to set a settlement for who owns the designs over a meeting at his place. The fact that he had the guts to email me to have a decision over my designs filled me with rage and anger.

An idea crossed my mind, and it made me laugh. I turned off the lights, then turned off the tablet and buried myself with pillows.

I needed all that sleep for tomorrow’s meeting.

12 hours later.

I stepped out of my red Porsche and looked at the huge building. Clara came out of the car and walked to stand to my side. The valet guy came and went to park the car.

“Not to doubt your choices, but are you really sure about your decision?” Clara asked.

I glanced at her and nodded.

I wasn’t here to settle for an agreement. I was going to blackmail him.

Unfortunately, I had to cancel the job interviews again. I could leave Clara to interview them, but I brought her with me today. I considered her as my emotional support. These old men were too much to handle sometimes.

The paparazzi gathered around us and they focused their camera flashes on me. The security came to help me walk through them.

“Ms. Miller, are you being sued for stealing Cooper’s recent designs?” one asked.

“Are you two settling for an agreement?” the other asked.

I ignored every question that was asked to me and kept walking towards the building with the help of security.

After struggling to pass these thirsty reporters, we finally got inside the building.

Thank god I didn’t have to listen to their crap anymore.

I pressed the elevator button and waited for its arrival.

“Do you have a plan, Ms. Miller?” Clara asked as she brought out the files I asked her to bring from the archives, my proof for owning that line of clothes.

I glanced at her, and the elevator door opened. “I will shove these files in his ass,” I said calmly as we got into the elevator.

Clara pressed the last button, knowing where his office was. She was employed here before, but he kicked her out for being inefficient.

The real truth was one of his employees harassed her, and when she complained to the HR department, the stories got mixed up and they fired her for creating a story out of nowhere.

Hands down, Clara was the best assistant I had ever got, she had been working for me for three years now and I had never seen her late to a single meeting or behind with work. It was Holland’s loss to fire such a hard worker.

I glanced over at her and saw her hands shaking. She was nervous. I felt guilty for dragging her with me and not telling her my plan.

“He can’t harm you,” I mumbled. Her hands went to wipe the sweat beads that formed on her forehead.

We were 20 floors away. She let out a harsh breath. “Being here just brings bad memories,” she said with a low voice, “he isn’t a nice person, Ms. Miller. He must have paid people to support him.” I glanced at her and noticed her worries about me.

Of course, he would pay people to come out with fake stories and documents. But I still had the option to blackmail him if he didn’t go my way.

Later we reached the destined floor, and I busted into the meeting room, not waiting for any second with his secretary. As Clara said, there were witnesses he brought. Too bad they all came for money.

Holland Cooper was sitting at the head of the table and his witnesses were on his left side, leaving the other end of the table and the right side empty. I didn’t look at their faces and walked to the end of the table under Holland’s icy glare.

I sat down, and Clara sat on my right. She put the files on the table in front of me. I looked at the file and slid it to Holland. He caught it and looked at it, then smirked.

He opened the file and chuckled. “Allison, dear, I did this on purpose. You know something,” he lit a cigar and took a breath from it to continue, “these gentlemen obeyed my orders, not like your father. He was the one to break a partnership that lasted a decade.”

"My aunt did it," I corrected, my gaze darted at the witnesses to know who I was dealing with.

I was left in pure shock when I noticed Scott among them, he was sitting right next to Holland. He opened his mouth, shocked when he saw me, but he covered it immediately.

No, not all the good guys support him. I whined mentally.

I always learned the truth the hard way.

My chances with Scott just blew up, side note, never have relationships with people supporting the enemy, they will always stand with him.

I looked at the black bag beside Clara hesitantly. I didn’t want to use blackmailing to make him stand in his place and stop bothering me, but he left no option for me.

“And my aunt did what was right. Do you seriously see yourself achieving something on your own except stealing?” He took another breath from his cigar as I talked, then removed his lips from it, smiling at me. He was getting on my nerves.

He turned off his cigar and glanced at me with a devilish smirk. “I told you, Allison, the business field wasn’t for little girls like you.” He clasped his hands together. The men next to him roared with laughter except for Scott. He was trying to hide.

I slapped my hand on the table, gaining their attention back. They all looked at me, amused as if it was a reality show. “I’m a grown-ass woman unlike you acting like a five-year-old accusing me of stealing just for attention,” I barked at him, Clara muffled her chuckle, knowing my words were true.

“I didn’t come for an agreement or whatever you wanted, I came to expose you to the media.” I waved to Clara, and she brought out her laptop.

I turned the screen to show him what I held against him. “Weren’t you married, Holland? Or should I show this to your wife?” his smile dropped. He reached to the glass of water and chugged it down nervously.

“You turned to the media for attention. We turn their attention to you.” Clara smirked, knowing that we could end his entire career.

We did a high five below the table and waited for his reply. He looked at his witnesses and they all didn’t know what to say.

I did some digging this morning and found these tapes and some other interesting stuff but we didn’t know about the witnesses till later.

It is such a shame Scott had to be one of them. It was destiny telling me I had no chance in love with this career.

“Leave me with Ms. Miller, we will talk it out like adults.” They exchanged glances before gathering whatever they brought and left the room, leaving Clara and me with Holland.

“I think it was all of a misunderstanding,” He loosened his tie and picked up the file again, taking a quick look at it, then his eyes met mine, “I could totally see your signature now under the design.”

I motioned to Clara to get the file from him. She got up and snatched the file, giving him dirty looks.

“Sort things out with the media or you will find these the next day,” I said as I got up and gathered the rest of the stuff with Clara.

When we got out, I found Scott was waiting for me. “Clara, go to the car, I’ll follow you,” she nodded her head and walked to the elevator.

He scratched the back of his head as I approached him. “Hey, I hope this thing didn’t blow up the chance for a second date,”

“Yeah about that,”

“Last night was fun, and I enjoyed it, so thank you for that,” I pressed my lips together before continuing, “but I really don’t have time for dates, it was for the sake of my mother,” I confessed.

It was half of the truth; I didn’t have time for dating, especially with money chasers.

Now, this is how you turn someone down after having a good date. Such a shame he showed me another face today.

He nodded his head, understanding what I said. “See you around, Scott.” And with that, I turned and headed to the elevator.

I achieved success today, blackmailing Holland was more fun than I thought it would be. I knew he wanted the spotlight only for him, and I could deliver the attention he wanted, but not now. I wasn’t in the mood for that.

Now, I had a wedding to plan with Jayme.