CHAPTER 3
1420 Words
"Hi Ana, I see you're already set. I'm Peterson, you can just call me Peters. It's nice to finally meet you." Peter said as he walked towards Ana followed by two men and a younger Lady.
She silently let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was just Mr. Peters and two other executives.
'Thank God it wasnt Nathan, I must have heard wrong.' She thought
"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Ana replied, with a smile of relief.
"We are ready when you are Ana." One of the executives said as they all took their seat.
The presentation went better than she thought it would, they all seemed to be impressed and she was able to answer all of their questions.
"Well, Ana, these are really good strategies and I actually love them! However, we'd like you to excuse us and give you a few minutes to debate and we'll call you when it's time. Please wait at the reception." Peters said while others nodded in agreement.
"Thank you. Please, excuse me then." Ana stood up to step out, feeling really satisfied with how everything went.
During the presentation, her phone rang continuously and she was just thankful that she had put it on silent mode. She decided to take this time to check who the caller was.
It was from Daniel, her ex-boyfriend-sort of, as they were in a situation-ship, rather than a relationship which finally ended months ago.
Daniel had called Ana several times and as a result of her silence, he had to send tons of messages to Anastasia, pleading for them to see.
'I know you said you have forgiven me, but I just need to see and hear you say it. I am still very sorry Stasia- as he fondly calls her, and I just want to make sure we are cool.' The text read.
Ana sighed, rolling her eyes. She was still indecisive about responding to Daniel’s messages, but knowing Daniel, he would buzz her phone to death and she had too much to focus on other than getting continuous distractions from him. So she had to return his call - Once and for all. So she got up to find a more comfortable spot to talk to him.
"Stasia! Thank you for returning my call! Again, I want to say how really sorry I am and that I regret everything that happ… " Daniel was still talking, when Anastasia interrupted him. She honestly didn't have time for his drama. She had better things to do.
"We can meet at the coffee shop by the weekend. I'll text you the exact time when I check my schedule… and Daniel?" She paused a bit before she continued.
"You know how much I hate the continuous buzz of my phone. So please, try as much as you can to not do that again. We are cool and I've forgiven you and all, so don't make me regret my decision. I'm human and it'll take me time to get over it, so all I just wanted was space and you didn't even give me that. So please stop calling me. I will call you, okay?" She said with the softest tone possible as she smiled over the phone. She really needed Daniels to be convinced and get off her back.
"Uhmmm, you're right Stasia, I'm sorry I was just desperate and so…I look forward to seeing you then." He sighed, waiting for a response which took longer than expected
"I will keep you updated… and please, no flowers or serenaders or anything fancy. No Drama Daniel, thank you and see you this weekend. Bye." Then she quickly hung up, because it was typical of Daniel to want to say the last word.
''How did I even cope with this guy for two years? Geeez.'' Ana mumbled and let out a sigh of relief, as she walked back to the reception.
"Anastasia! Five years later and you still haven't stopped mumbling things to yourself!" Nathaniel's very manly voice said behind her. She froze for a few seconds because she knew it was Nathan. Only he would call her name in full. She gently turned trying to maintain her cool.
"Hello Anastasia." Nathaniel said with a smile around the corners of his lips. He wasn't sure whether to hug or shake her given their last meeting five years back.
"Hey Nathaniel!! What are you doing here?" She asked,a bit confused and surprised as she let out a sigh avoiding his eyes and there was an obvious tension between them. She folded both arms behind her to hide her shaky fingers.
Nathaniel was about 6"5 while she was 5"4, so there was no way she wouldn't raise her head to look at him. She shouldn't have because she couldn't help but notice the fine features of his face and she remembered the first and only time they spent together.
'Focus Anastasia.' She thought to herself.
"I'm actually here because I have a meeting to conclude, I wasn't expecting to see you here." Big lie Nathan, he thought to himself and he knew she was going to be here and in fact was hoping he'd see her. He had not seen her in five years and he was doing well, but the moment he knew last week that she was the one Peter would be having a meeting with, it felt as though he wouldn't make it till Monday without seeing her.
"Oh, I see." Ana replied, avoiding his eyes.
His tone didn't have that warmth and the spark in his eyes were gone. She thought to herself and continued.
"Uhhmmm, I'm actually here for a meeting with the Media and Advertising department headed by Mr Peter." Ana was saying when they got interrupted.
"Good Morning Mr Tate, I'm sorry to interrupt, but the others are waiting for the both of you to join them." Cindy said to Nathaniel who couldn't take his eyes off Ana. She had gotten prettier and curvier, he thought.
"Thank you Cindy. We'll join them now" Nathaniel replied and turned his attention back to Ana, who was already feeling confused and uncomfortable with the way he stared at her and what the hell did Cindy mean by 'the others are waiting for the both of you to join them.'
"I have to go now, Nathan. I guess I'll see you around then."
"Sure. Let me walk you in since we're going the same direction, except of course you're going to give me a slap on the face like the last time?" He teased even though his eyes looked cold as he faced Anastasia who gave him a familiar look and rolled her eyes as they walked to the conference room.
"You deserved it Nathan." She said looking him in the eyes. "You also never apologized. But most importantly, why are we going the same direction?"
"I am still not sure what exactly you wanted or still want me to apologize for Anastasia" He said after a scoff then continued.
"Most importantly, it would interest you to know that I am the Manager Director of T&A. Now, let's not ruin your day with tales from the past, okay. We can talk about this much later." Nathaniel said, offering her a hand which she refused and walked past him and said.
"I know my way there." Ana wasn't sure how to react to this news, so she decided to play cool. Nathaniel obviously was enjoying this and now her chances of getting this offer got slimmer.
He couldn't help but notice her red lipstick which actually drives him crazy, her size was just perfect and her steps were more confident then he remembered.
'God damn it Nathaniel. You need to get your s**t together, she accused you of betrayal and then chose your brother over you. Isn't that pathetic and embarrassing enough to last a lifetime.' Nathaniel thought to himself and shifted his focus even though it was hard.
With the way he's looking so fine and manly, no girl, (except Anna of course who was still mad at him, even after five years) in her right senses would be able to resist his charm and good looks, which he annoyingly knows, obviously. Even Cindy's face was flushed when she spoke to him earlier. Ana thought as she took her seat.
'How worse could this day get?' she thought and with Nathaniel in the picture, she wasn't sure what to expect from the deal.
- Writer
