With Love Simone

Chapter 6 The Fire That Doesn't Burn..

An entire week passed in a blur for Ashton, but he couldn't just take that dangerous smile out of his system. Like an illusion of the night, he remembered himself dancing with the strongest woman ever who had a predatory smile on her lips throughout an hour of dancing with him. Neither did she say her name or her work, but that smile was scary to him. It felt like a warning.

A dangerous warning that he had never felt before. The intensity of it was so high, and cunning that he still felt the same vibes going around him on that day.

He sat behind his desk in his office suite in The Great Glacier—dressed up in a formal, three-piece suit; all set to have the first board meeting ever in his life. It was something which made him uncomfortable, but he had no option other than accepting it. It’s the way things were moving forth for him.

Yet, he couldn’t concentrate because his ever so preoccupied mind won't just push away the magnetic feel of the two women, he encountered in his first week in Vienna.

One, the black-clad figure he witnessed in the Admirals; Two, the class of elegance dressed in red with whom he had the pleasure to dance; and when he wanted to know more about her, she vanished in thin air like she never came.

His mind formed the possibilities of the girls being the same due to the curvy figure, similar height but then he pushed that thought away since now a day’s girls were tall and Austrian girls were class of heights of course.

"Damn! I should be castigated for thinking about strange women at the time of my board meeting.” He chided himself having enough of his own disturbing thoughts.

But something, inside him, stirred again giving rise to the uncanny feelings which were bouncing to and forth in the pit of his stomach since his arrival in the city last week. Everything seemed different around him. He had a half mind calling it quits before he could even begin because he knew something was up in the surroundings.

He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was but like every human would want to keep out of trouble, he wished to do the same unless his fate had planned something different for him.

The buzzing of the cell phone forced him to concentrate on the thing at the hand, rather than the mysterious women entering his life.

"Sister, it's so not a pleasure to hear from you again!" He mocked holding the cell to his right ear, while his left hand worked on his laptop now; since he had a pile to catch up to present at the board. And he was least prepared.

You put a model into a four-wall office so what do you expect from them to do?

Work! But can they stop daydreaming about their shoots in the lakes, seas and greenery with fun all around the place and when the current atmosphere only demanded to sit straight and trouble poor eyes with reading then certainly, works a bit hard to be done? You get me!

In response, he was only met by a girly chuckle of his elder sister, Alison Walkers who was certainly enjoying the misery of her brother.

"Come on Little Brother; are you still mad at me for ditching you today?" He scrunched his nose in annoyance. He stood up; paced around the room since that seemed a better option rather than feeling his discomfort in handling the meeting.

"So, you mean to say that its fine to give me back to back shocks in just a span of days?”

"Well, bro, I am not certain about the shock I gave you apart from the fact that I won't be there to help you in the meeting.”

“And seriously, how bad can it go?”

"Sweetheart, if you’re forgetting then let me tell you I am a model for heaven's sake, not a management spree, that can study the reports here and know the reason of sudden losses of the hotel.” He almost yelled this time earning himself another round of laughter.

"Honestly, is Derek teaching you to only laugh these days?"

"Why? Your girl doesn't teach you to laugh anymore?" Hearing the equal mock from the other side, his jaw stiffened suddenly; he chose to hang up rather than tease her anymore.

It wasn't a polite option, thus he decided to question another thing troubling his conscience.

"Forget all that, but tell me what did the doctor say about Mom? Is she fine now completely?"

"Well she is fine from the outside, but we can never know when her panic might kick in again. Since that day, something has changed in her. She is here, yet she is not with us.” He sighed briefly.

“Apart from Dad, no one knows what’s the actual reason. It's like one moment, she is all smiles, and in another second, she is a closed shell.” The response didn't make him happier, but it ignited some sense of curiosity inside him.

Whether it was his instinct or his care, he had no idea, but he felt that it was related to him because she won't even talk to him now apart from formal greetings which made him feel sad. He missed his Mom, terribly. He ached to just share a laughter with her, but she won’t even look him in the eye and call him with his name nor she hugs him.

Despite having a mother when you’re abandoned by her then apart from self-loathing you can’t feel anything for yourself. He exactly felt that similar emotion but kept it inside him mostly not wanting anyone to know that he was weak.

"But let's leave it, bro.”

“For now, we need to concentrate on Dad. It's been years already, so let's just give her some more time to open to us once again. Maybe you should let her see Her?"

"I won't bring Her here. Her life is settled in San Francisco.” His reply was instant as he knew where the conversation was heading to.

It wasn't a new topic for him, but he knew his family won't stop pestering him, but his mind was set on the decision he took years ago. In response, he heard Alison sighing, and then not wanting the call to end awkwardly, she ended it with a little teasing.

"Alright, I got to go. You better hurry up for the meeting and for heaven's sake, be a human to them!"

"What the??" He yelped but only heard the dead end of it, since the call was hanged up, with a loud sound of laughter.

"What the heck she meant by a human?"

His phone buzzed with a new message sign; the second he read it, his eyes popped out of his sockets aghast at his sister's cruelty towards him. *Please note the sarcasm*

The message read as:- “I bet on Derek's Switzerland collection of perfumes, that you are still wondering my statement, then let me clarify you that you behave more like a programmed Terminator rather than a human."

"Bloody hell with this perfume couple! I swear if a hundred girls wedding gowns weren't depending on this girl, then I would have kidnapped her and thrown her in her wardrobe only, then locked it,” he swore under his breath for the millionth time.

Imagine when your hands are tied up because you’re a younger brother. You must do and say as your sister pleases. The court of dominance is changed, My Lord! And all you can do is pout, sulk, crib, and cry as if you’ve been deprived of good candies.

"RIP brother clans. May you never get elder sisters, because they are a pain in the ass as much as a turkey might cause a pain in the stomach".

But if sisters didn’t exist then where’s the fun of a brother.

He chuckled at his own humour and as he looked at the wall clock, he harboured a horrified look instantly and dashed out of the room like a tsunami to the boardroom.

His death was written for today but not from his father, Christian Walker's hands but from Simone Thompson’s hand as the D-day was here.

But only he was unaware of it!

***

Dressed in a pure black outfit with a velvet scarf wrapped around her face, clanking her five-inch stilettos on the tiled floor, she entered the premises of the Great Glacier Hotel.

The bodyguards in black followed her with big rifles in their hands. As she passed the corridor, the blonde receptionist stood up petrified and so did the customers, checking in and out of the hotel. Every eye glued on the 5 feet 11 inches tall girl who walked with extreme dynamism around her screaming power, dominance and authority.

Except for her brown caramel eyes and rosy pink lips nothing was in view but still one can immediately recognize the beauty she was.

"Board Room??" She queried in her soft and powerful tone. With two words, she scared the female sitting behind the huge counter. Her eyes were ready to fall of the sockets as she received the stubborn glares from the women security standing behind her latest fear.

She looked for help but everyone stood rooted to their spots including the hotel security who couldn't halt the lioness from entering her desired place.

"Last.... floor. Room No..... 4.” The blonde girl stuttered as the girl in front of her began scrutinizing her long nails which were ready to scratch off anyone and everyone who dared to mess with her.

"Good girl.” She commented. Then, without another word, she marched towards the elevator followed by her security who gave evil looks to the customers who exchanged worried looks with each other.

Inside the elevator, the ride to the last floor—floor no. 55 seemed extremely boring and tiring for her hence she preferred watching the ever so famous cartoon, Tom and Jerry on her tab. Her guards looked ahead not disturbing their boss while she had the time of her life.

"Ma'am, we are here.” One of the women guards, gained her attention earning a dead glare for spoiling her moment.

She checked her reflection in the mirror, attached on the left side of the elevator; took ten steps to the left, and there she was in front of her desire.

Without a single thought disturbing her she pushed the wooden doors opened, startling the gentlemen engrossed in a serious discussion with the man—standing far away near the big projector screen.

"Lights!" In his husky tone, he ordered.

As soon as one of the managers obliged his order, several gasps escaped as the seated members around the big round table stood up in shock.

Their worst nightmares stood hovering over them in her terrifying glory. A glory that was as combustible as a chemical reaction. A slight offence to it and they might all lose their lives.

"Who the hell are you?" His angry voice blasted in the room petrifying the clients but instead of being scared, the girl laughed her ever-so-majestic laugh moving closer to the table. Right across him!

She kept her hand on the nearby office chair; caressed the velvet on it, and then in a go she pushed it towards him shocking him; in a spur of the second, he caught the chair before it could hit him and turned his face to look at her in disbelief.

She poked the table with her nails and declared.

“I am fire! But I don’t burn if you play with me. I burn if you don’t become the part of my game.”