Unlikely Alliance

Chapter 4

Emily's Point of View.

Charles and I headed back to the car, and the atmosphere was filled with a sense of awkwardness. It was my first time being alone with him, and I couldn't help but feel a mixture of fear and resentment. I found myself worrying about irrational scenarios: what if he kidn*pped me? But I quickly dismissed such thoughts – rich men don't kidnap people. What if he made unwanted advances? No, he was James' friend; he wouldn't harm James's wife. What if he was angry about my previous rudeness towards him on the phone? I was plagued by these strange thoughts.

Many weird thoughts circled my mind, but I managed to push them aside and focus on the task at hand. Charles's cologne filled the car, and I found myself stealing a glance at him. Our eyes met briefly, and I immediately looked away, feeling exposed and caught.

Charles had caught me looking at him, and I hoped he didn't think I was admiring him. I was a married woman, and I would never entertain such thoughts. I tried to convince myself that I wasn't impressed by the handsome man sitting beside me.

"Would you like to listen to some jazz music?" Charles asked politely.

"No, I'd rather listen to the news," I replied. He nodded and turned on the radio for me.

As the radio began to play, my thoughts returned to James. "Hope you're safe, James," I whispered to myself. I could sense Charles's gaze on me from the corner of my eye, but I resisted the urge to meet his eyes again. Was he checking me out or was he trying to compel me to look at him?

We reached our house quickly, and I hurried out of the car. I attempted to open the door, and it swung open easily, indicating that someone was inside. We entered the house, and to my surprise, I found James in the shower.

"James, are you in?" I called out.

"Yes, I'm in the shower," he replied. My jaw dropped in disbelief, and I turned to see Charles's reaction, curious about how he would respond to James's casual attitude.

I sat on the bed and waited for James to come out of the bathroom. Charles remained standing, and I didn't offer him a seat—it was our bedroom, and he was better off standing. James emerged a few minutes later, wearing shorts and a towel around his neck to dry his hair. He seemed a bit surprised to see Charles in the room.

"Hey, man! What are you doing here?" James asked, greeting Charles with a cheerful smile and a big hug. Charles managed to maintain a serious expression.

"We were worried about you. Your wife was concerned sick about you. You weren't picking up her calls," Charles replied, still wearing a serious demeanor. My face turned red with anger at how nonchalant James appeared, considering the panic he had caused me.

"I'm so sorry, guys. I was preparing to go to the party when my boss called me to come to the office urgently. He needed my assistance with some work. I rushed to the office and left my phone at home, which is why I couldn't answer your calls. I wasn't expecting the work to take so long, and I thought I'd make it to the party, but I'm just getting back now. I was going to call you after I took a shower," James explained.

When he noticed that I was still silent, he walked over to the bed and sat beside me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and turned my face toward his.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, love," he apologized sincerely.

***

Charles's Point of View

"Cheers to love and life," James declared as we clinked glasses to celebrate his wedding anniversary.

"Happy wedding anniversary, James," I congratulated him, reaching into my bag to retrieve a wrapped package – a pair of shoes he had been craving for a while. They were quite expensive, but he deserved a special gift. He was so surprised and excited about the gift, if he had been a man he'd have been teary.

"How's your wife?" I inquired, out of courtesy, to check if she was upset that James was spending the day after their anniversary with me.

"She's good. We had a lot of fun yesterday. Thanks for the movie tickets you sent," James replied, appreciating the gift. "I told her that you'd be hosting me today to celebrate our anniversary. She didn't seem interested in joining us; she just told me to have fun and return early."

"Well, I'm not surprised. She doesn't like me that much," I admitted, taking a sip of my wine. "So, how's work? It's also your first work anniversary at the Chicago branch."

"Yeah, it's been quite a lot lately. We recently signed a new project, but my boss has been acting strangely. He's been avoiding sharing the project details with me," James replied, his expression becoming more serious.

"Why do you think that is? Maybe he doesn't feel it's part of your job, and that's why you aren't informed," I suggested.

"Ever since I confronted him about an issue three months after I arrived here, he's been shutting me out," James explained.

"What issue was that?" I inquired, curious about the specifics, but James brushed it off.

"Never mind; maybe I'm overthinking it. It's probably not that deep," he dismissed my question.

He dug into his steak and then paused, seemingly lost in thought. He looked up at me with a contemplative expression.

"Have you ever considered getting married?" James asked, fixing his gaze on me intently.

"Seriously? Getting married? Why would I ever consider such?" I laughed it off, scooping some pasta into my mouth.

"Don't you think your company needs an heir?" James pushed, his tone more serious now.

"Oh, please, you sound just like my mother right now. My sister can manage the company in my absence, or her children can inherit it. Must it necessarily be my child?" I countered, resisting the idea.

"Montgomery Enterprise belongs to your family; it's only natural for you to produce an heir and ease your mother's worries," James suggested.

"This is one of the reasons I was against you getting married. I knew my mother would use you against me. Did she put you up to this?" I asked, half-joking but also concerned.

"I don't think your mother thinks so highly of me as to make such a request. She probably sees me as some pest or gold digger trying to feast on her son's wealth. Maybe if you give her an heir under my influence, she'll think differently," James responded with a hint of humor.

"Let's put that topic aside and enjoy ourselves," I suggested, trying to steer the conversation away from the subject of marriage. James remained silent, focusing on his meal. My phone buzzed, displaying the caller's name, and I couldn't hide my irritation. I picked up the call.

"Hello..." the caller started, breathless and without hesitation. He said those words that I hated to hear. The news threw me off balance, there was an awkward silence after I ended the call. James looked at me, clearly concerned.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice filled with curiosity and worry.