Hidden Lies

Chapter 3

Present day

After their encounter in the elevator, Conan and Luna avoided each other and spoke to each other only when it was necessary.

Somehow they couldn’t stand each other and that seemed to interfere with their work, as they both had contradicting opinions of every idea.

Two weeks after Luna’s arrival they couldn’t even get started on anything.

The product marketing project was supposed to take only a month, but two weeks had already gone by without any achievement and Conan was getting impatient.

Now it didn’t bother Luna very much because she could care less whether the project went well or not, but she was there for something, and the only way she could achieve it was by compromising.

She would hold her tongue, maybe cut back on the acidic words a little bit and if Conan wanted to trade hurtful words, he could do that all by himself.

What bothered Luna on this beautiful morning was she was supposed to have a one-on-one meeting with Conan, the very thing she dreaded was being alone with him but this morning, it was inevitable.

Five minutes more before her meeting, but while she waited the intercom rang, bringing her out of her thoughts.

When she looked at the screen she saw that it was Conan’s office, couldn’t he wait five more minutes!?

“Is there a problem?” She asked, trying to keep her irritation in check.

“Come to my office, now,” Conan ordered.

“But we have three more minutes before it’s time for our meeting.”

“Luna, COME TO MY OFFICE, NOW,” Conan emphasized every word.

“Fine.” She slammed the receiver down, hoping that Conan heard it. To hell with peace, if he wanted war, she was going to give him just that.

Minutes later, she slammed Conan’s door behind her and drew out a chair to sit, while Conan watched her seemingly amused.

“You didn’t knock.” Was all Conan said, not moving from his position on his chair?

“You were in such a hurry, I thought it best not to waste any more time on protocol. I hope it was a matter of life and death.” Luna spat.

“Well, Miss Morales, I like to start early, it saves precious time and money but you wouldn’t know anything about that now, would you?” Conan said coolly, making Luna wish she could slap that smile from his stupid face.

“So what are your thoughts on the new blueprint I submitted on Monday?” Luna asked.

“I don’t like it.”

“Did you even look at it?”

“Yes. And I do not like it”

“Wh- what. This is the third blueprint in two weeks. What are you even saying!? Do you realize the product has been ready for a month and not a single word is out?” Luna asked

“Your ideas are dumb, get creative.”

“Another company could release the exact product within the week?” she folded her hands

“I don’t care, Luna, I want something better,” Conan said between gritted teeth.

“Well you can’t always have what you want, Mr. Gregson” Luna exploded.

There was silence for a moment before Conan moved to his laptop, he opened the document which Luna had sent to him and studied it for a moment before looking up at Luna.

She had the ugliest scowl on her face and if the circumstances were different, he might have laughed.

The truth was that Conan hadn’t opened the document before now, nor the other two before this one, all in a bid to frustrate Luna.

Staring at her fuming only inches from him, he couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was sitting here this morning.

His grandfather might be rolling in his grave if he realizes his inner struggles despite the situation but he couldn’t control himself.

Six years and he thought everything was gone, forgotten. Just for her to reappear and it all comes flooding back.

The Luna he remembered hardly ever wore any makeup but this Luna, she did and boy did she look breathtaking. It took all of his willpower to ignore that fact.

How could he find her so attractive after everything?

“Conan?” He heard Luna call his name and knew he had lost himself for a moment .

“Yeah, yeah, come over and have a look, we’ll make some adjustments, but only to save time. I won’t accept this next time.” Conan said in an attempt to regain control.

As Luna walked towards him, he watched the sway of her hips, and the confidence on her face and knew he had made a mistake, he should have just shown her across the table, but it was already too late.

As she took the seat next to him, he could feel the heat from her body and he prayed inwardly for the will to be done with this meeting with his dignity intact.

The fact that Luna seemed aloof and not to be struggling as he was, was humiliating. If the lady didn’t give a shot about him then why did he care?

“This is what I want you to change, this direct approach doesn’t work, it feels like we’re imposing the product on prospective customers. I like the idea, but tweak it a bit, more creative.” He said without looking up at Luna.

“Alright. We can do that, I will send a revised version to you by 10:00 Am. Would that be all?” Luna asked, impatience beginning to show in her features.

“Yes, Luna. That would be all.” Conan said and turned to face her.

As she made to stand, she got pulled back as her hair got hooked to his wristwatch.

“What the-” Luna started to curse but stopped.

As Conan tried to untangle Luna’s hair from his wristwatch, he felt a handful of her hair in his palms and lost hold of his control, memories began to flood in and all he wanted was to bury his face in her hair.

Even after he had managed to disentangle her hair from him, Conan didn’t move away and neither did Luna.

She had missed him running his hands through her hair, missed being this close to him and for a moment she wished things were different.

They were so close, that Luna could feel the warmth emanating from Conan’s body.

For a moment they were back to six years ago, for a moment they forgot what had happened and were lost in that moment.

Conan dared to inch closer and caress her face with his hand, she wanted so hard to resist but every inch of her longed to remain in this moment with Conan so she let him touch her face.

“Where have you been, Luna?” Conan whispered. He wasn’t demanding this time, no.

This time he was begging to know, she heard the silent plea in his question, but when she shut her eyes, memories of her last night in Chicago came rushing in, making her pull away from Conan without warning and a word.

“Why should you care, you wanted me gone,” her voice venomous as she turned and stormed out of his office