From Duty To Desire

CHAPTER TWO

Emily Lohan trudged through the rain-soaked streets, her umbrella blown inside out by the strong gusts. The rain came suddenly and caught her just as she was leaving the house. Determined not to miss the event, she picked up her umbrella and viola!

She hated days like this, when the gloom outside mirrored her mood. As a teacher at a school for children with disabilities, Emily was no stranger to challenges. But lately, her personal life had become a battleground.

She arrived at the charity gala, her dress clinging to her damp body.

Just great," she muttered. "I look like a drowned rat."

She spotted different people across the room, looking every inch the wealthy businessmen and women.

"And there are the poster children for 'I have more money than sense."

As she made her way through the crowd, Emily's eyes met someone's. For a moment, they just stared at each other. She tried to get a better glimpse of who it was but there were too many people in front of her. Emily felt a jolt of electricity, which she promptly ignored.

"Don't be ridiculous, Emily. You're here for the free food and the chance to escape Ethan's clutches, not to get tangled up with some stuffy billionaire."

But as she kept on walking she collided with a tall, dark-haired man, spilling her drink on his tailored suit. It was the eye-contact guy, she felt sure of it.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. The man's piercing blue eyes narrowed.

"It's quite alright. I needed a drink anyway," He smiled wryly, handing her a napkin. "James Worthington."

"Emily Lohan. And I'm starting to think I'm a hazard to society," Emily laughed, dabbing at the stain.

James chuckled, his eyes crinkling. "I think you might be a breath of fresh air, Miss Lohan,"

"Do you say that to every girl that spills their drink on you?"

"If I did, there'd be a flock of them around me. Do you see any?" He smiled, looking around them.

"Haha. So, today's a special day indeed. Stupid question actually, but what's a man like you doing here? I don't suppose a business executive like you would be the least interested in helping limbless children," There, she said it.

James almost frowned at that but didn't dwell on it. "A business executive like me? I'm hooked. What do you mean?"

Emily sighed and looked behind him for familiar faces. "I'll be honest, I don't believe any business person who comes to these events actually comes with the heart of helping. It's always to make more connections, throw money to show off and make business deals. It's a scripted charity."

James was struck. He was aware that the business world was not an honest one, neither too kind, even to the less privileged. He definitely wasn't about to defend his own.

"Business predators". He said, confusing Emily.

"What?" She asked.

"That's what my sister and I call them. Business predators."

"Are you denying being part of them?" Another blow. A sly kind.

"I'm saying I don't come here solely for business purposes. I do try to help on my own and in my own way,"

"Is that so?"

"I'm assuming you're not a business person, not with the way you just served your opinions on a hot plate," They both chuckled.

"I'm a teacher at the School of Hope," Emily raised her nose and stood upright, ready to defend herself.

"No wonder. I presume it's a lovely job? It should be, by the way, you're strongly against predators,"

"As a matter of fact, it is an amazing job. The kids are amazing and will do amazing things as well."

As they bantered, Emily felt a spark of connection. But she quickly squashed it. ‘Don't get too close, Emily. He's got 'heartbreaker' written all over him.’

Ten minutes into their conversation, James was unwillingly stolen by a group of business persons who laughed rather too

obnoxiously for Emily's liking. That left Emily to look for her co-workers.

She'd found them gathered together, talking and laughing.

"Emily!" They called when they saw her.

"Hey, guys. Sorry for being late, the storm caught up with me."

"It's all fine. The good thing is that you're here.” One of the guys replied, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

They bantered aloud and laughed.

James had managed to escape the group of business predators and wandered around the building unconsciously looking for someone.

Immediately, a loud laugh caught his attention. He snapped his head around to see where the source of such laughter came from, and he found Emily trying to stifle her laugh.

He was immediately entranced by her beauty. He hadn't really looked at her dress before, but then, the dress she wore was a replica of Lydia's, except hers was a blue-colored one that suited her dark skin effortlessly. Far away from her, her beauty only seemed to radiate more, as her make-up was modest, and her smile radiated positivity. She was drawing a lot of people to herself without trying.

James found himself moving closely towards her direction.

"James Worthington! What a pleasure to have you here," A much older woman from the crowd, adorned with fine wine aging, called out to him and everyone immediately turned towards him.

There was a thought to retreat but when he saw that even Emily had turned towards him, he stilled and smiled at all of them.

"Of course. Benjamin called and I appeared. Always a pleasure to see you, Mrs Reed," He gave the woman a kiss on the cheek.

"If you don't know, this is James Worthington of Worthington corporation. James, these people make up the entire staff of the school for the limbless," She gestured to the crowd behind her.

"School of hope, Mrs Reed," Emily corrected. "You have got to stop calling them that." She chuckled alongside some others. James smiled.

"But they are limbless," Mrs Reed countered.

"Well, not exactly," James stepped in.

"All of you are ganging up on me, aren't you?"

"We're only telling the truth, Mrs Reed."

Conversations went off from there and went on effortlessly. Slowly, people left the group, leaving only James and Emily together. They had even moved to a corner and sat there.

James couldn't remember when he laughed that hard. Emily not only radiated intelligence, she possessed an immense amount of it and James wondered why she settled for being a teacher when she could do plenty more.

When the hall was almost empty, Lydia strutted towards them and they stood up.

"James, don't you think it's time to go? I'm tired," She whined and wrapped an arm around his torso.

Emily stepped back and James cursed internally.

Lydia noticed the dress the lady was wearing and squinted at her. "You rock it better than I do. What are you doing with my brother? He's too much of a work horse to even pay attention to a beauty like you."

"We were just talking," She chuckled. Looking at her wristwatch, she grimaced. "I'm sorry, Mr Worthington. It was nice to meet you, but I have to go. It's getting late."

"Oh, I could drop you off," James offered.

"No, it's fine. I’ll call a cab. Please, enjoy the rest of your evening."

After a few more pleasantries, she left and James was forced to stare at her as she walked away.

Lydia, surprised and annoyed, hit his chest. "Since when did you stare at women like a love sick puppy?"

"Since I met someone much more sensible than you,"

"I'll ignore that. What's her name anyway?" At that, James grinned.

"Emily Lohan," he recited proudly.

"Well? Did you get her number?"

James cursed. Even though he wasn't interested in any relationship, he concluded Emily was the kind of person one would want to have in their life.

"You didn't get her number? Have you always been this stupid?" Lydia clicked her tongue and shook her head.

"I'm not interested in her romantically," He led the way out to where his car was parked.

Begrudgingly, James got into the car. Lydia followed, still annoyed that he had forgotten to get the most important thing. How could he not get her number?

"There, there. You're an effing billionaire, you can track her down and run a background check on her," Lydia said, getting into the car.

James started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. "She's not a criminal."

"If she stole your heart so quickly, then she is." She grinned when she found her previously abandoned box of pizza.

He couldn't and didn't deny it. But, he still didn't want anything romantic.

Alone in her apartment, Emily tried to calculate the bills she had. All the documents were on the table, and she had a calculator in her hand.

Adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplying gave her a headache and she was in desperate need of a warm bath, but leaving what she was doing was not an option.

Teaching at the School of Hope was a fulfilling job, but the pay didn't do justice to her bills. Leaving the job meant leaving the kids, and she was willing to do anything but that.

On the table, Emily's phone buzzed with a text from her best friend, Sarah. Smiling, she called her number instead of texting back. She preferred calls to texts.

"Hey girl, how was the charity gala?"

Emily smiled, setting her calculator down, glad for the distraction. "It was an adventure. Spilled a drink on a hot billionaire,"

Sarah squealed. "Spill the tea!"

Emily laughed, feeling a pang of nostalgia. She missed her carefree college days, before Ethan happened.

"So, I got to the event all looking like a drenched rat. I did see him at first. Well, we held eye contact first. Then, I spilled my drink on him and then we started talking. But some people took him away, and I had to go look for my coworkers. Guess what?"

"He found and kissed you? Said he'd been following you for months?" Sarah ranted.

"What kind of creepy books have you been reading, Sarah?" Emily gaped.

"Only some of the best out there. You were never a Twilight fan, so you'd never understand,"

"I'm actually glad I can't. I already have Ethan on my back, another one would make me borderline crazy." They both chuckled.

"Okay, what happened then?"

"Right, he came to where I stood with my co-workers and struck up a conversation with us. It was really nice, he was nice, but before you ask, no, I don't plan on going all romantic with him or anyone," She sighed and massaged her temples.

"That's your business, I just want to get you hooked, illegally or otherwise," Sarah said and Emily rolled her eyes, imagining her friend shrugging her shoulders and pouting innocently.

"I'm not getting hooked, especially not illegally. What are you?".

"Your fairy godmother. You need a man, sweetheart. A rich one."

"I don't have time to think about that."

Placing her legs on the table, she smiled as Sarah began to berate her for being single.

Meanwhile, James stood in his office, staring out the window. His mind wandered to Emily, her sparkling eyes and quick wit. He pushed the thoughts aside, focusing on the Worthington Corporation's latest deal. But as he delved into the financial reports, James couldn't shake off the feeling that he was missing something. A sense of purpose, perhaps, or a connection to someone who truly understood him.