The billionaire's forever bride

The little Crush

*Liam*

He had woken up that morning with a strong headache due to the drinks he had had the previous night at the party. He didn't want to sleep at their house, so he had instead lodged himself at a nearby hotel against the wish of Adam and Mrs. Laurent, Adam's mother.

Ava had avoided him for the rest of the night till the end of the party. He still remembered how she looked in her gown and sandals. She had indeed grown over the years, she was no longer the bold girl with a doll that he had met in their kitchen, several years ago.

His phone beeped signaling a call, he had not heard it ring, he reached for the phone and was immediately reminded of the splitting headache, he needed a hangover drink.

There was a message from his PA reminding him of the meeting with the CEO of J&Q regarding the merger of the new shop. There was also a call from Adam and another from his grandfather.

" Hey Adam, what's good?" He spoke into the phone immediately the person at the other end picked up.

" Oh, you're finally awake, I've been trying to reach you. Are you still at the hotel or have you moved out?" Came the voice at the other end.

" Not yet, I just need to dress up and leave, I have a meeting by 12 and it's important. We'll probably talk later, I'll call you when I'm done with the meeting."

" Okay Man, take care."

He threw the phone on the bed and placed his head on his palms, the headache was still there, and the meeting wouldn't magically disappear. He still had to go home to his grandfather before leaving for his office and the meeting.

*****

" Hey old man, I'm home" he announced while walking into his grandfather's study.

" Young man, I've been trying to reach you since yesterday, where did you keep your phone? I'm guessing you were too busy having fun to talk to your old man" he said dropping the magazine that he was holding.

" I had too much to drink last night, and I woke up with a hangover. I'm sorry I couldn't take your call."

" I'm guessing you had fun, who did you meet? The little girl you always talked about?"

" She's no longer little Grandpa, she's now a master's degree holder."

" That's good to know and how's your friend Adam?"

" He's okay, we talked this morning."

" Good to know at least you maintained that friendship, one would have thought you would have isolated yourself."

" I had no plans of isolating myself old man, I've been talking to your clients and making money for you old man"

"Fair Enough, just tell Adam to come to see me, he doesn't want to talk politics with this old man again "

" I'll let him know. I need to start getting ready for work. See you later"

His grandfather nodded and waved him out of his study.

The walk to his room wasn't a long one as his grandfather had insisted he takes the room directly opposite his and close to his study.

The shower was cool as the droplets of water touched his skin, he wished he had more time to stay in there, he would probably sit on the floor and let the water wash the thoughts he was having. He had thought about the discussion he had with his grandpa the previous day and in all honesty, he needed a break from work, not because he couldn't perform well but because he had to improve his personal life.

He turned off the water and came out of the bathroom, the AC in his room gave him a chilly feeling. He picked up his black pants and white long sleeves, his tie, shoe, and wristwatch were already laid down on his dressing table.

After dressing up he picked up his suit and left the room. The drive to his office was a short one, there was no traffic, so he was able to get there at the scheduled time. His PA was already waiting for him in his office.

" Good morning, sir"

" Morning" he replied hanging his jacket on the hooks provided for that purpose. " Is there anything on my schedule for the day?" He added.

" You have a meeting with the CEO of J&Q later by 12 PM, and your friend Adam wanted me to remind you of the outing later in the evening."

" Is that all?" he asked, tapping his ball pen on the table.

" Yes sir."

" Thank you very much Kelvin, I'll call you when I need you."

" Okay sir" he answered before closing the door behind him as he left the office.

He was really trying to look for an excuse to miss the meeting with the CEO of J&Q, he wasn't even sure about the merger. Her father had been his grandfather's friend at some point, it had been a promise they made to each other, he wasn't sure about the whole thing, not just because of the market value of the merged business but because there was something about the man's daughter he couldn't put his hands on.

They had met at a convention he had attended in place of his grandfather, she was doing the same, they had been assigned to the same table, even though he would have wanted somewhere else.

Throughout the event, he kept trying to avoid her, but she was hell-bent on having a conversation with him, so he decided to try. She kept trying to rub his leg under the table, finding excuses to touch him, and at the end of the event, she had asked him to share his room with her, he had declined but was forced to take her to her room when she had drunk more than she could handle. She had immediately locked the door when he tried to help her look for her drugs, although nothing happened, he was never comfortable around her. He had a meeting with that same woman some years later and this time, it was more of an obligation.

*AVA*

I stood at the door to my brother's bedroom and listened to his conversation with Liam. After I left them last night, I had been so tired that I avoided everyone, I didn't even have the strength to start or even carry on a conversation.

I had gone back to my room, showered, and gone to bed when my mother came to tell me Goodnight. She had filled me with the happenings from the time I left the party after thanking everyone for coming. She had told me Adam had asked Liam to spend the night at ours, but he had insisted on getting a hotel room because of his schedule the next day. Mum had even tried packing food for him and his grandfather, but he had declined.

Now at the door of her brother's room, she could hear that they'd both arranged to meet later in the day, she was jealous.

" Ava, why are you standing there?" Her elder brother asked pulling her out of her thoughts.

" Hi Adam, Good morning. You were on a call, I didn't want to disturb you." She answered, going to sit on the leg side of his bed.

" Oh, that was Liam, he said he'll be leaving his hotel room soon. He should be gone by now. I still don't understand why that bro likes complicated and stressful things." He said sighing.

Her brother looked at her face for a while.

" Ava, is anything the problem? Do you want money?"

" No not that, I was just thinking of what to do now that I'm back home."

" I've been meaning to have that conversation with you, I just thought it was too early. I'm glad to hear you are thinking of a way forward for yourself " he said holding her hands. " So have you thought of anything?" He added.

" Nothing much, just that I don't want to stay at home doing nothing. It might not even be what I studied, I just want to keep myself busy with work outside our house."

" That's not bad. I'll try to look for something for you. In the meantime, just arrange your CV and all of that."

They continued talking for a while till she had to leave the room to help her mom sort breakfast. She prayed her brother would see something for her to do, the last thing she wanted was to stay at home doing nothing, she would be able to save some money and add more information to her CV before she started doing what she really wanted to do.

" Hey Carrie"

She had promised to call her friend the next day when she was done with the whole party thing, she had sent her friend the pictures she took at the party.

" Hey Ava, I've been looking at your pictures repeatedly. Is that guy your brother? He's so cute and your mum, you've got a beautiful family Ava." Carrie rambled on at the other end, earning a laugh from Ava.

" Thank you, Carrie. How are you over there? How is the new roommate?"

" I've been doing good. Ella is good though, that's her name. She is barely around since she works different jobs part-time, I've been thinking of doing the same, so I'll stop binge-watching K-dramas or think about my boring life." She said laughing

That was Carrie for you, the little time she had spent with her had made her realize that watching movies could also be a coping mechanism. This girl would binge-watch movies when she was happy, sad, or scared, she just had to look at her screen for hours and she would be fine.

She knew all the actors by name and had promised to take herself on a trip to South Korea, she had even gone as far as learning the language. The best part was that Carrie was brilliant, she had graduated from the Department of History and International Studies with a First-class degree from her Scottish university before proceeding to do her Masters in Canada.

She had immediately liked her the first time they were introduced as roommates by the agent.