Spurned but not broken

chapter 10

* FIVE YEARS LATER *

The sun was shining through the windows of the arrival terminal, people rushing around to gather luggage, others trying to find gates to meet their connections, families, friends, lovers, being reconnected. Then there was the woman, dressed in a pair of black ripped jeans, a simple and elegant white blouse covered by a tailored black blazer, her hair tied up high, large framed sunglasses that made her look stylish yet professional, ignoring all the chaos surrounding her, as she continued to type away on her phone.

"AMES!"

The sudden shout of her name over the buzzing of the crowd caught her attention. Looking up from her phone, a small smile crossed her lips as her friend and personal assistant headed towards her.

"Everythings all set, you ready to go?"

A small smirk crossed the woman's lips as she nodded her response.

Turning towards the exit, both women held their heads high, an aura of confidence emanating from the pair, walking past the people that were waiting to collect other arrivals.

Once outside, the line of cars eagerly waiting to receive their first passengers stood before them, grabbing the one closest to them , not wanting to waste a second on unnecessary time from the purpose of their visit, the ladies opened the doors after loading their belongings. Amelie held onto the top of the open door, looking around the area before she smiled to herself again. Not returning as the same woman that had left all those years ago. "I'm Back." She then slipped into the waiting car and departed from the airport towards the hotel that held the promise of food, a hot shower, and a comfortable bed after the hours they had just spent on the plane.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city. Jaxon was sitting in an old antique armchair, suffering through yet another forced family obligation. Sat across the room from his irritating cousin and his obnoxious wife, who still tried to subtly flirt with him whenever her single cell-brained husband wasn't paying attention. Hell, unless she straight up saddled Jaxon in front of her husband, he highly doubted his cousin even had the brain capacity to question that his 'doting wife' , as his cousin liked to call her, would even be capable of cheating on him. Jaxon just rolled his eyes at the pair as his thoughts drifted off to the face of that woman again, as they had multiple times over the past five years, still no closer to finding her.

His attention was brought back from his musings when his phone began ringing. Excusing himself, he stood up and exited the room before taking the call he'd been waiting for.

"Johnathan, everything sorted for our guest?"

"Umm..." Jaxon could hear the hesitation in his voice, his hand rubbing down his face in exasperation.

"What is it?" his voice, showing his irritation.

"Well... The driver said they never showed." A brief silence, Jaxon's mind stilled. Never showed? They had a contract, a timeline. Did this mean they were backing out? Shaking his head slightly to remove the thoughts, he sighed.

"Did you check with the airline? Did they even board the flight? Have you tried reaching out to their assistant?"

"I checked the boarding log, but it looks like they use a pen name, so unless we have their actual name, we have no idea who we're looking for. I have tried to reach out to their assistant however, they replied just before you called, said they'd be at the meeting as scheduled."

A slight wave of relief rushed over Jaxon after hearing that. The meeting was still on. He couldn't deny that he had been quietly anticipating this meeting and was fairly certain it would be a success.

"Okay, they must have made personal arrangements then. Just proceed as planned ready for the meeting tomorrow" and hung up the phone before he could get a response. Now he just had to sit through this ridiculous afternoon until he could leave as early as was deemed polite or face another lecture from the women of his family.

He turned and went back into the family room where everyone was still making pleasant conversation. After sitting down, he noticed his cousin staring at him, clearly wanting to say something, not that he was interested in listening. But he certainly wasn't going to be the one to humor his cousin by asking what he wanted, so he waited, feigning ignorance, but he noticed his cousin's wife elbow her husband's side subtly, obviously encouraging him to speak up sooner rather than later.

Clearing his throat, Jason spoke up, directing conversation towards Jaxon.

"So cousin, how is work going? I heard you'd just signed a new major contract that's expected to be a huge success."

So this is what he wanted to bring up? Jaxon smirked, lets see where this is going, he thought to himself.

"Work is work, but yes, I have just signed a contract for a movie adaptation with a new leading novelist."

A couple of his other family members, now obviously interested in the conversation, turned their attention to Jaxon.

"And what author is it that you've managed to sign? Is it someone we would know about?" One of his aunts asked, genuinely curious, more for the fact that she was a known lover of literature over the contract itself. One of the few members of his family he actually liked.

Facing her and smiling genuinely at her, he replied, "They go by the pen name Tiger Lily. I have a meeting tomorrow with them to go over some of the details of the contract and iron out the schedule."

Gasps seemed to echo around the room at his announcement, even his cousin seemed surprised at the news. His aunts face instantly lit up. He knew she was a fan of this specific writer, so he knew the news would excite her more than anyone, and not from a profit point of view.

"That is amazing news, Jaxon! I'm a huge fan. I've read every book! I'm surprised you actually got them to agree to meet you. No one knows Tiger Lily's true identity, they've never done interviews or book signings. Which book is it you're doing the adaptation for?" His aunt's excitement made his heart feel warm. He smiled softly at her.

"The first in the series, the most well known and popular in sales."

His aunt, Sheila, a wonderfully loving and warm person, standing at around 5"6, with shoulder-length blonde wavy hair, thin framed glasses perched on her small nose. Embodied the essence of what everyone believes to be a loving mother, although she never had children of her own, she'd treated all of her nieces as nephews as if they were hers.

Sheila's smile became even wider after hearing his answer. "Burnt bridges! Oh my! This is amazing! You must make sure this turns out to be as much of a masterpiece as the book itself!"

Jaxon nodded at her as his phone chimed again. Looking down at the message, he frowned at the contents.

"I'm sorry everyone, it seems something has come up at the office that I need to see to." With that he excused himself, noting the flustered look on his cousin's face, who had obviously realized the conversation hadn't gone the way he'd wanted it to, and he was now losing the chance to bring up his true intentions, whereas his face on the other hand, looked as if she'd just chewed a bowl of bees from the face she was making. Jaxon could guess just what his cousin had wanted to achieve by bringing up his business deal. Unfortunately for him, Jaxon wasn't that naive.