A Night with the CEO

WINE GLASSES AND BRANDY SNIFTERS

Augustine’s POV

Dinner with Linda had been a trying affair, we had gone to some fancy restaurant which Linda supposedly frequented, she was a regular, we were served some annoying salad and fruit juice, I had managed to put a smile on my face all through, she had chatted non stop about her trip and I was honestly not paying attention to whatever she was saying but as usual, she did not seem to notice at all.

She had tried to drag me to some hotel but I quickly came up with an excuse and ended up dropping her off at home despite her many protests.

Linda had only had s*x once and that was during the first months of our relationship, I will like to blame it on a moment of weakness, I returned from work extremely tired and found her in my bedroom, apparently my mother had let her in, that night she was relentless and I had succumbed to my desires, there was no denying the fact that Linda was a beautiful woman but she did not appeal to me in any way, perhaps it was her nasty character that repelled me.

I had not gone home after the dinner with Linda, I had gone straight to Charlie’s penthouse, I was lucky to find him at home because he had been getting ready to go out but he changed his mind once I arrived.

“I honestly did not cancel my outing just to sit in silence with you” Charlie said as he threw the TV remote noisily on the table.

I noticed he was also on edge but I decided not to probe, knowing Charlie, he will tell me all about it on his own.

“I want out, I want to get out of that damned engagement with Linda, I can’t stand that woman” I said and I took a sip from my brandy snifter.

A dry chuckle escaped Charlie’s lips “Well it took you long enough to realize that marrying that woman will be the same as nailing your own coffin, you will die an early death if you end up marrying that woman, I assure you” he said and took a sip from his brandy as well.

“I had thought I could just marry her and ignore her but with each passing day, I know that will not be possible, she is such a leach, she drains the life out of me, I swear to you” I said with a sigh.

“Why did hell did you agree to the engagement in the first place? Linda had always being a nasty b***h from the start so you probably knew what you were getting yourself into when you agreed to it” Charlie said.

I took a deep breath and said “Dad wanted it and during the time, his cancer was in the final stages, it was the one thing he wanted from me, he and Linda’s father had been the longest of friends so they had wanted to join our families through marriage, so when he asked me, I had told him I will think about it, the next day after we had that discussion was the day he died, so after the funeral, I asked mum to handle everything that was needed for the engagement”

I remembered it clearly, I had always been close to my Dad, he had taught me everything I knew and he had given me everything a son could ever from his father so how was I supposed to refuse him? I was willing to do anything for him and that was why I had agreed to marry Linda but right now, I am beginning to regret that decision.

Charlie shook his head “I understand your reasons back then but you will be dooming yourself to nights of regrets if you end up marrying Linda, that is my only advice as a friend” he said to me.

He was right and I knew it very well, I had to find a way to end this damned engagement as soon as possible.

“I am not in the mood to drink brandy anymore, would you like a glass of wine?” Charlie asked me as he stood up and walked to the bar to get a bottle of wine.

I eyed him critically, Charlie hardly drank wine and when he did, it was because he had something on his mind, he drank it because he wanted to slowly numb his mind.

“Is there something bothering you as well?” I asked when he returned with the bottle of wine,

He said nothing until he poured himself a class of wine and took a long sip then he said “I don’t want to talk about it”

I was surprised by his reply because the only time he replied like that was when it concerned August and from what I knew they had been avoiding each other so he had no reason to be on edge because of August.

“Is this about August?” I asked, I had wanted to simply let it go but curiosity got the better of me.

I saw him mutter a low curse confirming that it was really about August.

“I really do not want to talk about it, can you just drop it?” he said and emptied the last of his wine before pouring himself another glass.

I decided to let the matter go since I knew how touchy he got when I mentioned August, I was beginning to think it was high time I got to the bottom of this issue because it was beginning to bother me since it concerned my sister and best friend.

I reached for my the glass of wine Charlie had poured for me, I raised the glass to my lips and the scent of the wine immediately reminded me of the woman in London, a small smile appeared on my lips even without me realizing it was there. I took a sip of the wine and I was reminded of how she had tasted.

“What are you smiling about all of a sudden?” Charlie asked as he took a sip from his glass again.

“I just remembered someone I met during my trip to London” I said with the smile still plastered on my face.

“I am very sure it’s a woman otherwise you will be smiling the way you are now” Charlie said, with a mischievous smile on his face.

“You are right, it is a woman and I have been thinking about her since I returned from London, I can’t seem to get her out of my mind” I said and took a sip from the glass of wine again.

“Whoa, this is the first time I have heard you talk about a woman like that, she must be special, what’s her name?” Charlie said, his smile becoming wider at the promise of gossip.

“I have no idea what her name is” I said.

“That’s odd, how can you not know the name of a woman you have been thinking about for almost a week now?” Charlie asked.

I smiled and said “It’s a little complicated”

“Well then, tell me about her in an uncomplicated way” he said.

“Only if you tell me what’s going on between you and August” I said with a sly smile of my own.

The smile instantly vanished from his face then he said “Forget about it, I am not interested in hearing about your mystery woman any more”

I chuckled and said “That’s what I thought”

I could help but wonder what she was doing right at this moment, I may not know anything about her but I was sure of one thing, she had not been a w***e, that was her first time, I had been surprised but I was too far gone to stop myself, I wondered if that was perhaps her first time on the job, I wondered if she had been with any man since she was with me, the thought of her with another man suddenly made my blood boil, I knew I was probably being ridiculous, I was getting jealous over a woman I knew nothing about, she had probably forgotten all about me, I wondered how she ended up in my hotel room in the first place, there was a lot of mystery surrounding that red haired beauty and I will never get to figure out a single one.

It was best if I got her out of my mind, I was never going to see her again after all.