Tan was past tense and he had to remain that way to keep her sane. Getting involved with him would be Trouble. She didn't feel like she would have to see him again.
"Even doing business with his family company does not mean she would see him, they would use a representative" she thought to herself.
"Thanks, Larry" Gabby said to her driver as he alighted from the gleaming black Audi car.
Shivering a little, she shut the door before he could. "I should be finished by six tonight but if I'm leaving earlier I'll call you "
"Yes ma’am," Larry drawled, touching the brim of the black cap he was wearing.
Gabby shook her head chuckling because today was going to be a good day. As the day before hadn't been.
"Good morning, Ms Lot" Andrew greeted her
"Good morning, Andrew" Gabby paused in front of Andrew. "How's your health? I hope you are doing alright"
The young man beamed, his joy evident in his wide smile.
"I am doing fine, thank you for asking Ms Lot"
"Good. Congratulations" Gabby nodded. Then continued towards the elevators with Andrew. "You have a meeting in the conference room, with the representative from Lee Fashion". Gabby nodded in affirmation to what Andrew said.
She jabbed the call button on the elevator little harder than necessary, willing to hurry up, in an effort not to keep the representatives waiting.
As she walked to the conference room, she had voices echoing from the room.
"...been a long time, Laila".
Gabby froze as the husky voice reached her from the door of the room. The door to the room opened and eventually closed without her moving towards it.
She knew that voice damn well. She heard it yesterday when she went for lunch. It wasn't possible. She was probably having an aural hallucination...
Slowly she pivoted her gaze towards the man sitting on one of the conference chairs. He crossed his muscular arms and relaxed into the chair. Even seated he still appeared intimidating from the hair to the wardrobe, everything about Tan spoke money and power.
Trying to pretend she didn't see him, she traced her steps to her chair. Before she reached her destination he turned, a smile curving his lips. Then he lifted his gaze and met hers. And his smile disappeared.
She felt a certain type of vibration all over her body, the echo of it growing louder until only white noise filled her ears.
Tan In her office could this day get any worse. "Tan Lee, twice in a week, to what do I owe this pleasure"
Tan clenched his teeth, locking the sarcastic words down.
"I didn't know, you worked at GALA, but I figured since Laila worked here she might have employed you. I mean what are friends for" he said reclaiming his composure.
"That's the Tan I know, the condescending man, well if you must know I am the Co CEO of GALA. If you'd done your research you would have known" Gabby fired back.
"Enough with the back and forth, we are here for business and not a reunion, so let's do that" Laila interrupted their little get together, noticing the tensed situation in the room.
"I am sorry if my words hurt you, I would understand if you don't want to continue the business with us" Tan said realizing his words might have hurt Gabby.
"That's our personal life and this is work" Gabby replied. Laila satisfied with their agreement decided to continue with their discussion before Gabby came in.
The meeting ended and Laila left, leaving Gabby alone with Tan.
Yes, she had seen Tan yesterday, but those hours hadn't inoculated against the force of his presence. Anyone would guess four years was enough to forget about him, but that was only wishful thinking.
Silently, she stood up to leave and his gaze didn't shift from her face. Which was only fair she thought , since she couldn't stop staring at him too.
Someone who led the dissolute lifestyle of a player should wear the cologne of it on his skin. Like a stalker she had always googled about him and every time he was seen with different women.
But no. He smelt exotic as ever. The wide carnal curves of his mouth still promised sex and sin. Those gaze of his were incisive as she could recall.
She couldn't forget him.
Couldn't forgive him.
"If you would excuse me, I have other things to do" Gabby said angrily. "You are standing in my way, time is of the essence." She emphasized her point by looking at the slender watch on her wrist.
"I know we've had a bumpy past but let's not allow our past relationship to interfere with our business relationship"
Damn "bumpy past" such a dumb description of the heart wrenching past she shared with him. Even standing there with him, frustrated her, she couldn't deny the third emotion swirling in her body. Lust. For his broad chest which she hugged. For the love making that had clutched her like a lovers embrace.
“Please let's try to be friends, if not friends at least business partners”.
"Easy for you to say, you weren't the one left with a broken heart" Gabby snapped.
"You think I wasn't hurt when we broke up" Tan snapped back. The business man inside him snarled at the same time.
"I could care less, if you were hurt Tan, I wasn't the one that called off the engagement so stop throwing a pity party, but since this is a business and I promised myself I would not let my personal life get in the way of my work life I would agree to the terms about being business partners." Her words flowed endlessly penetrating into his heart like a dagger.
Gabby didn't want to be friends with Tan, not because she hated Tan. No. She hated the way she was, whenever they were in each other's presence.
"I am fine with that" Tan said trying to convince himself that was the only thing he wanted from Gabrielle.
Gabby was going to the fucking dinner. Standing in front of her large closet, Gabby squeezed her eyes shut, pinching the bridge of her nose. Gabby surveyed her closet for clothes. She had clothes suitable for work and casual outings but nothing there was appropriate for a dinner. You would think with all the money she had, she would have a lot of dinner wears but the truth was that Gabby didn't do dinners, she didn't care for such things. When Gabby had decided to start her company, she didn't think it would involve dinners with other big names. But no, Laila had called this morning to inform her they were attending a business dinner and it involved top leagues in the new York business world. God; what had she been thinking to agree to this? Laila said they needed to associate more with other fashion big names. Right. If she constantly said that to herself, maybe she could make it through this evening without going insane. Sighing, she grabbed her phone to call Andrew, he was
She looked stunning. Tan Lee tuned out the voice of his father who was speaking to him, as he studied Gabby who just walked into the ballroom and was weaving a path through the crowd. She stood out like 'bridgerton' diamond of the season, making those around her look like mere stones. He noticed her neck and how the silk dress she wore glided over her breast. He hated the way people ogled at her. Did he say stunning? He meant exquisite. And she hadn't even come closer. Yet. "Excuse me, Dad." Tan said abruptly interrupting his father's conversation with him not bothering to give a polite explanation for why he is walking away. His father surprised sputtering should have made him feel some ounce of guilt but he didn't care, his mind was set on Gabby, he couldn't bear another man whisking her away. Normally, he would stay to hear everything his father had to say and watch his father introduce him to guest, but tonight he wasn't interested. He despised this dinners, it only benefitte
The ringing pierced into Tan's dreamy sleep, waking Tan up. Tan frowned reaching out to pick his call. He still felt sleepy, a warm lassitude weighing down his muscles, relishing it instead of chasing it away."Fuck" he muttered but instead of reaching for his phone on his bedside table, he slapped the air. No bed.He sat up, and realized he had slept in the living room, scanning the room with cushions, a round glass table and large television.The dinner.Gabrielle As if her name offloaded a truck of memories from the previous night. The conversation with Gabby and his mother, talking with her. Kissing her. Leaving him after the kiss. Getting drunk.He whipped around, scanning his environment for his phone, it was his mother calling him. He felt angry, remembering the way his mother spoke to Gabrielle at the dinner."Hey, Mom" he said in greeting, trying to get himself together as he spoke."I just woke up, so I don't think I can talk""Tan", she said and her angry tone cut him off,
Gabby really wanted to mend her broken relationship with her family. That was why when the call came in informing her that her mother was ill she rushed back to Houston .Gabby paid the driver with a swipe of her phone and stepped out. Although she hadn't been to Houston for a long time, she could still feel the homely spirit the city had to offer. She received a call early hours of the morning that her mom was sick and she wanted to see her.Gabby climbed the steps to her childhood home and twisted the door knob and pushed the door open. Since the matter was urgent she felt there was no need to knock.From the balcony she studied the environment as if she was new to the place, since her last confrontation with her parent she hadn't stepped foot in the place that housed most of her memories growing up. She missed them badly. She felt angry towards them but figured all those anger was turning her into something else and she didn't want that. She had loved them unconditionally until t
Tan was scared when he heard the news of Gabby's mother from Laila. It would do Gabby good if she saw a familiar face to share her pain with, he thought. He knew Gabby's family they were friendly to him, they never made him feel like an outsider like his parent did to Gabby.He packed some clothes and told his secretary he would not be around. Since Gabby had no sibling, and Laila was busy with their company, she would need all the support she could get.Tan climbed the set of stairs to the house and stared at the purple hibiscus which was planted on the pathway. He knew Gabby's mother would have planted them, she loved gardening from what he could remember.The flowers added a touch of humility to the house which was a perfect description of Gabby's parent. He smiled thinking of them. He knocked on the door and someone opened the door."What in God's name am I doing here?"The question kept on singing in Tan's head, what if Gabby sends him away... he couldn't bear the fact that she w
The last thing Gabby needed was Tan clogging up her brain God knew having Tan in Boston could distract her from the inevitable ( her mother's death) and she couldn't lie to herself she craved the distraction. Days passed so fast and It's seems Gabby and Tan became closer again. Gabby feared that this would end if her mother died. She gradually convinced herself it was only a distraction. Tan's family would never accept her and Tan wouldn't dare go against his parent for her. Gabby heard her phone ring, it was Tan. "Hey" his voice calming her nerves. "Hey" "I was wondering if you were free today, so that we could hang out, I would be going back to New York tomorrow, I need to attend to some urgent business" "Yes of cause, I really need a breather right now" "I would come pick you up then" Tan said as the call ended. Gabby showered and got dressed. She wore a summer dress. Gabby heard the door bell ring and rushed outside to see Tan, he was gorgeous as always. "Hey, you ready"?
Gabby welcomed the demanding thrust of his tongue eagerly, she returned the hard, rough sucking.She pulled back but Tan pulled her in, his lips covering hers again. His hand lowered to her neck as he necklaces it. She slightly leaned into his palms. His erection jerked behind his zipper.Inhaling, he dipped his head, dragged his up the tendon that ran along the side of her neck."You are sure, you wouldn't regret this?". She shook her head. "Not doing this will leave me with regrets."He crushed his mouth into hers in an insatiable onslaught. It felt aggressive. Deadly.She opened for him without reluctance and he swimmer deeper,taking advantage of the opportunity. He tugged on her curls, hauling her head back. He left nothing untouched but he wasn't impressed, he wanted more.Her pulse heaved under his palm and sent excitement and lust running through him. Because it was all for him. She cupped her breast underneath her dress and kneaded then to lessen the pain. He held her arms and
Tan examined the road on the way to the office. The road signs seem blurry under his focus. The traffic on the road didn’t seem to ease the situation. The drive to the office felt frustrating because all he could think about was Gabrielle lying next to him, he longed for her he craved for her touch. He was drained in guilt and longing. Mostly, it was guilt.He shouldn’t have touched her; they shouldn’t have gotten that far with each other. They should have ended the night with the wine but he let his hormones be master over him. Control was something Tan prided himself in having but if the situation involved Gabby, all control was like putty in his hands. He must be an asshole because he didn’t regret it one bit and if he had to choose again, he’ll make the same decision over again. He pictured her body, the warm, soft, lithe nature of it as it pressed against his skin. He felt fucked and yet for the first time in four years he felt his body exploding with life. After dating Gabby, h