Getting On My Nerves

Nathan’s P.O.V.

“This acquisition has become a severe headache with his interference. Why can’t he …. He stays where he has been all these years and let us live in peace?” Theo, my friend, and the COO of my company yelled while throwing his hands in the air dramatically.

I didn’t reply but kept on moving my finger on the rim of my wine glass, resting on the top of the table.

“Why is he still so hell bent to make our lives hell?” Theo kept on muttering angrily. My eyes were now glued on her beautiful face, smiling innocently.

The sparks in her eyes always made my day back then. I always wished to see her sparkling eyes first thing in the morning. I always wished to hear her laughter first thing in the morning.

Now, all I have are memories.

“He has been always like this. This is not the first time that he showed his hatred towards me by interfering in something that I have my eyes.” I replied casually and tilted my head a light.

He scoffed bitterly and drank some wine from his glass. I understood his anger, but there was nothing you could do to wake a person who pretended to asleep.

“Let’s not discuss why is he here now because we already know the answer in our heart. Let’s concentrate on how to save the situation?” I said to Theo in a calm tone and lifted the glass up.

“We have already offered the maximum value and best offers to Mr. Silva, Nathan. What else we can do to make him agree for this acquisition?” he asked me in frustration.

“If he has made an offer too, it means that our offer is still not the best. Try to find out what he is offering.” I instructed him and took a big gulp of wine.

I didn’t even look at the door when we heard a knock. Chris entered the room with his tablet in his hands.

“Mr. Lombart. Mr. Silva agrees to have a short meeting with us tonight during the auction. His assistant, Ms. Bolton, just sent me a confirmation mail.” He informed me and I took a deep breath.

“Prepare all the matter and make sure nothing leaves behind.” I instructed him and looked back at Theo. “I am on it. Give me two hours only.” Theo said to me while standing up. He finished his glass and put the empty glass down on the table before leaving the room.

“I have arranged everything for Ms. Peterson. She said that she could be late. So, she will meet you at the venue.” Chri informed me in a formal way.

“No problem. Is there anything else?” I replied to him and finish my glass. I glanced at her photo on more time before looking back at him.

Chris approached me with his tablet and gave that to me. “This is the agenda of board of directors meeting tomorrow, Mr. Lombart.” He told me while I took the tablet from him.

“You have something in your mind, Chris. Tell me.” I asked him while going through the document in his tablet after some time.

“Umm….Ms. Winters approached me this morning.” He told me hesitantly.

“I told you not to entertain her.” I replied to him nonchalantly.

“I know, Mr. Lombart, but this is about Mrs. Anna Lombart.” He replied and I moved my gaze back to him while knitting my brows.

“She asked HR department to give Ms. Winters managerial position in operation department.” He told me, and my anger flared.

“Is she out of her mind?” I yelled while putting the tablet on the desk, almost throwing it in the process. Chris flinched harder while looking at the tablet anxiously but recomposed himself immediately.

“Call, Norman.” I instructed him while trying to suppress my agitation. I walked around the desk and went to the couch.

“Yes, Mr. Lombart.” He replied while taking the tablet from the desk and walked out of the room.

I slumped my body down on the couch and closed my eyes.

My mother was now getting on my nerves.

All I wanted in my life right now was some peace, but the people around me found pleasure in creating troubles for me.

Especially my mother, and Nancy.

Nancy, the first love of my life, the woman who promised me once that she would be with me in every thick and thin of life but left me without proper goodbye.

Nancy, the woman who stirred my peaceful life once again seven years ago when she suddenly came back. I made a promise to her once and to keep that promise, I destroyed all my happiness by my own hands.

It has been six years since I lost Cynthia. I never tried to suppress any rumour about me and Nacy as a couple, with a hope that it would irk her if she were still alive.

I jerked my head, shrugging off this dread thought.

No, she can’t die. She is still alive. It’s just a matter of time.

She would be with me soon.

I came out of my trance when my phone started ringing.

I grimaced when I remembered that it was still on the desk.

I was about to stand up when I heard a knock on the door.

My secretary, Claire Hudson, entered the room and greeted me with a slight bow before walking towards my desk.

“Can you pass me my phone, Claire?” I asked her in a tired tone, sitting down again.

“Yes, Mr. Lombart.” She answered while walking to the desk in hurried steps.

She took the phone and raised her brows in confusion.

“It’s an unknown number, Mr. Lombart.” She told me while coming towards me.

“Okay.” I answered and took the phone.

I was about to pick up the call without much thinking when the call cut off.

I sighed and put the phone on the couch beside me.

It was indeed an unknown number. The caller can call me again if he has any business with me.

To my surprise, the phone started ringing again after some seconds.

I picked up the call and put the phone over my ear while putting the back of my head on the edge of the backrest.

“Who is it?” I asked him in a calm tone, masking every emotion.

“It seems that you are doing well, brother.” I sighed when his taunt struck my eardrum.

“I thought that you would be devastated. The way you searched for her through the world, I also believed like others that you are in deep love with your late wife. Now, it seems that was nothing but a farce.” He kept on taunting, but I was too tired to argue with him.

“What do you want, Lucas?” I asked him in a cold tone, refusing to even register his taunts.

“What I want? It’s a good question you know.” He replied sarcastically and I felt my patience waning now.

“I want everything that has left with you, brother. I let you have something I wanted once, and I regretted that single decision of mine with everything I have in me.” He spat; his voice filled with all the hatred that he had for me.

“I am not in a mood to hear your whining, Lucas. Why are you back? Just tell me this.” I cut him off impatiently this time.

There was silence at this end this time. I sighed internally but waited for him to answer me.

Lucas and I were never on good terms. He is my half-brother…

Correction.

Half elder brother…. 4 months older than me….

A humiliating slap on my mother’s face who was my father’s legal wife.

“I am here to claim what is rightfully mine, Nathan. I heard that you are working hard on an acquisition. Guess what, I am interested too.” He answered me and I rolled my eyes on his audacity.

“Don’t aim for something that’s not yours, Lucas. The inheritance that you are talking about is from my maternal grandparents.” I emphasized the last words in a taunting tone.

“Your father married my mother for her wealth. My mother was innocent and knew nothing about the existence of your mother in your father’s life. Your mother, on the contrary, knew everything or should I say was a part of your father’s scheming.”

There was silence on his side, but I knew he was fuming hard right now.

“Like your parents, you are also aiming for something doesn’t belong to you, and guess what, I will never let you have even the dirt that belongs to me.”

I hung up without giving him a second to respond. I was now fuming in anger while staring a blank spot in front of my eyes.

Suddenly I missed her.

If she were here right now, what would she say to comfort me?

She tells me not to stress myself. Everything will be fine, and she is here for me.

I looked in the other direction while blinking hard.

I lost the only person in my life who loved me unconditionally because of my own stupidity.

I lost her in the worst way.

I heard a knock on the door, snapping me out of my trace. I sniffed and immediately wiped the corners of my eyes.

“Mr. Lombart. We got confirmation for the meeting. Mr. Silva will meet us in the auction tonight.” Chris informed me and I nodded in response without looking at him.

“Keep updates with Theo about Lucas’ proposal, and try to find the specifics of his proposal before the meeting so that we can make amends in our proposal according to that if he is proposing something better than us.” I instructed him while standing up.

“Yes, Mr. Lombart.” He replied in a low voice, and I walked back to my chair behind the desk.

I stopped when I was about to sit when I saw Chris still standing on the same spot.

“Is there anything else, Chris?” I asked him questioningly. I raised my brows when I saw him gulping hard.

“Th..there is a possibility th.. that she d…. didn’t die back then.” He answered me while stammering a little, and my heart skipped a beat.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked him in a stern tone but couldn't control the shaking my hands. I was anxious to hear him.

In the past six years, this was the first time that I heard what I wanted to hear desperately.

"I got an information on a woman rescued by a passing by ship at the same time, almost 100 miles away from where she fell, but the timeline of that incident matched with that incident. Now, I am trying to locate her." he answered me, and I felt an invisible lump formed in my throat.