Best Enemies

“Hi, I’m Ashton. Ashton Cooper.”No answer. Should he ask her name in return? Well, that was what he actually did with any pretty girl. However that one seemed different. Yet, he decided to go for it.“Hmm…what’s your name?” he asked trying the direct approach.The brunette whooshed round and stared at him with a measuring look. “Why do you wanna know?” she snapped haughtily.What arrogance! Hell, what did she think of herself? His seventeen years old ego suffered a blow but still he offered her one of his dazzling smiles and cocked his eyebrows in a flirtatious manner.“Why do you think a guy like me would ask a girl like you her name?” he drawled in his best macho voice.At that, she laid down her pencil and sneered at him. “Oh, you think you are irresistible, don’t you?”Taken aback, he frowned at her not knowing what to retort back for the first time in his life. It was usually the tactic that ticked the chicks off. Hell, no! Usually, he didn’t have much effort to do as the girls

Five weeks later, Ashton scowled at his computer screen for several minutes and when it didn’t respond, his scowl got even deeper. Computers could be so stupid sometimes. Being a computer engineer himself, he knew how dumb they could be. Couldn’t do anything properly until precisely programmed. He scowled again at his secretary who was peeping in his office. Humans could be so stupid sometimes. Being a human himself, he could easily sense how foolish some people were. Couldn’t do anything properly until precisely tuned. Again he sighed. Or maybe it was one of those days when he was simply in a bad mood. Happened too many times lately however. Maybe it was because of the gloomy weather. Or maybe of the routine work. He was simply bored. Had been feeling that way for far too long a time now. Maybe he should just take a break, go away for a long holiday. Problem was that he had done exactly that some months back and it had not helped at all! Tabbing the top of his pen on and off and tr

On the verge of entering the kitchen for a glass of water, Ashton almost did a double take at the sight of the forlorn figure at the dining table. Selena Rose McKenzie was crying?! Not crying but pouring? He would be damned! All thoughts of thirst disappearing at the opportunity in front of him For all the fourteen years he had known her, he had never seen her have a moment of weakness. Her job must mean a lot to her for her to break down like that.He couldn’t help himself. He grinned. Wickedly. Who was he to contest fate anyway? He would take pleasure in torturing her and knew he would win this battle since she was not in her tigress mood. Then suddenly, he remembered what Jake had asked of him and faltered for several minutes before starting in her direction.As soon as she saw him, she turned her head in the opposite direction to hide her tears most probably. He grinned again. Someone was going to have a hell of a good time here.“Are you pouring? Can you believe I’ve seen you cry

The first week at work was hectic for Ashton; he had to meet his client to explain why his company could not deliver the website as planned. On a short notice, he had to fly to New Jersey to meet up with the quite angry customer who had been expecting to launch the website by the end of the week.Unsuccessful to convince him to reconsider the deadline, the client had backed out and he had lost one of his major clients. He had to admit that his software company was on the verge of turning into a fiasco and if not properly managed, he would have to close it down. It didn’t matter much to him as he was already a major shareholder in GEMS enterprise and had ample money.He was worried about his employees. How the hell would he break the news that he was deciding to mitigate his losses and was therefore considering going for a turnover? It was going to be hell. And to top it all, he had just appointed an executive assistant who would be as lost as he was in managing the operations since sh

Despite himself, Ashton felt his eyes wander in her direction once again to see if she was still having that damned forced smile on her face. Thankfully ever since he had “proposed’ to her, her face was glowing and she was smiling genuinely showing off her ring to everyone.Ashton felt happy that she was happy. It was as simple as that. He could not explain it but he was not feeling too comfortable seeing her so forlorn. He knew it was difficult for her to dupe everyone else but they had gone too far to retreat now. And it was all for the best anyway.The look on Uncle Devin’s face had been worthwhile; he had looked as if someone had snatched away his favourite gift. The sense of satisfaction that had settled within him had been worth all the risks and the lies. He had felt bad for Kyra though; not that there had been anything between them but he all he knew was that he was glad it was not the other way round and Kyra had not found someone else first. To compensate for that, he had sa