3

Roberto was on his office, perched of his luxurious swivel chair. On his desk were stacks of documents waiting for his attention. One was currently in his hand but he just couldn't focus on it. 

"Damn it," he couldn't help but curse, adjusting his tie as though it was suffocating him. 

A knock on the door drew his attention and he put down the document in his hand, his eyes flickering towards the door. 

"Come in," he invited, trying hard to mask his annoyance to no avail. 

The door was pushed ajar from the outside and a tall young man donning a buzz haircut and wearing a dark grey suit entered the office. He adjusted the prescription glasses resting on the bridge of his nose, his eyes fixated on the one seated behind the desk. 

He walked to Roberto with a purposeful stride, his expression solemn, "Sir, the Fawn corporation have suddenly backed out from signing the deal,"

"What's the reason?" Roberto asked his assistant, internally grappling with the urge to pound hard at the desk. 

"Their manager demanded that we need to get an esteemed designer to work with us,"

"Which one?"

"Her stage name is Peony. But from what I've been able to ferret out, her real name is Lily Shawn. But I couldn't find any pictures of her, nor any other valuable information,"

"Lily Shawn," the name rolled off his tongue as he got lost in his musings.

"Lily..." He mumbled again. 

That name brought back a memory. One that he had never cherished because of his stupidity.

"She's based abroad, in WhyteVille to be precise. But Fawn corporation's manager told me the information they got was that the woman would be arriving at the airport today,"

"How are we going to find her when we don't even know what she looks like?" Roberto felt his frustration spiking.

And even if they did find how, how would they convince her to come work at their company?

At that moment, the secretary's phone rang and after excusing himself, he went to a corner to answer the call.

"Alright sir, I'll check,"

Soon, the secretary hurried to his boss to show him the picture on his phone screen.

"Sir, it seems she has arrived. She shared an update on her Blistagram account minutes ago. The background looks familiar though," he said, racking his brain for more clues. 

Not long after he exclaimed, "I know the place! It's Pine Quill Hotel & Suites, sir,"

Roberto took the phone and saw the raven haired woman wearing sunglasses and bright red lipstick.

Maybe it was his delusion but he oddly found her familiar.

But then he shook away that thought. His ex-wife had blonde hair not black and she never sported this cold look.

Since he couldn't get himself to focus on these mounds of papers, he decided he might as well shoot his shot at winning this designer over.

He rose from his seat, "Let's go to there then,"

Internally though, he couldn't help feeling resentful towards Fawn Corporation. A big company like them couldn't do it, why throw the task on him?

Or did they have second thoughts about the collaboration and decided to use this format to make him look incapable?

No matter what he would prove them wrong.

On the way to the parking lot, his phone rang and he fished it out of his pants pocket.

A shrill, angered female voice rang out from the phone the moment he pressed the answer button. 

"Roberto, why have you decided to embarrass me like this? Why did you not send the money? A measly ten million, Roberto, why is that so hard for you to give, huh?"

"What do you even need it for, Miriam?" He asked with a deep frown etched on his face.

"I need to buy the latest 'VJ' bag that just came out. You know it's my favourite brand. And there's a dress that really caught my fancy at that clothes store we visited last month. It's still available. It's designed by the legendary Peony herself. I want to be the one wearing it!"

Roberto felt a headache coming on, resisting the urge to facepalm, "Most of the clothes you bought last month, you haven't finished wearing them. And I bought you a bag last month as well. You know how the company is at the moment. I can't casually throw away that kind of money on trivial things,"

"Roberto, did you just say trivial? I had boasted, no, I had sworn to my friends that I would be wearing a Peony creation to the event tonight!"

"That's your own problem, Miriam. Deal with it," 

"You... How can you say such a thing? Aren't you my husband? Isn't it your duty ti make me happy, to provide for me whatever is my desire? What's gotten into you? Don't use the company as a cover up. I'm suspicious now. You're seeing someone, right? You're having an affair, aren't you? Who is she? I'm going to hack her into a million pieces..."

Furious, Roberto cut the call, teeth clenched.

He so wanted to hurl his phone to the ground, stomp on it and yell out his rage. But as a CEO he had an image to maintain out in public.

Paparazzi could be lurking anywhere and he didn't want to find himself looking ludicrous on the news and become a laughing stock in the industry.

He returned his phone back to his pants right pocket, his chest heaving from all the pent-up ire.

Why did he marry this big spendthrift, this uncaring woman?

After divorcing his former wife for her, it took him three good years to woo Miriam.

She finally accepted to be his wife when he proposed at one of their dinner dates. He thought he was the happiest man alive when she was finally pronounced his wife at the altar.

Everything was going great for the first year but this year she had done nothing but frustrate him.

He couldn't even touch her in bed without paying a f*e which made him wonder if he had a wife at home or a hooker.

Before they got married, she had told him she wanted to be a housewife and raise their kids, but recently she started hanging out with some hypocritical friends and turned into a woman he just couldn't recognize.

Whenever he wanted to discuss with her, she would tell him she was tired.

He had turned into a bitter, frustrated man barely two years into his marriage. Now he often recalled how it was with Lily; he had peace of mind back then.

He regretted throwing her away because of Miriam, he often found himself dreaming about hugging his ex-wife in a cozy home.

It's really true when they said, only when you've lost something would you know it's true value to you, only then would you pine for it.

"Sir," the secretary tried to get his boss' attention for the nth time. This time it finally worked.

Without saying any word to his subordinate, Roberto walked towards the jeep and sat in the backseat. The secretary then closed the car door and rushed to the assume his position in the driver's seat.

...

Pine Quill Hotel & Suites

Roberto and his assistant were headed to the lounge, for that was where their target currently was.

On entering there, they found her seated at the furthest table with one leg draped over the other as she drew on her tablet.

She wasn't wearing sunglasses like in the photo of earlier. But just from her side profile, they could see how elegant and sophisticated she was. She stood out amongst all these people, like an ethereal being.

For the first time, Roberto started to feel nervous and inadequate. He started having second thoughts about approaching her.

Pessimistic thoughts swirled in his head but he quickly cast them aside, steeling himself to meet up with the mystery lady who was key to him bagging that deal.

They soon stood in front of her but she didn't seem to notice. She seemed totally lost in her own world.

A brief glance at what she was drawing filled him with awe. She was extraordinarily talented!

"Hello, Miss Lily Shawn," he said warmly in a bid to get her attention.

"One more minute..." She said, "No, gimme five," she quickly added without raising her head. 

"Sit down if you feel like it," she offered seconds later, her eyes still glued to her device.