Chapter 4

‘’A week from now, sir,’’ Johnson replied with a big smile.

One of the workers seated beside him, pointed to the desk. Haven shifted uncomfortably, staring down at the paperwork in front of him. For some reason, he couldn’t concentrate well today. He sighed. It was all Matt’s fault, telling him he had found someone and had planned a meet up today. Every few seconds, he would glance down at his phone wondering if it was time yet. What was taking Matt so long?

‘’Mr. Gray?’’

His head snapped up. ‘’Can we reschedule this meeting?’’ he said. The others in the meeting talked amongst themselves, but they agreed nonetheless. After the meeting, he made his way back to his office and found Matt waiting for him by the front door. He held up a hand in greeting. ‘’How was the meeting?’’

Haven reached for the door handle, pressing it down. ‘’Boring,’’ Haven said as he walked in. Sighing, he plopped down on his chair and dug out his phone. ‘’Isn’t it time yet?’’ He pinched the bridge of his nose.

‘’Why the rush? You look like an excited teen,’’ Matt commented from across the room, where he had taken a seat. In his hand was a small note he had dug out from his pocket. He flipped a page. ‘’She said she’d be ready in an hour or so.’’

‘’Where are we meeting her?’’

‘’At a cafe.’’

To be honest, Haven had been quite surprised when Matt told him the girl he found was the waitress who had attended to them yesterday. He didn’t remember much about her other than the fact that she had left the cafe without giving them their orders. He frowned, staring down at his phone again.

It read a few minutes after three.

‘’Call her.’’

‘’Rushing her doesn’t seem like a nice option. Remember she can decide not to.’’ Matt flipped another page, looking totally unbothered with the whole situation. Normally, Haven wasn’t one to lose his cool. In all his twenty-six years, he was always the cool, sarcastic, and calm headed one. But now, he was anxious. ‘’And that would be bad.’’

Totally bad. Haven couldn’t have his mother on his case again.

‘’Can we even trust her?’’ Haven couldn’t help but ask, suddenly realizing how stupid this idea was turning even though it was his in the first place.

‘’Since she is in it for the money, I’m sure she wouldn’t back down that easily.’’ Matt smiled like he had everything under control. Well, Matt always did have everything under control. Both of them have been best friends since they could walk. While Haven was the type who would see a clean paper as nothing but a blank paper, Matt saw it as something waiting to be written on. Haven was like the cool moon, while Matt was the warm sun. Which was why it was always easy for him to handle situations Haven knew he wouldn’t easily handle; as long as it had no relations to work. ‘’Besides, she’s Sam’s friend. So, I trust her and you should too.’’

Like that mattered. It wouldn’t be the first time a woman would pretend to be cozy and trustworthy, only to backstab him. Catherine had been an exception. Having been born into a wealthy family, she had been given everything she wanted since birth. This was primarily the reason why Haven preffered to stick around with people who shared the same social status with him; it didn’t mean that they were less greedy but at least they were trustworthy to an extent.

Or so he thougt.

A loud vibration suddenly filled the air. Matt fished out his phone. ‘’It’s her.’’

Haven stood up, taking off his suit and pulling up the sleeves of his shirt.

‘’We’ll be there soon.’’ He hung up. He turned to Haven. ‘’Let’s go.’’

‘’My car?’’ Haven asked.

‘’Definitely, yeah,’’ Matt said, reaching for the key on the counter locker beside the door. He threw it to Haven who caught it with a flick of his wrist.

As they walked out, he wondered what kind of expression she would make when she saw him. Would she be calm? Or would she be rosy at the prospect of marrying him even if it was just for show. He suspected the latter. It wasn’t every day one of the most elite businessmen moved around to offer a marriage contract.

A black vehicle was waiting outside her home when she stepped out. Alexis had been sure to dress as neatly as she could, well, at least she didn’t see anything wrong with her ragged jeans and plain white T-shirt. She climbed down her stairway and moved to the car, offering a small smile as the driver opened the door for her.

She whistled lightly at the interiors. ‘’Damn, the things money can buy.’’

‘’Are you comfortable ma’am?’’ the driver asked in a very polite tone, Alexis couldn’t help but wince.

Ma’am? She had never been called that before. She felt like Cinderella being driven to a ball. She had never been one to be concerned about dating or even having a relationship.