10

  The angry growl of lightning pierced the air, what had promised to be a sunny day had now become a gloomy rainy day. Nate shifted his eyes from his screen to Ruby’s office. Her mass of mousey brown hair was now put in a ponytail as she typed away on her computer.

Serves her right, he thought.

With her around, he was always edgy. He had expected her to throw a fit and stomp into his office when he asked her to make him coffee or when he handed her the pile of files. She was suspiciously calm, too calm which irritated him. He frowned, he needed his daily dose of coffee but couldn’t get it because Ruby had ruined it for him.

  “Who the hell added so much sugar and whipped cream to their coffee ?” He asked himself 

Of course the answer was sitting right there in his company, the annoying brunette whose office was opposite his.

He quickly cleared out his table and got rid of the paper he wasn’t using. His table was a mess as he had buried himself in work all week.

 “Why the hell have you not been answering my calls?” Taylor demanded as she strutted into his office, a terrified looking Maggie tailing behind.

“I’m sorry sir, I was going to inform you she was here but she beat me to it” Maggie apologized profusely as she bowed her head 

  Nate nodded and motioned for her to leave. 

Taylor’s parents were old friends of his parents. Countless times, Mrs Wyatt, Taylor’s mother had tried to play the role of matchmaker ever since they were in high school. She would ensure they spent the weekend together and during the holidays, she would arrange for a splendid trip to an island for the both of them.

  “Answer me!” Taylor yelled furiously. She was clad in a black wrap dress that accentuated her curves, her beautiful platinum hair cascaded down to her waist.

  “I’ve been busy with work” Nate answered as he watched Taylor prance around like a hungry cat.

 “Oh really? You’ve been too busy for the past two weeks? You ignored me and all the text messages I sent to you” Taylor retorted, her metallic grey eyes staring daggers at him.

  

  “Do not raise your voice, I do not want to attract attention” Nate warned

He avoided drama at all cost especially when it came to his company, he was certain that some of the workers went about spreading false rumors about him but he never confronted them.

 “I’ll raise my voice if I want to!” Taylor snapped. “Nate, we are supposed to be engaged for heaven’s sake!”

Nate’s brows wrinkled in worry, both parents had been deceiving her all along. Mrs Jacobin had promised Taylor that she would talk Nate into marrying her even when she knew it was impossible.

  “Just to be clear, we are not engaged in any way or form. Our parents just keep pushing the whole marriage idea on us” he reminded her

Well, the marriage thing was forced on only one person because Taylor was all in and ready to be married to Nate. 

Taylor scoffed as she whipped her luscious hair out of her face.

  “It’s not like we have any option, we have been together since high school, it only makes sense for us to tie the knot”

She was upset Nate was taking his time, she feared he wasn’t going to marry her. Everyone knew Taylor and Nate as the high school sweethearts who won prom king and queen and expected that they were going to get married and have a happy ending.

It was far from a fairytale ending for Taylor, Nate was being extremely difficult and self absorbed in his work. He was always distant but this time, she could tell there was something else to it. It wasn’t just about his company and making money.

   “Are you seeing someone?” Taylor asked as she moved towards him

Nate clenched his teeth and tried his best to mask the annoyance he felt. Taylor always had a way of getting into his business and upsetting him.

  “Taylor,” he started icily. “I’m not seeing anyone and I’ll appreciate if you stop digging into my business”

The only sounds in the room were that of the air conditioning unit and Taylor’s angry breathing. She could feel the tension in the room and was vexed.

Nate was hers and hers alone. She had so many thoughts of them getting married since she was in high school. Her mother had also promised to invite the best of designers to plan her wedding. Everything was almost in place, all she needed was get her groom to agree to everything.

  “My mother requests your presence at our house on Saturday night” Taylor breathed out. She calmed herself down and reminded herself that all she needed to focus on winning his heart and not yelling at him.

 “I would be busy” Nate said immediately without giving it a second thought. “I have a dinner with some business associates on Saturday”

 Taylor hissed as she watched him click away on his computer. 

His eyes were focused intently on whatever he was going on his computer. Taylor could feel anger course through her veins. Nate had changed so much. Back in high school, he tried his best to put up with her, he said yes to her without thinking twice even though it was clear he was only doing it for her sake. Now, he didn’t bother saying yes to her, he always told her off rudely.

  “You never make time for me, do you? Can’t you see how selfish you are? You have no time for the people who love you and you always end up hurting them” Taylor spat 

Nate ran a hand through his messy hair, he already had a headache from Taylor’s drama.

Angrily, she grabbed her clutch and stormed out of his office with one mission in mind which was to find out who or what was making Nate more distant.