A diamond in the rough

Alex’s POV

Seven hours ago…

I was in a meeting when my phone buzzed. I stared at the screen.

Rosa was out drinking again.

How special was this lover that she would keep drowning in alcohol?

I stood up, cutting the speaker mid-sentence. “This meeting will hold another time,” I said. “I have something important to attend to.”

I was out before the COO would protest and stress the importance of the meeting. Outside, I got into my ride and instructed the driver to take me to he bar where Rosa was.

She was a mess when I walked up to her.

“You…” She grinned drunkedly and tapped a space on the table. “Have a seat with me and drink. Money’s on…me,” she slurred.

I grabbed a chair and snatched the bottle off her hand. “Why are you doing this?”

“He called me uglyyyy…” she cried. “Now I know why sex is always a choreeee.” She slammed her fist against the table. “Do you think I’m ugly? Say the truth.”

Anyone who said she was ugly had no taste for beauty.

“I’ve been a foollll.”

I couldn’t help feeling jealous. A woman was crying for a man. I would give anything to have a woman who would genuinely love me. And I was going to make Rosa forget about the man that hurt her and love me instead.

“Come with me,” I said.

I pulled her up and she only resisted slightly.

“Let’s get you home.”

“Home?” She chuckled. “I have no home. I have no where to go to.” She sobbed. “He didn’t even let me take my clothes. He says I’m too ugly for them. Maybe he’s correct. I am ugly.”

I held her tighlty and guided her through the crowd. Whoever her lover was had made a mistake. Rosa was the kind of woman I thought I would never find. She was a diamond in the rough.

***

When I was six, my mother left.

Before then, I knew when they always argued. But I never knew why. They would yell at each other and my mother would leave for days. She returned eventually. Drunk and distant.

Then one day, she left and never came back.

My father almost didn’t maake it after the divorce. For days, he drank and would lock himself up in his room, refusing to come out no matter how much I pleaded. Then he overcame it and buried himself in work and women. There was always a new face in the house every day.

I hated him for years and blamed him for making my mother disappear. But as I grew older, I learned the truth. It was mom who cheated. It was her who broke their sacred vow, over and over again.

And then, my first girlfriend cheated.

I came to the conclusion that women could never be loyal. And with that came the vow that I would never commit to any woman. I changed them like I changed my clothes.

No strings attached.

Until Rosa told me her story. She was different. She was special - the kind of woman I concluded didn’t exist. And the man who was lucky to have her heart took her for granted.

Now, I was going to make her forget him and make her fall in love with me.

***

She rested her head against my shoulder in the car and slurred on about how foolish she had been.

“We metttt…it was in college. I thought he was in love with me. Turns out it was fake all along and he has someone else.”

I squeezed her hand.

“Theyyyy…made me feel like a fool,” she slurred on. “Maybe that’s whaat I am. And to top it, my boss made me sign…a marriage contract. I’m doneee with love and I never want to see him again.”

“What if he truly wants you? Your boss.”

She raised her head and stared at me. And for a moment, I thought she recognised me. Then she bursted out laughing.

“Do you know whoooo my boss’ssss?”

“Alex Kane,” she contiued. “He has more body count than the stars in a clear night sky. Alex Kane is a disater waiting to happen if I aagreee…to that. Even if I have no…where to go, I would never accept his offer.”

She dozed off on my shoulder while I sat rigid, thinking about everything she said about me. She wasn’t wrong. I had loved been tagged the city’s uncommitted billioaire. Not anymore.

The car rounded into the estate and I helped her out. She was awake again and wobbling beside me when I introduced her to the staff of the house.

“She is the new Mrs. Kane,” I stated. “And must be treated with respect. Everything she asks for should be given to her.”

I lifted her from the floor and took the stairs to a room special to me. The room I grew up in. It had been refurnished and I had kept it locked for years. The moment her back touched the bed, she dozed off again.

I sat beside her, watching her sleep. Maybe it was the intimacy we shared or because she was broken. But I began to see her beyond the PA I could barely tolerate.

Downstairs, I met my father rocking in his chair. His illness had been sudden and I was still broken to see him this way. I was going to be CEO of the company but I never imagined it would be because my father had dementia.

I took a seat beside him. He hardly recogised me these days. I had to introduce myself and explain over and over again that I was his son. Some days, he got so violent that he would throw things at me and call me a kidapper. Other days, he would sit quielty and ask for my mother. It made me realise that he never stopped loving her. .

“I found her,” I told him. He was unusually quiet, so I assumed he remembered me. Or he was thinking of my mother.

He faced me. “Maria?”

That was my mother’s name.

“A good woman,” I responded. “You’ll meet her soon.”

“Maria was a bad woman. But I loved her.”

I squeezed his hand.

When I stepped out, all I could think of was Rosa. Thoughts about her dragged me to a boutique insteaad of returning back to the company. She had mentioned that her lover had taken away all her clothes. Now, I wanted to get her somethig better than the cheap, oversized clothes she wore to work each day.

I knew she would want answers when she woke up so I hurried back.

I met my father outside, on the porch, when I returned home. There was a beam of smile on his face that had I hadn’t seen in a while.

“Son,” he called out to me when I approached him.

I couldn’t believe I was hearing him call me son.

I crouched in front of him, smiling. “Can you recognise me, father?”

He nodded and squeezed my shoulder, just like he always did. “Of course,” he answered. “The nurse made my tea just the way I liked it. And she’s pretty.”

Father had always rejected her tea, claiming it was poison. I needed to know what she had done this time. If there was a special ingredient we needed to add to his tea. I would do anything or pay any amount to make him well again.

I sent for the nurse immediately.

But when she arrived, he frowned and shook his head. “She makes me poison,” he declared. “Not her.”

She was father’s sixth nurse since he was diagnosed. He was never satisfied with anyone.

I faced the nurse. “Did someone else make his tea?” I asked.

She bowed apologetically. “I was trying to fix his bed-”

“That is not your job!” I snapped, angrily. “There are maids who are responsible for that!”

“He came to the kitchen and …”

“Did you let him make tea for himself?”

She shook her head quickly. “No. Your wiife made the tea.”

“She makes it just right,” father added, beaming again

“How long has she been awake?” I asked the nurse.

“A couple of minutes.”

I had hoped to arrive before she wole up. “Where is she?”

The lady pointed. “She went upstairs.”

I moved in and took the stairs. But when I got to the room, it was empty. I hurried to the wardrobe. Her purse was no longer there.

I didn’t want her to return to her ex boyfrend who was undeserving of her. And I needed to explain to her why I was never committed and why I wanted her.

I stepped out of the room and returned to the living room just in time to see her darting into the kitchen. A daring smile spread on my face and I took the stairs, heading to the kitche. My fingers brushed the diamond ring box in my pocket.

Tomorrow, at the award night, I was going to announce our marriage to the world. Now, I had to convince her to stay.