“You really have a lot of energy to burn today, don’t you, Andy?” Emberly, Andy's Muay Thai instructor laughed, after a kick from her sent the training dummy practically flying backwards.
“I think I’ve accumulated a lot this past week.” Andy wiped the sweat from her forehead, before walking over to where the doll had fallen “But I promise I won't break anything.”
“Of course you won’t.” Emberly laughed, handing her a towel as soon as Andy returned to the middle of the mat “And not just because Mrs. Tate would kill me if I let you destroy the materials she invested millions into building this gym.” she nodded at the clock at the top of the wall “Your time is up.”
“It’s been an hour and a half already?” Andy gasp
“Were you drowning?” the moment that sentence left Andy's mouth, she regretted it a little, knowing that this must be a delicate subject for Gabriel... Or, apparently, much more delicate than she could have imagined, as some of the panic returned to his expression as soon as she mentioned that word.“No, I… No, I wasn’t.” he muttered, almost embarrassed, without even looking at her “I was just trying to… Swim.”"What do you mean?" Andy furrowed her eyebrows, confused, but her question was interrupted when the dog suddenly placed itself between the two, extremely excited to be able to dedicate itself to licking both of their faces at the same time.“Hey, Luca…” Gabriel laughed softly, running his hands over the Bernese's neck, who immediately
There was no reason for her to be so nervous. It was just a date in a restaurant that wasn't even that refined. She could get up and leave whenever she wanted, if she felt like it.That's what Andy mentally repeated to herself, as she looked at her own made-up face in the small pocket mirror. She hadn't understood why Harriet had seemed so hesitant about her idea of finally going on a date, but now, sitting in her car and knowing that Malcolm Shepherd was probably already waiting for her, Andy realized that her best friend often knew her better than herself. The date hadn't even started and she had already regretted making that decision on impulse, before even meeting one of the few men whose profile description had looked promising on the app.Maybe she wasn't ready for that yet. Maybe it would be better to just text Malcolm to apologize and then go home&hel
“So, as you can see, Mr. Ferrars, I already have the perfect business plan for my future company. All I can do is find an investor…” Malcolm commented for the millionth time, again not seeming to notice that Gabriel wasn’t paying the slightest attention to his chatter about money and business.“So… Malcolm…” Andy took advantage of a moment when he finally stopped talking to come up for air, determined to try to establish a conversation with him to prove to Gabriel that he couldn't ruin her date “Tell me a little more about your family."“We, Shepherds, are of a noble lineage hidden by time.” he announced, in a tone that reminded Andy a lot of the way the pet shop had talked about Nick's pedigree, before he was adopted “My great-grandmother's aunt was married to an English nobleman and wa
“So, Andrea… What were your previous relationships like?”“Why do you mean with that question?” she narrowed her eyes, not liking the look in his eyes at all.“Wasn’t it you who said we should get to know each other better on our first date and nothing more?” Malcolm rested his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand, looking genuinely interested in what she had to say “It's just something I want to know about you.”“Very well…” Andy straightened up, knowing she shouldn't be embarrassed about what he was about to say, even if it was in front of Gabriel “Actually, I've never been in a serious relationship.”"Serious? But, you have such a pretty face...” Malcolm sighed, wi
The first date of Andy's life had been terrible enough that she only realized that she should be bothered by the fact that Gabriel was following her when they were almost beside her car. However, that day had already been so tiring that, instead of starting to shout furiously at him as soon as he turned around, Andy just stared at him with a raised eyebrow, until he had the decency to look embarrassed.“Uh… I think you might want to know what I'm doing here…” he massaged the back of his neck, avoiding meeting her eyes.“What gave you that impression?” Andy crossed her arms, waiting to see what kind of excuse he would come up with.“I… I know I shouldn't have butted into this, but…” Gabriel swallowed hard, not seeming to know how he should act “I d
Andy shouldn't have been surprised that there was a captive audience waiting for her once her date was over, but still, when the car finally pulled into the Vamcap estate and she saw her sister-in-law, Rose, sitting at one of the tables in the garden with Harriet, she couldn't help but sigh. Not because she didn't want to see her friends and talk about the whole disaster, but because... Andy wanted to test the theory that if she spent some time alone just thinking and being rational about it all, she could get rid of all those annoying thoughts about Gabriel.The moment she set foot on the grass in the garden, Rose and Harriet immediately stopped talking, straightening up in their chairs and looking at her with expectant eyes, while Andy practically crawled over to them, giving them enough timeto think a little and realize that if she was home so early, it was because something had gone seriously wro
“You know, Mr. Ferrars, this table has twenty-two empty and perfectly comfortable seats, plus the one right next to me.” Andy grumbled, but Gabriel pretended not to hear, continuing to lean close to her, almost resting his head against her shoulder, as he pretended to be watching what she was typing on the laptop screen, rather than just enjoying the smell of her perfume or the warmth of your proximity.“Now the clause is exactly as I wanted. Great work as always, Miss. Vamcap.” he praised her with a smile, although that, as always, only made the frown on her face worse.“If you really trust my work that much, then maybe you should try staying in your office and waiting for me to email you everything. Or are you afraid that I will ruin your business if you let me work alone and in peace?” She gave an acidic smile, but Gabriel
As he watched those two scoundrels freeze in front of Andy's calm and threatening smile, Gabriel found himself with his blood boiling, but this time with anger, practically fixated on the way Andy took a step forward, placing a hand on the old man's shoulder, before starting to speak, in a tone of advice.“What happened, Walter? Why are you surprised? You seemed so sure that I had no shame in using Vamcap's money to get everything I want. It must have crossed your mind that one day I would use this against you, as you were so determined to discredit me from the day I joined this firm as an intern, over five years ago.” Andy shrugged, moving away from the two again, this time looking at the woman “Why are those terrified expressions? This doesn't seem like the behavior of two people who truly believed I was an unscrupulous diva who bought whatever she wanted. Were you guys acting like that