Rejected

My breath hitched when he took my hand in his and placed a small peck on it. He sure knows how to take my breath away so effortlessly. How was I able to hate such a man??

When I noticed that the atmosphere in the room was getting too intense, I pulled my hands away from his and cleared my throat nervously.

"Thank you for honoring my request to a meeting." I croaked out shakily. I still haven't really gotten out of the shock gotten from his little antic.

He smiled a little before pulling out a seat for me. I thanked him and sat down on the seat offered. I managed to calm down myself before switching to my business mode.

"I'm sure you're aware of the reason I called you out here." I said. He took of his suit jacket slowly and took his seat on the chair opposite mine.

"I am. Theresa filled me in on the details but I can't help but wonder... why would you want me of all people to patner with you?" He asked with a questioning gaze.

"Like I told Theresa, a partnership between both our companies would be very profita..." My words were interrupted by a small chuckle from him.

"Really?? Profitable??" He asked with a look filled with disbelief.

"Why? Don't you think it would be profitable?" I asked back.

"No.. sure.. it will but I don't buy that excuse." He said.

"What do you mean by excuse?" I asked, trying to play dumb.

"Catherine.... there's no way you would come to me... Nicholas Armani for a patnership unless something's going on in your company." He said, laying more emphasis on his name.

"I know that we haven't had a good history together and that's really my fault. I don't know what came over me that day and the days after that, so I want to use this chance to officially apologize to you." I apologized with sincerity laced deeply in my voice.

"The great Catherine Dyson is apologizing. How wonderful." He muttered with an amused smile dancing on his lips.

"You know.. I thought you don't apologize to perverts nor do you plan to stay in a very close space with them." He teased, reminding me of all the names I called him.

I felt my face hit up in embarrassment. He really doesn't want to make things easy for me. I never knew he was this childish.

"I was mistaken that day. I thought you were.."

".. I was what??" He cut me off as he stood up from his seat.

"Ogling at you?" He asked, while taking slow strides towards me.

"Lusting after you?" By the time he asked the second question, he was already right in front of me.

He crouched towards my level and leaned closer to me. I could literally hear my heart beating faster as his handsome face got impossibly close to mine. I gulped in shakily, it was so loud that I'm sure he heard it too.

I couldn't bear his intense gaze so I turned to face the other side. He held my chin and turned me back to face him.

"Or.. you thought that I wanted to have sex with you??" He whispered. I coughed out nervously and stood up abruptly.

"Why would I have such absurd thoughts??" I could feel my insides getting really hot while he just smiled. He must be enjoying seeing me all flustered.

"It isn't absurd, considering the way you've been treating me." He said.

"I admit I made a mistake and now, I'm trying to rectify it but you're making it so hard for me."

"Forgive me. It's just that I enjoying seeing you this way." He said.

"How?? All flustered and embarrassed?" I asked back.

"No.. slowly easing up to me. The Catherine I know would never act this way in front of me. She hates me, what changed??" He asked... his amused expression still hasn't left his face.

"A lot."

"Is it related to your decision of wanting to oatner with me?" He asked again, in a serious tone but didn't get any answer.

What was I going to tell him? That the man I chose to marry and have been flaunting around as my husband is cheating on me with my step mom, wants me dead and wants everything I own??

"Catherine I want to know the real reason you want this patnership." He demanded but I still remained quiet. I wasn't really sure if this Nicholas is the same one who shed tears for me during my last moments on earth. Could I trust him??

"If we are to be patners, don't you think trust should be the foundation?" He asked me like he had read my thoughts? I stared at him silently.

I wanted to know if I could trust him. His eyes had that compassionate one he showed me in my past life. His soft gaze slowly drew me closer to him, making me believe he was the same Nicholas I knew.

It made me believe that I could trust him. It didn't take any other words from him to make me finally open up to him.

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"That's the main reason I want this patnership." I concluded after I had explained everything to him. Well, exempting the part of dying and being reborn.

I'm sure if I added that, he would think that I am crazy. There's no way he would believe that I died and came back to life so I was better off keeping that to myself.

After all of my narratives, Nicholas remained silent like he was deep in thoughts. When I noticed he wasn't going to say anything soon, I started to get impatient.

"So are you going to accept my offer?" I asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

He stared at me silently for a while before he said; "Gve me some time, I want to ponder more about it."

I wasn't really expecting that answer. I was expecting him to jump to my aid considering the fact that he was the only one that believed I didn't murder my father in my past life and he did everything within his power to get me out of prison.

If he still wants to think about my offer, that means his answer would be no. If he wanted the patnership, he wouldn't have hesitated. I was really hoping that he would still be the same Nicholas that helped me in my time of need but I guess I was wrong.

Maybe he doesn't really have feelings for me yet. Three years is enough to change people. I guess I have to find another way to defeat my enemies then.