CHAPTER SIX.

ARDYN.

The event of the afternoon was uneventful after two men were seen fighting over a piece that was so ridiculous, I had to buy it to stop the feud. They stopped after realizing what I had done, but it was a little late considering the number of people that had left the museum due to the situation. It caused disorderliness which was never a good look. We weren’t able to make a decent amount of money and although I said I wasn’t going to be distracted, I still wanted to see what she looked like. This was the second time I didn’t get to see a woman’s face, coincidence huh.

I was in my office at home looking for the next step to take that could benefit me before I remembered my project with Zaylen. I had exhausted all the other options, and nothing was as good as what he suggested. I couldn’t believe that I was actually about to do this. I looked at the photos I had taken of her work, and I must admit she was really good at what she does but there was something about each photo, they were similar to each one, all her designs were unique, you’d know they were made by her but they were too plain for my liking, I hadn’t seen any of her designs with more color and light to it, which made me come to my final decision. She was going to do the job.

ZYRA.

I was so bored. Rynnelle wasn’t back and I was slowly losing my mind. It had been twenty minutes. I decided to stay up on the balcony for some fresh air also, so I could see Rynnelle come back with my car. Everywhere was silent and calm, just how I liked it. I stayed like this for a while before it was interrupted by the notification sound coming from my phone, hoping it would be Rynnelle, I picked up my phone and looked at it. It wasn’t Rynnelle; it was an email from a company, Lane Empire. I was surprised; how’d they know about me? It stated that they would like to work with me on a project of theirs. They were also asking for a perfect time for a face-to-face meeting to discuss business.

I didn’t know how to feel, well I was going to take the job, but considering some of the rumors I had taken note of, of them not working with women, I was starting to feel a bit uneasy but nevertheless, I was going to go for this meeting and see what they were really about. I decided to do some research on the Empire and see what I was going to work with eventually. Some minutes into my research, I had found out about all the other companies that were also in partnership with the Empire, the former shareholders and surprisingly, the face of the CEO himself. He was an old man, he looked like he was going to die, didn’t he have a son or something. Well, that’s enough research for one day. At least the disappointments were close to death, so I had nothing to worry about.

I quickly emailed them back stating that I would also love to work with them and a meeting on Wednesday would be just fine, today was a Friday. I needed time to put myself in order. Just as I rounded up and hit send, I finally saw Rynnelle and my car. I think I just killed two birds with one stone. I ran downstairs; I had missed Rynnelle if I was honest. I jumped on her immediately I saw her get out of the car.

“Zyra? I was gone for thirty minutes, get off me.” She said, laughing while carrying me to shut the gate. I wasn’t heavy, but Rynnelle was strong and because of that, I didn’t get down. We got inside after shutting the gate and she handed me my keys. She had also bought chicken wings, I forgot to mention earlier; we both loved chicken wings. We got comfortable in the kitchen and ate in silence before Rynnelle decided to break it.

“So, do you want to talk about what happened earlier? I’ll totally understand if you don’t want to, so no pressure.” I wanted to talk about it, but I was scared. What if she left me after I’d told her? What if she thought I was insane? What if she used it against me in the future? She didn’t seem like the type of person to do that and even if she did, I’d been there before so it won’t be a big deal but still, it would hurt me so much. I hesitated a little before talking.

“The man was abusive. He loved it, he thrived on making us suffer for a reason I couldn’t quite pin.” I wasn’t comfortable enough to tell her the full story; this was all I could let out for now. I looked at Rynnelle; you could see how visibly hurt she was. I bet just the thought of coming from an abusive home was abusing her. I laughed slightly and that just made her question my sanity.

“You’re laughing, Zee? That’s a terrible thing for someone to go through.” ‘Zee’ I liked the name.

“I went through it and I’m fine; I get little triggers sometimes but aside that, I’m good.”

“Triggers like people fighting?” Rynnelle was smart.

“Throwing stuff, and all of that.” I looked at Rynnelle, and she was about to cry.

“I’m sorry.” She said, wiping her tears. “Do you want a hug?” She asked me.

“Of course, I’d want a hug duh.” We laughed and hugged each other. It felt nice and right. We stayed like that for a couple minutes before I decided to ask her about Lane Empire, I needed to know more and enough of her feeling sad for me. I wasn’t quite used to such emotions.

“Rynnelle? What do you know about Lane Empire?” I asked and she looked at me like I couldn’t be serious right now. “I’m serious, tell me.”

“That’s like the biggest company in the world or almost or among others. It’s a high-end real estate and development conglomerate. I’m surprised you’re asking me this. Everyone knows Mr. Lane, he’s famous for his height, his mean demeanor, and his looks, he’s extremely handsome I’m not going to lie.” Rynnelle talked like she had a crush on him or something. From my research, he was an old man, like literally about to die, but hey, some people liked theirs older.

“Oh, I didn’t know all this.” I said trying my best not to call Rynnelle out on the fact that she liked an old man. A very old man.

“Yes, and that’s why you have me.” We laughed. “So why are you asking?”

“Well, I got an email from them stating that they wanted to work with me.” And she jumped.

“Oh my God, that’s so huge. They pay so well and you’re so good at your work so this is going to be a hit.” I was just laughing. She seemed more excited than I was, which was the perfect motivation I needed.

“I’m also meeting with them, him, whoever, on Wednesday.”

“That means you’re going to stay here?” I could see her pleading with her eyes.

“Yes. I’m going to stay here.” And boom, Rynnelle is running around the kitchen counter. She stops midway like she realized something. “That means I have to plan all the activities we’d have to do.” She makes a very dramatic fall and lands on the ground, like the stress from planning the activities was weighing her down.

“Get your bitch ass up.” I said, laughing but decided to join her after seeing how comfortable she was on the floor. We laid down laughing and staring at the ceiling. After some moments when our laughter died down, she said something that really made me happy with ever bumping into her.

“I’m happy with you Zee.”

“I’m happy with you too Riri.”