Andrew was fuming in anger when he saw Evan and Ariena coming out of the car laughing and talking with each other. The carefree smile which she has been showing to the man beside her right now was driving him crazy. 'She is always so reserved in her actions whenever she's with me and have never shown such a bright smile to me.' he thought to himself.
His reverie was broken when Ramy called him, "Sir..." Only then he noticed how intimately they were interacting with each other. Their laughing, way of addressing each other, joking were so natural.... No Pretending.
Their intimacy and affinity were making his blood boil. But when Evan patted on her head and pinched and caressed her cheeks Andrew anger went through the the roof. He dashed towards them and called her name in a savage tone, "ARIENA...."
Both, Evan and Ariena were stupefied, getting freeze in their spot, when they heard the life threatening voice of Andrew.
Evan soon recovered back from shock when he noticed Andrew pulling Ariena towards himself and holding her tightly from her waist. Evan clenched his teeth in frustration for being helpless. He tried to calm down the growing exasperations inside his heart while extending his hand towards Andrew as he said plainly, "Mr. Johnston, What a pleasant surprise to see you here.... "
Andrew brows lifted in annoyance as he shakes his hand firmly showing his dominance. He raved at him in a serious tone, "Mr. Smith, this is my house, where else I should be at this hour of night. Infact I should be the one to ask you the same..."
Evan let out a soft chuckle, as he said politely, "My bad Mr. Johnston, I didn't mean that. It's just that Ariena told me that you were in country A and will be returning by Saturday, so I was a bit surprise... nothing else.... "
Andrew remained silent and didn't respond to him back. Evan felt the heaviness in the air. He thought that Andrew might misunderstood the whole situation and might blame Ariena for the same, so he decided to explain it to him.
Evan started off in a calm and compose tone, "Mr Johnston... I've invited Ariena for a dinner tonight to celebrate her success in office and for the participation in CINA....I hope you don't mind..."
Andrew nose flared in anger when he heard the word 'dinner' and 'celebration', 'This insolent girl is bold enough to go out and celebrate alone with this disgusting man(Evan), without even considering him(Andrew) to even share the news...' he mused .
He turned to look at Ariena who was still staring at him in disbelief. Her flushed red cheeks and a few strands of hair which were dancing on her face, make her look so cute and beautiful. His breath hitched at that wonderful sight. But soon he remembered that all this mesmerizing beauty of her was also enjoyed by Evan, making his expression turned gloomy and sour again.
On the contrary, when Evan who didn't get any response from Andrew he became conscious. He looked at the couple starring at each other with different emotions, one with disbelief and other with blazing anger. He got worried about Ariena safety. So he continued to explain further, "Mr Johnston, you see we have known each other since a long time and have not met each other recently, so there was a lot to tell and hear in between us. We were so engrossed in our story telling that we didn't keep track on the time..... Haha... Sorry we disturb your rest.."
Evan explanation act as an oil on fire, as Andrew could only depict criticism from it that Evan was telling him how close Ariena and him(Evan) was. He turned to face Evan and replied sternly, "Mr Smith .. I hope you will be more considerate next time about whom you meet and how long you spend time with them. As you already know, she is not the same girl you have known years back..."
Andrew words were like swords cutting on Evan's heart. He clenched his teeth tightly and glared at Andrew with a killing instinct. ' Yes I know that SHE is not the same girl as before. Now SHE belongs to you, but you didn't have to show off that to me... Just wait a little longer a single mistake from you and I'll snatch her away from you. You better treasure her...' he declared loudly in his mind.
The tension between the two men was growing, as they both glared at each other. Just then Ariena soft voice broke the starring competition between the two, " Andrew..."
Andrew turned to look at her with a totally 180 degree change in his attitude, as he hummed in response to her while tightening his hold on her waist. He removed the strands of hair on her face and burried her face in his chest very lightly and carefully.
Evan sighed as he thought of Ariena wellbeing and decided to back off. He said politely, " So Mr Johnston, how was your trip there.. Ariena told me that you were gone there for an important deal.. hope all went well there.. " He tried to divert there topic from Ariena to business to release the tension.
Andrew face twitched, he thought Evan was challenging his business skills and capabilities. He replied in a dead tone with arched brows, "Of course we got the deal with no questions to be ask, Mr Smith do you look down on my way of doing business..."
Evan was shocked to core when he heard that. He immediately responded back to him , "Oh no.. no.. I don't doubt in your business skills. I really didn't mean that way. I just wanted to know if everything was good as you return way before the schedule. I'm really happy to know that you crack the deal, this is what expected from a successful businessman like you.... congrats for deal.."
Andrew had no interest in getting wishes from Evan, as the latter was eyeing his wife. 'So hateful...' mused Andrew, as he said emotionlessly, "Thanks for the praise Mr. Smith... "
Just then Ariena words attracted the attention of the two again, "Are you really here.... am I dreaming right now..." said Ariena as poked on Andrew's cheeks with her pointing finger.
Andrew was alarmed by her actions. He pulled her away from him a bit and questioned her through his clenched teeth, "Are you drunk ..."
Ariena quickly pushed him away and frees herself from his hold as she turned to walk forward and backwards straight without falling to show how sober she was. She also kept on babbling how sleepy, tired and over stuffed she was.
Her cute and adorable actions awe stuck both man. They kept listening to her nonsense logics as they enjoyed watching her.
Ramy quickly came forward and said politely, "it's getting cold and windy outside we should head in Sir.."
Andrew was jolted back to reality, he moved close to Ariena and held tightly against his body by holding her from her waist. He turned to Evan and said with a straight face, "Thanks for sending Ariena home... As it's already so late, so tonight I'll not pester Mr. Smith to stay longer..... let's meet and have chat some other time... we'll be going in first..... be safe on road and Good Night Mr Smith.... " He turned to go in with Ariena in his embrace.
Evan looked at them with sadness filled in his eyes as he replied, "Sure Mr. Johnston.. you should take a rest now... good night..... Good Night Ariena... "
Evan left the Johnston mansion with a heavy heart, remembering the moments he spend a few minutes earlier with the dream girl of his life. He tuned the radio at high tune to consumed the silence in the car. He mumbled under his breath with a cracking voice as tears filled in eyes,
"I MISS YOU SO MUCH..."