"We want Orca Industries to supply all the indoor appliances for the resorts. The furnishing will be done by the Benedicts and the promotions are being handled by Stark Corporations. I think its win-win for everyone, because God knows when this island will be done and stand in all its glory, we'll be richer than Bill Gates himself," Ayisha announced dreamily, relaxing back in the cushiony chair of Orca's office and sighing in contentment.
"Did you leave your professionalism at home? Or dropped it in a drain on your way here?" Orca raised an eyebrow, eyes not leaving the long clauses of the business contract that was typed on the paper in front of her.
"No, just dropped it outside your office. With your secretary probably, remind me to pick it up before I leave," Ayisha replied with a cheeky wink, eyeing the handsome blonde sitting outside Orca's office, entertaining her lawyer Daphne.
"God no! Not Julian, please Ayisha," Orca grumbled desperately under her breath, eyes still stuck on the words.
Like a curious teenager hearing about her best friend's first crush, Ayisha wheeled her chair right next to Orca's face and wiggled her eyebrows creepily, "Why? Do you like him or something?" she questioned with a wide grin. Her brain racing at the speed of light as she fantasized an office romance with Orca and Julian in every possible steamy scenario whatsoever.
Orca rolled her eyes and flipped a page, "Heaven no, he's obsessive!"
As if being told Glass Enterprises just suffered a major loss, Ayisha sunk back in her chair with a dejected sigh. "All the pretty ones are. Tell me about it," she grumbled bitterly. Her Office Romance plot, which she had already named 'Sassy CEO and Sexy Secretary's Scandalous Love Affair', just tore itself into pieces.
Finally taking her eyes off the paper and eyeing her little brown friend, Orca's lips laced amusement, "Still not been able to get rid of Raymond Stark?"
Ayisha's body visibly cringed. Suddenly murder plots revolved in her head.
Raymond Stark was more obsessive, if not less, than Julian, when it came to love. He'd been pinning on Ayisha since grade school. It was a twisted love story and Orca could not wait to find the end of.
"Please don't remind me of him, will you? I did not fly across states to give you a business deal that I could have easily given to Stark Corporations, with a call from my bed, only for you to go babbling about him," Ayisha scowled, sat straight and her face phased into her business persona.
Orca smirked, "God that's some Taylor Swift and Katy Perry level bad blood. Are you already writing songs and plots about it?" Orca knew Ayisha had a very spontaneous habit of coming up with plots inspired from real life then turning them into some raunchy, action thriller piece of fiction then leaving it in the middle.
Ayisha's scowl deepened, "They became friends in the end."
"Exactly my point," Orca grinned like a cheeky child.
Ayisha opened her mouth, then closed it, bolting the words she was about to say. Orca frowned as Ayisha pulled the contract from underneath her palm, "God, you are reading it as if I'm about to million dollar scam you. Are you done yet?"
"Yes," Orca replied crisply, not liking that Ayisha willingly let her have the last word in.
Orca knew Ayisha. They had worked together on many successful projects and to be a foreigner, an Indian migrant who started a small company in America and went from rags to riches, and still be as successful as Ayisha Knightly you have to calculating and fore-sighted. If Sir Kim was Orca's saving grace, then Ayisha Knightly was inspiration embodied.
But, Orca hated it when people left things incomplete. She's impatient; she wants to know everything at the same time. Not wait for the right time. And it irked Orca that Ayisha clipped her words.
She was planning something and Orca did not like it.
"Daphne, will you please come in with Mr. Parker? We need to sign the papers," Ayisha called out.
Her feisty lawyer walked in with an ever grinning Julian in tow. As they sat, opposite to Orca and Ayisha, Orca eyed Julian with some nether-level hatred.
"W-w-w-what?" Julian choked out under her glare.
"What is she to sign on, your face? Where are the documents?" Orca snapped.
Like a twig being stepped on one end, Julian flinched up and ran out to fetch the file. Daphne stared at his retreating figure, unimpressed.
"God help, I swear, I've never missed Sir Kim more!" Orca growled out loud, counting the reverse value of pi in her head to avoid smashing something.
"Yeah, me too. He used to bring me cakes," Ayisha pouted, slouching in the chair again.
"At least Raymond is good at what he does," Orca found an opening to irk Ayisha again.
Daphne raised an amused eyebrow.
"He models for advertisements to earn a living. Even dogs can model Rica, get over it. I'm sure if you put up Julian for modeling your sales will double overnight. Teenagers who don't even know the 'C' of 'cooking' will be emptying the stocks of Pressure Cookers overnight," Ayisha replied in a bored tone as Julian walked back in with a bright file and passed it to Daphne.
The young lawyer took it gratefully and glanced at each page for not more than three seconds. "All clear. Initial deposit of $15 million by Glass Enterprises to Orca Industries for a period of three years. In case of a breach of contract, the party at fault will be paying double the initial amount deposited," Daphne announced, pushing the page of signature toward Ayisha and taking out a pen for her to sign it from.
"Great, thanks," Ayisha grinned from ear to ear, signing the document without a second thought.
All the while, Orca remained in an astonished silence.
"You got all that information in what, 30 seconds?" Orca stared accusingly at Daphne who shrugged. Then she faced Ayisha, "Are you sure she's telling you truth? For all you know we could be scamming you!"
Ayisha stared at Orca, looking repulsed, "Damn I'm the Libra and you have trust issues. Stop being dramatic, it's my job. Plus Daphne's a selfish pro with no loyalties but mine. You wouldn't dare scam her, you cannot scam her, she even keeps track of her shadow—what's money. Let's go Daph, we're already running late, seeing you at the Benedicts tonight Rica, have a good day Julian!" Ayisha announced, getting up, brushing her denim jeans and black blazer and heading out.
Before leaving the room, she peeked in and grinned at Orca, "Don't forget to sign my papers love, I left you a pen!"
Orca glared at Ayisha's departing converse clad feet.
Mad at her having the last word in their teasing session, Orca smacked Julian with the plastic file, out of the blue.
"It's your entire fucking fault!"
Looking like a kicked puppy and pouting adorably, Julian frowned, "How so? I did nothing!" he shouted back.
"Yeah! That's it! You do nothing! Nothing at all! Other than exist in your own head! God dammit! Why did Sir Kim leave you to me?! What was he even thinking?!"
Upon hearing Orca's mean words, Julian's manly pride got bruised.
"How is it my fault?! I'm not the one venting pettily because I did not have the last word in! It's all on you! Whatever the hell you are blaming at me, it's your fault for being impatient and mean and petty and egoistic!"
"Huh?" Orca scoffed lowly, "Excuse me? Just what did you say to me?" her words were cold, low but sharp, cutting through the air like an edged sword and landing a threatening blow on Julian's neck. He gulped.
"Ahem…what I said was…sign the paper; I'll organize the room for the Board Meeting! See you in 10!" he chirped and skipped out of her office as if they were never arguing like animals just milliseconds ago.
Cursing under her breath, Orca rushed to take a cold shower, desperately missing Sir Kim.
The Titanic did collide with the iceberg, but this time it took a time turn and retreated safely; taking away with it all its warmth and brightness, leaving the iceberg alone in the cold darkness to freeze more and more.
===================
====================
"Hi Julian, you're here early, or is Orca somewhere in there hiding from me?"
Julian, who was helping himself with some lemon punch, turned around with a bright smile to face Ayisha's mischievous face.
"No, She gave me half a day off, she's still in a meeting with your sister regarding the advertising and modeling contract clauses," Julian explained, hastily picking up a glass and pouring some drink for Ayisha.
"Oh, with Fleur, I see. She's such a busy bee; honestly, I wish she had more time for herself. Getting a break from all this chaos would do her some good," Ayisha pouted, muttering to herself when Julian offered her a drink that she gratefully accepted. "Why thank you, you are such a gentleman. How come you are still single?"
Unknowingly catching the bait that Ayisha threw, Julian blushed. "It's just that I'm spoken for Orca, by Mr. Curzon, before you know—he…left…"
Raising her eyebrows to point where they disappeared from her forehead and became united with her hair, Ayisha grinned, "Wow, that's well, something. I did not know! That's so cute. You are spoken for…how… girly."
Julian offered Ayisha a scone; she declined pleasantly and led them to the garden area where all the guests were present and mingling. Julian opened the door for her and even pulled out a chair. Ayisha wondered why Orca detested Julian so much.
She hated Raymond because he claimed to love her but had with slept every second girl of Glass Enterprises at least thrice.
The Benedicts, Sana (a reputed Interior Designer) and Adrian (Glass Enterprises' Head of IT and Management Department), also Ayisha's cousins, were throwing a small evening event and dinner party to commemorate the moment of signing the collaborative deal to build a 'Themed Resort Island' for the next three years. Sana loved throwing parties, and organizing events, so she jumped when the opportunity showed itself.
"She…has some issues, you know, but deep down, I think she's spectacular! You should see her with Sir Kim; they are practically like father and daughter!" Julian chirped brightly and Ayisha didn't mean to speak it out loud but did anyway:
"God, you're such a bottom."
"Huh? You said something?" Julian questioned, nibbling on his scone like some cute animated Disney mouse.
"Yeah, that I think that Orca likes you too…" Ayisha replied. God, she'd be dammed for committing this sin.
"Oh really? You think so?! How so?" Julian's interest got peaked; he sat up straighter and slurped on his lemon punch faster.
Amused Ayisha babbled, "You know a very common romance trope where the bad boy bullies the girl he likes just for attention?" she downed her punch in a go.
Julian's blonde head nodded vigorously, excitement evident in his eyes.
"I think that's what Orca is doing with you. She's mean to you because she likes you but too shy to confess it," Ayisha supplies again as Julian pulled his white garden chair closer to hers.
"You think so? But she's rejected me so many times already!" Julian whines.
Ayisha shakes her head, "Yeah, well, that's because you never showed that you sincerely like her!" Ayisha's slender brown finger poked Julian's satin clad chest repeatedly.
"Really? So how am I supposed to show my sincerity? Will you please help me?" Julian all but begged with puppy dog eyes and pouty face.
"Well, if you say so…"Ayisha pretended to think hard, but one look at Julian's face and who was she deny such boyish charms…?
The Titanic was ready to sail again, and this time it had a better guide.
Will it make it?
==========
==========
Orca's sneezed, thrice, consecutively, in public.
Thank lord it's not flu season or people would have shoved her in an ambulance and sent her packing to a hill top hospital.
"God, am I coming down with something? Or is someone talking shit about me?" She wiped her nose with her lacy handkerchief, being careful to not ruin the makeup.
After her meeting with Fleur Wright and her assistant ended, Orca drove straight back home, gave herself a scented bubble bath and erased all the memories of the past night. She picked out a fashionable white Gucci dress and paired it with orange Gucci sandals. She carried a black Gucci clutch and styled her strawberry blonde hair in a loose bun—all ready to break hearts!
Though, as soon as she reached the venue and her eyes landed on Ayisha Knightly, sitting on one of the garden chairs in a loose blue tee, navy denims and black converse, legs spread out and slurping on some kind of red cocktail, she felt jittery.
Like something was about to go down.
Something was going to go wrong.
As if on cue, Ayisha's brown head turned and she gave Orca a wink of acknowledgement and two-fingered mocking salute. Orca raised an eyebrow in question, already knowing that her scheming friend was planning something. She walked up to her and sat opposite.
"What's going on?" Orca questioned, trying to vague but still coming through.
"I'll be leaving tonight. After the signing event," Ayisha replied, emptying the plastic cup in one go and aiming it straight at the dustbin. She threw it. The wind blew. The cup landed on Sana Benedict's face.
Both of them swore in unison and Ayisha swiftly turned her chair to face her back on Sana.
"When's the signing?" Orca asked, ignoring Ayisha and the weird shenanigans that followed her.
"Before the dinner, a little around eight," Ayisha informed, distracted by the buzzing of her phone. Seeing the caller ID, she sat up straight and phased into her business persona.
"Good Morning Mr. Jeon, yes I contacted you for the art décor…yes…it'd be pleasant…"
Orca, not wanting to eavesdrop on some seemingly private conversation, ventured inside to greet the Benedicts. She was satisfied by her appearance and was ready to kill the crowd with those long, shapely, doll legs of hers, when someone called her name. Upon turning, her breath hitched.
Beauty at its finest. Dangerously tall, dark hair in a side-swept, sharp features, deep chocolate eyes and a billion-dollar smile.
Adrian Benedict waved at her. He was wearing a suit with a white dress shirt. Men in dress shirts toyed Orca's heart to new levels.
He walked to her.
Playing the cool and classy card, Orca gave him a small smile and shook his hand when he came up to her and offered.
"Thank you for making time for this spontaneous event. Sana just bought two new paintings and wanted to show off," Adrian ruffled his back hair while speaking.
In a figure hugging dress and sensual make-up, Orca felt like the best version of herself. The white of the dress wanted to make her act like an innocent teenage protagonist of cheesy rom-com flick. So playing the part, she gave him a shy smile and replied, "Oh it was nothing. Now that we'll be working together for three years, why not bond and form friendships, right?"
Adrian nodded, boyishly pocketing his hands in the front pockets of his Armani pant suit. "Yeah, sure, right. I hope you are feeling at ease. Do you want me to help you with something? We'll be signing the contracts in half an hour," Adrian informed, not holding Orca's eye contact for too long.
Orca did not like people who talked to her without looking her in the eye. That's one thing she admired in Sir Kim and Ayisha, they both looked her in the eye, even if they were lying. Their focus never faltered. You could pierce through their soul and find nothing that they don't want you to know.
Orca like mysterious people. They intrigued her. They were challenges to her and she loved figuring them out.
She could be patient then.
'Hypocrite', her brain shouted in déjà vu.
"No thanks, I'm quite fine. The party is delightful," She replied pleasantly, not slipping and inch from her 'innocent' persona.
Adrian grinned. "Well then, I'll see you later," he waved at her then hurriedly walked away as if he was being forced to chat with her.
Weird.
As the clock struck eight and the signing event went smoothly, Orca bade Ayisha goodbye as she and Fleur Wright took the night flight and left for New York. The Benedicts would be leaving a day after.
The dinner was outdoors as many guests congratulated them and joined in the festivities. Orca loved being the centre of attention; she loved entertaining people who were willing to be entertained by her. She talked about almost everything and anything, from famous boy bands to latest anime, presidential elections and Petrol's SWAT analysis to color theory and dumb architects. To say that Adrian was impressed by her wit was an understatement; and Orca now noticed him to be genuinely interested in her conversation. He was sitting beside her now, opposite to his sister, as they talked about Space and possible Inter-galactic relations and illuminati theories.
And all was fine and good until, out of the fucking blue, Julian Parker appeared with a cake trolley, champagne bottle and a gelled I'm-going-to-propose hairdo.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an announcement to make!" he announced chirpily and headed in her direction. The people clapped expectantly.
Hoping for the best of luck, Orca chanted, 'Think positive, he's not coming at you! Think positive! Think effin' positive! There are loads of prettier girls here! Not prettier than you, but still! There's no way Julian would publically embarrass you like this!! THINK POSITIVE!'
In a loose purple satin shirt and skin tight black jeans, Julian walked past Orca and the girl sighed in relief. She opened her eyes to see Adrian staring expectantly at her.
"You want to say something?" Orca asked, raising an eyebrow in question.
Amused, Adrian shook his head. "No, I don't, but he does," he gestured his chiseled chin somewhere behind her. Curious, Orca turned around and felt Goosebumps rise all over her body. Somewhere behind, Sana Benedict was filming the spectacle.
"Hi Rico, my love," Julian gave her a toothy grin, placing the cake trolley a little away from Orca's side as he sat on one knee and Orca's eyes all but jumped out of their sockets.
'GOD WHAT IS HE GOING TO DO?!' she shouted inside her head.
"How about you be a man and make the first move? Orca loves elegant public events like this one. How about you bring her favorite blueberry cheesecake, a bottle of champagne and hide an engagement ring inside the cake? She'll eat her piece, find her ring and cry out tears of joy!" Ayisha's words rang inside Julian's head.
As soon as Julian's knee touched the ground, Orca jumped up in a reflex. Julian smiled expectantly, Orca's eyes went horrified. Not wanting to let go of her innocent persona, Orca remained in character and tried to pleasantly reason out, "Ha, Julian, what are you doing down there 'friend'? Did you drop something?" she emphasized 'friend' like Jesus in Bible.
"Yeah, my pride, in your feet so that my heart can be yours forever, without question. No hurdles in our love."
The crowd went, "oooooooh!"
Orca's mind went, 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!'
Julian went, "Yoooooooooou have been my friend through thick and thin and I admire your loyalty Rico, and now I want you to –"
Before the poor sod could complete the sentence, Orca said to hell with innocent persona because if Julian publicly harassed her with a confession, she would disembowel him.
They did name her Orca, after a killer whale, for nothing.
"Stop," she cut in crisply.
The Titanic spotted the iceberg.
"I acknowledge all that you have done for me and I don't know when I fell in—"
But it went on sailing.
"Julian, I said stop. Let's keep our dignities intact for the rest of our business days," she seethed under her breath but Julian was taking no hint.
Because the ship could only see the tip of the iceberg.
"No Rico, darling, you cannot stop me today. You know that and I know that. We both hold a special place in each other's heart since the moment our fathers—"
And then the Titanic crashed with the mighty iceberg.
Before Julian would carelessly spill out a very important family secret of hers, Orca pulled up Julian from his collar and shoved him on the dining table. The cutlery cackled, people gasped in astonishment, started muttering things to each other as Julian all but whimpered under Orca's murderous stance.
Leaning down and placing her knee between his crotch, Orca pinned both of Julian's hand over his head and spat, "Have you seen yourself you fucking pansy? I don't like you, okay? Get this fact inside your head and Get over it! I'd rather fuck a lifeless broomstick and get my heart broken ten thousand times by a freaking porcupine than entertain a single thought of marrying you. Get that? Store it inside your head and I SWEAR IF YOUR SHADOW LURKS ANYWHERE AROUND ME AFTER THIS MOMENT, THEN BELIEVE ME JULIAN, YOU DON'T KNOW ME."
Titanic never knew how strong the iceberg was.
And as Orca pulled her purse from underneath Julian's shaken-up form, the crowd remained in a stunned silence.
She stole look at Adrian Benedict, who looked away avoiding eye contact, then left after saying, "It was a beautiful party Sana. Fucking memorable."
And the Iceberg left the Titanic shattered.
But little did they know that even as strong as the iceberg was, the Titanic too left a crack in it.
A crack so vicious, it would slowly crumble the iceberg into piece.
===================
"At least there's cake, people!" Sana chirped.
===================