Eris wore a bored look as he listened to talks from the businessmen surrounding him. His extremely cold aura could be felt by anyone close by.
It had been very hectic for him these past few days. As the company grew, his workload doubled. He had no time for his personal life.
As it is a Saturday that should be a free day, he was presently attending a seminar with the CEOs from other companies.
The meeting today was held in the private chamber of one of the biggest club in the city. That was mainly because most of the CEOs would love to have fun after the seminar.
Speaking of fun, he had promised to meet up with Amelia at his place after the seminar to make up for his times of absence.
Although his relationship with Amelia was not based on the affairs of the heart, they had been in a relationship for close to a year and that is the longest he had ever.
He gave her all the material things she wanted and she in return gave him pleasure and that was enough for him.
The meeting finally came to an end. Immediately, he stood up and headed for the door without minding all the formalities.
"You are not joining in the fun later?" A middle aged plum man directed the question at Eris who was already at the door.
"No, I'm good" Eris said coldly. He stepped out of the room Immediately not wanting to entertain any more discussions.
Taylor saw him approach and hurried to his side. The two of the walked into the crowded club. The shrugged off ladies who tried to hold on to them.
"Ain't you clubbing with the others?" Taylor asked. He knew well enough of how much hate Eris had for crowded places but at the same time, it would be beneficial to the company if he made friends with other CEOs.
"I have to meet with Amel—"
"What the bloody hell!" Taylor exclaimed cutting his friend off.
Eris frowned but seeing Taylor continued looking in one direction, he followed his line of sight.
Right in front of his eyes stood a particular lady, dressed in a seductive red dress that hugged her shape perfectly.
She held a glass of whiskey and danced widely. A guy held her tiny waste from behind and stared down at her as if to devour her.
Her head turned a bit to face Eris' direction and.... 'it possibly can't be—' Eris thought.
Curiously, he walked towards the lady and gripped her hand causing her to face him sharply.
"Amelia!" He said with gritted. He was obviously controlling his anger. Unknowingly to the people around him, the atmosphere dropped.
"Jerome, is ... is that you?" Amelia slurred. She was evidently drunk.
'What was she doing here?' Eris wondered. Earlier that day, he had told her about his meeting and she promised to wait at his place.
Although the meeting was concluded earlier than usual, he never expected to see her here grinding against some random guy and calling him names.
Then it occurred to him that she had been cheating on him. Taylor had been right all along. He was so vexed that he tightened his grip on her unknowingly.
"Hands off her!" A voice that was similar to a growl snapped.
Eris looked up and saw a tattooed guy approaching them. He gave Eris a really sharp look. Eris could only loosen his grip on Amelia not wanting to cause unnecessary scene.
"Jerome, that must be you..." Amelia said and stumbled against the 'Jerome' guy.
"Yeah babe" The guy murmured in her ear and she gave a small seductive laugh.
"Let's leave here already" She said grinding against him.
"Argh.." he groaned. "I got us a room already" He whispered hotly in her ear. Just like that, Amelia was dragged away by the unknown guy. Eris was disgusted.
Angrily, he walked out of the club and dashed towards his car. Taylor followed suit, and as if understanding Eris really bad mood, he could not help but be quiet involuntarily.
Although he really wanted to mock his friend, he thought it would be nice to do that some other time. As soon as he started the car, droplets of water fell on the windscreen.
'Rain?' Eris thought as he glanced outside. Didn't the forecast today tell 'sunny day'. It was quite a disappointing day eventually.
*
It's evening and Rhea only just finished her nerve wracking shift at Highlands Bar and Grills. She got changed back into her clothes and stepped out of the restaurant.
Unfortunately for her, she had to take the bus as her car developed fault earlier today and Daniel wouldn't let her use his.
'You are too rough to handle a car like mine so use the bus' He had said to her when she wanted to ask for his car keys.
Claire could have been of great help but she was out of town as she needed to see a Lawyer for her father's case. So she was left with no choice than to use the bus.
Luckily for her, the forecast today was 'sunny day'. She definitely had nothing to worry about she thought.
"Who did that!" She said with a frown. She looked around and saw no one around.
She touched her cheeks. The water was still there. She definitely felt water was splashed on her. So how did it happen?.
She decided to ignore and walked on.
'Again!'
And again.... and again. Then she looked up and like a seal was opened, rain started to drop. It poured in great torrent none stop.
There was no where around she could find shelter. Since she was wet and cold already, she decided to walk on.
She kept her hand in her pocket, dropped her head and then started taking long strides under the rain.
As she walked on, a car dashed past her and splashed water on her.
"Fuck you!" She yelled angrily and stomped her feet in the wet ground.
All of a sudden, the car that seemed to have dashed off was beginning to reverse back to her direction.
Eris who had a freezing expression since they had left the club had not spoken a word. His mood was more freezing than the weather outside although it was raining heavily.
Taylor kept on casting quick glances at him as he drove. He unknowingly splashed water on a lady walking under the rain. He only had the idea of what he did when the voice shouted angrily.
"Stupid stupid female—" He complained.
"Drive back" Eris said in a cold voice.
"What?" Taylor asked. He thought he heard wrong but seeing that Eris was not ready to repeat himself, he reversed.
The car stopped by confused and angry Rhea. Eris rolled down the window. Seeing his friend's unusual act, Taylor really wanted to ask if he was well.
'Did being cheated on affect his mental health?' Taylor wondered but held his mouth.
"Get in" Eris instructed.
Rhea was surprised and almost did not hear Eris speak. She bent down and looked inside the car. There was only one face he thought looked familiar.
"I said get in" Eris repeated with a frown. He wondered why she refused to enter the car and he could see her visibly shaking.
Taylor looked at his boss. He almost thought he saw wrong when he saw what looked like a frown on his boss face but since it disappeared as quickly as it came, he concluded he was mistaken.
"Ah.." Rhea said finally understanding what Eris said to her. She pulled open the car door and entered.
She sat very carefully as if not wanting to dirty the expensive leather seat. Eris wondered if she was always this courteous while Taylor seemed pleased.
"You are so wet, I bet you will catch a cold soon" Eris complained. This time, his frown was evidently written on his face.
'What the heck I'm I missing' Taylor thought. He looked at his boss using the front mirror and his eyes almost pop out in shock. Was his boss showing care to a stranger just now?
"Turn on the heater" Eris instructed.
Taylor wanted to yell 'hell no!' badly but seeing Eris expression, he could only oblige and keep his argument for later.
"Ah ... thank you" Rhea muttered sincerely although courteously.
"It is no problem" Eris said.
'It is no problem... really now boss!' Taylor wanted to scream. If just anyone heard what Eris just said, they would take him as a caring man who had people's feelings at heart.
Taylor wondered if he could keep up with this sudden Eris. Did being cheated on know him hard on his empty head and increase his EQ?
"You don't remember me do you?" Eris asked Rhea who seemed better now but was still obviously acting to him like a total stranger.
"I know you look a bit familiar but .." she said shaking her head to show that she had no idea where they had met and Eris nodded in agreement.
"I know you would not be so stupid to jump into any car" Eris said.
'is that an insult?' Rhea thought and gave Eris a look.
'Boss... why are you so dumb. You can't talk to people in that manner' Taylor cried inwardly.
"I just thought you looked familiar.." Rhea defended herself. Although she didn't feel insulted, she still wanted to make herself clear.
"The restaurant, you were that waitress at Highlands Bar and Grills" Eris said looking at her.
Rhea returned his gaze and seconds passed then it clicked. 'That.. that godly face' She gasped as she finally noticed.
It was him, the guy with Amelia the other day. He had seen how bad she acted to Amelia. Well, it was totally not her fault she thought but he still saw her being a bad person.
"Er... back then—" she started trying to explain herself to him although she did not know why she was doing that.
"I understand" He cut her off not because he didn't want to hear her explanation but because he did not want to hear more of the Amelia's name.
'When did Eris ever understood anybody' Taylor thought.
Not knowing what to say, Rhea hummed. Deep down, she cursed the weather forecast for dragging her into this mess. Who could have thought it was Amelia's man of all men in the city that would be offering her a free ride.
The bitch must not know about this she thought else she would be dragged to hell back and forth.
"You are...?" Eris asked jolting Rhea back to reality.
"Rhea" She answered quickly.
Eris hummed. "Rhea.." He pronounced. The name rolled out of his mouth softly making it sound better than usual.
Taylor wanted to faint, no! He wanted to die and resurrect. When did Eris ever have the pleasure of knowing someone's name.
Even as the two of them had been friend for over two decade, he had repeatedly told Eris his name for more than One decade before he mastered it.
"it's a nice name" He complimented.
"Thank you" Rhea smiled for the first time since she entered the car and Eris nodded.
"You can call me Eris" Eris said and added "Eris Romano, that's my name"
"Oh.. alright Eris?" Rhea said and Eris nodded again. It made her wonder if his only expression was to nod.
'This is bad!' Taylor sighed.
The rain had stop and was only drizzling outside. Seeing that they were in her neighborhood, she told Taylor to stop the car. She thanked them very much for the ride before heading back.
Eris thought it was not okay for her to walk under the still drizzling rain but since it was not his business to care, he did not say a word.
She had only taken few steps away from the car when Eris called her back. She quickly walked back to the car and leaned by the window.
"Your phone?" He asked and Rhea gave him her phone. He typed some digit and saved it.
"That's my number. I will give you a call sometimes" He said.
"Ah... okay" She answered unsurely.
"See you again ..... Rhea" he said after a short pause.
"See you again Eris" Rhea said with a sincere smile before turning to walk away.
Eris watched her departing back before urging Taylor to drive on.
"Why did you lie to her?" Taylor asked.
"Did I?"
Not knowing what to say, Taylor could only shake his head. He finally understood that some things are bound to happen before you can meet real people.
Eris' realest people might just be close by already he thought as he drove.