Isabelle
Not only were we sharing the penthouse, Mr. Tipton had made sure that all but one bedroom was locked up tightly. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what he was up to. After a calm conversation with Sterling he insisted on taking the couch and giving me the bedroom. I tried to let him have it as this was his family's penthouse but he wouldn't take no for an answer.
We parted ways after that discussion and I spent the time in the room. He was being respectful but I needed to be cautious. I wasn't about to let my guard down. Not with us spending this much time one on one together.
After a while I went to bed to get some sleep. I had a job to do and it wasn't going to get done well without any rest. I slept a few hours and when I woke up the sun was pouring into the room. I needed to force myself out of bed and get ready so we could be on time for this meeting.
I opened my suitcase and started going through everything. I pulled out a dark grey dress and slipped it on. I ran a brush through my hair and put on some light makeup. I proceeded to put on my heels and looked myself over in the mirror to make sure I looked presentable.
I exited the bedroom and noticed Sterling was already dressed and ready himself. I noticed his eyes looked me up and down. "Are you ready to go?" He asked after he finished checking me out.
"Yes." I nodded.
We proceeded to head down to the lobby of the hotel. There was a car waiting for us with the driver from yesterday. Sterling had him stop along the way so we could get ourselves a bite to eat before this meeting. We had just finished up when we arrived at our destination.
We got out of the car and headed inside. I walked side by side with Sterling who led the way. The man we were meeting with today had sent his assistant to take us where we needed to go. When we entered the room he greeted Sterling and they shook hands.
I spent the next hour taking notes as they discussed their business. The man was trying to get a lower price on the contract but Sterling was firm and stood his ground. He seemed to be really in his element while doing business. He definitely took after his father and refused to budge on the terms that had been agreed on before this trip.
"Mr. Heck, I don't mean any disrespect but you agreed to this." Sterling's tone was firm and held a hint of stubbornness. "You wanted us to partner for this new hotel, if you refuse to stick with what you agreed with then I think we're done here and you can go with a company but I assure you that would be a big mistake."
Sterling began to stand up but Mr. Heck raised a hand to stop him. "Give me a moment please." He was clearly defeated on trying to change anything on this contract.
"You have one minute." Sterling looked at his watch and then back to Mr. Heck. "Starting now."
He was definitely his father's son. Damon Tipton knew how to get people to fold to him. Sterling was the exact same way. With a little pressure and firmness the Tipton's always got their way.
"Fine." Mr. Heck finally admitted his defeat. "We'll keep things as is. Let's get this signed."
"Perfect." A satisfied smile twisted onto Sterling's lips as he slid the contract over to him.
We finished up the meeting and headed back to the car. I could tell Sterling was in a good mood from successfully completing his task. He looked over at me once we were in the car with a smile on his face. He clearly had an idea, I could see it in his eyes.
"Why don't we go and see around the city? Kill some time and then we can go back to the penthouse, order some room service and call it a night?" He suggested. "Nothing too fancy. Just a little something to celebrate our first success together."
"You did all the work." He had made this contract happen. I just sat by and took my notes as I was supposed to.
"Your support helped. Still should be celebrated." He leaned in and started giving me the puppy dog eyes. "Come on Isabelle, if my dad's going to force us to be on our own let's make the most of this trip at his expense."
I thought for a moment and let out a defeated sigh. "Fine. I guess it couldn't hurt to see Seattle a little bit."
We spent the next few hours visiting some of the major attractions here. Accompanying a member of the Tipton family definitely had a few perks. We didn't have to wait very long and the bodyguards that had been sent made sure others kept their distance from us. It was actually nice to spend some time with Sterling again.
Maybe I was warming up to him. While I may be willing to talk didn't mean he was going to get anything else out of me. I remained focused on standing my ground. So far I have been doing a great job at it.
When we ran out of things to see we headed back to the penthouse. He had ordered ahead and the room service brought it up once we arrived. We sat down at the dining table and began to feast on the meal. While we ate we talked and reminisced. We were genuinely having a good time until the food was gone and he decided to bring up how things ended between us.
"Imagine the fun we could've had if you hadn't let those years ago." He spoke as he pushed his plate aside.
I almost choked on my water from the audacity this man had. I stood up as I looked coldly into his eyes. "Are you fucking serious right now? Here we are having a good time and you have to bring up the past. While we're on the subject though I think you forgot who left who. I'm going to call it a night now."
I turned to head for the bedroom. My anger was beginning to rise inside of me. He really thought he could blame me for the way things went. He apparently was too fucking blind to recognize his own mistakes and to take accountability.
He grabbed my arm before I could get to the door and pulled me so I would turn around and face him. "No you're not." His tone was dominating, I knew he was trying to get me to submit to him again.
"Yes I am." I spat in his face. "You don't get to decide what I can and can't do. Stop acting like you have some power over me."
"Isabelle." The dominance in his tone was gone but he still remained serious. "We need to talk about it so we can put it behind us."
"I already did!" I shouted as my anger began to escape.
"No you haven't." His eyes looked into mine. "We need to talk. This gets settled tonight."
If he really wanted to have this conversation then so be it. Once it was out in the open maybe I'd get an actual apology. "Fine. Let's talk about it then."