Selene and Ben were having lunch before they left to go back home. They were at a restaurant famous for its seafood and although Selene was enjoying herself, she could tell there was something not quite right with Ben.
She put her fork down and said, "Okay, that's it. Are you going to tell me what's going on?"
Ben looked at her then looked away. He rubbed his chin as if contemplating what to say but he knew what he had to say. "I don't know if I should tell you this since it's really not a big deal…or at least it won't be once we deal with it, but, uh, you remember Natalia Devons?"
Selene leaned back in her chair and a look of worry ran across her face before disappearing into her heart and setting up a home there. "How could I forget?," she replied.
"I found out this morning that the Devons Group is looking to buy a substantial amount of stock in one of our companies," Ben explained.
Selene's eyes opened wide as she asked, "What? How is that even possible?"
"One of our major shareholders is involved and it's out of nowhere for us as they never indicated any interest in selling recently," Ben went on.
"Does this mean she'll be more involved with you?," she asked, hesitantly.
Shaking his head emphatically, Ben answered her with a firm, "No way."
Selene let out a breath and Ben said, "We will take care of this. Don't worry. I will not be working with her."
She nodded and smiled, "Thank you for telling me."
"I wasn't sure I should, actually," Ben wondered out loud.
"What do you mean?," Selene asked, cocking her head to one side.
Ben hesitated, "Uh, I guess my thinking is that I don't want you to have to worry about little work matters like this. I don't want to upset you over something that will likely be resolved, you know?"
Selene was pensive, "I get that. I don't really need to know the ins and outs of the everyday work stuff you go through unless you want to tell me, but if it involves someone like her, where, you know, it would affect us as a couple…I feel like I would want to know."
"Okay," Ben said. "I can respect that."
"And that's just one reason why I love you," Selene smiled.
Ben's look immediately turned roguish. "Oh really now?," he entreated. "And what are all the other reasons you love me then? I'm sure the last couple of nights play into this somehow, eh?"
"We're in public, geeze," Selene chastised. Then she leaned in and whispered, "I can tell you on the car ride back though if you'd like."
"Oh, I'd like," Ben grinned playfully.
Unfortunately, this was a implied promise that Selene was not able to keep. It wasn't her fault, however, as Ben spent practically the entire ride back on the phone with Johnny strategizing about the Devons Group issue.
When he was done, Ben loudly exhaled, "If it's not one thing it's another. I thought we'd at least get some peace with Drakos behind bars."
Selene patted his knee and said, "It's okay, babe. You'll take care of it soon and then we can go back to a peaceful existence."
Fate had other plans as it turns out because "soon" turned out to be not as such. A couple weeks had gone by and UniTech was still trying to stop the purchase. On a particularly frustrating day, Elise knocked on Ben's door to announce that Natalia Devons had arrived without an appointment but was insisting on talking to him.
Ben looked up from the paperwork at his desk with a look that cried, "Are you kidding me?"
He didn't want to take it out on Elise, though, so he simply said, "Let her in. I'd rather take this thing head on. And besides, it's not like the day has been that great to begin with."
Elise gave Ben a look that indicated sympathy and then went to retrieve Natalia. No sooner had she uttered the words that Ben would see her, then Natalia brushed passed her and barged into Ben's office.
Ben stood up from his chair and exclaimed, "What the hell?"
Natalia was wearing a navy pinstripe business suit that clung to every curve on her body as if it had been create just for her—which it likely had. Her hair cascaded in waves and gave her a supermodel cast.
"We need to talk," Natalia cooed as she sat on one of the couches without asking for permission.
Ben sighed and joined her, "What's this about, Natalia? I'm a busy man, made busier I might add because of your father and this foolish attempt at buying our stocks."
"Oh that," she scoffed with a wave of her hand. "Don't you think our combined forces could do some serious damage? And make billions while doing so? Why are you resisting?" Before Ben could respond, she added, "But that's not what I'm here to talk about. Well, it's related I suppose."
Ben let out another sigh and said, "Fine, I'll bite. What do you want?"
"I thought that was obvious," Natalia taunted. Then she stood up and started unbuttoning her blazer.
Ben stood up and with hands on his hips he demanded, "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm seducing you," she said in a husky voice. At this point her jacket was on the couch and with only a lacy black bra on, she was starting on her pants. When the pants fell to the floor, she stepped out of them and continued, "Or does that commoner you're with not know how to properly entice a man so you've forgotten what it looks like?"
That made Ben snap, "Alright, that's enough. Get dressed and get out of here." He turned to return to his desk but was surprised when she quickly pounced on him and hugged him from behind. He tried to remove her arms from around his chest, but she was holding on tight. He didn't want to hurt her by using a lot of force, but he would if he had to in order to get her off him.
"You're delusional, Natalia, if you think this is going to work on me," Ben roared.
Her hands started to roam and knead his chest as she started planting kisses on his back. "Just give us a chance, my love. I know I can make you happier than her."
Before her hand could reach his pants, Ben spun around so that he was holding her at a distance. "Have some self-respect. I'm engaged to Selene and there's nothing you can do that will change that," he told her firmly.
"I don't believe that. There is no way you can resist what is in front of your eyes," she bragged. Then she reached behind her and undid her bra.
It was at that moment that there was a knock on the door with Elise announcing that Selene had come up for their lunch date. Ben put one hand on his face as he had completely forgotten about it in the midst of the chaos that was Natalia.
Released from his grasp, Natalia through herself at Ben and attempted to kiss him. But Ben was fast and expertly avoided the kiss. Still, she was in his arms when Selene opened the door and saw them.
Selene was in the midst of apologizing for barging in when she froze. In that moment, she wasn't sure what to do so she muttered, "I, um, heard Ms. Devons was in here so I wanted to say hello, but it looks like you're busy so I'll come back."
With that she turned and ran out the door. Ben managed to extract himself from Natalia's embrace and ran after Selene. He yelled to Elise to take care of Natalia and cautioned, "She better be gone by the time I'm back."