Sophie peered deeply into his eyes with eyes full of gratitude.
She leaned further as she wrapped her arms around his neck in an embrace.
"Thank you for being here for me," she whispered admist the embrace.
He pulled out as he held both her hands.
"We're friends Sophie, friends turn up for each other. No matter how busy I get I want you to know I'd always be here for you," his lips pulled up in a lopsided grin.
The light in her eyes dimmed down a little. She didn't know why she suddenly felt a bit dissapointed.
"Right. That's what friends do," she mused as she pulled up a smile.
"I wrote a song for the occasion," he whispered into her ears as her eyes lit up again in amusement. His handsome face flashed her another charming smile as he pulled out his guitar and dragged her by the hand to the stage.
It was already a bit dark after the sun had set.
The place looked serene but lively. It was in an open space just outside Sophie's shop but the whole place was set up to look dazzling and appealing to the guests.
The guests who lingered around were either ravishing the last remnants of her soup which was offered for free for the occasion. Or sipping on wine and discussing away. No one wanted to leave just yet and now it was going to pay off.
The whole place light up the moment Mike made his appearance on stage, since, almost everyone knew who he was. They were all ecstatic to see a celebrity in front of them and they knew he was going to perform.
He dedicated the song to Sophie and then he entertained the guests.
**********
The bright lights that permeated from one of the largest office in the Harrison's Eagles group of companies, was enough to spell out his presence. That was the domineering office of the next CEO of the multi billion dollars company.
The office had the country's flag sitting solidly on the desk with a small plastic like an emblem that had his full name on it. The president's picture, his father's picture his picture and the picture of Benjamin Franklin, hung loosely on the office wall which was a shade of black and white. Every other thing present in the office for some reason exuded some kind of dark energy.
Like the skeleton like figure that was visible at the far end of his office. Coupled with a few weirdly looking ornamentals.
Nate, sat behind his desk swirling on his swivel chair as he watched a clip on his computer system. He was a little bit engrossed in it before he heard the door to his office creaked open.
There was only one person who could dare to barge in like that without knocking.
"What are you still doing in here, dude?" Gil sat on the broad chair across him as he folded his legs while watching him closely.
"Do you need help with that?" He inquired and Nate's empty eyes forcefully went up to meet Gil's.
"I bet, Susan would need that help to take off her clothes, at least, or whoever you're f*cking, lately," Nate responded brazenly while his fingers made click sounds upon the large sized computer on his desk.
Gil chuckled lightly at his words.
"You are a lot of work, Nate. And It's Vivian. But I do think you're the one who needs help the most," he noted as he leapt up slowly.
"You have a life that doesn't have to revolve around me, Gil. Go make use of it now that I'm permitting you to," Nate remarked with eyes still glued to the big computer system in front of him. At a point his gaze narrowed.
"No. It just gives me great pleasure to know that I'm capable of bugging you," Gil smiled which fell through his lips as he said in a more serious tone.
"Come on buddy, let's get you home. You've done enough for today and you can keep assessing those clips but I guarantee you, you would find nothing. Why don't you leave the dirty work to me and let me get you quicker results."
Nate didn't respond to Gil for a while as his fingers slowed down on his computer and his eyes flew up.
"Bingo," he exclaimed pressing both fingers against each other and while wriggling them slightly, he remarked.
"Let's get some dirty work done, then," he abruptly lurched out of his swivel chair and charged towards Gil. His fingers grabbing the cufflinks of his shirt as he threw him against the nearest wall.
Gil was undeniably thrown by surprise at this sudden action.
But Nate his friend, was impulsive, unpredictable and crazy.
"You are a fucking genius for bringing that up, Gil, you know that? But mind you, it's not going to be that easy. We need to sell conviction," the next thing that followed the sound of thin air that passed over his ear was a punch. But it didn't land on him but rather on the wall where he was pinned by Nate's firm grip.
Nate's knuckles turned red from the impact of the wall and Gil watched quietly as he punched the wall over and over again until his knuckles were bloody and then he redrew his hand.
Gil found a piece of white clothing and wrapped it over his bleeding arm and then he grabbed his coat which was lying on the only couch in the office.
"This looks convincing enough?" Gil asked as he glared down at the fresh bruise Nate had just inflicted on himself.
"A little," Nate mumbled as he hung the coat which Gil had grabbed him, over his shoulders and began to leave the office.
Gil's brows furrowed as he tried to fathom what had just transpired and tried to analyse what must be going through his mind.
"Oh sh*t," Gil exclaimed as he followed him out.
On getting to his Villa where he lived alone. He went straight to the counter to grab a drink. As he gulped a few cups, his fingers went up to rumple his soft hair.
Gil just sat quietly away from him on the cushioned couch as he tries not to monitor his every moment.
Nate seem to brood over a thought even with a calm reserve as he poured himself another drink.
"You are a freaking nut job, Nate, you know that right? You never make anything easy," Gil reprimanded as Nate rumpled his hair further and he heard him say.
"Here's something easy. Look into whatever girl my father is setting me up with. Let me know what I'm getting married to," just as he was saying that they picked up the sound of a certain movement which paused their conversation.
Now, Nate didn't live in his huge mansion without a few domestic helps and then his personal security guards who had their special quarters outside the main house.
But this movements was definitely not from any of his workers, he knew. A pair of dainty white feet first that strided down the stairs came into view before they saw the feminine figure.
It was one of Nate's exes.
"I waited for you all night, I almost thought you were gonna sleep at your office, today," her soft voice rang out.
Gil watched as Nate's expression dropped as he reduced her to nothing with his look.
"Get her out of my house, Gil," Nate instructed in a very casual way, leaving the girl's jaw to drop, he raced up to his bedroom leaving her at the mercy of his friend.