Things were bearable for Alexander on his father's birthday when he flew out to Kansas. An old client of his was throwing a birthday as well, and had remembered Alexander for the good work he did with him, and he had accepted the invite without qualms. Besides, he needed the celebration, and Robert had been glad he was going as well.
"Do everything I would do," Robert winked at him when he packed up.
And so, after he had landed in the airport and driven to his reserved hotel, he caught sight of the one person he hadn't expected to see there. Selena was lounging on a sofa, hair packed up in a ponytail, magazine opened on her lap and cocktail in one hand. He hadn't seen her since their last encounter.
He decided to walk up to her. Selena didn't look up from her magazine even as his shadow fell over her.
"If you want my number, the answer's no," she said as she flipped another page. "Go find some other woman to bother."
"And if I wasn't asking for your number?" Alexander asked.
Selena paused as she was about to open another page. She took her time to raise her head, and she frowned.
"Can my day get any worse?" She rose and walked away, her flip-flops flapping angrily on the marble floor.
Alexander fell in step easily with her. "I'd like to talk."
"Why? You've said everything you wanted to say the last time we spoke," Selena walked faster. A bellboy hopped out of her way, and guests parted like she was the tsunami.
"Not the way I wanted to," Alexander said.
Selena stopped in front of the lift and folded her arms as she regarded him. "How about this? How about I pretend you don't exist and you pretend I don't? How's that?"
"If you'd let me just speak…"
"No," both elevator doors pinged and opened, and Selena stepped into the one closest to her.
She regarded him. "Are you here for Mr. Gabriel's birthday celebration?" She asked.
"I was invited, yes."
"Well, what unfortunate luck," she said. "I hope we never have to speak again. And don't test me, Sterling."
The doors pinged and were shutting, and Selena didn't remove her glare as she watched him.
"I thought you should be the one angry with her," a feminine voice said to his left. "Not the other way around."
Alexander turned in the direction of the voice. A stunning dark-skinned woman walked to him, her faux braids settled on a bare shoulder. When she came up close, brown eyes looked up to him as she produced a hand for a shake.
"I'm Tamika," she introduced herself. "Friend of Selena's."
"I'm Alex…"
"I know," she smiled at him. "So, Alexander Sterling, would you buy me a drink and later talk non-stop to your friends about how you met a gorgeous lady today?"
Alexander's brows raised ever so slightly. It was like Selena and her friends came with the same coding. How many more of her existed in this world?
He remembered Robert's words to him earlier.
"Seriously Alex," Robert had been irritated when Alexander had downright ignored the pretty woman in the bar who was trying to get his attention. The woman had left in a wake of embarrassment. "Live a little. Have as many women as you want. You're only twenty-five once. Just live!"
Tamika was smiling at him, waiting for an answer. Maybe it wouldn't hurt just to have her company, and live a little, like his friend had said.
"How do you like your brandy?" Alexander asked.
"Smooth and fine," Tamika smiled. "I don't mind rich too."
●
The birthday party was luxurious in every sense of the word. Guests arrived at the grand hall and were greeted by valets ready to park their cars. The entrance was adorned with tasteful decorations featuring gold and silver accents to symbolize the milestone celebration of fifty years. A red carpet led the way into the hall.
Inside, the venue was beautifully decorated with elaborate floral arrangements and twinkling lights. Soft music filled the air from the orchestra. Attendees mingled, dressed in their finest attire. Variety of food spread out across a vast buffet table and wine flowed freely on the trays of passing waiters.
Selena could feel eyes on her the minute she took her seat on a table of familiar people she had met on business grounds in the past. She made conversation, yet those eyes bore into the back of her head like a laser. She turned around, and there, she met the envy-green eyes of none other than Patricia Heaton.
Selena gave her a sweet smile, which earned her a smirk from Patricia. Looks like she also wanted to kill her in a thousand different ways.
Selena spotted Tamika. She had represented her father for the invite, and now, she had her hand wrapped around Alexander's arm. Selena whipped out her phone and texted furiously, dropping her phone just in time to fake-laugh at one of the dry jokes her table companion had cracked.
She saw as Tamika reached for her phone and read the text. She had written, Stop fraternizing with the enemy! Tamika had smiled at her and kept her hold on Alexander's arm.
"I mean, it's easier for Selena here, for example," one of the people on the table spoke, Mr. Ernest, nicknamed Shark by business associates familiar with him. Selena drew her attention back to them and blinked her eyes innocently.