Brittany
It was time to kick off Plan B. Oh, you think I wasn't going to do my best to sever any working relationship with Lucas? Plan B was supposed to be simple. Ask Lucas to request another decorator in the company.
The plan is tricky because I might have to see Lucas in person to discuss that. And if I see him in person, we would have to also discuss the effect of what happened in our last meeting. And I didn't want that, so I decided to call him instead.
I offered a silent prayer to God that I was able to convince his assistant to transfer my call to him. I dialled his office line and waited, anxiously. His voice was sexy at eighteen, maybe it still was.
Well, I never got the chance to confirm whether his voice was sexy or not because the assistant didn't pick up my calls. The audacity of assistants.
The next line of action was to see him physically. It would be one of the hardest to do but it must be done. How could I even schedule a meeting when I couldn't reach him?
Well, either God was playing with me or he actually called my phone number just when I got home that day. Before the incident that drove us from the United States, I always thought Lucas was different from his father. They had more similarities than I would care to admit.
Like how they can both stalk people effectively. My phone number was not listed anywhere online even on the company's website but Lucas found it. It pains me to say but his voice was still sexy.
I smiled as I recalled the conversation.
"Hello, Brittany. It's Lucas. Hmmmm, look, I…."
And my ears stopped working. While he said the next words, I was trying to convince my brain that his voice did nothing to me.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"I just wanted to apologize for what happened in the restaurant. I was too forward and I'm sorry."
It was painful that he wanted to apologize for something that we both clearly wanted. But it was Lucas and he had a degree in hurting me.
"Okay," I replied.
"Good. Hmmm, do you want to get dinner? Or just lunch? With me, next week?"
I should have said no but I needed an opportunity to make my request in person so I said yes and asked him to make it on Friday that week.
For two people who didn't want a repeat, our actions were contradicting. Dinner, bad things happened at night and the location was a rooftop dining, meaning we would be alone.
Work was surprisingly good on Wednesday and Thursday. I finally selected a team for the project and the progress on the project has been superb. If I was able to talk Lucas into requesting another person, I needed the team to be ready.
Friday came too quickly. I was not prepared mentally or physically. It wasn't like I wanted to impress him but you know, a girl had to look good. Thank God, my roommate was out with her boyfriend so there was no need to lie about where I was going.
I settled for a long black dress with a one-sided slit on my left leg. The gown had tiny sleeves and would be more modest on a thin woman. But on me, my breast filled the front and it was hard to hide my ass. Well, I never claimed to be slim.
By the time I was done with my makeup and had on my red stilettos, I wondered if I over-dressed. Before deciding against it, I quickly took a picture and left my apartment.
Of course, Lucas sent a car to pick me up. The gesture wasn't bad but it was a reminder that people like the Fergusons' had everything. The problem with people like them was that they could get away with anything.
The ride to the restaurant was long, I had a lot of time to ask the driver to turn back but I didn't. In fact, I wanted to get to Lucas faster. I wanted to get over the night fast and hopefully, we would never meet again.
After that night, I thought that both of us could go back to our lives. I long for days when I could think properly without having Lucas at the back of my mind. The reality was that I felt more alive the week of the meeting than I have ever felt since I moved back to California.
Finally, we got to the location and I walked into the building. All thoughts of being overdressed vanished because the people there were dressed as if they were in a gala instead of a restaurant. I took the elevator to the rooftop and he was there.
The only 'he' in my life since last week. I thought dinner on the rooftop was good until I saw the lights at the top of the restaurants. Someone had done a good job of decorating the space.
The rooftop was bright and if not for the darkness of the sky and far away, one wouldn't know that it was nighttime. Lucas was sitting there like a king, doing whatever on his laptop. I was amazed by how much effort he put into the dinner.
"Hi," I said when I got to the table. He seemed lost for words as he looked at me up and down. "Jesus, Brittany!" He exclaimed as he stood up and leaned in for a hug. He smelled as good as he looked.
His scent was indescribable. He had to have mixed some rich scents but before I could tell which was which, the servers arrived.
"Mr Ferguson, is the arrangement still intact?" one of the servers asked.
"Yes, Mary. Thank you"
Almost as soon as they arrived, the servers left. I knew that they didn't go back to the restaurant because I didn't hear the elevator. Even with them, the setting still felt intimate.
It wasn't a date but it sure looked like it. Who had business meetings on decorated rooftops? It felt like a proposal. "So, how are you, Brittany?" He asked as he poured wine into our glass.
I refused to drink wine to avoid a repeat of the last time. We talked about everything and nothing over dinner. Our conversations were shallow, if it were another date, I would be tired of small talk but it felt different with Lucas.
His small talk interested me. I listened with rapt attention while he spoke and he returned the same courtesy. I could have said that we seemed interested in each other. The night would have been perfect if he didn't say those words.
I temporarily forgot everything that happened before and for once, since I turned twenty, I enjoyed a date. It didn't matter that the date was with Lucas. But the words that he said mattered.
"What happened to us, Brittany?"
What happened to us? Like I was supposed to have an answer. You know when I said that I hated people with enough influence, wealth and connection; people who can make anything disappear?
I hated Lucas at that moment.
The craving, connection and conversation ceased at that moment. I was in the process of drinking my wine when he asked that question. I drowned the glass of wine but didn't taste it.
How could someone be inconsiderate like Lucas? I was on a date/business meeting with him and he had the effrontery to ask me to explain 'what happened to us'? I should be asking him that question.
I shouldn't be having the time of my life with Lucas. With anyone with the Ferguson name. At all.
It hurt that Lucas didn't feel responsible for what happened. It hurt even more than the loss that my family already suffered.