Was that why Clifford called me earlier? To tell me he was in New York?
Wait! He was in New York?
Why? What was he planning?
Why did he want to see Damion?
I was currently in my room after having a meal and brief discussion with Damion.
Is Clifford planning to partner with Damion? But why? It would cause a lot of commotion.
What should I do, Arleen?
Should I interfere?
No, I don't think that will be good.
But why was he here with Beverley?
"I'm here with someone."
"Your girlfriend?"
"Not at all, I came with a friend."
I briefly got reminded of my chat with Clifford back in the grand opening celebration.
She is his friend and nothing more.
Why am I even bothered if he's dating Beverley or not?
"What's wrong with you, Arleen?" I groaned out loud and buried my face in the pillow on the bed.
Suddenly, at the thought of something, I sat upright and picked my phone from the bedside table to dial someone.
It took a while before his voice came through.
"Arleen?"
"Yes, Clifford, you called earlier."
"I did. But before that, are you alright?"
"Yes." I answered.
"I called to see how you were doing and also inform you that I'm in New York," he revealed.
"I'm aware. Although, I want to ask something." I didn't bother hiding that I knew.
"What's that?" He sounded serious.
"Why do you want to partner with Damion?"
There was a brief pause before he replied.
"I want to test something out."
At his response, my countenance fell because it only confirmed what I was thinking in the beginning. He wanted to test if Damion knew him.
"You said he didn't recognize you so how would he all of a sudden?" I had to ask that.
"That's what I want to find out."
His voice was dangerously calm and it made me feel a certain kind of way. Not a good way.
"It's just a harmless meeting, Arleen. I'm aware you like him."
Now, that eased every negative feeling I had.
"Arleen?"
"Yes?"
"Be careful."
The way he said it made it seem like Damion could harm me.
"Mm," I hummed in response.
"I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Alright, good night."
Once I ended the call, I went totally blank as I stared into space.
I didn't know what to think anymore.
Who was I to really trust now? Damion or Clifford?
Actually, the information Clifford revealed to me was enough to win me over to his side but…Damion was not just anybody. He meant a lot to me.
Now all I could do was pray and hope I was doing the right thing.
**
{The following day}
"It suits you well, I love it."
"Thank you."
He complimented my dress again. This time I was wearing a duck egg pleated midi dress with tie waist and silver heels. Just something simple.
"Isaac and Clara are currently with the models so we'll have to stop by before meeting up later with Beverley."
"Alright," I simply said.
"Let's have breakfast."
Saying that, he held my hand as we headed to the eatery inside the hotel. Actually, it was more like a place one could just relax in. An indoor resort.
Some people were chilling while some were eating and others talking business.
Once we found a good spot, a waiter attended to us.
As Damion spoke to the waiter who was a young man, I couldn't help but admire him.
It still felt like a dream to me that we were now a couple.
When he was done and the waiter left, he faced me.
"Is something on your mind?"
"Not at all, I'm just basking in the moment," I truthfully said and he smiled.
"It would've been a lot harder assuming you didn't have feelings for me." He stated.
"Fortunately, it's not," I smiled.
He's such a sweet person in his own way. How could I not help falling for him?
Hopefully, I wasn't blinded by love and making the wrong decision.
"I don't want to be perceived as an intrusive man but I'd like to know if you have addressed everything with Clifford and cut him off."
As he brought Clifford up, I was suddenly reminded of everything. It was like the universe didn't want me to be at peace.
If I lied, he would know. If I told the truth, it wouldn't go well. So what do I say?
"Yes, I already did that," I lied casually with a straight face.
"Good."
I wasn't expecting that response. What happened to his intuition? Didn't it sense that I was lying?
Why are you worried about his intuition, Arleen? I sighed internally at my brain.
Not long after, we had our breakfast and headed to the location where Isaac and Clara were.
It was a fun but tiring experience, I went back to being his secretary once again as I took notes and observed while making sure everything was in place.
The models were top notch and very pretty in their own unique way.
There were make-up artists, stylists, hairdressers and others but Isaac and Clara were the most worn out.
"Ten would've been perfect," I heard Clara say.
"Why is that?" Damion inquired.
"Well, the workload would be much on the models." Isaac explained.
We had only eight models present.
"Will two more make any difference?" Damion asked but before they could answer, his phone rang and he excused himself to take it.
My eyes followed him and watched his every posture.
Wait! Why was I being this way?
"Arleen?"
"Yes," I shifted my attention to Clara.
"I know you have a lot to do, especially constantly being beside Mr Damion, however, I'd love for you to act as our model just this once. It'll be beneficial to him as well, after all…"
"No no no…I can't Clara, really." I immediately refused the offer. Damion wouldn't even agree.
"Arleen?"
"I'm sorry," I apologized to Clara and quickly went to meet Damion who called me.
"There's a car waiting outside. Kindly go ahead of me and meet up with Mr Edson. I need to do a little briefing before coming."
"Mr Edson?" I acted ignorant.
"Yes, the CEO of Shares Enterprise and Holdings."