by Ashley Blake
I did something that was completely out of character for me and I slowly opened the door. Everything happened in slow motion just as it did in the penthouse. There, wrapped in Christian’s arms was Jessica and it looked like I had just walked in on the end of a kiss because their faces were less than an inch apart. Both turned and looked at me and Christian’s face was filled with guilt. He quickly pushed her away as I turned and went back to my room slamming the door behind me. In less than a second he was in my room and he blocked my path as I tried to leave.
“Eva, we are not going to do this. Let me explain.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, every inch of my being seething.
“Explain what? What a fool I am? How you used me and lied to me?”
“I did not lie to you and do not speak to me like that!” His voiced boomed throughout the room and it startled me so much I stood there silent. Why was he so angry? He softened his tone when he saw how upset I was.
“I apologize for raising my voice, but I don’t want us to repeat what happened in the penthouse.”
“Why is she even here Christian?”
“Jessica has had a really hard time accepting that things are over between us and I guess she thought if she showed up here, showing me that she would travel anywhere to be with me, that I would want to take her back. But that is not going to happen. I want to be with you, only you, Eva.”
I heard a slow sarcastic clap and we both turned toward the adjoining door and standing there with a nasty look on her face was Jessica.
“Oh honey, you deserve an Academy award for your performance,” she said to Christian. She then looked at me.
“So, you are the little designer girl that was in the penthouse.” She looked over at Christian. “I guess it’s true that a leopard never changes its spots, huh Christian?”
Christian snapped. “Jessica, leave right now!”
She sashayed over to him giving him a kiss on the cheek and then turned to look at me.
“I was where you are, honey, and I bet he has told you all of the possibilities that lie ahead for you, starting with a fabulous trip the two of you are going to take after this gala. Am I right?” She walked out leaving that bombshell hanging in the air.
I felt sick to my stomach as I slowly looked over at Christian. Had I really been so stupid and so blind? I slowly started to shake my head as tears filled my eyes.
“Eva.” He took as step toward me, reaching for my arm and I backed away as if burned from his touch.
“No, Christian. Not again.”
“You have to let me explain. I love you!” The pain in his voice was heart wrenching but I was numb to it. I had been duped for a second time and I wasn’t going to fall for his lies again.
I looked at him, my eyes full of sorrow.
“What is that saying? Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice...we both know the rest.” I gave him a cool stare as I put my business cards in my purse. “From now on this is a business relationship, nothing more.”
He tried to block my path as I made my way to the door and I stepped around him. I looked at him with a blank stare. “I have to go network. Enjoy your evening.”
“Eva…please…you have to let me explain…”
His words faded behind me as I tossed my shoulders back and willed the tears away. I would never be so gullible and naïve again. It was over between Christian Locke and me.
Chapter Sixteen
I don’t know how I was able to do it, but I pushed everything that happened up in my room out of my head for the remainder of the evening and I found myself enjoying my time at the gala. I made so many new contacts and ended up having a wonderful time speaking with so many new people. Any time I saw Christian seemingly looking for me, I made a point to walk to the other side of the room so that he could not find me. The ballroom was enormous so it was not difficult to avoid him that night and besides, the gala was last place we needed to have a discussion about us.
Diane Locke and her family showed up halfway through the event and she was instantly swarmed by people so I knew I would probably not get a chance to meet her, especially since I was avoiding Christian. Evan had been a literal social butterfly for most of the evening and we finally found each other after a couple of hours.
He kissed me on the cheek. “Hey, gorgeous. I hear you are the belle of the ball.”
I looked at him like he was crazy.” What do you mean?”
“You have made quite an impression on many people here with the way you have been fearless about approaching some of them. Most new employees don’t have the confidence that you have and I hear that it is really refreshing to have someone with such an innovative mind be fearless as well. You are going to go very far in this business, Eva.”
“Wow, I guess it didn’t even occur to me that I should be nervous approaching some of these people because I just see them as a way to absorb knowledge and I have never been afraid to go after what I want.”
“Have you met Diane yet?”
“No, every time I look over at her she is surrounded by a huge group of people. I guess she is one person that I will have to continue to admire from afar until the opportunity presents itself for me to actually meet her face-to-face. I’m supposed to have some sort of videoconference with her at some point, right?”
“Yes, our quarterly meeting is next month and she will definitely be there on the video, but let me see what I can do right now. I will be right back.”
“Okay, I’m going to get a bottle of water.”
“Alright, I will find you in a few minutes, Don’t go too far.”
There was a short line at the bar and I glanced around the room while I waited, still in awe that I was even participating in such an amazing event in Paris, when I felt a hand lightly touch my waist. I turned around expecting to see Evan and my heart plummeted to my toes as I looked into Christian’s gorgeous blue eyes.
“You can’t avoid me forever.”
I gave him a cool stare as I stepped out of reach of his touch. “Unless this conversation is going to be business related, we have nothing to talk about.”
I turned away from him and ordered my bottle of water, thankful that the bartender had it ready for me so quickly. He gently turned me back to face him.
“Eva, we will have to talk at some point. We are scheduled to check out tomorrow at noon so I need to know what the plan is.”
I looked at him defiantly. “I’m going home.”
The look of hurt in his eyes almost tugged at my heart but all I had to do was replay the scene of him holding Jessica in his arms and I went ice cold.
He looked at me incredulously. “Are you serious?”
I put my hand on my hip and narrowed my eyes at him.
“Dead serious.” I glanced at the clock on the wall and then quickly scanned the room for Evan. I saw him back in the spot I had left him and knew he was waiting for me. I looked back at Christian, feeling more annoyed that he was staring at me with puppy dog eyes. You screwed this up buddy, not me. “Is there anything else? Evan is waiting for me.”
“No, nothing more for now. But I’m not giving up.”
I walked back over to Evan, irritated that I was shaken by my encounter with Christian but I did my best to hide it. Apparently, I didn’t do that great of a job. Evan looked at me with concern written all over his face.
“Is everything okay?”
I forced a smile and nodded my head. ”Everything is great.”
“Good, because Diane wants to meet you and there are a few other people I’d like for you to meet as well.”
I was completely shocked and terrified. “What?!”
“Yes, you heard me. She wants to meet you. Are you ready?”
My eyes were wide as saucers. “You mean right now?”
He chuckled as he gently rubbed my shoulder. “Yes, right now. Come on, she doesn’t bite.”
I don’t know how I did it but somehow I managed to put one foot in front of the other and follow
Evan across the room to meet my idol. As we approached her, there was a group of people standing with her and my palms began to sweat, my heart thumped against my chest, and my mouth went completely dry. If it wasn’t for the bottle of water in my hand, I don’t think I would have been able to utter one word. I quickly took a sip before Evan introduced me. Everyone who was around her walked away and it was just the three of us.
“Aunt Diane, I would like for you to meet Eva Steele. Eva, Diane Locke.”
I shook her hand, praying that my clammy hand did not offend her, and I could not stop smiling. She was beyond stunning. Her platinum hair was styled in a chic bob, she had beautifully high cheekbones, full red painted lips and her crystal blue eyes were smiling at me.
“Mrs. Locke, it is such an honor to meet you.”
“Thank you dear, it is nice to finally meet you as well. I have heard so many wonderful things about you and your work. How have you enjoyed your time in Paris?”
“Paris was a dream come true, truly. This is an experience I will never forget and one I will forever be grateful for. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity.”
“We have my son, Christian, to thank for that. Because of his keen eye in my absence, he was able to find a true gem in you. I look forward to working with you on many projects going forward.”
You could have literally picked me up off the floor when she said that. Diane Locke was looking forward to working with me? I wanted to pinch myself because it felt like a dream. The only thing that would have made the moment perfect was if I was on better terms with Christian, but I was going to have to forget about that part of my life. My focus was going to be work and that was it. My trust had been broken and I was not sure how long it was going to take for any man to rebuild it.
“The feeling is mutual. I also very much look forward to learning from you.”
“Eva, dear, please do not hesitate to contact me if you ever have any questions. I am here to help you and to mentor you and I want you to feel that you can always come to me. I am very sincere about this. Evan, darling, please let her know that I mean what I am saying.”
He looked over me and smiled. “Oh yes, she means that, aunt Diane does not offer her help to very many people, but when she sees someone with potential she will be there for you 100 percent.”
“Eva, I only had Evan reiterate what I said because there have been quite a few people in the past who were too intimidated to approach me with questions even after I told them they could contact me, and I just don’t want that to happen with you. I see so much of myself in you and I really want to help you in anyway that I can.”
Really? Diane Locke saw herself in me? It was easily the biggest compliment I have ever received in my life.
“Mrs. Locke, thank you so much for saying that, I am beyond honored that you see even a morsel of yourself in me. I will definitely be in contact with you because I want to learn as much as possible and I want to learn from the best in the business.”
“Since we are going to be working so closely together, dear, please call me Diane.”
Okay, totally time to knock me over with a feather. Was this really my life? I smiled at her and nodded my head.
“Okay, Diane, I will definitely be in touch.”
Just as we were saying our goodbyes, Jessica glided over to us and gave me a smug smile. I glanced at Diane’s face and could see the instant disdain that she did not try to hide. Evan was also clearly annoyed and I have to say I got a little bit of pleasure from that.
Jessica had a huge smile on her face and her energy was desperate.
“Diane, I was wondering if I could take a few minutes of your time to discuss something."
Diane Locke, ever the graceful woman, smiled at Jessica and then looked at me, gently touching my arm.
“It was so lovely to finally meet you, Eva, and remember what I said. Feel free to contact me anytime.”
She kissed Evan on the cheek and briefly glanced at Jessica. “Nice to see you.” That was all she said to her before she walked away.
Jessica stood there in disbelief looking back and forth between me and Evan and then she narrowed her eyes at me.
“What is it about you? How have you magically infiltrated this family and why is Christian so upset? He could not have possibly thought that someone like you would be the right person for him because that person is me. He’s just confused right now and it’s just a matter of time before he comes back to me. It’s actually good that you’re giving him the cold shoulder, you’re helping me out, so you continue to do that.” She plastered a saccharine-filled smile on her face as she looked at us. “You both have a lovely evening,” and then she walked away.
Evan stood there staring at me, his mouth wide open.
“I need all of the details immediately. What in the world was she talking about? Please tell me that you did not fall for my cousin’s charm. Don’t you remember that I warned you about him the day I met you?”
“Evan, there is nothing to tell anymore. Anything that might have started is over, so it’s a non-issue.”
“I don’t want to get deep into your personal business, okay, but how far did it go with you guys? Did he plan any sort of trip with you after this stint in Paris?”
What the heck was the deal with Christian planning a trip? Jessica asked me the same question. Was that his thing with every woman? The whole thing made me feel really sleazy and I did not like that feeling at all. Clearly, Christian was not the man that I thought he was and, thankfully, I had gotten out before I had gotten in too deep.
“Yes, we were going to travel a bit after this assignment, but that has all been canceled. I’m going home tomorrow with the rest of the team so, no big deal.”
I did everything I could to avoid Evan’s eyes as he stood there, his arms crossed, trying to assess me.
“ Oh, no.” His tone made me look up at him.
“What?”
“You fell in love with him.”
“What? You’re crazy. No I didn’t. It was just a fling that meant nothing and it’s over, so can we please drop it?”
“Drop it? Eva, sweetie, your feelings are written all over your face and I can see that you are hurting. Tell me what happened.” The softness and sincerity in his voice caused me to well up and the last thing I wanted to do was start crying in the middle of the ballroom. He could see that I was upset so he took my arm and led me to a private room just outside the ballroom, closing the door behind us. He pulled over a chair for me gently patting the seat.
“Okay, I’m all ears.”
My sad eyes searched his. “You won’t tell anyone?”
He gave me a gentle smile. “My lips are sealed.”
There was not one thing about Evan that made me feel that I could not trust him and I had felt close to him since the first moment I met him. Since my best friend was thousands of miles away, and I really needed to talk about what had happened, I decided to tell him everything leaving out the intimate details, of course. When I was done, he sat there looking at me, his eyes filled with compassion.
“Well one thing is for sure, from what you just told me, he has never acted this way toward any other woman. You seem to have affected him in a way that I have never seen. I knew that something was up tonight, but I couldn’t tell what it was. He has been happier than I have ever seen him for the past month and then all of a sudden tonight his mood changed. It was a complete 180°. Now I know why.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter. Evan I know what I saw. He had his arms around Jessica and their mouths were less than an inch apart. I’m not going to fall for his crap again.”
Evan took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Let me tell you about Jessica Grayson. Yes, she was engaged to Christian but he broke it off when he found her in bed with the gardener.”
“The gardener? Are you serious?”
“Yes, he doesn’t like to talk about it because it was humiliating for him. Once he found out, he wanted
nothing more to do with her. He cut her off completely but she didn’t want to accept that it was over. Jessica has been a thorn in my cousin’s side for a while and her showing up during this trip to Paris really put him over the edge. He has tried to be civil about the break up, he didn’t ask for the ring back. He just wanted her to go away. She’s not getting the picture so I think he is going to have a talk with her father. That is the last thing Jessica wants. She craves her father’s approval and he was so impressed when she got engaged to a Locke. She hasn’t even told her parents that they are no longer together.”
