Chapter 139
hley off at his school. The Leonica drove straight to her company after dropping Ashley she took notice of the fleet of securities lined up by the entrance.
he moment she arrived on her company's premises,
Kennedy, who as usual, was waiting by the entrance for her, received her with a bow. "Good Morning, Ms. Romero "
"Morning Kennedy. What's all this about?" She gestured towards the four men in black standing guard in front of the entrance. Before he could answer, they parted at the middle and Leonica watched a familiar figure walk towards her, hands tucked in his pocket. "Arvan," She smiled, greeting him lightly. "I see you got yourself more trustworthy guards."
"The last ones were utter disappointments." He wasn't joking, seeing as his ex wife had been able to make her way into his house without him knowing. "How are you doing, Leonica?"
"Best shape." She offered him her best smile, but he did not fail to notice the dark circles underneath her eyes as they turned and headed Inside. "What are you doing here, anyways?"
At her question, Arvan paused the instructions he was giving to his guards and flashed her a look. Quickly, Kennedy appeared by her side and whispered in her ear.
"You have a contract signing with Senator Richardson today."
Contract signing, of course! How could she have forgotten that today was the day she and Arvan would make their cooperation official.
"Leonica," Arvan began but she cut him off with a smile while reaching for the elevator's button.
"Old age." Her excuse was so weak that it had Arvan even more worried.
Old Age? He would have understood if she said the stress of single parenting was getting to her, but old age? Leonica didn't look the least bit like her age mates. Even today, dressed in long brown suit pants, white inner and a brown neutral blazer, she looked more stunning than most, if not all twenty nine year olds that Arvan knew.
When they finally stepped into the presidential elevator alone, since both assistants had to take the regular employee elevator, he asked.
"Is everything alright with you?"
"Peachy," Leonica responded with a nod. "I happened to overwork myself last night." She quickly added upon seeing that he wasn't buying into her words.
Arvan nodded but he was far from convinced. Even at that, he decided not to push any further when the elevator dinged open. As they walked towards the conference room, Leonica changed the subject, asking after Daisy,
"She good." Arvan responded as he held the door open for her. She thanked him while stepping in. "However, she's been going on about a sleep over?
"A sleep over?" She mused..
"Yeah, know anything about it?"
Leonica shook her head when he asked, letting him know that she knew nothing about the children's plans.
With a sigh, the conversation temporarily came to a close when their assistants walked In, each carrying
g the official documents that needed each of their signatures before their cooperation was made public to the entire business words.
Arvan was the first to finish signing. He once again examined Leonica's face in the few seconds window.
It was clear to him that she had lost a night or two of sleep.
He couldn't help but wonder what had happened? And why had she refused to tell him anything about it?
Not that he had any right to know her every where and how in life, he thought and sighed at the fact that even after two month of telling Himself that he was going to be a friend and a friend alone, he clearly still had romantic feelings for her. "All done!" Leonica's voice had him blinking away the unpleasant thoughts and they exchanged the contracts, sealing the deal at last. "As for the press conference-"
"I'll contact you once everything's been arranged "He offered her his usual vague smile as he stood up and adjusted his suit.
Leonica nodded, somewhat caught off guard by his interruption and as he turned to leave, she realized that she had been rather rude, not even bothering to ask about his wellbeing, whereas he had done so, and only choosing to focus on work "Arvan," She called out, waiting until he looked over his shoulder before she flashed him a smile. "Wanna catch up over a cup of coffee?"
They sat in the most private corner of Leonica's favorite café near her company, each mursing their cup of coffee.
For the longest time, they didn't speak, merely enjoying each other's company. But it was obvious that Arvan wanted to talk.
Leonica knew because, unlike before, his eyes did not meet hers and instead, kept flicking down, like a child waiting to tell their parent something they knew they wouldn't like.
She allowed this go on for a few seconds more before placing her coffee down and stretching her hand flat across the table. "Arvan," She called. "Is there something you wanna say?"
The smile on her lips was so welcoming that Arvan nearly forgot that he wanted to keep his distance,
"Not really," He took a sip from his coffee, deciding to divert the topic from his bottled up feelings. "How's things with Owen?" The question came out before he could stop it. Instantly, he regretted the sour taste it left in his mouth.
It was the same familiar taste he had gotten when Leonica broke the news to him, no, more accurately, Ashley had broken the news to him, going on about how he was getting a new daddy and Leonica confirmed her relationship with Owen when he called for clarification.
"We're doing great!" Her response was quick, filled with enough emotion to light up her eyes.
Of course they are, Arvan thought, trying his best not to show how his chest constricted painfully. "Good. And uh, how's Ashley... adjusting to his presence and all?"
"Surprisingly." "Leonica began. "He likes Owen I mean, you know Ash. He's never taken to just anyone, but I guess that's the effect Owen has on him as my boyfriend." She chuckled lightly and took a sip of her coffee.
Boyfriend, huh.
"Yeah, surprising," He nodded along
"I'm surprised myself. But then again, seeing as Owen is the actor of his favorite anime character, should that really be much of a surprise." She added, a fond look crossing her features as she recalled her son's interactions with Owen a few days ago. Arvan couldn't help the small smile that formed on his lips at her words. Despite how much it pained him, he was happy that Leonica had found someone that treated her the way she deserved.
"That's good, right?" He offered a smile.
"Yeah." She nodded and placed her coffee down before standing up. "I need to ease myself for a moment. Would you excuse me?" "Go ahead."
She flashed him a smile before walking in the direction of the restroom. It was meant to be a quick in and out business, but just as she flushed the toilet, about to step out, she heard a female voice that she found vaguely familiar. "Uh, I can't believe that stupid waiter spilled soup all over me." The haughty voice of Irene Rosewood bloomed out, causing Leonica to
stop.
"Well, you did kind of provoke him," A voice answered her. "I mean, it's not every day you get someone serving you and you call them a maid. No wonder he did what he did."
"Are you siding with that staff?" Irene asked, a hint of shock coating her words.
"Not at all." The other voice quickly responded, clearly trying not to offend Irene.
Hearing their conversation, Leonica couldn't help but roll her eyes. She didn't know all that much about Irene, at least not personally, but it was clear to her, both past encounters and presently, that she was a bitchy snob.
On the subject of past encounters, Leonica had never really repaid Irene for that trashy article she had released that caused her more trouble at the press conference, than she had expected.
Perhaps, this was the right time to repay her.
"You think we should report it to the owner?"
s will still
"What's the use?" Irene's voice was cold and unbothered as she tried to wipe off the soup stain from her gown. "Those maids w be the same, incompetent pieces of shit and that manager will always try and please me. "Ah, is that so?" The other woman's voice lowered, not liking the way Irene looked down on people. "And your dress, what about it?"
Before Irene could respond, the stall door behind her opened. She turned, ready to snap at the person for eavesdropping on her conversation, when her eyes widened upon recognizing Leonica.
"You!" The sneered that left her lips held an amount of animosity that surprised her companion.
Leonica on the other hand, remained indifferent to it. "Ms. Rosewood, didn't expect to see you here."
"What are you doing here?!" She demanded and the other woman, a brunette with highlighted red tips, stepped back, startled.
"Taking a piss, same as you." She deadpanned, the look in her eyes revealing how she really felt about Irene's presence. Disgusted. "You should watch your language in a public place, Ms. Rosewood. Wouldn't wanna be answering charges of defamation, now would you."
"Why you-
"What?" She arched her brow and moved around her, heading straight for the sink. "You gonna do something, Irene?"
The name roll off her tongue smoothly and the other woman glared at her.
"Don't address me like that, you little-!"
"Watch what you're saying, Rosewood," Leonica warned and flashed her a smile. "Remember what I told you about that nasty little mouth of yours?"
After drying her hand, she took a step forward, paying no mind to Irene's staring companion as she looked Irene in the eyes. "I'd watch that tongue of yours if I were you.
Irene could only watch her in stunned silence, a thousand thoughts running through her head as Leonica took a step back and scanned ber. "And rather than giving that poor waiter hell, you should thank him. He made you look more visually appealing."
After the last word rolled off her lips, Leonica spun around and left the bathroom, leaving a fuming and red faced Irene behind.
When she returned to she and Arvan's table, she couldn't help the wide smirk that stretched her lips, earning her a confused glance from Arvan
"Did something happen?" He asked as she took a sip of her coffee.
"No, nothing noteworthy at least."
Arvan watched her suspiciously but didn't say anything. He'd already decided to distance himself from her, he shouldn't bother trying to pry information out of her, but damn if it didn't feel right "Alright." He finally settled on that answer. "But if you wanna tell me anything, you know you can, right?"
Leonica smiled. "I know."
He returned her smile and reached for his wallet, fishing out a couple of bills, "I still have a couple of things to finish up, so I'll go first"
"You don't have to pay, you know." She tried rejecting the money when he placed it on the table, but Arvan simply chuckled and slid it back to her. "I said it was my treat."
"Yeah, but what type of a gentleman would I be if I allowed a lady pay the bills?" And with that, he stood up and picked his coat along with him. "This was nice, let's do it some other time. Bye Leonica."
"Bye Arvan." She waved and watched him walk towards the entrance, instantly being led to his car by his security. Only after he was out of sight did she give attention to her assistant who had been standing in the corner for quite a bit. "What is it, Kennedy?"
Kennedy stepped out from behind her, carrying a tablet in his hands, that he later presented to her as he spoke. "As per your Instructions sometime back, I had been keeping my eyes on your uncle,"
"Rodrigo?" Leonica arched a brow, looking up from the data of Rodrigo's recent movement to face Kennedy. "What's he up to this time
around?"
Kennedy bent down and swiped onto the next slide and Leonica's eyes darkened when she saw the data that had been collected.
"He's on the move, Ma'am," Kennedy informed and Leonica sighed as she completed his words.
"And he's not alone. "
Hodrigo Is Not Mane
With a sigh she closed the tablet and handed it back to Kennedy. "Look into it. Both his whereabouts and his accomplice, whoever they are I want data on them."
Promises To Be Kept.
Owen walked along the busy halls of his current film set, having just finished recording a scene from his movie which was set to come out sometime in December. As he passed the crew and extras, he greeted them with a nod or a wave, not failing to notice how the extras and some of the staff looked at him with admiration.
It made him chuckle, realizing how far he had come from the small role of a high school boy that was just passing by in the background.
"Owen,
The sound of his name snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned, a smile automatically forming on his lips when he saw the
source
"Alistair, what's up?"
His manager beckoned him over at his question, bringing his voice to a whisper when Owen got closer. "You got a call."
A call? Owen narrowed his eyes. Why was there any need to whisper over a call?
"From who?" He asked.
Alistair didn't respond immediately. In fact, he didn't respond at all and instead, he grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him along.
They went into Owen's resting room and the moment the door had closed, Alistair's phone began to ring. He took one look at it and groaned, once again contemplating if he should quit his job as Owen's manager.
Owen who had caught the look on his face, questioned. "Who is it?"