Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Hunter
I could feel the vibration in my pocket as I spoke, and for a moment, it distracted me indeed. I wondered who it was, but I didn’t really care because even though I tried my best not to watch her from across the room, no one else stood out like her, especially in a completely makeup-less state. She was quite enigmatic, though, and I found it strange that I wasn’t the only one to notice her sudden interruption of the conference simply because she had been startled by something. I wondered what it was - was it good news or bad news? Why had she been so shocked?
I couldn’t help worrying about her, and it made me anxious to wrap up my speech even more. Soon, I was done and returned to my seat, barely even realizing that I was receiving hearty applause. I bowed politely in appreciation and then pulled out my phone to slyly check if she had been the one to send me a message.
It turned out it was, but the content of the message left me shocked to say the least. I didn’t bother unlocking my phone to gain access to it; it was right there on my screen, and I just continued to stare. It made sense why she had suddenly jumped up. I was sure she had deleted it in the chatroom, so if I had any chance in hell whatsoever of seeing it again, I had to take a screenshot of it. I did so, and truly, afterward, it was a feat to control my amusement.
I wondered who she was talking to? What friend of hers was she sharing all this personal information with? It occurred to me then that I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything whatsoever about her, and this had always been the way for me with staff, but as I read that message over and over again, I knew that I wanted to know her. I wanted to know exactly what she meant - that she was too sane to conclude me as the love of her life yet. How much exactly did she know about me… more than I knew. And she wanted me to at least be the man that she had been intimate with.
Well, turns out that I want the exact same as well. We were more or less on the same page, so I couldn’t help my smile as I put the phone away.
Other speakers came up to the stage to speak, and soon enough, the morning event came to an end. I was incredibly pleased because I got to see her. I had a feeling that things would become even more eerie between us, that she would do all that she possibly could to hide, and that it would be hilarious. I truly couldn’t wait, so I turned around, but instead of her, I was met with the Swedish investors that we had dinner with the previous evening.
Everyone was standing to their feet and mingling, the hall getting rowdy, and I wanted to try to leave. However, he stopped me, and I couldn’t help but be even more irritated as I saw his face.
"Mr. Swift," he smiled at me. "I sent you a message last night and this morning, thanking you immensely for allowing my team to host you. We hope to continue our discussion today, and I also have some officials that I am personally connected to and who are vital to our project."
I watched him, and truly, I didn’t know what to say. I was interested in what he was offering, but the way he had acted yesterday severely pissed me off.
"My secretary is still hungover from all the drinks you fed her yesterday,” I couldn’t hold myself back, and this was how I knew I was losing it just like Madison because under normal circumstances, I would have put my goals and focus first. But I liked this side of me. I liked this more human side that she brought out where everything was not always simply about achieving. I wanted to have a little fun, just as she was telling me to, and so I decided to take my own advice.
At my words, his smile immediately faltered, and then he began to stutter. I couldn’t stand him, so I turned around, but before I could leave, I was surrounded once again by a different crowd.
I shook more hands than I could identify faces, and more often than not, the questions they asked warranted automatic responses. It was my field. I knew what to say and when to say it; however, suddenly someone said something out of nowhere that completely stumped me.
It was the organizer of the conference. He had come over amidst those gathered around me to determine how the networking lunch happened. He was hoping that I would move away from the conference hall so that it would encourage the rest of the attendees to also move, so that we could talk instead as we had lunch, since the conference had to be returned to in the afternoon.
And then he added a sentence that I had never even thought I would ever hear.
"Congratulations about your engagement?"
I was sure he was talking about something related, but it still didn’t make any sense to me.
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"Oh, it's spreading around the women," he replied with a smile. "They’re all devastated. Don’t you see how many of them are here? They all thought you were still single, so none of them wanted to miss this event for the world. But now, I don’t know if even a single soul will be here come the afternoon session."
He said it as a joke, and the majority laughed in amusement, but I wasn’t amused at all. Instead, I was incredibly confused, especially as I understood the context in which he was espousing this now.
"Who said I was engaged?" I asked, and the man seemed quite taken aback.
"You’re not?"
"It was your secretary," the woman beside him said, smiling. "She was asked if you were in a serious relationship, and she said that you were close to being engaged, if not even engaged, so all of us have to back off, except there’s still a chance?"
Everyone laughed at this, but I wasn’t the only one not amused. It wasn’t that I was angry; I was just confused. I turned around then, and it was as though she had overheard everything. She turned away, and all I could see was the back of her head. Shaking my head, I almost felt sorry for her. She was most definitely having the absolute worst day ever. As to their inquiry, I didn’t respond. There was no need to, and just as quickly, everyone moved on.