16. "You turned into a tomato. A silly, blabbering tomato."
She wasn't in the kitchen.
Not in the living room either.
I had checked every damn room in the house twice.
Still no Aurelia.
I didn't know why I was looking for her instead of just heading straight for work.
It felt weird. Walking into a room and not running into her.
Not that we were on speaking terms. Not after yesterday's disaster. I'd stormed out like a petulant child and spent the rest of the day telling myself I didn't care.
Except, clearly, I did.
I hadn't even slept properly. Tossed and turned like some guilt-ridden idiot until the sun came up, and even then, I didn't get a damn moment of peace. Every room I walked into felt wrong without her voice echoing through it or her confidence shining through.
I ended up at her bedroom door again. Knocked once. Twice. No answer.
Screw it.
Grabbing my car keys, I strode out of the house and drove to work.
But even as I attended back to back meetings and buried myself in important files, I couldn't help the feeling eating at me.
The defeat and hurt in her voice when I screamed at her.
For the first time ever, I felt bad for speaking to her that way. I don't think her emotions ever mattered to me before.
And while I initially hated how she always talked back, this once when she refused to fight back, it drove me crazy.
Her yelling back at me would have felt better than her echoing silence.
When I returned home, my feet slowed in their tracks, an involuntary sigh escaping my lips.
There she was. Standing in the kitchen in a t-shirt and shorts, sipping on orange juice.
Suddenly, everything in the world seemed normal.
She barely even glanced my way even as I stood in front of her. Instead, she walked past me toward the staircase. As if she hadn't seen me at all.
But I wasn't letting her go this time.
"Aurelia."
She paused, one foot on the step. Turned slightly, just enough to glance at me.
"I'm not good at saying sorry." I began gruffly.
"That's not news." She replied coldly.
I took a breath. Let it out slow. "But I am sorry. For yesterday. For yelling."
A flicker passed through her eyes. The first crack in the ice.
"I was just... I don't know..."
Her brow lifted.
I sighed. "I was slightly embarrassed when you mentioned that in front of mom, okay?"
"Embarrassed?"
"Yes," I narrowed my eyes. "The same way you were. You turned into a tomato. A silly, blabbering tomato."
Her nostrils flared. "You're the one who's silly!"
I snorted. "It's not every day I wake up with a smartass wrapped around me like a damn koala."
Her mouth twitched—barely—but I saw it.
Then she jogged up the stairs without another word.
Sighing in irritation, I also retired to my bedroom.
Later that night, I came downstairs to sit in the living room, and found Aurelia already there with a laptop on her lap.
"Look who's here." I spoke, sitting opposite to her.
Her eyes looked up at me for a moment before returning to the screen.
My jaw twitched, frustration seeping in at the way she kept ignoring me. "You know for someone living in someone else's house, you sure have a hell of an attitude."
"And for someone who owns this entire mansion, you've got the personality of a wet sock." She bit back.
I exhaled sharply through my nose. "Watch your words, Sinclair."
"Or what? You'll yell at me?" She scoffed, still not meeting my gaze.
I hated how calm she looked. Like none of this was bothering her. Like she wasn't thinking about yesterday, or the way my voice had cracked when I'd lost my temper, or the look in her eyes right before I left the room.
I grabbed the remote and turned the TV on to fill the silence.
"Turn it off! It's distracting." She grumbled.
I scoffed. "Don't act like you're working on a prestigious PowerPoint. You're literally reading some random novel."
"So?"
"So stop looking for a chance to argue with me all the time." I said flatly.
She stared at me, unmoving.
I stared right back.
Neither of us blinked.
The air between us practically vibrated with the tension, but I refused to look away first.
Eventually she shook her head and returned her attention to her laptop. "Man baby."
"Brat." I shot back.
"Control freak."
"Little devil."
"Emotionally stunted." She mocked, not giving up.
I raised the volume of the TV.
God, she was infuriating.
Infuriating and sharp-tongued and icy as hell—and I'd take this version of her over yesterday's silence any damn day.
Because at least this version still fought back.
And somehow, that mattered more than I wanted to admit.
———
The next evening, I came home to to relax for a bit before I went out for a business dinner to hopefully close another important deal.
When I walked into the living room, I found dad on the couch with a glass of bourbon in his hand.
"Son, how was work?" He asked warmly as I sat opposite to him.
"Good." I replied, pouring myself a drink as well.
"You better close that deal." He affirmed, taking a long sip of his drink.
I nodded. "I will, dad."
"Good... take Aurelia with you."
I was in the middle of sipping on my drink when he said the words, almost making me choke. "Huh?"
"Take Aurelia with you," he repeated slowly. "I've told her everything she needs to know. She knows the pitch and what to say."
My eyebrows scrunched together. "Dad, I can handle this on my own."
He sighed heavily. "I have no doubts when it comes to your capability, but you know Laurent is a stubborn and uptight man.
He might refuse and walk away at the last second.
Aurelia has the charms and ability to convince people.
So, you have to take her along. Also, he's about to make his daughter co-CEO.
A female representative on our part will look good. "
I sucked in a sharp breath. "Dad, she's not even officially—"
He held a hand up, silencing me. "No arguments, Zayden. You're taking her with you."
I pressed my lips together, gripping the glass tightly in my hand.
And then...
The sound of heels clicking against the marble grew closer, until the familiar scent hit my nostrils. Vanilla mixed with caramel and amber. A fragrance she wore pretty much all the time.
I didn't look at her as she sat on the armrest of my chair, but I saw her clothes from the corner of my eye.
It made one of my eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
She wore a full sleeved pale blue blouse neatly tucked inside formal black pants paired with black high heels.
"Good luck with the deal, Aurelia." Dad gave her a closed mouth smile before standing from the couch.
She gave him a bright smile. "Thank you! We won't let you down."
"I trust you won't." Dad replied warmly before giving me a pat on the shoulder and exiting the living room.
"You have pants in your wardrobe?" I uttered sarcastically.
She stood up from the armrest and took a seat next to me on the couch, leaving a small amount of space between us. "You're back to being your usual pissed self?"
"Yes." I replied flatly, taking another sip of my drink.
She leaned back. "Understandable. It's hard to abandon something you were born with."
I scoffed, continuing to drink.
"Do you want a drink?" I asked quietly after a few minutes of deafening silence.
"I don't drink." She replied, tone devoid of emotion.
I turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "Really? That doesn't match your bad girl aesthetic."
The corner of her lip lifted into a small smirk, before she plucked my glass out of my hand and placed it on the table. "You barely think straight while sober; I doubt you should drink before such an important deal."
I almost scoffed in disbelief, standing up. "Let's go."
A quiet drive later, we arrived at the high-end restaurant where we were supposed to meet the CEO of the firm we were signing the deal with.
Laurent sat opposite to both of us, his expressions so cold, he'd make me look like a saint.
He liked the Ashford name. He liked the money. He didn't like me.
He didn't have to say it. It was crystal clear in his demeanour and the way he side-eyed every word that came out of my mouth.
His behaviour was starting to get on my nerves, to the point where I seriously considered telling him to fuck off, and then storming out of there.
He was acting like he was doing charity, when the deal would give him as much benefit as it would give me.
Just then, Aurelia chimed in. With that charm of hers that caused men to shut up and listen. Along with her charm, she came forth with excellent facts and logic.
Effortless. Polished. Poised.
I shut up, watching her speak eloquently. No pause. No stutter. No fear.
I watched, arms crossed, as she leaned in and started talking figures—revenue, growth plans, retention rates—all off the top of her head, every point perfectly aligned with accurate facts and figures.
The CEO started nodding.
Then he smiled for the first time that night.
Smiled.
I could barely believe my eyes.
"I have to admit," The CEO said, turning toward me, "she's sharp. You've got a real asset here."
I clenched my jaw. "She's... adequate."
Aurelia kicked me under the table. Hard.
I grunted.
"Don't mind him," she said smoothly, flashing the CEO a gracious smile. "He's still learning how to speak human."
I choked on my drink. The man laughed.
The deal closed twenty minutes later.
I walked out of that restaurant with a signed agreement in my briefcase and a scowl etched deep into my face.
We got the deal.
Because of her.
And I hated it.
Not because I couldn't handle someone else being good at their job. I could.
But because it was her.
The infuriating girl who was driving me insane.
Yet, she was the reason I had secured another important deal.
She strutted ahead of me in her heels, smug satisfaction practically dripping off her.
"You're welcome." She said as we reached the car.
"I didn't say thank you."
"You didn't need to." She slid into the passenger seat with a victorious smirk. "It's written all over your sulky little face."
Sighing in exasperation, I made my way to the driver's seat.
This was going to be a long drive.