69 - OLD FLINGS RETURNING

PRESENT

KYLE’S POV


The night of the banquet dinner, it was going to be explosive. I had made sure to adhere to every detail to make this night the best the corporate world in California had seen, but at the same time this was the night I was going to profess my love to Aria. It was going to be a delicate gesture, after the event was over and I would ask her to dance to me, while I whispered in her ears how much I truly loved her. Even though, the guilt of my dark past nagged at the back of my head I tried to ignore it, she didn’t have to know that, she didn’t have to find out.

I was dressed smartly in a crisp suit tailored to perfection and it was perfunctory to stand outside and welcome the guest after their pompous run with the red carpet, the buzz outside was a bit chaotic but I knew why I stood out, I was waiting for her. Aria was supposed to be here a long time ago to welcome guest with me, but an hour had passed and even two but I hadn’t caught a glimpse of her yet – she must be running late until Janine walked up to me, her silver dress flowing behind her and she bore a suspicious glint in her eyes but at the same time it was Janine, she always looked suspicious like she knew something we didn’t.

“Shall we go inside and kickstart the event?” she said to me, lips stretched in a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. I gave her an odd look

“That’s Aria job”

She chuckled at my statement, it was mocking but I refused to perceive it as so “Aria’s not coming, she handed it all to me” then she whipped out her phone and showed me a simple text. This was the second time this was happening, and it was difficult to believe it this time. Had something happened to her again? Panic gripped me but I had to be calm, I had to keep my composure and fix the expression on my face.

“Didn’t she tell you? Today’s her engagement party with her fiancée”

I froze.

“What?” the words fell out of my mouth, my eyes widened in shock at Janine’s statement, and my heart beat sped up.

“Oh I guess she didn’t tell you, such a sneaky bitch. I never trusted her to be honest” Janine ranted on but my head swam, my vision blurred for a moment and I tried to fix the puzzle pieces together but they didn’t match. Was this her brutal way of telling me chose him?

“Shit!” I cursed silently as Janine whipped around and walked in to the event. But I didn’t care anymore, I didn’t care about the stupid event but I walked back in regardless and Janine was giving the welcome speech Aria was supposed to give. I stood in the corner, nursing a glass of champagne and feeling the anger radiate through my entire body. I couldn’t lose her, I couldn’t afford to lose her a second time. How could I bear seeing her knowing fully well she now belonged to someone else, it was different when she gave me hope of a choice, when she let me know that I still had a chance and that somewhere deep down she was waiting for me but this felt like a hard blow to the gut, deep and painful.

The dinner had fully commenced and the guest were seated at their various tables with name cards while the orchestra boomed softly throughout the room, I watched some guest nod their head to the rhythm, soft chatters echoing through alongside with the subtle clinking of glasses. The hall smelled like a mixture of designer perfumes and my own sadness trickling among the mix just until someone walked up to me – Dahlia Roskov.

“Hello handsome” she batted her eyelashes at me and I turned to her in surprise.

“Dahlia?” I called, as she pulled me in a for a hug, her hand cradling the back of my neck so I could feel the pinch of her acrylic nails. I knew Dahlia, she was the princess of corporate America being the heir to one of the largest finance companies in the US. We had a run-in some years after things had ended with Aria. We met in a convention and she had hated my guts at first because of my non chalance and my natural disinterest in whatever was going on, but the retreat had stretched out into a drunken party that night and somehow she had ended up in my bed and I never saw her again – except right now and she was sparkling in my face with her red dress and her hair flowing down in cascading waves behind her.

“Long time no see huh” she echoed

“Yea after you ran away and I never saw you again” I said back and she cracked a smile

“I usually don’t attend this things, hardly any networking is done here but I saw your name on the invite and I knew I had to come – you look ravishing”

“I’m flattered, I’m glad you could make it” I said back. She held my gaze with a certain curiousity that felt intriguing, her eyelashes fluttered every now and then and while she talked, she would subtly graze her nails on my arms, looking straight into my eyes in a kind of seducing manner but it was difficult to pay constant attention when I still had Aria running through my head.

“Do you perhaps want to get out of here” she asked me, her eyes now searching mine “It’s getting a bit heated in here”

“I don’t think a host is supposed to leave their party” I said back and she chuckled, looking round at the guest and she said.

“I’m sure they can take care of themselves and they’ll be fine but you look like you need more than that glass of wine and trust me I do too, so let’s grab a bottle and scram then you can tell all you’ve been up to since the last time I saw you. Every single detail – no secrets”

I studied her as she talked, she was beautiful no doubt with almond shaped eyes and a button nose on a skin that radiated under the light. I considered her offer, I mean I really needed a distraction. Aria was off getting engaged to Shawn, why couldn’t I have a little fun with Dahlia. We could just talk and see where the night leads.

“Fine, I’ll grab a bottle” I said and she shook her head with a smile

“Already got one” she revealed a bottle she had swiped off a table just next to us and she handed it to me “Sweet”

She stretched out her hands to me, even though I was a bit hesitant at first but she thrust her hand into mine and pulling me with her with a giggle. We were already half way inside when suddenly I saw Aria walking into the building, my heart froze when she stopped as she us, her eyes flickering to Dahlia’s hands in mind and I saw her face fall, a look of betrayal flashing across her eyes, she didn’t say anything, she didn’t need to say anything, she turned around to leave

“Aria wait – ”