TWELVE: CONVICTION
KIMBERLY
"Oh, my God, oh, my God, Oh, my God," I kept muttering to myself as I left that room. I was doomed now and I slapped my mouth severally. "Why would you be so stupid to say stupid things?"Did I just ask him to see me in court? What was I thinking? How on earth am I going to pay damages that would come out from that? Why did I just have to let my stupid pride make me lose this one-time opportunity? He even asked me to be his girlfriend!—no his fake girlfriend, but it would have been perfect. He needed it for publicity and I needed it to save my ass and prove to all those people that I could get something right. But then, I had to screw it up again because of my useless pride. But he caused it all. He insulted me and not only that, he insulted my whole family. Was it our fault that we had no money? I know my parents were hard-working enough and if luck was on their side, their restaurant would have boomed by now and we would have become one of the biggest restaurant owners. Maybe I was the bad luck and now, I was going to put them into more bad shape.
I was frustrated that I missed that opportunity, but I was even more frustrated that I couldn't find a way out, I have been walking for some minutes now, but still, I couldn't find the door that led to the stairs. I am trapped here and Mr. McGillivary being a heartless man would make it more difficult for me. I wish I could come across someone, anyone to show me the way out. I tried one more time and I saw the door. I was excited because the complication was just before the stairs. I rushed to the door and opened it and halted at what I saw. My eyes widened.
"What?" I muttered.
The two men stopped their conversation and turned to look at me. I had walked to the back door of the study, thinking it was the door to the stairs. I was back to square one. Mr. White was facing me directly while Mr. McGillivary's back was to me, but he turned when I opened the door.
"Miss Nordstrom," Mr. White called and straightened up from his bent position. "What brought you back?"
Mr. McGillivary clicked his teeth and turned to face him. "Isn't it obvious? She lost her way."
I glared at him, eyed him and shifted my gaze to Mr. White, and managed a smile. "I'm sorry, can you show me out?"
"Sure," Mr. White said with a smile, took a pen and a piece of paper, scribbled down something, and started towards me. "Liam, I will call dad to come to take you to the office." He handed it to me when he was close.
I looked at the piece of paper, it was a number. "What is this?" I asked without collecting it.
He led me away from the door and closed it behind him. He started walking away from the door and I followed him. "Miss Nordstrom..."
"Can you call me Kimberly or Kim for short please, it makes me feel more comfortable," I interrupted him.
He smiled as usual and nodded. "If you say so, Kim." We both chuckled.
I like Mr. Aiden White, not in that way though. He was an easy person, very approachable and he smiles a lot, personally, I think he was even more handsome than the almighty Liam McGillivary. I took the piece of paper from him, hoping it was his contact.
"That is Liam's contact," he said and a frown clouded my face.
"Why are you giving me his numbers?" I asked.
"Relax, I know you didn't start on the best note with him, but Liam is a nice person when you get to know him."
"I don't know the Liam you are talking about because the Liam I saw in there is not nice and I certainly don't want to get to know him."
He smiled and stopped abruptly, making me jerk to a stop. He turned to face me. "I gathered more information than I gave to Liam about you." I stared blankly at him. "I know your situation at home and with your friends and I know why you lied with Liam's name, but I didn't tell him all of it so that he wouldn't have the greater advantage over you. I know that Liam can be uncouth at times but I am beseeching you not to let pride make you lose the trust your family have in you now. Think about it, it's not worth it."
I stared at him. Does he expect me to thank him for keeping information away from that jerk? They were all the same. "Do you want me to thank you then for keeping information away from him?" I asked and wished I had not asked that. I don't know what was wrong with me. I was the one in trouble, but I let my pride get a hold of me.
"No, Miss Nordstrom...I mean Kim. You shouldn't lose this opportunity. Alright, even if you don't want to think about it now, promise me you would give it a thought later."
"Why me? Why does he want us to fake a relationship? There are a lot of sophisticated, rich girls like him. He could easily pick one of them. Why didn't he deny the claim and move on?"
"Do you want him to deny it?"
No. I answered in my heart but kept mute and looked away from Aiden. He smiled a knowing smile. Of course, he already knew my answer, then he held the knob of the door we were standing before, only then did I realize that we have been standing in front of a door.
"Kim, just as I didn't tell Liam everything about you and the reason you claimed him as your boyfriend on National TV, that's the same way I am keeping his reason for wanting this from you. Both of you have to figure it out, but that can only happen when you start dating." He leaned closer, the smile still on his face, this time looking mischievous. "Don't waste so much time on it, the clock is ticking." With that, he opened the door and gently pushed me forward.
I found myself on the stairs leading to the living room. He waved at me with a smile still on his face. I couldn't help my smile and then I started descending the stairs.
"Emily would show you out!" he called and gently closed the door.