Chapter 37-Remorse

“It’s raining and I should have stayed home” was the only thing that ran through Giovanni O’Connell’s mind as he sat through his third meeting for the day. Giovanni was restless in his seat as he had been sitting in the same spot since he came over to the mayor’s office more than four hours ago.
It has been one meeting to the next.
Giving that he had not slept throughout last night as his conversation with his younger sister kept replaying in his mind. Then, this morning, Sierra batched into his room, informing him that she had managed to secure a zoom meeting with the mayor and some of their business partners in Malaysia.
Several times, Giovanni caught Sierra giving him the side glare, but the young man was too tired, bored and mad at her to give a bloody darn. If not for the fact that this meeting demanded his presence to the fullest as he was the brain behind the investment plan, he wouldn’t have come.
During the earlier meetings, when the Mayor, as well as his bosses from Durrel and Clifford and the investor from Malaysia where on a zoom call, he had managed to participate. But right now, no matter how hard he tried, his mind kept drifting to a certain blonde and worse as an employee of the Mayor walked in and he thought it was Wren.
“Mr O’Connell, are you with us?” a voice took the young man out if his day dream. He looked at everyone in the room who currently didn’t look too pleased with a frown on his face.
“Huh, what?” he asked.
Next to him, the young man felt Sierra let out a frustrated sigh. But again, he didn’t give a darn. He was exhausted and he wanted to go home, get some rest and continue his quest to have a talk with Wren.
“He’s asking when is best for a site visit?” Sierra said with vexation in her voice.
“Mr O’Connell, are you okay?” the Mayor asked with concern in his voice.
“Yes. Just a little tired that is all. But uh, how does next Friday sound to you?” he asked, looking at Sierra for confirmation, but then the older woman gave him a blank stare.
“Yeah, Friday works for us” the man who called out to Giovanni said as he too looked at his partners.
“Great” Giovanni replied with a smile. Although the Mayor and his partners smiled, he knew they weren’t pleased with his behavior throughout the meeting.
Soon, the meeting was adjourned and the young man found himself shaking hands with the partners as one by one, they exited the large conference hall, except for the mayor who asked Giovanni to follow him to his office.
Sierra Clifford hated the fact that she wasn’t included in the talk with Mayor as she had to stay back, and to burn time, she got on a call with her father to give him updates on their last meeting.
“Gio, have a sit please” the mayor announced as he rounded his office desk and took a seat.
“Thank you” the young man replied, taking in the decoration of the office.
“So, how has it been? How are you enjoying your stay?” the mayor asked, although the young man sensed that was far from what he expected.
“Good. Good” he replied plainly while nodding his head.
“Great” the mayor said. An awkward silence stormed in and just when Giovanni was ready to bid him farewell when the mayor spoke up.
“You know Gio, your father and I were great friends” the mayor began and the young man sighed to himself. He was not ready to have this conversation, not with him and certainly not when he was exhausted.
“And I know his death still affects you until now” he added.
“I’m worried for you Gio. You know as the mayor, I know everything that goes on in this town. I mean everything” the older man emphasized, giving the young man the impression that he was talking about something else.
“You are a great kid, Gio. But your actions are hurting her and we both know she’s been through a lot already” the mayor finalized.
This time, Giovanni O’Connell was angry. Why did everyone think they had a say in his personal life. Now, the young man didn’t want to disrespect the man seated opposite him, but he felt some things needed to be set straight to avoid further instances like this.
“You know Mr. Lawson, I respect you a lot which is why I have to say this. I appreciate your concern, I do. But I don’t think my personal life is any of your business. For the sake of the partnership we have coming, I will appreciate it if we kept things formal. With that being said, I shall take my leave. Have a great day” Giovanni O’Connell’s tone was firm as he spoke.
He exited the mayor’s office feeling more angry and frustrated than he was last night after his talk with Topaz.
The ride back to the mansion was a quiet one. The young man kept a straight face as he drove, the glare Sierra was giving him didn’t seem to bother him.
“Gio, you haven’t uttered a word to me since we left in the morning. Did I do something wrong?” the brunette asked with concern in her voice.
Giovanni remained silent.
“And throughout the meeting, you made me look stupid by interrupting me whenever I tried to speak and at some point, you just zooned out. If I didn’t do anything wrong, what is the matter with you?” Sierra pressed on.
The young man let out a disgruntled sound to express his emotion.
“Sierra, I will appreciate it very much if you didn’t speak to me” he said before adjusting himself in his seat and stepping on the gas pedal.
Sierra, fueled with rage that he had spoken to her harshly, didn’t utter a word to Giovanni until they reached the Watford mansion. Then, Giovanni asked the young girl to exit the car to which she did and before she could even ask Giovanni what was happening, he made a u-turn and drove out of the gate.
“I need to speak to her tonight” the young man thought to himself as he stepped on the pedal, driving more than the speed limit throughout the town as he headed for the pub.
The moment he made it to the pub, he got out of the car in a frantic manner and briskly walked to the pub, ignoring the fact that his movements made people talk.
The young man stopped dead in his tracks as he came face to face with the person he came see, her, whose head was facing the ground and had a man’s arm who Giovanni recognized to be Gary over her shoulder.
“Wren” his voice rang in her ears, and she froze.
She looked up. Their eyes met.
Immediately, Giovanni knew what was happening.
‘Fuck me’ he cursed under his breath.

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