Chapter 30

"What!" Mr Greg shouted, his eyes wide in disbelief once I told him about my discussion with Aunt Lucia and our deal. "You are not seriously considering doing what she said, right?"

"I have to." I replied, firmly

"But you can't, have you forgotten what Mr Xander did to this company? I know he is your family, but this isn't right. Who knows what he is going to do this time." Mr Greg argued, his voice laced with concern.

"I know, but we need aunt's help, and she is not willing to give it to us without getting something in return." I explained.

"Still – "

"I'm going to do as she says," I asserted, my voice firm. "I will bring Xander back into the company as long as she makes the deal possible with Saeja Interiors."

Mr Greg sighed, nodding reluctantly. "If that's what you want."

"It's not what I want, it's what I need to do." I corrected it.

Just then, his phone blared loudly, and he took it out of his pocket, his eyes dilating slightly, seeing the caller. Without a word, he answered the call, moving away from me a bit.

His expression changed as he discussed with the person and when he finally ended the call, he flashed me a hesitant gaze.

"What's up?" I asked, and he sighed, returning to where he was standing in front of me.

"It's a call from Saeja Interiors," he said. My ears perked up, and I leaned in, curiosity etched on my face. "What did they say?"

"They agreed to meet with us." He announced and my lips broke into a smile.

"Yes! We did it." I cheered but his sigh made me look at him. "Are you still against this?"

"I am, but like you said, we have no choice." He replied, and I smiled, nodding my head. "When is the meeting happening?"

"Today, at one."

"Really?!" Checking my wristwatch, I stood up, "Let's go." The time was five minutes past twelve, and it would take about forty minutes to get there. I grabbed my bag and phone and we left the office. Mr Greg took the things we would need then we left the company.

By the time we got to Saeja Interiors, it was already 12:50. We used five minutes more than the estimated time to get here. Mr Greg parked the car in the parking lot before we both went in. We were showed to the CEO's office, but just as we got there, we saw him - Mr Jones coming out of the office with James and his assistant.

My brows creased into a confused expression as I stared at them.

"Oh, Vana." James smiled when he saw me.

"You're here too."

"Yeah, I'm leaving though."

"Do you know each other?" Mr Jones asked, looking from James to me.

"We do, she is my – "

"We are business partners." I interjected, glaring at him, because I knew he was about calling me his girlfriend. He clamped his mouth shut, pursing his lips.

"I had no idea you were business partners."

I looked away from him to Mr Jones, smiling. "Of course we are, more reason why you should do business with us."

"I second that." James spoke up.

"Really?" Mr. Jones asked, a hint of amusement sparking in his eyes.

James nodded. "Yes."

"I will take that into consideration. Have a safe trip back." He looked away from me to James who nodded, and with a glance at me, he walked away with Vince.

"Let's go in." Mr Jones gestured at his office and I looked at Mr Greg. Together, we went in. He showed us to our seats and we sat.

"So, I heard you are Aunt Lucia's niece." He said, relaxing on his chair.

Nodding my head, I spoke up. "I am, but I really don't want that to be the reason we are collaborating."

"Really?"

"Yes, I want you to trust us enough to collaborate with us." I stated, and like before, that amused look appeared in his eyes. He leaned forward with a smile.

"Let's see what you have then."

I smiled, and nodded at Greg, who brought out our plans for the buildings. He showed it to him and from there, we began discussing. It was difficult at first, because he was hell-bent on making this meeting futile, but we were able to bring him to agree with us after a while.

_______

"Ah." The manner at which Greg and I sighed out, the moment we stepped out of Mr Jones's office made us turn to each other. We burst into laughter, but immediately toned it down seeing we were still in front of the office.

"I'm so relieved the deal is successful." Mr Greg spoke up.

"Same here." I agreed with him. It was tough, but we scaled through.

"But what position are you giving Mr James?" Mr Greg asked as we made her way to the elevator.

"He will head Hardin's Construction."

"Hardin's Construction?!" His eyes widened, but I was not bothered. "Since all this is because of Hardin's Construction, why don't he head it."

"But what if he handles it in the wrong way?"

"He will take responsibility if anything happens." I told him, though I hope nothing goes wrong.

"And we just have to watch every one of his moves, no decision must be made without my approval."

"I understand." He answered and I smirked, I will just be giving him the control for show.

We left the company and were heading to my car when I heard my name being called. I turned to see James there.

"What are you still doing here?" I asked, surprised that he was still here after this time.

"I was waiting for you." I was more surprised by his reply.

My brows furrowed "Why would you wait for me?"

"I want us to have lunch together."

"I don't think that would be possible. As you can see, I am with Mr –"

"I will go first." Mr Greg cut in and I turned to him with raised brows.

"You should have lunch with your boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" I said, but he was already gone. James chuckled and I turned to him. "Is it funny?"

"It is." He nodded, and I glared at him.

He chuckled once again. "Let's go for lunch, girlfriend."

I hit his arm and he laughed out, placing his hand on the small of my back. A low gasp left my lips as a result of the coldness his hands brought. I was putting on a short blue gown which had a low back, and right now, his hands were ticklish and causing unexpected sparks

"Let's go." He led me to his car and we got in.