Chapter 28

The man sitting on the couch on the left hand side of Sean was the first person to show any reaction, he had beautiful long black hair which he packed in a low ponytail, he had intelligent black eyes that sparkled in the room and the attire he was dressed on spoke of great quality. He smiled as he looked from Sean to Athena and then back at Sean, "if it isn t Sean Brand," he grinned, "long time no see old friend."
Sean smiled and placed his hand at the small back of Athena, he led her towards the man just as Frank stood up, "Leo, if it isn t great to see you here in Chicago then I wonder what else would be," he shook his hand.
"Good evening, Mr. Brand," Frank greeted with a little nod.
Sean turned to him, a faint smile playing on his lips, "Frank Jones, I can t say if it s nice to see you because technically I wasn t expecting to see you."
"That s on me," Leo spoke up, sipping his drink, he placed the glass back on the table and without glancing at either of them, added, "I invited him, I called to tell you but your line was busy then I was like, oh well, you are going to see him here after all," he glanced at Sean then with a grin, "I wanted so badly to see the designer that my best friend asked to make a design solely for his date."
Sean chuckled and led Athena to sit on the empty couch very close to the one that Leo was sitting on, making Esperanza and Frank to be opposite them, "I just wanted to give it to him; I figured he had a talent and I would want to see how far he could go with it." Frank sat down then without a single word as the two most respected men talked about him.
"You know, I was surprised when I heard that, I have always believed Augustus was your favorite, I mean, he designed most of your models wears during the last two years we had signed him and then suddenly, the new designer got the contract to design a dress for your date," he glanced at Athena with a smile, "it was a shocker."
"Augustus still is my favorite, I want to try out Frank, see if he can be better."
Leo shrugged and picked up his glass, he took a sip and placed it back on the table, "well, it s your choice," he then glanced at Athena, "can I get an introduction now, who is the lovely lady with you?"
Sean glanced at Athena who hadn t looked up most of the time, she kept fiddling her fingers and he looked up at Frank, he would be a liar if he said he doesn t know that he recognized her because he had been watching how he kept glancing at her, "this is Athena," he smiled when he saw the look on Frank s face, "my girlfriend," he almost laughed out loud when Frank choked on the drink he had picked to take a sip from.
Not only Frank was in shock, Esperanza who had been waiting for the two friends to finish their pleasantries so that Sean would notice her presence was at lost on what she heard. Athena on the other hand finally looked up at Sean in shock, her eyes asked a million questions and her heart beats ten times faster.
Leo was the only person at the receiving end of Sean s words that doesn t look surprise or in shock, he casually sipped his drink and nodded, "I figured, when I heard about your request, I knew she wouldn t be just anyone otherwise why would you ask for a dress designed solely for her?" He glanced at Athena, "she is beautiful, unique and there is an air of innocent that goes with her aura, that makes her quite attractive," he smiled then looked at Sean, "I have always known you had a great taste, although through the years, I had thought it would be Esperanza," then he looked at her with a soft smile playing on his lips.
Esperanza, suddenly aware that everyone was looking at her was a little uncomfortable, she picked up her drink and tried to keep her shaking hand steady, in all her life she has never been that embarrassed and she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her.
"Esperanza is amazing, beautiful, elegant and charming," Sean praised, looking at her, she felt better hearing his words but she didn t expect what was coming next, "but you should know better, Leo, she is not the one for me."
It was hard keeping her cool anymore for Esperanza dropped her glass because she couldn t control her shaking hand. She stood up immediately and picked up her bag, "please excuse me, I need to use the lady s room," with that, she walked out of the room without a backward glance.
Sean smirked, why is it that revenge is so sweet? As everyone else was still in shock at what happened, he leaned closer to Athena and whispered, "see, even the best of the best can lose her cool, so don t feel bad if you do," when she looked up at him, he winked at her.
Athena was surprised; did Sean just have a revenge for her for what happened back in the house? If so, why would he do that? She looked away from him, lost in thoughts.
"Wow, I have never seen Esperanza so clumsy, this is a first," Leo commented with a little chuckle, "this night is a little interesting."
Sean smiled and glanced at Frank who he was sure was also uncomfortable on his seat, "I believe you knew I would be here, right Frank?"
Jagged out of his thoughts by the mention of his name, Frank cleared his throat, "yes…yes Mr. Brand."
"Did you bring any designs for me to look at?"
"Um…" Frank gulped, he did brought new designs to show him but finally proven that Athena was the one with him that night and the ones his designs were for, he doesn t know whether to show them to him or not. The thought that he had stayed up almost every night, thinking of the best design to draw for Sean s woman and then finally finding out that the woman was none other than his ex who he had dumped because she had no class really embarrassed him badly. He gulped once more and licked his lips, his eyes going up continuously to glance at Athena. Deep in his heart, he was wondering, how could Sean find her that attractive? What the heck is he saying, if she was looking this good when he was with her, he wouldn t have left her for anything in the world.
"I m waiting, Frank," Sean reminded.
"Um…no Mr. Brand, I m still working on my latest designs, I will send them to you when they are ready," he gulped.
"Okay," Sean nodded as the door opened and a waiter pushing a trolley with their orders entered, he served the food while Sean mainly poured a glass of wine for himself and Athena, he had called and placed orders for them when he was going home to pick Athena up.
Leo, with his drink in his hand watched the three people with him with a smile on his face, he didn t need to be told for he could already observed that the three had a history, but no need to worry, he knew Sean would tell him everything soon when they would be alone.
Esperanza didn t return to the room, neither did she go to the lady s room, when she left the private room; she couldn t take the embarrassment and had left the restaurant immediately. She still couldn t believe what she heard, that girl is Sean s girlfriend? But the last time she was in his house, there was no attraction between them, Sean even sat beside her and let her caress his hand, if she was his girlfriend, why would he do that? Or could it be that they got together after that day? But that can t be possible, when she had asked him about his love-life and why he hadn t announced any girl as his lover, he had said that they wasn t anyone in his heart at the moment, could he had developed the feelings within the short few days?
The harder it was for her to get to any conclusion the angrier it made her. To think that Sean had said in front of that graceless girl and Frank, who is so new to the showbiz life and then Leo that she wasn t the one for him made her so angry and hurt at the same time, how could he say such thing about her, if it was true, then why did he treat her differently all those years, why did he allow her to spend the nights in his home when no other model was allowed? It s true they have not been intimate but why did he let her kiss him that day? Yes, he hadn t kissed her back but he did let her kiss him but he had told her the next day not to do it again. She groaned and took off her shoe, throwing it at the dashboard of her car, startling her driver.
The man looked at her form the rearview mirror, surprised at why she was so feisty, she had been so calm when they arrived at the restaurant only for her to rush out half an hour later demanding him to take her home. He wanted to ask her if she was okay but he doesn t want to be rushed to the hospital with a hole in his head giving by a shoe heel.
Esperanza was aware that he was watching her and she tried so hard to control herself, she must uphold her image in the entertainment world and she couldn t risk the driver secretly taking a picture of her now. She took a deep breath to calm herself but she knows one thing was for certain, she must get to the bottom of things and see if Sean was really in a relationship with the so called Athena and the first thing she needs to do is get her biography and she already knows the man for the job. She smiled then, a little calmed from her raging attitude earlier, there is no way she would let any girl take Sean from her, she had been trying so hard for years to win his heart and no new, irrelevant girl would be ruining her plans.