42. Almost... But??!!

Liam was just looking at Lara who was completely engrossed in her own thoughts and her phone. The afternoon sun rays had and alluring effect on her. Her blue eyes were so deep that one would get completely immersed in it. He hair was softly fluttering because of the soft wind.

Sensing someone's stare, Lara looked up. She saw Liam staring at her and asked in confusion," Boss?? Do you need something??..". He snapped out of his daze and cleared his throat awkwardly." Umm.. No- Nothing Lara", he said.

Idiot why are you stuttering. He cursed while face palming himself mentally.

Lara just nodded and continued looking into her phone waiting for Lina. While Liam was having a war between his heart and brain. His heart was begging him to confess his feelings while his brain was telling him that he is the CEO of a company, what will happen to his image if he gets rejected.

But after a few seconds, he mustered up the courage and spoke up." Lara I want to tell you something..", he said. She looked up from her phone with an innocent face.

Liam started feeling his heart drumming against his ribs. He took a deep breath in and started," Lara.. What I wanted to tell you is…". But he suddenly got cut by Lina." Hey guys I found the clue!!!....", she said while running.

" Oh wow!!.. Come on let us go to the next location..", Lara exclaimed and both of the ladies left without giving the depressed Liam a single glance.

I had finally found the guts to confess to her… But this Lina.. I had almost.. But.. Couldn't she wait for two more minutes.. Liam thought sadly and sighed. He only snapped out of his thoughts when he heard both Lina and Lara yelling at him excitedly as they solved the next clue.

Marina's team came first. Lara's and Liam's team came second. They were all given gift vouchers. After that they had a camp fire at night.

Some of the people sang and danced. Even some professional singers performed. But throughout the performance, Liam's eyes were only on one person. He couldn't take his eyes off Lara, no matter what. It was a great thing that he could stare at her with a straight face.

To others he would like just like looking around calmly because of his poker face. But little did they know that his heart was doing summersaults inside.

The rest of the stay went like wind. Soon they all returned back to their houses and back to their normal routines.

It wouldn't be a lie to tell that the workers were all de-stressed after the stay. Living amongst nature did calm their nerves. Now they were all ready to get back to work with full energy.

A few days later.

Lara woke up later than usual. She had a meeting with Liam and few other companies including her brothers today morning. She was shocked and rushed to the bathroom. At that moment she felt like someone stabbed her on her stomach and crouched down from pain. She realized that she was on her period.

She usually didn't have bad cramps. It was only a once in a while thing. But it seemed like that time was now. She quickly pulled herself up to get painkillers. But to her dismay, she had run out of them. She took a deep breath to calm herself and quickly got dressed and rushed to the office.

After reaching the office she immediately went to Liam's cabin and apologized." I am sorry boss.. Today I woke up late… This will never happen again..", she started and bowed a few times in apology. Liam just looked at his watch, it was 8:45. The meeting would only start at 10.

He just sighed and said," It's okay Lara. You are still not yet late.. There is still more than an hour left for the meeting..". She just nodded and left after apologising once again. She was slightly stiff while walking and Liam noticed it.

Is she unwell??.. He thought. But then he just shrugged it off thinking that he was just hallucinating.

At 10 o'clock.

Lara walked into the meeting room after Liam. Actually Miles was supposed to attend the meeting but he had to go on an emergency business trip and hence Lara was attending in his place.

The minute she walked, most of the guys were attracted to her. She saw her brothers sitting and slightly smiled at them, they also nodded in response. She went and sat beside Liam's seat. The men were still looking, no staring at her.

Suddenly the temperature in the room dropped. The people turned and were met with three pairs of cold and dark eyes. Liam, Tom and Mike were glaring at all the men with a look saying,' Don't you dare look at our girl'. All the guys gulped and forced themselves to look away.

Soon the meeting began. Mike was explaining briefly regarding one of their upcoming collaborations. Lara was feeling the intensity of her cramps increase every minute. She was slightly looking down and closing her eyes so as to not scream out loud.