CHAPTER 4: CHERRY BLOSSOM

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Love is much like a wild rose, beautiful and calm......

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Riven got into the office extremely early on purpose, and he knew it would be impossible for Arabella to be in at that time. He just wanted to continue with his torment.

He sat at his office bar and had quarter of a glass of scotch. The pulsations were getting worse, and Arabella's faint scent in air wasn't helping his situation. He was growing a monstrous passion. And things didn't make sense.

He engrossed himself in his work, preparing for the day's meetings. After a couple of more hours, he went to check if Arabella had come in, but there was no sign that she had. So he sat on her desk and waited for her. About thirty minutes later, she came waltzing in, like the world was hers.

He couldn't deny that the world could be hers, if she so set her mind to it. Because she was making a powerful man such as himself to crumble. But he had every intention to hold onto his sanity, he wasn't going to lose that easily.

Her lovely dark brown hair was held up in a ponytail, and her medium-sized figure was fitted in a decent dress that hugged her nicely and stopped just below the knees, it was accompanied with a blazer, suede flats and a lady's bag. He ran his eyes up and down before she could notice what he was doing. He summoned his bravery and was back to his normal self.

"You're late Arabella, you're now down by 65%." He said as calmly as he could and quickly went to his office before she could see that he was affected, by her. Her presence did things to him, and he'd only have as much control.

Being around her was like walking on a tight rope, and if he slipped, he would fall into the pit of insanity.

He sat in his chair, poured himself half a glass of scotch and tanked it down like he was extinguishing a fire. But the fire didn't die down, it was instead fueled further.

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Arabella placed a slight knock on Riven's door before she entered, she found him gazing through the windows, his hands in his pockets. He was so majestic, his physique right as rain. She thought inwardly. She made calculated steps towards Riven, before finally addressing him.

"Excuse me sir, the first meeting is about to start." She said, in a half-whisper. He turned around, his face amused at how shy Arabella was.

"You're gonna have to be a little louder than that if you want me to hear you, Arabella." He said, and there it was, the sweetness that came from saying her name, it was the most delicious taste.

Arabella instead walked closer so that he would be able to hear her. His amusement deepened, as he watched her approaching him, but stopped a few feet away from him.

"The first meeting is about to start, sir." She repeated, but Riven could tell that she was trying so hard to be confident, because she could not keep direct eye contact.

"Am I a monster Ms. Gold?" The question threw Arabella aback, what did he mean by that? Had he seen himself in mirror? He must have known he was quite contrary to a monster.

"Uhm, no sir." She replied, unsure if her voice had exposed her nervousness.

"Good. Then why don't you look at me whenever you speak?" He asked.

But before she answered, he made quick strides towards her, closing any distance that may have once existed between them. His hand grabbed her chin, gently this time, and made her look into his eyes.

His gaze was so intense and for the first time, she got a good look at face, and his dark grey-blue eyes. Looking into his eyes, she was gradually enveloped by a warmth that emanated from their depth. At the moment, he was no longer the monster who pointed a gun at her father, but the most handsome man, with soft beautiful eyes, that she'd ever seen. His eyes must be made sinful.

It was like a green plant, surrounded by rot and decay. His hoarse facial expression always covered his tender eyes and one had to get so close to actually notice.

"Always look me in the eye when you say something. I don't want to make that a rule." He said, and didn't give her a chance to reply, as he walked right out of the doors. His request was an easy one, Arabella wouldn't mind that, she would instead revel in looking at his gorgeous eyes.

"Come with the files you sorted out yesterday." He said before he was totally out of view. And what a view it was, watching him walk away like a king, his broad back flexing with each step.

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"Mr.Donnatiello, I love the proposal, but what about the numbers." One of the men on the enormous table asked.

"Arabella, hand out the files." Riven said. And Arabella got up from the chair behind a little office desk, in the corner of the room and started to hand out files to the men at the table.

She was uncomfortable all the while, because she could feel many sets of eyes on her, and relief washed over her when she was about to finish handing out the documents. The last person was Riven, and he sat calmly in his seat, waiting to be served.

He was among the men who hadn't kept their eyes off of Arabella from the moment she got up from her chair, till the present. Her dress this time hugged her in all the right angles, even though it didn't show much, just seeing her in it caused havoc. The only thing better than wearing lingerie, was the right cloth that left room for wild imagination like, "wouldn't ripping it off be a delight!" And that's exactly what Arabella wore.

"Is that all Mr. Donnatiello?" The lovely lady asked, snapping Riven out of his lustful gaze. Snap, he had been caught staring, but had she noticed? He sure hoped not.

"Yes." He said, trying to avoid her eyes, for he was afraid that his face held an emotion, ....embarrassment. She went back to her place in the corner, as the the all men at the table perused through the files, except for Riven, who sat in silence.The room was momentarily flooded with the sound of flipping paper.

One by one, the men started to change their facial expressions. Riven noticed, but he waited for them to forward their concerns. And it wasn't long until one of them spoke up.

"What is this? The numbers are poor, it's almost like we will be making losses on purpose. This is outrageous Mr. Donnatiello." The man who spoke earlier said, and all the others agreed with him by a simple nod.

Riven ran his eyes through the documents once more and saw what had caused the alarm. They were not the papers Arabella was supposed to give out.

He looked at her as he felt a fire burning inside him. He was extremely short tempered and didn't tolerate any form of incompetence.

"I'm sorry gentlemen, it appears that my assistant mixed up the paperwork." Excuse me and her for a minute." Riven said, as he got up from his seat, made his way to the exit. As he passed by Arabella, he gestured with his hand for her follow him.

She followed him into a secluded hallway, where he turned to face her, his face being devoured by fury. If he had a match stick, he would light it with the utter rage that emanated from him.

Arabella took cautious steps back, she didn't really think that mixing up of documents would rile him up this way. He noticed her movement, and he let her be. Seeing her cower away, her pure hazel eyes glinting with fear, and her face mirroring fright, made all the flames of rage fade away, and so he willed himself to calm down.

Suddenly, her being comfortable around him really mattered to him. He wanted to pull her close, let her know that he was not going to do anything to her....but he couldn't, approaching her would only cause more fear. And how he handled the situation came as a shock, even to him.

"Go prepare the files for our appointment at the restaurant, I'll finish the meeting alone. Don't mess this up too, I'm not big on handing out chances." He said before walking straight passed her and back into the conference room. Arabella stood their in place for a moment, she didn't know what to make of anything. She had been extremely clumsy, but she didn't expect to get off the hook entirely without even a punishment. A salary deduction in the least, but nothing was just, well...... nothing.

Truly, he was not big on second chances, he only started giving them when he met Arabella on that fated night. Infact, had she not been there, her father would now be a corpse six feet under.

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Riven and Arabella were sitting in a luxurious restaurant, waiting for a business partner. Every once in while, Arabella stole glances at Riven, who was tapping away on his phone.

"Something amusing Arabella?" He asked, then looked in her direction, her face mirroring shock and shame. But the person who appeared next to Riven and gently tapped his shoulder, saved her from replying.

A lovely emerald-green eyed man was staring down at her, with a smile that went on for decades, playing on his handsome face. From atop his head, fell curled up and also silky red hair that stopped slightly above his neck. His defined jaw had a well-kept red stubble.

He winked at her, after having noticed that she had frozen like a deer in headlights, when she laid her eyes on him. And just like a snowball's chance in hell, she wasn't powerful enough to stop her cheeks from burning with a red.

Just like Riven, he too was surrounded by an aura of grace and authority. Right now Arabella felt surrounded by a sea of pure perfection....created by two men.

"Hello Arabella. I'm Beau. Beau Jefferson Hartley II." He said, in a smooth bass, befitting of his personality. Of course he was Beau! Arabella felt the urge to find his parents and ask them if they used nomenclature much.

Yesterday she barely got to be hang around attractive yet powerful men, but today, they were swarming in like bees attracted to nectar....was she the nectar?

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Love is much like a wild rose, beautiful and calm, but willing to draw blood in it's defense.

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