Chapter 9



Charles POV

"Fuck!"

I growled out loud, pacing a hole into the rug of my hotel room. My heart beating a million miles per second. I was practically panting for breath.

In my mind, I had been well hidden. But I guess sitting at the far end of the room and using the restaurant flowers as an advantage wasn't good enough to not get noticed.

How had she even seen me? One minute she was staring out the show glass, and the next she was moving towards me with intent. The expression on her face, deadly.

I did the only thing I was able to do at that point. I prepared myself to face her. Just as I had done in the morning.

But then something shocking happened. She was bumped into. But that wasn't the shocking part. It was the fact that the person who did was none other than Robert.

I couldn't believe it.

What the fuck was he doing here? Bumping into Annabelle was a strategic action. And I was glad Annabelle could see it.

After the slap, I took the opportunity given and slipped out of the hall before she could realize what was happening. By the time she gets back to her mission, which was obviously me, I would've been long gone.

I stopped pacing, I had a plan to execute. I was going to deal with Robert later. But right now, Annabelle was a priority.

Lowering myself to the bed, I began to undress. I removed my coat, tie and shoe. Then dropped them on the bed beside me and turned on the TV with the remote I had picked from the table. The room blasted to life with Trace TV giving songs that connected well with my sour mood.

I hopped into the shower a few minutes later, needing to wash away the craziness of the day. Turning on the shower to its full blast capacity, I made sure it was cold.

I needed a cold shower after all the pent up frustration I had piled up today. It irked me to no end that not only had my meeting felt like a flop, Vivian the receptionist, whom I was hoping would release all this pent up energy, had decided to stop being a receptionist to become a maid. Which I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around.

After the shower, I picked up a white sweatshirt and a pair of blue jeans, with a pair of brown sandals and my swiss wristwatch. All I needed now was a little cologne and I was good to go.

Picking up my room card, black leather wallet and Annabelle's blue purse, I walked out of the room and stepped into the elevator. I pressed the button that was significant to the ground floor and stepped in.

Glancing at my watch, I discovered it was 29 minutes past 1 pm. Just one minute Into the two-minute timing I gave myself.

Great.

I stepped out of the elevator and headed into the dimly lit bar. Scanning the room for Annabelle, I saw her by the bar, sitting on one of the barstools and chatting comfortably with the bartender. I checked my watch again. 1:30 pm. Perfect!

As I approached her, I could see the expanse of her back exposed, the bikini she wore did nothing to hide her creamy skin.

Damn!

Blood flowed to my head, making me dizzy within minutes. This lady was getting to my head too fast for comfort. If I wasn't careful, she was gonna be the death of me.

I heard her laugh at something the bartender said and jealously overcame me. I didn't like the way she was getting too comfortable with him. I felt like breaking his jaw for even looking at her. What on earth has come over me?

"Lust" my mind answered. I ignored it.

Taking the sit that was two stools away from her, I dropped her purse on the counter, away from her line of sight, and signalled to the bartender.

"Can I get a glass of scotch please?" I said slowly to the bartender, making sure not to look directly at her, but observing her reactions from the corner of my eyes.

On hearing my voice I saw her body tense up. She became as still as a statue.

She recognized my voice.

I saw her peek at me from the corner of her eyes to confirm if I was truly I, and on discovering that I was, there, she took a large gulp of water from her glass in an attempt to calm her nerves.

Was I making her nervous?

From the angle I was at, the expression she gave up was anger. Which I guessed was a ploy to mask her true feelings.

Nevertheless, I was half expecting her to come over and give me a piece of her mind, but she didn't. Instead, she pretended not to have heard my voice or seen me, casually sipping her glass of water as she turned to the bartender she was previously talking to.

"Hey, can I get more of this amazing water you gave me?" He was currently mixing up my scotch with ice.

"Yeah... Just give me a minute will ya?" he answered, quickly placing the glass of scotch in front of me, then going back to serve her the water she requested.

"Yeah, take your time. Are you sure you won't just tell me this recipe? so I can stop bothering you." she said teasingly.

The bartender smiled. "No ma'am, and you can threaten me using Amy all you want, but I am going to the grave with my grandma's recipe." And with that, he placed the glass of water in front of her.

The guy had sauce I admit, but Annabelle wasn't the kind of girl that could easily be swayed. The fact that she was a successful partner at William & Belle, proved enough on its own.

"We'll see about that Mr....?" she smirked as she traced her fingers around the tip of her glass cup. "Justin," he answered, sending her a challenging look. She stared right back, her lips forming that sinister smirk again.

She was successfully ignoring me and I didn't like it.

Time for plan B.

I picked up her purse and placed it directly at her line of sight on the counter. Make sure to position it where she would surely see it.

It worked. Her eyes landed on the purse at the same time her lips touched the glass cup. She dropped the glass back on the counter as her mouth fell open, bewilderment, anger and relief plastered on her face.

She stood up slowly from her stool and approached me, looking from her purse to my face. I completely ignored her, faking ignorance. On getting to me she picked up the purse and I chose that moment to turn towards her.

I stopped short, pretending not to have noticed her until now. I frowned a little as if I was trying to ascertain or comprehend where I knew her from.

We stood like that for some minutes, then finally, she broke.

"You fucking thief," she exploded, "So you actually stole from me?"

I was expecting a lot of things from her. A spurt of anger, some insults maybe, but not this.

"What the fuck are you talking about Miss?" I asked her, shock plastered on my face.

"Are you trying to imply that you don't remember me?" she replied, placing her hands on her hips as she continued without waiting for my reply, "Or do you want to claim that you didn't bump into me to steal my purse?"

"Of course not! I would never do such a thing. I am many things Miss, but a thief isn't one of them."

Damn! I was offended. This was a twist I wasn't expecting at all.

"Why would you think I stole from you in the first place? You bumped into me just as much as I bumped into you!" I charged.

"Oh really? So let's say you accidentally picked the purse. Why didn't you return it?" She asked hotly, brows knitted in a thin line. "Were you even planning on returning it at all?" She asked again as she dropped the purse on the counter and set her blazing gaze on me.

I stared right back at her as I replied: "Of course, I was planning on returning it!" I replied hotly. This was really getting out of hand. I had to do something quickly.

"When we bumped into each other earlier today, I was in a hurry. So when I saw your purse after you left, I couldn't go after you or drop it at the reception. I took it along with me for my meeting " She nodded, paying kin attention to me. Undoubtedly, to find a flaw.

I ignored the tightness in my chest as I continued, "Unfortunately, my meeting wasn't satisfactory. So when I got to the hotel, I went into my room to rest my head."

She nodded, dragging the stool closest to her to sit on.

"It was after I woke up an hour later, I remembered that your purse was still in my possession, so I freshened up, and went to the lobby to return it."

"So why didn't you?" She asked, placing her hands on her knees and rubbing, my eyes followed.

Concentrate damn it!

"Because the lady that was on duty in the morning wasn't there anymore, so I thought to myself, you might have already relayed the information to that lady, and maybe dropped your contact in case your purse was returned."

"OK that's logical" she concurred.

"So I decided--"

"You decided to keep it until the lady that was on duty arrived." she finished.

"Yes, now you get it," I answered.

She paused for a while, then asked: "So you are saying, you didn't even open the purse to find my ID?"

"I didn't," I lied. Half of the explanation I gave her was a lie anyway. Might as well just finish it.

"That sounds stupid but honourable," She said, and I chuckled.

"So are you gonna apologize for calling me a thief? Or crucify me because I bumped into you earlier?" I asked. Giving her a calculated look.

She finally smiled. "Don't worry, I promise not to crucify you anytime soon. I'm Annabelle." She said as she offered me her hands for a handshake.

"Okay then. I guess it's a start." I said as I took her soft hands into mine.

Now to plan C...