Chapter 21

He glanced at the man next to her whose eyes were as wide as saucers. He knew he wasn't interested in Tina, so he wasn't worried.

Not that he had anything to be worried about. He was going to go on dates with other women soon. She wasn't the only woman in the world!

He groaned internally. He wasn't supposed to be attracted to her beauty. Her expressive eyes. Her lush lips. Her body...

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"You look good, too, Mr. Samuels," the guy beside her blurted.

He turned to him, trying to remember his name. If he ever got his name.

"It's Chef. And thank you, Mr..." he trailed off.

He grinned. "Oh, my name is Lamont."

"Oh. Lamont." He offered his hand for a shake, to which he enthusiastically took.

"I'm her assistant and we're here to... socialize. What about you?" Lamont said after Trevor broke off the handshake.

His statement made him remember Tina was a business woman. And she had a wine company. He didn't know why he never asked her the name. These days he never went online to check anything but his family business, never her. He just had an inkling that he would find out something he wouldn't like. Something that would bother him.

A dumb thought. But still.

"Um, Trevor?"

He snapped out of his thoughts to turn his attention back to Tina, who looked uneasy for some reason. It's not like he was questioning her seriously.

"Yeah?"

"You didn't answer the question."

"Oh." Then he thought about it before answering. "I kinda had a hand in making the company." At the shocked look on their face, he let out a laugh. "Not a lot of people know. And I wanted it to be like that. But I guess today everyone in the media will know."

"Are you serious?" she asked. "That's impressive."

He smiled, happy she was impressed. "So what's the name of your company?"

To his surprise, he saw her hesitate. And that made him curious.

Unfortunately, he was interrupted by a clap on his back. "Hey, bro." Then Quentin gasped. "Oh. I didn't know it was you from how beautiful you looked. And just... different."

Trevor looked confused as he looked from his friend to Tina who he was looking at.

"Uh, do you know each other from somewhere?"

He didn't remember ever introducing her to Quentin. He and Quentin were friends, but Tina was never interested in business meetings or meeting the people he knew. Except Mike. Their relationship was a secret, in a way. He'd mentioned he had a girlfriend though, but never said her name. Or shows her face to him.

Tina began to speak, but was interrupted immediately. "I-"

"Of course! I mean she's Valentina Reuben, as she'd like to be called. But that's not her true surname. I bet you already know each other, but if I tell you her surname, you'd definitely know who she-"

"I'm here to network, so I'd like to get as much friends and acquaintances as possible today."

Quentin laughed. "Well, the acquaintance and friend is me, and Trevor right here. So I think you'll fine."

She blinked, looking surprised as she exchanged glances with Lamont.

"You can talk to people while I and Trevor do same. Don't leave early though, so you can leave your number. It would be cool if we checked out your winery."

Trevor's eyes locked onto hers, searching for something. He wanted to know more about her. Quentin was about to say something about her family when she interrupted him. He knew it was intentional. He could see it in her face.

Trevor's grip on the whiskey glass he was given by Quentin tightened, his mind racing with questions. But he said nothing.

He was sure Tina could tell what was on his mind though. And she gave a small smile.

They were going to talk.

***

Tina couldn't socialize much. She didn't know Quentin knew who she was, considering the time they met, they barely spoke. She wasn't exactly famous- her parents were well known though. Her surname was.

She wondered how after all these years Trevor still didn't know. A quick Google search would inform him. And make him madder. When they met again, she thought he'd be mad. Not just because she left him, but because she never told him the truth.

But he didn't know. And she'd have to tell him herself.

God, she didn't want to at all.

She informed Lamont and Quentin who gave her a curious look as she moved towards the door a minute ago, that she wanted to go see the fountain up close. Of course, that brightened Quentin's face and he shooed her away.

She didn't look for Trevor because he was preoccupied, a few persons trying to get his attention. But she bet by now he knew she wasn't inside.

She groaned as she stretched a bit, sitting on the somehow comfortable bench.

"May I ask a question?"

She turned to look at him, heart beating at the look on his face. He was curious, and she was scared that she was going to tell him the truth the longer they spoke.

"Yes," she said, looking away to stare at the fountain. "You may."

"I'm guessing I don't really know much about you and you haven't told me the truth," he said, sounding monotonous. "It's definitely my fault though."

She took in a deep breath when he sat down beside her. His scent filled her nose despite the cool breeze blowing in the night.

"It's not really your fault," she told him. "I just don't... didn't have the guts to tell you the truth."

She saw him lean his back on the bench through the corner of her eyes as his arms spread, one towards her shoulders, a finger almost brushing against her.

"So what's the truth then?" he asked after contemplating.

"Your friend mentioned my parents," she began, trying to arrange her thoughts.

"Yeah. I don't know any Reubens though."

She nodded. "That's because I changed my name."

After he took her words in, he asked, "So what's your name?"

She sighed as she responded. "Valentina Fawyer."

She heard Trevor let out a surprise gasp beside her. The surname wasn't very common in the business industry, so she knew he definitely her name. She was sure.

"Fawyer?"

She nodded. She was fighting the urge to turn to look at him. But she couldn't tell what he was thinking from his tone. She was so sure he was going to curse her out or something. But instead, he surprised her with a question.

"Why did you change your surname?"

"They were trying to make me do things I didn't want to. And I... I decided to adopt Andrew's family surname. They were all too happy to take me in when I left at age sixteen."

"Hm."

"You're not saying anything," she whispered, twisting her fingers around each other, not knowing what exactly to do with them.

"You lied to me... All those years." He continued. "You lied to me and my family. After everything."

She felt her heart hurting. His voice has no emotion, but his words were sharp.

She turned to look at him now, taken aback at the look on his face. His eyes showed no emotion, neither did his face. And that was enough signs to show how angry he was feeling.

"I..."

"What's the name of your winery?"

"Valentina Heritage."

He nodded. "Pretty cool name. You didn't use Fawyer."

"L-listen, Trevor... I didn't know earlier about everything. And when I found out, I decided to leave because I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want to cause you more pain, I..." she tried to explain, her voice cracking.

"Well, you already did." He stood up. "In more ways than one."

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she stood up, too.

He stared at her in silence for a bit before speaking again, "Quentin knew about you, but not your name. I won't tell him, because it's not necessary. And we're not too close. If your wine is good, Quentin will help you out. I won't use this against you."

She wanted to cry to him. In thanks. In apologies.

She tried to touch his hand, but he backed off.

"Once I've digested this, we'll talk," he says one last time, before he left her standing alone in the cold, some water from the fountain touching her bare skin.

She sighed as she let drops of tears fall down her eyes.

She was both relieved she'd finally told some part of the truth. But she was also terrified... Terrified that Trevor hated her.

She didn't want him to hate her.

She never wanted this.