Meeting Lucas

From the window of the upscale restaurant, Lucas Carter watched the city move, a smirk playing on his lips. He swirled the coffee in his cup, fingers drumming against the marble tabletop in an offbeat rhythm, as if composing a symphony of his own impatience. Two hours. Two whole hours. That had to be a record.

Evelyn Rayner's assistant had called him the previous day. Miss Rayner has scheduled a meeting with you at nine sharp. Not requested but scheduled. It was a power play.

If she had been anyone else, Lucas would have walked out, left a dramatically large tip. But this was Evelyn Rayner. And she was worth the wait.

Still, he had no doubt that she would accept the Zelius Project.

She had to.

The project was brilliant, the potential profits astronomical, anyone in her position would see its worth. He was certain. She wouldn't say no, but he was not afraid of the plan going wrong. 

His gaze flickered to the entrance of the restaurant. The rhythmic, confident clicks of heels against the polished floor, a slow metronome of authority. Heads turned. Conversations hushed into murmurs and then, she appeared in front of him.

Lucas had admired her from afar, watching her through television screens as she stepped onto the grand stage to receive her first award at just seventeen. A young girl starting her own company at sixteen and, within a year, carving a name for herself in an industry dominated by men twice or thrice her age.

And then, he saw her in person for the first time.

She was nineteen. He was twenty-three. It was the foundation day banquet of TGM Group, an event where only the titans of the industry gathered. The Thornton family had invited the biggest names in the market, but among them, the youngest giants were Evelyn Rayner and Adrian Vaughn.

She had been dazzling that night. A star burning so brightly that everyone around her seemed to dim in comparison.

Even his elder brother, Neil, the same Neil who looked down on everyone was also fawning over her. Neil, who had always carried nothing but disdain for Lucas, had humbled himself before Evelyn Rayner.

But Lucas? He had not even been allowed to attend.

He had stood on the balcony of the second floor, watching from the shadows, his eyes following Evelyn's every move as she maneuvered through the crowd, a vision of effortless power. She had been untouchable even then.

He had wanted to go downstairs. To stand in the crowd, to make his presence known. But he couldn't. He wasn't allowed to. So instead, he watched her. He watched as she smiled, not the soft, warm kind, but the kind that promised she knew exactly what she was doing.

Since that day, he had followed her every move. Through magazines. Through interviews.

At first, he had been content just watching. But human nature is a cruel thing. It never settles for just enough. He wanted more. He wanted to be noticed by her. He wanted to be acknowledged by her. And today, that moment had finally come. Lucas took a casual sip of his now lukewarm coffee, feigning nonchalance. But pulse thrumming.

Evelyn entered the restaurant. Her dress sculpted to her frame, the fabric pooling mid-thigh. Dark waves cascaded over and her skin pale and stood in striking contrast to the bold red of her lips. She walked as though she owned the world.

Evelyn finally looked at him straight but ultimately felt nothing.

In her past life, just two months before the merger of Eve Group into TGM Group, she had realized everything. Only then had she seen the game he had played with her heart.

She had been a fool for a decade. Everything had been happening in front of her, yet she had been too blind, too naïve, too trusting to see it. When the bubble finally burst, all she had was regret and despair. The damage was irreversible.

As she sat down across from him, her eyes locked onto his. Effortlessly, she turned to the approaching waiter. "A macchiato. No sugar."

The silence stretched. "The Zelius Project," she said finally, her voice a melody of silk and steel. "I'll invest."

Lucas let out a breath, satisfied. "That's good to hear, Miss Rayner"

"But."

She tilted her head slightly, a slow, deliberate smile curving her lips.

"There's a condition."

His smirk was instant. "Of course. And what might that be?"

"I don't want you in that project."

Silence.

Lucas's expression remained composed, but she saw the way his fingers tightened.

"I want the real person behind the project," she continued, her voice like a blade to his pride. "Not the pimp trying to pass it off as his own."

Lucas exhaled, smirking despite the blow. "That's an interesting choice of words, Miss Rayner."

She rested her chin on her hand. "Is it? I thought it was rather accurate."

His fingers drummed against the table and he stilled.

She took another sip of her coffee, savoring the silence. She placed her cup down, rising to her feet. She walked away, she paused.

"Oh, and Lucas?" she murmured as she turned back.

"You have one hour to think this through, in one hour I expect a call and next time you try to play a game, I don't think I'll be as forgiving as this time. Maybe I should've just called Neil Thornton and give an update about what his little brother is up to these days. I believe he'll rather appreciate my gesture." She said with a smirk

And with that, she was gone.