Christopher had been home resting for many days now. He had a few projects and appearances scheduled during the holiday season but he had purposely left his schedule open in the weeks following the start of the new year as he prepared to start the filming of MK"s new project. He was generally a very private person. He had never once had a scandal, never once caused a scene that led him to be on the page of a tabloid. Even in his days off he very rarely left his own apartment, meaning it had been many days now since he had last seen Elle.
The last time he had seen her was before the holiday"s, at MK. Even now, the memory of her sitting at Adam Hayes" desk turned up the corners of his lips into an amused smile.
"Elle Shaw, huh." He could never have guessed when he first met her, all those months ago, that their paths would cross this many times.
They were neighbours and friends. Although they were friends, Elle obviously treated him as some sort of younger brother but Christopher didn"t know how to describe what she was to him.
The best way Christopher could describe her is that she was a refreshing existence. She had approached him with no ulterior motives, even after she realized who he was. It was rare to see in his line of work. He would be lying if he said she hadn"t peaked his interests.
But now wasn"t the time to be distracted.
Christopher went into his home office and took a seat in the lounge chair there. The wall across from him was where he kept all his achievements. His trophies, awards, certificates, and the most prized memories from his career so far. Hanging amongst them now, in a distinguished hardwood frame, was a page from his new contract with MK for their upcoming film.
Behind clear gla.s.s was the signatory page. On one line was his own signature, and on the other was Adam"s signature as the CEO of MK. Christopher smiled and closed his eyes as he leaned back in his seat.
This was the first step to having his dream realized. He wouldn"t let anything or anyone distract him from it now.
~~~
It was already dark outside when Adam got out of the shower. He flopped tiredly onto the large bed, frowning at it"s emptiness. He could guess what Elle was up to so late at night, but he wasn"t pleased by the answer.
Adam sighed, rolling off the bed to dry his hair and change into pyjamas. As he shook the water from his hair he heard the sound of his phone ring.
He looked at the caller ID that flashed on the screen. Here, at least, was something he was pleased by.
"h.e.l.lo mother." He greeted.
"Am I your mother? I haven"t seen you in so long, I forgot I had a son."
"Don"t be like that. You know how busy I am. If you wanted me to have time to come by the house you should have stopped father from interfering in the company"s matters and creating more work."
"If you ever discover a way to control your father you must let me know right away." His mother sighed. Adam smiled. Surely this is was where he had gotten his own teasing nature from.
"Don"t worry too much, take care of your health. I"ll come by the house soon. I"m not sure if you remember, last time I told you I had someone to introduce to you."
"Oh, that"s right! Who is it? Someone related to the company?"
"You"ll see when we come over. I"ll send you a date so prepare a nice lunch that day."
"Jeez, how cryptic. Truly like father like son."
"I"ll talk to you later. Goodnight."
After hanging up the phone Adam went in search of his mystery guest.
~~~
Elle was busy preparing for the production of her novel. It was fun work, she couldn"t deny, but also quite nerve-wracking. It was her precious novel. The one thing that had comforted her and kept her sane in the years before she met Adam. But this project was also her way of being useful to Adam. Their success was truly intertwined this time. She wanted to do everything well.
Elle often stayed up late into the night these days, researching, drafting, and going over every inch of doc.u.mentation two or three times before finally approving of it.
It was getting late into the night when Adam appeared at her study"s doorway, yawning.
"If I had known you would divulge this much time into it, I wouldn"t have asked you to do this project in the first place." He grumbled.
Elle smiled. "It doesn"t feel like real work. This may be the first and last time I get to enjoy this type of project. Let me enjoy it while it lasts."
"I"ll let you enjoy it only while the sun is up. You"re going to get sick if you keep this up. Sleep properly, come to bed now."
"I"m almost done going through these doc.u.ments. You sleep first, I"ll join you in a bit."
Adam sighed and dropped his head as Elle turned back to her papers.
She hadn"t noticed when Adam crossed the room, suddenly his arms were around her waist, hoisting her up and over his shoulder.
"What should I do?" Adam asked, ignoring Elle"s shrieks and protests. "I seem to have developed a condition where I can"t fall asleep if you"re not in my arms."
Elle couldn"t help but be pleased at that. "Fine." She laughed.
Elle rested her head against Adam"s back, listening to his strong heartbeat as he carried her back to their room and again later as she lay against his chest in the dark. Eventually she let the strong, even, tone of it lull her to sleep.
~~~
In a private villa Amelia sat resting in a bath full of scented oils and flower petals. She had come here to recoup after her recent loss.
Amelia had a bitter start to her new year. Feeling embarra.s.sed and ashamed she was forced to acknowledge that Elle wouldn"t be as easily defeated as she once thought. But Amelia was a fierce compet.i.tor. She still had this production project with MK up her sleeve. She would do her best until the very end to sway Adam"s heart.
With that level of determination fuelling her she thought long and hard about her next move. Amelia had fought with the underhand this whole time, but she was still in the game. If she wanted to rise to the top it was time to make bigger moves.
Amelia decided to use this opportunity to introduce a new player before Adam had the chance to.
She rose out of the bath and wrapped herself in a fluffy robe. With a gla.s.s of champagne in hand she went to retrieve her phone from the nightstand and casually laid on her bed as she dialed a familiar number.
"h.e.l.lo?"
"h.e.l.lo, aunty." Amelia greeted Mrs. Hayes with perfect manners. "Happy new year."
They talked for a while before Amelia finally got the purpose of her call.
"I actually have something private I wanted to confide in you about. Do you mind if I come over to see you tomorrow?"