DEVIL’S ADVOCATE
Maria paced to and fro, hand on chin, face set in a tight frown. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Reid stood a chance to gain more from the deal and at the same time, she couldn’t back out because as much as she hated to admit it, it was a good way to expand the business and make high profits. Maybe leaving Clara in charge of the head branch wouldn’t be so bad too, considering she basically knew Clara’s family ties and other personal information. Plus, they were considerably close friends.
However, that meant she would have to stay with Athina for a while. Her lack of clothes were an issue since she only packed enough for two weeks but thankfully, her mother had decided to come visit Athina and along with her, bring the rest of her accessories. She had just explained to both her parents what had been going on with the business the night before. It was through face time, she could see her mother’s smile crack with uncertainty and her father looked down sadly, no doubt be still felt bad that she had to shoulder the needs of the family alone.
“Don’t worry, Athina’s husband has some major ties with successful businessmen and as a matter of fact, his cousin has decided to invest in my business.” She assured them with a smile, although her nose twitched in annoyance at herself for making Reid sound like the hero of the story.
“How many percent?” Her father frowned after her asked his question. Maria knew she could not wiggle out of this question. Her father was very smart business-wise as he studied something relating to it in college and as a matter of fact, he had helped her draw up her business plan when she wanted to start her business years ago. He had been with her every step of the way, telling her when to invest more, giving her promotional ideas and the sorts.
“40” She answered softly and his eyes widened slightly but he nodded and looked to his wife to give her a comforting smile. Maria knew he had objections but her father always respected her decisions and she loved him for that.
All too soon, the call ended with her mom promising to come visit soon and assuring Maria that she would not mention anything about the state of the business to her siblings, especially Giselle.
Her phone pinged with a notification and she rushed to the bedstand to pick it up. She bit her lip and a rosy blush painted her cheeks as she stared at the message. She was currently in her room, dressed in a pink pajamas and her hair packed in a messy bun. It had been three days since she finalised give deal with Reid, four days since she met the reason behind the blush that aggressively painted her cheek. Kyros.
They had been texting non-stop since they met and she found him to be nit just polite but surprisingly very funny too. She still stared at his recent text, her hands hovering over her keyboard as she thought of a reply.
“Can we go grab coffee later today?” It read.
Choosing not to put much thought into it, she replied ‘yes’ and turned off the screen immediately. She tutted at herself for acting like a schoolgirl all flustered and inexperienced. She decided to go downstairs to see what was found on as it was 9am.
Her bubbly bounce down the stairs stopped short when she saw Colton and Reid seared in the sitting room, each dressed casually and looked to be holding a glass of orange juice. Reid’s smile caught her attention and her gaze skipped away hastily as he was yet to notice her presence. She mentally noted that he looked good in casual clothes. She had never seem him in anything but a suit or button up shirt but now seeing him in grey sweats and a black fitted polo, she couldn’t stop looking.
It was a Saturday hence the dressing and lounging around. She spotted Athina by the dining staring at her phone with a smile and made a beeline for her.
“What are you smiling at?” Maria asked as soon as she got to where her best friend sat and without waiting for a reply, she peered into the screen to see Athina was having a chat with Giselle. Of course.
“She says she wants to come over with mom because she hasn’t seen me since my wedding” Athina chuckled
“And what about school? She’s still in a school session”
“Exactly what I told her. She seems pretty pissed that you didn’t tell her you’d be moving here”
“I didn’t plan to, it just happened. I don’t want her to know about the business” Maria replied ad she grabbed Athina’s plate of fruits and started eating it.
“Giselle is not a little girl anymore, I’m sure she’ll understand” Athina assured softly
“In time, I will. So,” Maria’s eyes shot to Colton excitedly and back to Athina “How’s the father to be taking the news?” She almost squealed.
They had a celebratory dinner last night after Athina had announced the news of her pregnancy. Colton was so overwhelmed with joy, he literally jumped with excitement. It was all so lovely to see.
Of course Reid was there too, sharing in their happiness.
Athina smiled. “You know Colton, he’s being over protective and he says he will start ordering things to set up the baby’s nursery” She rubbed her tummy lightly. “I’m just so glad my baby will get the most loving father a child could ever wish for”
“The most loving mother too. You’ve got this ” Maria grabbed Athina’s hand in a comforting gesture and they both exchanged a smile of encouragement to each other. They were both at important phases of their lives and honestly, Maria would not want to spend this moment with anyone but Athina.
They spent some time talking about Kyros and Maria gushed at how funny and enchanting he was. She went on his Instagram to show Athina some pictures of him and Athina was not disappointed.
“Damnnn Minnie, you really hit the gold mine with this one. He does not look bad at all” Athina exclaimed and elbowed Maria in the ribs suggestively “So?”
“We’re going to get coffee later today” Maria said in a shy voice
“I love a sharp shooter. So a casual date it is, trust me to make you look good and casual. You don’t want to look too official like you tend to all the time, and I don’t want you looking under dressed either so we’ll give you something just perfect for the context”
“What I say doesn’t matter does it? My dressing is left to you then Mrs Martakis ”
Not too long after, Reid sauntered in sporting a bored look on his face. His brown hair was tousled attractively as he squinted at his phone.
“Morning Athina, you look good as usual. Your husband’s excitement hasn’t been easy to deal with since you shared the the good news. He’s all over the place with the thought of being a father” Reid laughed and Athina shook her head, her lips had a hint of a smile though. Reid turned his attention to Maria then. “Morning. I want us to go check out a few places my estate manager recommended for the location of the new branch so we can decide as soon as possible. I’ll drive us there and back”
Maria’s eyes shot to the clock to see it was 11am. She was yet to eat a proper meal or take her bath. A thought flew through her mind that she was the only one still dressed in her pajamas and that clearly told the story of how she hadn’t had her bath yet. Embarrassment clung to her like a second skin and with the way Reid’s eyes went over her clothing she could tell he probably thought she was a piglet.
“Uh, I’ll have to freshen up and eat something first” She stuttered
“Of course you do. No time to prepare a meal, we’ll leave in thirty minutes. We can grab coffee and snacks on our way back”
Maria and Athina’s eyes locked in a surprised gaze. Was Reid Martakis being nice? More importantly, what would she do about Kyros? What time would she even be back from this?
“Let’s just reschedule” Maria suggested
“Not possible. The only days in a week I’m free ate Saturday and Sundays. Today is Saturday and I have an outing with my friends tomorrow. It has to be today or next week Saturday and that’s too far. I’m too busy with running the firm during the weekdays”
Athina just sat there assessing the situation. Reid was right, he was almost never free on weekdays but then she knew Maria would be worried about Kyros. Just a moment before, Maria had been so excited.
Maria looked down suddenly before deciding to tell Kyros their little meeting will not be possible. She would explain to him, he should understand. She smiled lightly Athina who gave a a worried look. Reid didn’t seem to notice the mood change in the room as he retraced his steps back to the sitting room where he sat with Colton. Through her strong dislike for Reid, she had to tell herself repeatedly that he knew nothing about her meeting with Kyros and he wasn’t going out of his way to ruin things. This was all just an unfortunate coincidence.
So she rushed back upstairs to take a quick bath after texting Kyros about the situation. She put on a plain shirt and fitted blue jeans. She decudes to let her hair down too, she had trimmed it and it now stopped after inches from her waist. A notification ping had her rushing to her phone.
“Oh” Kyros texted.
Maria couldn’t ascertain whether that meant he was pissed or he understood the situation. She decided to continue what she was busy with and a few minutes later another text entered.
“Okay, that’s fine” it read.
It was curt and it was hard to get the tone but Maria nodded in satisfaction. She knew he’d understand.
She hurried back downstairs and pecked Athina goodbye. Reid stood up from the couch lazily and she followed him to his car. As soon as she got in, the musky scent of cinnamon and vanilla danced into her nostrils and he gladly basked in the scent. Reid started the car and began driving. The car was filled with a deafening silence and Maria realised this was the first time she was alone with Reid.
Her gaze shifted to him, his full attention was on the road he didn’t seem to mind her presence one bit. She decided against making small talk with him, he would only make her feel stupid for trying. As much as she hated to admit it, Reid was someone she wanted to understand. What’s with the attitude he gave her? He was so different when he addressed her, like he disliked her. Did he dislike her? She wondered what she did to him intge first place.
Her thoughts drifted to Kyros once again, he hadn’t said anything since then and in fact he had gone offline completely. She hoped he wasn’t pissed.
“Is there anytime there isn’t a snarl on your face?” Reid’s voice broke her train on thoughts and her head swivelled to look at him. His eyes were still on the road, face expressionless. It was almost as if he hadn’t spoken to her.
“I smile a lot, you just don’t see it” She huffed. People even told her she smiled a bit too much but of course, not only did Reid address her differently, he also for some reason had the wrong impression about her in his head.
“Hmm” Was his reply and for the rest of the drive, they didn’t exchange any words.