Tiffany’s POV:
NEW ROMANCE IN BLOOM?
Shawn Gold and Tiffany Dion Spotted Together at Intimate Restaurant; D’amor!!
Love is in the air, and the rumor mill is buzzing with excitement as renowned business man and one of the top three youngest directors in Canada, Shawn Gold has been spotted recently at an exclusive restaurant sharing a romantic evening with the gorgeous Tiffany Dion, the daughter of Richard Dion, Chairman and owner of Dionysus Enterprises. The young Mr. Gold, who has been known heretofore as a man with very few smiles can be seen clearly freely offering one to miss Dion! How surprising!!!
With all eyes on this unexpected pairing, tongues are wagging, and speculations about their relationship status are running rampant. What could this mean for the previously speculated Gold-Smith relationship? Could we just be witnessing the start of a new red-hot romance? Or could it have been long-hidden, only now being brought to the public eye by chance?
In the business world, rumors continue to fly about the possible partnership, and if not merging, of the Dionysus and Gold groups. Could this relationship be the driving force of-
Tiffany clicked her phone shut, unable to keep reading anymore, her mind reeling and her stomach roiling with nausea.
What the hell? Who the hell had taken those pictures?
Her screen suddenly lit up, filling the room with the buzzing sounds of an incoming call, and she looked at her phone to see that she didn’t recognise the number. She let it ring out, having no intention to answer any calls from strangers probably trying to mine her for more gossip straight from the source. The number didn’t give up and called her a second time, and then a third.
On the fourth ring, she picked up the phone.
“Who’s this?” she asked, struggling to keep her tone calm and controlled.
There was a muted sound of rustling clothes, and then a low, husky voice came over the receiver.
“Why don’t you take a guess?” the voice said, and Tiffany’s heart skipped a beat at the provocative quality of the voice, before her brain caught up to her ears and she could connect the sound to the person making it.
“Shawn,” she said curtly, letting the polite tone drop.
Shawn chuckled, but when he replied her, his voice held no trace of warmth. “That’s right. I assume you’ve seen the blog already?”
Tiffany’s hand tightened around her phone. “I have, why?”
“Because,” Shawn said, “When you get to school, people are going to ask you questions.” He paused to let that sink in, “And you’re not going to give any of them a definite answer. It turns out the blog is actually good for us, we can make the whole… arrangement… seem more organic.”
“So,” Tiffany asked, “I’m not allowed to tell anyone we’re engaged?”
“No. Or about what it actually is. Not until we have a public proposal.”
Tiffany frowned at the mention of a public proposal. For a moment, she had actually forgotten that her entire marriage was nothing but a public stunt. A means to an end. To boost Shawn’s public image and save her father’s company. When she had envisioned getting married in the past, it had never been like this.
“Fine,” she told him, and Shawn ended the call without even a goodbye of any kind. Not that she needed or even wanted one.
Tiffany slowly got ready for school after a quick, cold shower. The air was a bit chilly, but she felt like she needed something cool to calm her down. She put on her uniform and headed downstairs, thinking all the while of what she would face when she got to school.
She almost decided to stay at home, but what the principal had told her about her grades, and the fact that it would look too suspicious, made her reconsider.
She had informed Rafael, the driver, that she was going to take her car today, and it was waiting for her downstairs. She got in, driving slowly while she thought about what she would tell Freya at school.
Shawn’s POV
He heard the click of her heels seconds before his door swung open, and Rachel walked in.
Other people wouldn’t have been able to do that, to come into Shawn’s office unannounced, but he and Rachel had been friends for long enough that he could allow little things like that to be overlooked.
Rachel had her phone in her hand, and she walked towards Shawn’s sleek, mahogany desk, thrusting the phone in his face. Shawn sighed internally. He knew this was coming.
“Who’s this girl?” Rachel asked him, a brow raised. Her voice sounded – or at least tried to sound – humorous, but there was a layer of something else underneath. Perhaps annoyance that she had to hear it from a gossip blog first rather than his own mouth.
Shawn patiently moved the phone away from his face and picked up a folder on his desk, begining to go through the documents contained within. “None of your business,” he told her, and her eyes widened minutely in shock, before she schooled her expression and smiled.
She sank into the seat facing him, folding her hands and shrugging as she smiled blithely and joked, “Fine, then,” she said, “Keep your secrets, but I have my ways. I could always find out, if I wanted to.”
Shawn looked straight at her, then. “Rachel,” he said sternly, “Don’t meddle in what doesn’t concern you.”
“Sheesh! Okay, okay!” Rachel raised her arms in mock surrender, “Why so bitey? I was only joking.” She laughed and hastily changed the subject, “By the way, since you canceled yesterday, wanna go out today instead? You already ate at D’amor yesterday, but I was thinking that we could still-”
“I never want to see that place ever again.” Shawn bit out, cutting her off. “If Bryan suggested it to you as a joke, then it wasn’t funny. And, I already have plans.”
“What, with little miss Dion?”
Shawn gave her a raised-brow look and simply repeated, “None of your business.” In fact, he didn’t actually have any plans with Tiffany or any other person, but he had work to do and didn’t have time to waste on any more senseless dinners. He had to set a few things right in order to more easily take up the position of chairman.
“Fine, fine,” Rachel said again, conceding, though Shawn could see that she was a little irked, “So what are you going to do about this blog? I’m surprised they didn’t offer you the chance to pay them to not disclose the information. They must have really wanted that story.”
Shawn simply continued to scan the documents on his table and said nothing. The blog had actually contacted him with such an offer, but he had refused, reasoning that the publicity and rumour mill running would help fuel the authenticity of the story when he and the Dion heiress decided to take their little… arrangement public. Less tongues would wag than if they suddenly got engaged seemingly out of nowhere. Rachel didn’t have to know that, though.
“You should stop seeing her, in my opinion.” Rachel continued airily, “No girl is worth that trouble.”
Shawn raised a brow at her. “No? I thought you believed in romance.”
Rachel scoffed. “Of course I do, but trouble should be reserved for special people, and this Tiffany is obviously nothing. I mean, I hadn’t even heard about her before yesterday!”
“Yesterday?” Shawn asked, confused.
“Um, no, I got confused. I meant today.” Rachel babbled, “A-anyway, the point is that she’s obviously not the one.”
Shawn shrugged again, and said nothing. He had nothing to say to that. He had never believed in any such thing as ‘the one’ anyway. As long as a woman was tolerable and useful, she was fine by him. And though he didn’t know how much could be said about Tiffany Dion’s tolerability, at least she was useful to him. Really damn useful.
The small intercom on Shawn’s table buzzed, and he clicked on it to allow Leslie’s voice ring loud and clear into the room.
“Sir,” Leslie said, “You have a caller.”
Shawn raised a hand to signal to Rachel that they were done here, and she got up and stalked out of the room in a brisk manner.
“Who is it?” Shawn asked.
“Mr. Smith, sir.”
Shawn sighed. “Fine, put him through. Thank you, Leslie.”
“No problem, sir,” The intercom beeped twice, and Bryan’s sleepy voice replaced Leslie’s chirpy, competent one.
Bryan Smith was an artist, and one of Shawn Gold’s only three friends. They had met years ago at an art gallery, back when Bryan had only been an underdog in the art world, and Shawn had fallen in love with and subsequently purchased one of his paintings. Now, Bryan was doing pretty well for himself, and the painting still hung over Shawn’s headboard in his bedroom.
“Yo,” Bryan drawled lazily, “What’s this I’m hearing about you and a lady friend? I don’t think I can believe it until you tell me yourself. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I would believe it even then.”
Shawn could literally feel Bryan’s brows wagging, his eyes alight with mischief. “Are you high again?” he asked with amusement.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Bryan replied with a shrug in his voice. “But that’s besides the point. She’s pretty, why haven’t you ever shown her to us? Were you hiding her? And I know you’ll say it’s”
“None of your business.”
“None of my business.”
They both said it in unison, and the corner of Shawn’s mouth ticked up in amusement even as Bryan began to laugh.
“Yeah, yeah,” Bryan said, the traces of laughter still in his voice, “You like to keep things private, I get it, but you always say that when you have something to hide, so it’s as good as confirmation. This girl must be really special, though, if you’re this secretive about her. Just, invite me to the wedding, dude.”
Shawn had nothing else to say to this. “Sure, I will.”