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Her smile at this was almost painful to watch, but she managed to gather herself together to give some sort of excuse about going to the kitchen to arrange the menu for the day. I couldn’t help but like Aurora even more. Her brother took his seat beside her while I moved away and began to take my pictures.
It upset me to focus on Victoria, but she was busy with the staff, and so when I had taken enough photographs of the family conversing from a distance and against the backdrop of the vineyard beyond, I headed over to the kitchen to find her. I especially kept my distance here, but I was eventually able to take some pretty nice pictures. Just before I left, however, she noticed me and then she turned and came over.
“It's nice to see you here,” she smiled, and I nodded in response before placing my camera to my eyes once again to peer through. I had no interest in her fake niceties, but then again, as I continued with my pictures, I wondered exactly why our relationship was so sour. I mean, it was expected since I had now been given the freshest reminder of her personality, but I tried to recall the exact details of how we had fallen out from being roommates to being mortal enemies, seemingly now for life.
She came over to me once again as I worked, and I sighed as I felt the tap on my back. I put my camera away then and turned around to face her.
“Can I give you some advice?” she asked.
I took another sigh and then I nodded. Because I was curious and because for some reason, I needed someone to fuel my already sour mood so that I'd be angry enough perhaps not to get distracted or affected by anyone else. An image of glistening leather shoes flashed into my mind in that moment, but I ignored it.
“Go ahead,” I said, and she smiled. Which was way too genuine. But when I glanced back and realized that the said object of her attention and my distraction was watching us, I understood.
I couldn’t believe her. I also couldn’t believe the next words that she said to me.
“I didn’t think this is... your scene,” she said. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m just concerned that doing work that is not... best suited for you might hurt your small business more than help it.”
I stared at her and decided then that I truly needed to test whether she had a mental glitch in her brain.
"Do you actually think you're being helpful and respectful to me right now? Or are you fully aware that everything you’ve just said to me is a backhanded insult?”
“I would never insult you,” she smiled. “There's no reason to. It's just that high-profile clientele has been my circle for the longest time, and I can tell you all that you need to know and what you can't bother about. Plus, right now you're obviously helping Aurora do nothing more than rebel against her family, so what good exactly do you think is going to come from it? You’ll just leave a sour taste in their mouth, and whatever recommendation you think is going to come for your next job as a result will be nothing but a pipe dream; rather, cooperate with her mother and leave. Instead of a sour taste in their mouth, the people with the actual money and influence, which is her brother and not Aurora, will think of you fondly.”
“Hm,” I nodded. “You know what? This is solid advice. I'll make sure to repeat it word for word to Aurora so that she can understand my stance as well and won't feel too bad about letting me go.”
“What?” she asked, but before she could say another word, I went past her and made sure to bump into her shoulder on my way. She staggered a few steps backward, but no doubt and as usual, she was able to quickly right herself before anyone noticed.
Chapter Seven
Drake
I saw it all. There was no way for me to know what their interaction was about and why it had been so charged, but I had to admit, as I watched her seemingly grow even colder as the meeting progressed, I became even more curious.
Eventually, as I caught her during the tour of the vineyard heading over to the bar, I followed and ended up beside her.
She was seated, staring out at the gorgeous landscape as she sipped from her wine. However, it was as though she became aware of my presence because the second I spoke, she didn't seem to have a reaction at all.
“How do you know the wedding planner?”
She took a sip of her drink and then turned around just in time to watch me order my tumbler of whiskey.
“Um... college,” she replied. “Years ago.”
“I take it you two weren’t friends?” I asked, and she seemed taken aback by my interest.
I, however, was just as surprised as it was very unusual for me to strike up a conversation of this sort with a female, which made me realize then, in something akin to shock, that it had been forever since I had been properly attracted to a female this way.
In terms of my needs as they came up, for as I was aroused, there was always an endless availability of women, and I only required a few attributes and a few minutes to get the release I wanted.
This time around, however, I was truly unable to look away from her gorgeous hazel eyes. They were every bit as pure and bright as I had predicted earlier, and it made me truly wonder about her. Her appearance wasn’t exciting in any way, and I had almost lost interest truly after I sighted her gold and dirty sneakers, but then, at her blatant annoyance at the wedding planner, which I had also felt as well due to her jumping at every chance to pester me, I couldn’t help but be somewhat entertained.
“What’s the story there?” I asked, and she turned to me almost as though in disbelief that I was asking her.
She cocked a brow.
“You really want to know?” she asked, completely surprised, and I nodded.
“Sure.”
