Chapter 8 First Step

• Elena - POV
• I am sitting behind the desk. I went through reading the document given by Mr.Ford. Everything was correct, and the pay was more than Christian offered.
• “Ms. Hayes, this deal is good. We should go ahead with this,” Janice said as she was, to double check if any catch or clause could affect me later. But what troubled me was why this stranger from the day I met was helping selflessly. What is the real deal about trusting someone blindly because of their generous act? It can be a ploy to get into my pants.
• “I need to think about Janice” Janice looked up from the documents and gave a perplexed stare.
• “Why, Ms. Hayes, is something the matter?” I shook my head.
• “How about this, Janice? You will call my financial adviser and lawyer tomorrow to my office.” Janice still stares at me, not following me at all. I know she couldn’t because I didn’t need anyone’s help and became a damsel in distress. I am going to be the producer of my movie.
• “Janice, you will understand what I am planning? Just get these gentlemen tomorrow. We are rejecting Ford corporation’s offer,” Janice gasped, and I walked away, holding Ford’s offer document in my hand to give it back to Mr. Ford.
• I was happy with this idea. I wished this idea had struck me earlier and could have rejected Mr. Ford back at the conference. I shouldn’t blame myself as I am trying to process my emotions. I need to cut slack on myself.
• I need to see how tomorrow will work and how much I can put in the money and profit from it. Stepping into the elevator, I strolled and stopped at my door. I wanted to reject Mr. Ford’s deal and give him a thank-you gift for saving my life. The gift is a little angel keychain in gold engraved with a special message.
• “Thank you, Mr. Stranger, for saving my life” I know this gift will make him cringe. But I still thought about doing it. Wait on second thoughts. This gift idea is a flop, so I put it back in the handbag.
• I rang the bell. Ready to face the cold Iceman. The door opened, and I gasped to see a half-naked body as the towel hung low to his waist, the water droplets running down from his wet hair. His blue orbs stared at me, having put me into a spell that I didn’t understand this powerful pull. But I pulled myself and stopped drooling over at Mr. Ford Muscular physique.
• “Do you need anything?” He stared with annoyance at me. Why am I even drooling over a stony heart, asshole?
• “I am here to reject the offer” His gaze elevated at my remark. This time I walked away without giving him any reason to decline his offer.
• “What is the reason?” he asked with lace curiosity. I turned over my shoulder.
• “I can finance my projects. I don’t need more help from you,” I said, Mr.Ford, holding a flicker of amusement, staring at my arrogant attitude.
• “I still want to invest, so how about splitting the budget?” he asked, back to his business-like mode.
• “I don’t think so, Mr.Ford.” I didn’t want anyone’s money, and the pressure of being left hanging just like the earlier producer walked out on me. His gaze held an irritated look at my answer. I felt bad for rejecting him. So I walked back, pulling out the small gift.
• “What is this for?” he asked as Mr.Ford glanced at the tiny box and then at me.
• “Just a thank-you gift,” I muttered.
• “I don’t need this but to be a partner producer,” Mr. Ford said as he tilted his head, trying to study my thoughts. Why is he insisting so much about this?
• “If you sincerely want to thank me, I need you to accept this offer” His voice held a velvety touch that brushed my skin. I suppress the delicious shudder.
• “I will think about it, Mr.Ford.” I stepped away, not getting swayed by his words.
• “For saving my life, and thank you. I can reimburse by money or any materialistic you desire.” He heaves a sigh at my remark. An elevator opens to see Yuri stepping out, and she sees a face holding a huge grin. I heard Mr. Ford cursed under his breath.
• “How are you” Yuri strode, as her warm smile made my lips twitch upward in a smile. Yuri hauled me into a warm embrace, which surprised me, but I reciprocated. She must have felt my awkwardness, as she pulled away with a sheepish grin. Her gaze went to Mr. Ford’s regards and held a reprimand to Yuri. She rolled her eyes.
• “What is in your hand?” Yuri asked. Her gaze gleamed like a curious kid as she grabbed the red box I had handed Mr. Ford as a gift. I regret giving him that right now.
• “Elena gave it to me,” Mr. Ford spoke in a weary tone. Yuri’s gaze bounces back at me with curiosity.
• “Can I unwrap the gift?” She asked, looking at both of us. Mr. Ford's eyes looked at me and answered Yuri. Why the hell does he have to be with me on the spot?
• “Ugh... sure, why not?” I said with a fake and awkward smile. Internally worried about what they both will think about seeing a keychain. I am bad at picking up gifts. Yuri unwraps the gift like an excited toddler.
• “Wow, this keychain is beautiful. But wait, why did you give the devil cold-hearted? The key chain of an angel”, Yuri said, staring at the engraved words. Mr.Ford grunted in annoyance when Yuri looked at Mr. Ford with a rueful grin. I had to suppress my chuckle at Yuri’s comment, which was befitting Mr. Ford.
• “Well, he saved me. I just...thought about giving him the keychain of an angel. That is what I learned in the orphanage...when I saved someone, the sister in the orphanage, she gave me similar key chains. I know it’s weird.” I stopped blabbing as both of their gazes held sympathy for me.
• “I am just tired, so get going,” I said, to escape from this conversation. Yuri smiled, but Mr. Ford didn’t show any emotion as he walked away. I could still feel their gazes on my back. Shutting the door and taking a few breaths, it’s intimidating to talk to them. I wonder why Mr.Ford and Yuri are coming here? Don’t they hate the city? It could relate to his business. Yuri and Mr. Ford are close and see Yuri mocking him. He didn’t answer Yuri. At the thought of Mr. Ford being close to someone else, my heart plummeted to my stomach.
• What is up with me? Get a hold of yourself, Elena! I need to focus on getting my revenge on Jake. Showering, dressed in comfortable clothes, poured wine into the glass and settled in front of the laptop desk. I tried to dig into some dirt on Lucy Mathew. It was easy to get my hands on it as she was a whore and gold digger, the name she goes by in Hollywood.
• I thought of taking one first step, taking my revenge on Jake and Lucy and smiling at myself as I took my phone, texted Lucy as a victim, and held a provoking nudge to my message. I waited to take the bait, and she replied with a smugness that showed in the text.
• Lucy kept on texting as I kept begging her to leave Jake alone. He is mine, and all that shit lies in the text to her.
• Lucy’s text sounds pretty bitchy. Not only that, she shared an intimate photo of Jake and herself. It was disgusting to see tears of pain surface, but I wiped my tears as I pushed my sadness away. I had enough scoop to get back on the first step. She thought this message would be a private conversation, but it wouldn’t, as this text would get leaked to the media and social platforms. I would have asked Janice to hire someone from our staff to feed this news to the press.
• Tossing and turning on the bed with insomnia didn’t let me shut my eyes. I sat on the bed as all the pain and agony surfaced back at me, which I had been suppressing for so long. Felt light after crying my eyes out. The animalistic growling jolted me, rolling out of bed and following the noise from outside the door. My chest tightened with fear. The noise grew, and suddenly the growling of animals stopped. Should I check outside? I paused at the doorknob, turned to get a baseball bat, and strode back to the door to open it to find the hallway was empty, but there were droplets of blood and wolf fur.