FIRST TIME WITH A COLD PRINCE

CHAPTER 5 - HIDDEN FEELINGS

A man in his late fifties got off the phone with an obvious displeased look on his face, he currently stood staring at the view that laid beyond his window.

“You seem to be getting worked up again, father” a young man with dyed silver hair spoke, his blue eyes watched the man who slowly turned to face him.

“Why are you here Damien?” the man asked taking a seat behind his desk. The nameplate on his desk displayed his name – Leonardo McCain, Corrine’s late husband’s older brother.

“Uncle’s remembrance is coming up and grandfather wants it to be done at the family house this year” he replied moving over to the shelf at the left side of the office.

“And Corrine is okay with it?” the man furrowed his brows genuinely surprise.

“Aunty doesn’t really go against grandfather’s wishes and it’s the memorial of his son anyway” Damien traced the books lined on the shelf with his index finger and finally took his eyes back to his father. “Mother wanted me to inform you to be of your best behavior, you are already losing so much favor with grandfather”

“You…” the man snapped

“That’s no way to talk to your father, Damien” another young man spoke walking in on them, he was a bit older than Damien and had a stricken resemblance to their father.

“Louis” Damien grinned. “I was only passing mother’s information across. I meant no harm”

“Just leave” Louis ordered.

Shrugging, Damien left the office.

“Sometimes I feel those two are demons sent to send me to an early grave” Mr. McCain pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm down his nerve.

“But mother is right though, the only thing keeping us is the finance we get from her father’s past investment. Grandfather is already not pleased with the state of the company right now; we should try not do anything that would put us on his bad side”

“Tch… the fact that I have to compete with a family member”

“You consider her family? That’s new” Louis strode over to his father, taking a seat opposite him.

“Your aunt and I might not see eye to eye but she is family” Louis smirked at his father’s reply… he wondered if those words were sincere.

“What brought you here anyway?” Leonardo leaned into his chair, fingers interlocked as he watched his son.

“I’m guessing you already heard the news, Aunty plans on launching a new set of jewelries alongside her clothing line a day before the appointed date for our launch” Louis followed his father’s eyes, carefully watching him.

“I heard” Leonardo sighed heavily. “Not only does she deny us shares in the construction company but now she plans to use her company to run us down”

“We can always reschedule the launch”

“No, no, we are already low on the budget. We can’t afford that” Mr. McCain pinched the bridge of his nose again, the stress was really getting to him.

“We would lose likely costumers to her if we proceed as planned. We can double the budget when the sale kicks off”

“Louis that’s a gamble, we can’t risk it” Leonardo thought hard on what to do, it was time he spoke to Corrine and he had his opportunity at the remembrance. “I’ll talk to your aunt”

“Dad?”

“It would just be a nice chat” he responded waving his hand dismissively.

“It’s never a nice chat, the two of you never agree on anything”

“Let me be, you should try contacting Mikael about the shares, that company belongs to the family… It not right for her to isolate us from it.” He frowned

“You know Mikael would only listen to his mother”

“She’s just the problem, the damn witch should just die” Mr. McCain sat up, slamming his fist on top the desk.

…

“Miss Sinclair” Taylor waved her over and she hurried over to their table which was at the end of the café.

“Good day miss Reeds”

“Oh just call me Taylor” she replied calling the waiter over to their table. “I’ll have a strawberry tart, an iced latte and…” she looked over to Kaya who seemed confused at first.

“Oh, I am fine” she muttered

“That’s nonsense, get her a chocolate chip smoothie and a cheese cake” she smiled warmly to waiter who took a bow before taking her leave. “Kaya, can I call you Kaya?” she asked pulling out a brown envelop from her bag.

“Sure” Kaya replied feeling a bit nervous.

“I could tell you felt uneasy this morning that’s why I suggested we have the meeting over lunch” Kaya felt a tight squeeze in her guts… Was she that obvious?

“I really want you to put in your best on this project” Taylor pulled out the papers from the envelop, carefully watching Kaya who had taking her eyes to her fingers. Something had definitely transpired between her and Mikael and she needed to know what it was.

“I have heard a lot about your work and your recent project has caught a lot of eyes”

“I am really flattered” Kaya smiled lifting her head to see the waiter who approached with their orders. She didn’t want to think of the hotel but it seemed everything kept taking her mind there.

“I heard you’ve already commenced completion”

“Yes, I try to keep to the timing I am given” Kaya stated.

“Lovely indeed” Taylor took a sip from her latte watching Kaya who cautiously picked up the smoothie in front of her. “This papers explain the nature of the project I want you to work on, the plans as well as the contract” she added as she placed her glass back to the table. “You can take your time to review and get back to me later”

Kaya picked the papers, glancing through them for a brief moment before taking a sip from her smoothie.

“So about Mika…” Kaya choked before Taylor could complete her statement, placing the papers aside she dropped the smoothie back on the table and quickly grabbed a serviette from the table to wipe herself.

“Are you okay?” Taylor asked, she loved the reaction she had gotten. It informed her that she wasn’t far off.

“I’m fine, I’m sorry about that” Kaya looked around nervously, why had his name caused her to react in such a way?

“Do you like him?” the question had caught her off guard, she took her gaze to Taylor wondering were such question had come from.

“It’s not hard to notice” Taylor continued but her statement only further confused the pixie. What did she notice? She was sure she felt nothing for the director, they had been involved in an incidental affair that she tried so hard to forget. If there was any feeling, she doubted it would be positive.

“I guess you are not aware of it yet” Taylor smirked taking a piece of tart into her mouth.

“I am sorry miss Reeds but I think you got the wrong idea, I barely know the director not to talk of liking him”

“So the display this morning was just you being nervous to stand before your boss? Well you don’t hit me as that kind of person” Taylor observed Kaya closely, she wondered what kind of incident the two had been involved in.