The business party was held at the luxurious Grand Hyatt hotel at seven o'clock. At the gate, there were many luxury cars dropping off their passengers constantly, and the valet attendants were fervidly taking the keys to park the cars.
Laraine once again decided to wear a tailored jacket in a sharply fitted silhouette with a nipped-in waist and strong shoulders. She loved the color more than anything. It was a pink peach color – her favorite color. The collar was narrow, and she decided to dress it up by not wearing anything underneath showcasing her ivory chest between her boobs; she hoped to drive Andrew mad. She paired the jacket with high waisted cropped pants that elongated her legs in the same color. On her feet she was wearing black pumps that matched the smoky makeup she had gone for on her face.
She had to admit, she looked yummy – much older than eighteen-year-old Laurence.
She slowly stepped down from the car feeling herself to be in her natural environment with all the cameras and glitz and glamour.
The banquet was for business, so many celebrities and business giants had been invited. Andrew too looked dashing in his sharp black suit though she was not able to admire him since he was busy talking to others. Laraine sneaked out to the dining area when Andrew was talking to others, because she was totally not interested in boring business talk.
Plus, a girl could not wait for dessert, could she?
Most of the celebrities here knew Laurence, but her innocent looks still attracted many men.
While at the table deciding what to eat, a man came up and stood beside her. Laraine paid him no heed.
“Fancy meeting you here.” The man spoke in a low voice.
Laraine froze when she heard the voice. It was Nathan. She looked up to see he was standing close to her and made it seem like he was making normal conversation. Laraine’s heart started pounding. What was he doing here! Did Andrew not know he was going to be here? Where was Andrew!?
She knew what Nathan wanted but she was unwilling to make trouble and cause a scene so she turned around and was ready to leave. However, Nathan did the same and stopped her.
“Why are you running away. Are you that scared?” Nathan taunted like a predator playing with his prey.
Nathan’s voice made Laraine strange and uncomfortable. She looked closer and noticed his pupils were dilated and red. He had been drinking!
“Nathan, you are drunk. Do not do anything you are going to regret. Do you remember what Andrew said last time? He is going to kill you if you touch me!”
Though she tried to look brave, her voice was shaking. She cared less about herself and more about the Jones’ family reputation if anything were to happen. She did not want to embarrass the family any further!
Laraine’s words had no effect on Nathan. “Do you think he scares me? He is just all bark and no bite!”
“Listen you asshole, don’t make a scene and embarrass yourself and us. You are just drunk so do not do anything you are going to regret!” Laraine’s tried another way to pacify Nathan. Perhaps her anger would make him open his eyes even though she knew he was too far gone.
Laraine’s statement had the opposite effect on Nathan, and he got even angrier. Right then, a waiter walked by with a tray of red wine. When the waiter came close to Laraine, Nathan pushed him into her.
Losing his balance, the waiter lost control of the plate and directly smashed into Laraine. The heavy tray fell on Laraine and glass broke on her. Red drops of blood started to spout from her skin. She fell hard on the floor with the waiter on top of her.
The loud noise attracted other people as well. Andrew, who was still talking with others, became serious when he learned that Laurence was the one who had an accident.
Laraine took deep breaths when she saw she was bleeding. She had always hated the sight of blood and would faint whenever she saw it. The poor waiter clumsily stood up apologizing profusely. Others around them had grabbed napkins and were carefully helping her up being careful to avoid the broken pieces of glass around Laraine.
Andrew ran over and sighed when he saw the scene. He quickly took over Laraine from others and carefully walked her to a seat. She was bleeding from all over but they were small cuts; however they still needed to be cleaned. Andrew noticed Laurence becoming pale and clammy whenever she looked at the blood on her hands and clothes.
“Andrew, I don’t like blood,” she mumbled out.
“Sir, we have a first aid kit. You can follow me to my office, and we can take care of Miss Jones,” the hotel manager told Andrew hurriedly.
Andrew nodded and carefully pulled Laraine up. When he noticed she could not walk, he grabbed her into his arms. Onlookers stared in surprise as they saw Andrew carrying the young Miss Jones protectively in his arms out of the room. This was the first time Andrew Jones had shown affection in public.
He carefully placed her on the sofa in the manager’s room fixing the pillows, so they were behind her in a comfortable position.
“How did this happen?” Andrew asked softly.
“Nathan…it was Nathan.”
Andrew looked up sharply. “What do you mean it was Nathan?”
“He…he was here Andrew. And he seemed really drunk. He just came up to me and then pushed the waiter into me.” Laraine then looked over the manager. “Please…it was not the waiter’s fault. Don’t say anything to him!”
“No…don’t worry Laurence,” Andrew soothed her when he noticed she was getting stressed out. He then looked over at the manager. “Find Nathan.”
A nurse was ushered into the room. He quickly took out a first aid kit and started to tend to Laraine’s cuts and scratches. They were minor; however, there was one deep cut on her leg where the tray had fell which would require a couple of stitches. The blood was being absorbed by her pink pants leaving a dark red patch.
Laraine was leaning against the sofa with her eyes closed. Every cut the nurse tended to stung her and she tried hard not to flinch. What calmed her down was Andrew’s protective arms around her. When the nurse started cleaning the deeper cut, Laraine whimpered loudly. She knew what was coming. Andrew immediately tightened his hold over her. She leaned into his neck trying to ignore the numb feeling washing over her leg. When she felt the cold needle on her skin, Laraine yanked her leg away.
“No! I…I am fine. I…do not need stitches.”
“But Miss Jones! You are bleeding profusely. It will not take even a minute,” the nurse said in protest.
“Laurence, the wound must be checked!” said Andrew, in a softer tone.
“No,” Laraine mumbled into Andrew’s shoulder. “I do not want stitches.”
“It will not take even a second,” Andrew replied while patting her back. He motioned to the nurse to start stitching while he tried to keep Laurence busy. “It will only take two minutes. Why are you so afraid?”
“Because! Because I do not want a needle going inside my skin. And because I know it will hurt,” Laraine cried. She had always hated needles and blood and even though she was a twenty-five-year-old woman (technically), she felt like acting like a baby when it came to these things.
“You are that afraid, huh?” Andrew snickered.
“Yes, I am that afraid,” Laraine replied like a petulant child.
Andrew did not want to admit it, but he was quite enjoying the feeling of her small body against her. It felt natural to him and he had never felt this way before. She was pressed into him holding onto his shirt tightly. Andrew did not mind that her blood was getting all over his clothes. He just wanted to protect her at all costs. He had cursed himself when she told him Nathan was here. He should have known! He should have checked the guest list and ensured that bastard would be nowhere near her, but he had failed and for that he would not forgive himself.
He was trying to soothe her by stroking her back. When his hands felt her bra strap, they stilled. If only they were somewhere else, he would have opened it up and had her right there. Andrew shifted uncomfortably, the last thing he wanted was him to get hard while she was hurt. She was a tiny thing; she weighed almost nothing when Andrew had lifted her up into his arms.
Within two minutes, the nurse had finished stitching up Laurence’s leg.
“Hey!” Laraine complained loudly. “You didn’t tell me you were going to stitch me up!”
The nurse and Andrew both laughed. “Ma’am, you were not going to let me if I told you!”