MAD LOVE

Chapter 19

Mike

The warm gusts stung my face, as if the wind was dishing out slaps in retribution for my tactless behavior. Too late. I could not undo what was done. In truth, I was surprisingly vindictive. I disregarded what anyone else might have thought and sent that girl straight to hell in public. I gave her no hints that I was interested, so why the hell would she throw herself at me like that?

***

I was in the middle of nowhere for almost a week: far from home, far from the place where I would have liked to be. Of course, that trip taught me a lot, and experience has always been more useful than lectures at the university. My family was preparing for a new stage - expanding our business beyond the US. The hotel in Vancouver would open soon, so we had to solve the remaining urgent problems.

"Two more days of waiting, and I'll see her..."

All my thoughts were on a blonde girl with a sweet smile and an innocent look. That was absolutely not my type of woman, but my heart started racing as soon as I remembered those fleeting touches, which were so hard for me to get...

Does she often think about me too? Does she even remember me at all?

Wondering what had happened in her past life to turn her into a little frightened animal drove me insane. And who was the guy who made Moore hysterical? I had a million questions, but I didn't want to scare Alana away, and she was unlikely to open up to me, anyway.

"Maybe Milton knows something. But it's impossible to get anything out of her if she doesn't want to give it up."

My father brought me out of my thoughts by introducing me to his business partners at another of his regular summit. I had to get real for a while, to not to look like a complete idiot. However, I still didn't manage...

"The Nortons! Fancy meeting you here!" We turned around, and I was unpleasantly surprised by what I saw.

It was my father's old friend, Mr. Tyler. I had nothing against him, but I had a lot of complaints about his companion. What was she doing here, anyway? She had never shown any interest in the family business, but at that moment, she was eye-humping.

Oh, well, she needs to find a sugar daddy. How could I forget?

"Hi, Mike." Smiling sweetly, she came to me and put her hand in mine.

Rolling my eyes, I turned away and took a step back, putting my hands in my pants pockets. I looked at her with contempt and involuntarily compared her with Alana, who, I was sure, would never betray someone. And how could I have liked brunettes before? Bright makeup, artificial lips that didn't arouse any passion. Her voice annoyed me, and I was already forming a plan to explain my departure from the soiree to my father. Apparently, this hateful girl didn't get any smarter, because most likely she took my long stare as an invitation. My thoughts, however, were not there.

"Darling," she said as she came up to me again and gave me a brief hug. "Stop sulking at me. We were kids, and I've realized my mistake." She reached out to me and left a red lipstick mark on my cheek.

I am so sick of you.

"If you get me dirty again, you'll regret it," I said with all the anger that had been boiling in me for many years.

"Will you hit me?" She grinned and folded her arms, pressing her breasts up, flaunting them.

So cheap...

"I don't want to get dirty. Let others do it. And don't let me see you again, you hear me?"

Many people saw this incident, but I didn't care. Let her live with that shame. I apologized to my father and left that stuffy place.