Meet Lauren Pierce. Fiercely independent, beautiful and a perfectionist. The media loves to call her the 'ICE PRINCESS' because of how cold and unyielding she is, and she doesn't care enough to correct them. The only thing she cares about is her su...
The following days were quite hectic, all nighters filled with endless checking and re-checking, endless coffee and pizzas at the office in preparation for the looming shareholders' meeting that would decide her fate. Lauren hadn't been to her apartment in almost 3 days, and even the housekeeper called to ask why the house was spotless when she got to work the next day.
The day before the actual meeting, she finally left the hotel to go home, and in the car she turned on her phone for the first time in two days to find several texts from Mark. Most of them were him asking whether she'd eaten, the cats miss her, nothing serious, and she ignored those, because honestly she hadn't been eating and would hate to disappoint the chef. One of them was more recent, about a package supposedly delivered, asking if she liked it? She frowned. What package?
When she finally got to her house, she found a pretty box on her table, with a note from the housekeeper that it arrived early in the morning yesterday. She sat down, unwrapped it, and almost cried when she saw what was inside. A perfect pair of black heels, with a sparkly sash across the foot and the pointed ends she was so in love with. She tried them on, and they fit perfectly. She walked around in them for a while, loving the feel of them on her feet, and her phone chimed with an incoming text.
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So? You like the shoes? I saw them and immediately thought of you.
How sweet. She sat back down, the reality hitting her hard in the face. She had no right to be giggling over a gift from him knowing full well she would be leaving him very soon, and he has no idea. No matter how big a bitch she is, Mark didn't deserve this. She took the heels off, carefully returned them to their packaging and places the box in the back of her wardrobe.
She took a shower, got dressed, and went back to the office, mechanically, the smiling, carefree Lauren she had been a few days ago a distant memory. What use was it now? Without Mark in her life, she didn't need to be so smiley and happy. What was there to be happy about? Work was work afterall. But he tried so hard. And look where that had got us. Making this unnecessarily painful.
The Meeting was to be held at The Mirage, and everything was prepared perfectly beforehand. Lauren wasn't nervous at all, but the sight of her brother talking and smiling with the shareholders before the event disoriented her a little bit. She felt that familiar rage she had somehow forgot for a while come up again, blocking her throat and twisting her insides.
"Miss? You okay?" Byers whispered next to her, watching her closely. "I'm fine, Byers. Is the speech okay?" She asked, attempting to get herself in order through work. He nodded, handing her a tablet. She flipped through the agendas absentmindedly, wishing this whole ordeal would be over soon enough.
"The high and mighty Lauren Pierce. I'm excited to see how you win this one," She turned to see Caleb standing there smug, his fake smile irritating her to no end. OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE. "Mr. Grant, a pleasure, as always," she said, the venom dripping from her voice enough to kill a grown man. He smirked. "Where's your little cook boyfriend now? Shouldn't he be here to show support to his beloved girlfriend?" She scoffed. "If you'll excuse me, the meeting's beginning. Have a seat please," she said, dismissing him.
