Renaissance

Chapter 18

SLAM.

Victoria Eagles seemed none too shocked by the sudden bang of the door of her office. Her eyes merely glanced to him and then back to her desktop screen as she continued typing.

"Where is she?"

Unfazed by the venom in his voice, her indifferent eyes met his. "What can I do for you, Greyson?"

"Quit the bullshit, just tell me what I want to know," he growled.

She raised a perfect eyebrow. "I'm sorry, Greyson, I'm not omniscient."

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about," he thundered.

Eagles sighed. "What do you want?"

"Why," he stared intensely at her, "were you in a picture with Melodie over ten years ago?"

At that, the sides of Victoria's mouth turned up into a knowing smile - but not an altogether warm one. She folded her arms and put them on the table, holding eye contact the whole time. Then she dropped the bombshell.

"I was her manager."

His eyes widened and he took a step back. "You were her... manager?"

"I suppose she hasn't told you."

His stance faltered, but only for a second. When the realisation hit him, he could feel anger coursing his veins again. "Not about you," he said, his voice hard, "but about what happened, yes, she did tell me."

Her brows raised with interest. "Ah, that girl was smitten." She took on a smirk. "I knew she couldn't stay for long."

His head snapped toward her. "You what?"

Victoria turned to fix some papers by her side, not even bothering to look at him. "I was the one who made her leave."

"Why the hell would you do that?" His voice trembled with indignation.

"Things happen for a reason, Greyson. The accident did," she spoke nonchalantly. "She's just not meant to be in the music industry."

"Bullshit!" He slammed his palms on the table and leaned toward her threateningly. "She was special! She helped me way more than you did, and guess what? She never gave a shit about money. She cared about music. She cared about me!"

Victoria didn't move away from her papers, but her eyes moved up to land on him for a few seconds. A small smirk formed on her face. "Greyson Michael Chance," she taunted. "Have you fallen for her?"

 He froze.

The woman let out a mocking laugh as she neatened the papers into an even stack and put them aside. She then leaned forward and put her elbows on the surface, folding her hands together and leaning her chin against them as she watched him like a hawk. "How interesting. What if I told you it was stated in the contract that she had to leave soon?"

Dumbfounded, he stared at her. "What?"

"What if I told you that I actually offered to pay her if she left?"

"You... No. Melodie wouldn't do that." The disbelief and horror filled his mind, his sentences coming out in starts.

She shrugged. "You can choose to believe me, or you can not. I'm just saying, maybe your darling Melodie isn't the darling you think she is."

"Shut the hell up." All of a sudden his voice dropped to a low, dangerous tone. He fixed her with a stare, his eyes flashing with darkness. "Shut the hell up. Don't you dare talk about her like that."

She simpered, amused. "This is a 180-degree turn. I never would have thought Greyson Chance would be this head over heels for a girl."

He had finally snapped.

"Yes!" He exploded into thunder. "Yes, I'm in love with her! I don't care what you say about her. But you made her leave. You left her behind in the accident. You could've killed her, you bloody heartless bitch!"

Just the thought made an intense rage boil within him. He felt the urge to release the sudden influx of heated energy in him.

With one quick, forceful motion, he flipped the entire table.

While her desktop sat safely on another table, the landline phone crashed to the floor with the desk, and the unending monotonous note could be heard. Files tumbled on top of one another with loud knocks. The endless piles of papers burst out into flight with violent flapping noises, and were still flying all around in the air when he spoke his next words.

"You've not only crossed the line, you've rammed into it with a bloody truck." Both his tone and his stare held a dangerous tint. "Now get the hell out of my sight. I don't want to see a single scrap of a reminder of your existence here. Don't ever let me see you again."

With that, he turned swiftly and stormed out of the office, shutting the door with a deafening bang.

He stood still outside the door for a few seconds, trying to calm himself. His chest heaved, his breathing heavy. His fist was still clenched hard and trembling violently. He still felt like punching a wall; he had been that close to punching Victoria just now.

Then a thought occurred to him that made his breath hitch and his insides freeze and his heart stop  beating.

I'm in love with her?