Ambivalent Moments

Setting the Board

To the Avani family,

You are cordially invited to attend the annual De Lune charity gala on the 18th of January, in the Dalton main estate at 8 P.M. The auction will begin at 10 P.M. followed by a trip to the Verilis Island. We hope to have your presence on this charitable occasion.

Sincerely,
The De Lune family.

The young woman stared at her reflection on the glass of her office. With the letter opened on her desk, the internal calculations flooded the young lady's mind. She was so ensnared by her thoughts she failed to notice the several knocks to her office.

"Excuse me, Ms. Avani, I have a file from Mr. Roy. May I come in?" a young man's voice accompanied by his figure shown through the glass door.

Momentarily startled, the young lady turned around to see the head of finance's secretary poised at the door holding a file.

"Ah yes come in."

"Mr. Roy wanted me to hand you the reports you requested from last month's sales as well as well...um." The young man looked up from the ground locking eyes on the marvel that was the woman before him. For almost half a year now, Victoria Avani had taken up the position as Head of of Avani and Co. at a mere 28 years, but that wasn't what drew the young man in. She was a striking woman with a gorgeous figure, raven hair up to perfection, and the most mesmerizing green eyes. It was the first time he had been alone with the elegant woman and the rumors of her appeal did not disappoint. His eyes soaked in the high collared white dress and the black blazer casually hung over her delicate shoulders. She was a vision of femininity and stature.

"Yes, thank you. Just set it down on the table over there if you don't mind." She smiled at the assistant looking him over, yet the smile did not seem to reach her eyes. It was so minute that the man did not pick up any sign of it. He was too stunned by her beauty to notice his lack of response.

Victoria cleared her throat grabbing the attention of the young man. Coming out of his stupor, a sprawl of red rushed on his cheeks in embarrassment. He rushed to put the files on the table and apologized for the lapse.

This greatly amused the woman, smirking a little at his poor efforts to cover up his obvious gawking. Never missing a beat she intervene, "I presume you must be Mr. Roy's new intern, Liam Anderson? 21 years old, just graduated from Columbia university and majoring in economics and business. Top ten percent of your class if I'm not mistakes," she  stated rather then asked.

Ego rising at the young woman's acknowledgment, Liam, as he was so accurately named, opened his mouth in shock. Quickly recovering, he replied with the slightest of blushes turning on the charm. Honestly how cliche.

"I am humbled by your knowledge of me. Everyone knows how successful you are and admired in the business world." His eyes blatantly began to roam over her body again lingering a little longer than comfortable on her chest area, "Of course, you are also well known amongst our social circle as well. The beautiful debutant who went away for a couple of years."

Although she didn't visibly falter, her polite smile got a little tighter. "You speak too kindly of me. I simply make it a point to know of all promising members of this company. Especially since your family and mine have been good business partners over the years. Your father must be very proud of your success."

That was the secret to it. She wasn't completely lying to him. He was indeed the son of one of her father's business partners. Except that was the extent of his worth to her. As far as promising went, the man before her was mediocre and his only quality was coming from a wealthy family. His top rank was the result of one very generous donation for a certain portion of Columbia's library.