Scorned

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter 25

Breathe, Beyoncé.

It was the same thing she had to tell herself every single time that she had to leave her office to visit Shawn's office. Today was the day that they brought their ideas together for the magazine. It was a meeting that she typically dreaded, because she had to actually sit in a room with Shawn and look at him. Granted, he wasn't the only one in the meeting, but they were the two prominent people.

Beyoncé's company had been thriving for eight months now, and she couldn't help but thank Shawn. Even though she hadn't verbally done so, she showed gratitude whenever she was asked about the situation. It was his first time ever simply handing someone a company and telling them to make the best of the situation. The money he had put into her company had been paid back in full just three months after its launch.

"Where is Mr. Carter?" Beyoncé asked quickly as she entered SC Magazine with Meagan right by her side. The two women walked quickly to the conference room, where Beyoncé sat her iPad down and looked over to Meagan. She was in a rush and the meeting had slipped her mind. It was unlike her to forget these meetings, but she had so much going on with her company that she'd forgotten that she needed to fill Shawn's company in.

"He's on his way. Do you need anything while you wait?" Meagan asked in her own little panic. She could tell that Beyoncé was on edge and wanted to do nothing but appease her. It had been eight months since she was released from her contract, and things were oddly different in the office.

Beyoncé released a deep breath and shook her head. "No, I just really need him to quickly get in this meeting. I have things to do."

Meagan nodded her head and scurried out of he conference in search of her boss. Everyone had noticed the falling out between them. The media noticed that they weren't seen out anymore. If they were, it was strictly business. Shawn had gone back to being in strictly business mode. It was almost as if he were robotic at this point. He walked around and didn't smile anymore. He came to the office very rarely as of late, and he didn't have to explain his reasoning to anyone.

Beyoncé looked at her iPad as she waited on the arrival of Shawn and his other team members. The meetings were usually held with other people that worked directly on the magazine, while Shawn just oversaw the entire thing. She looked up briefly to find Shawn entering the office with a dazed look on his face. 

Beyoncé opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but stopped herself. She didn't have that right anymore. "Mr. Carter," she formally greeted, catching Shawn off guard slightly.

He took his seat and smiled weakly in her direction. She looked even more beautiful every time that he saw her. Every time he saw her, he had to wonder if she'd given anything a second thought, but they were never in the setting to actually have a personal conversation. Beyoncé would always change the subject back whenever he even attempted to venture off topic. Every once in a while, Shawn would catch her off guard, but then she'd catch herself.  "Ms. Knowles."

"Where are the others?"

Shawn looked around briefly, already knowing what she was talking about. "There's a bigger meeting about the magazine happening right now," he explained. "So, they're all in that meeting."

"Well, I'll make this quick, since you probably have to get to that meeting. I sent you over a copy of what we're doing for this month. Jelani is modeling for a new clothing line."

"Jelani is your new boy, right?" Shawn had heard good things about him and he had seemed to fill a nice little void in her life. He'd seen pictures of the two of them out as friends, and he couldn't help but notice that every picture she smiled. Shawn had gotten to know that he was a bit of a jokester, being that he was only twenty one.