Mending A Broken Heart

Chapter 4

Augustine found himself looking at Trisha out of the corner of his eye. It was getting more and more difficult for him to ignore just how beautiful she was. He watched as she placed a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Her full lips sipped at the glass of water, and her tongue gracefully traced a bead of water that danced across her lips. He shook his head slightly to be rid of the thoughts, because he knew that Trisha was just like the others. All out to gain something, and not truly want to get to know him for the person that he was.

His thoughts were interrupted by the dining room's door being opened. Immediately Augustine and Trisha both stood to their feet to greet their guests. Trisha was slightly confused by the couple that stood before them. The man appeared to be about 40, with jet-black hair. His stature was large, and Trisha had to crane her neck at him, as he got closer to the table. The woman could be no more than 20. Her long platinum blonde hair was pulled into a tight low ponytail. Trisha quickly looked at Augustine who had a business-like smile on his face before returning to the couple.

Sticking at his hand, Augustine greeted Mr. Austin and his new bride Lydia. Motioning between everyone, Augustine introduced Trisha. "Mr. Austin, Lydia, this is my new Business Administrator Trisha Lawler. Trisha this is Mr. Randall Austin, and his lovely bride Lydia."
"It's so lovely to meet you both," Trisha said raising her hand to the odd couple. Her hand floated in the air for a while, and it seemed that everything in the room stood still. The Austins look down at Trisha's hand, and then back up to her face. Trisha cleared her throat, and dropped her hands to her side.

Embarrassment swelled inside of her as the couple looked at her in disgust. She sat down in her seat and lowered her head to her hands that played in her lap. Augustine looked at the couple with confusion before turning his eyes to fall on Trisha. Her shoulders had fallen forward, and the look of defeat could be seen in her hooded eyes. Augustine bit at his cheek in order to stop himself from snapping on the people he thought were down to earth. Raising his eyes to look at the couple they simply took their seats before looking down at the menus on their plates.

Lowering slowly to his seat, Augustine looked hesitantly at Trisha who had her menu pulled up in front of her face. He wanted to punch himself for the sudden urge to want to console, and let her know that everything would be fine. The look of hurt that was apparent on her face, touched his sole, and he wanted nothing more but to make her smile again. He could see how tense she was, and he felt that it was his fault, because he was the reason that she was there. He could have asked his personal assistant to attend this dinner with him, but he felt that Trisha should be in attendance, because it was after all her job to protect his money.

Trisha felt small inside the large dining room. She had never felt such embarrassment in her professional career. Yeah, she had dealt with her normal array of rude people, but she didn't think that professionals would be so nonchalantly rude. She wanted to know what she had done to make them react to her that way. Scanning her memory, she had never had any contact with either one of the two. Not a fundraiser, nor through email. She didn't understand where the animosity was coming from. Her mood wasn't getting better as she felt the eyes of Mr. Ramirez practically invading her personal space. The silence of the room was deafening and it made her want to scream.

Soon the waitress entered the dining room, and took the orders of everyone at the table. Drinks were soon served, and the meeting commenced. The two men talked about Mr. Ramirez possibly becoming partner in a new company that Mr. Austin was starting up in Burbank. Trisha listened closely, and typed away on her phone as she totaled the pros and cons of the deal. After Mr. Austin finished detailing Mr. Ramirez on the project, Augustine tapped at his lip as if he was thinking. Suddenly he turned to Trisha who had been quiet since the faulty introduction, and asked, "What do the numbers look like?"
"Honestly, it appears that an 11% share would hurt you in the end. At 11% you could be bought out, and you are the first to be investing in this project. It's not a partnership if you only possess a mere 11%."
"What do you believe works best Ms. Lawler?"
"Mr. Austin asked for this meeting so that you can be a partner, not a contributor. A contributor may hold a 11% share, but not a partner. I believe with what he is asking you to provide for this project, you deserve no less than 46%," Trisha stated flatly looking up from the data she had complied.

Mr. Austin looked taking aback as he heard the percentage pass through Trisha's lips. A soft chuckle escaped from Lydia causing everyone to look at her. Her hands covered her lips as she continued to laugh before she realized that everyone was looking at her. She straightened herself before speaking. "Are we seriously going to listen to financial advice from her?" Trisha sat her phone on the table and replied, "What do you mean her?"
"Clearly you don't know how this work. If my Randall says 11% then that is what he is offering. Unless you would like a smaller percentage?"
"And clearly you know nothing of how money works. If "your Randall" wants Mr. Ramirez to invest $856,000 he is going to hold a higher percentage of 11%. I'm sure Mr. Austin understands that though. He knows that Mr. Ramirez is the best person to go into business with. He is the only one to truly back a company who has no other creditable "contributors", and still make a company flourish. His track record speaks for itself," Trisha said sitting back in her seat.

Augustine found himself grinning at Trisha defending him. She knew just how to handle Lydia without being unprofessional. His grin faded swiftly as Mr. Austin spoke up. Mr. Austin stood abruptly, leaning over the table towards Trisha. "You will not speak to my wife in that manner. No colored gal will try to rob me of what I have built."
"That you have built? You inherited that company from your dad. The same company that Mr. Ramirez gave a charitable loan that you dad was given. You only inherited 4 years ago, so let's not say you have built anything," Trisha rebutted.

Before things get anymore heated, Augustine rose from his seat, and stood in front of Trisha defensively. He shook his head, and said, "What the hell is wrong with you Randall? Colored gal? You can definitely scratch this deal. No one and I mean no one will disrespect my staff. You have already gotten away with it once tonight, and I'm not going to let it allow it to happen again."
"Really Augustine? You're allowing this piece of trash come in between the many years of business between Graco Incorporation?"
"I was never in business with you. I was in business with your father. And you wanna talk about trash coming between things. Isn't she the same piece of trash, that tore you away from you wife and children," Augustine asked pointing to Lydia.

A loud gasp erupted from Lydia. Trisha snickered silently in the back of Augustine. She instantly stopped as she felt his shoulders tense. As he moved, his scent wafted through her nose. She closed her eyes to enjoy the aroma. The simple smell of him made her mouth water, and she had to stop a moan from passing his lips. Lydia quickly snatched up her purse, and stormed out of the room. Grabbing his overcoat, Mr. Austin turned to follow his wife. Before getting to the door, he turned to Augustine and Trisha and simply stated, "This is far from over."

As the dining room door shut with a slam, Trisha plopped down in her chair. Her hands ruffled through her burgundy hair. She couldn't believe how this meeting had turned out. Her head pooped up from her hands, as she felt Augustine's hand on her shoulder. He stood in front of her holding her coat. She stood quickly, and sled her arms into the awaiting covering. Grabbing the file from the table, Augustine led her to the door.

Walking out into the cool night's breeze, Trisha pulled the coat tighter around her. Soon the car pulled around, and her driver stepped out, and opened her door. Turning to Augustine, she smiled as he stood there with his hands in his pockets. It was moments like these where he didn't seem so hostile. She sighed, and said, "Thanks for her having my back."
"I couldn't allow for him to disrespect you. Especially since you were protecting me, and everything that I have built."
"Just doing my job."
"And like I said, you're great at your job," Augustine said with a smirk. A warm smile spread across Trisha's lips as she turned to get into the car. She stopped as she heard he uttered a goodnight, to which she returned with a coy smile.