Chapter 1

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It was that time of the year. The streets were decorated in warm lights and adorned with festive decorations. The festive atmosphere always brought optimism into people's lives,almost everyone was more happier, more kinder and more accommodating.

Karen stared out the window and thought to her self, she had it under control, she needed to land this account and her brand would be know all over. As a young female Watch and Art auction house owner, she struggled hard to create a name for herself. Her reputation as a reliable, confidential and authentic supplier was growing but at a slow pace. She was content with her life right now, with all that she has been through at this point she felt her life was finally going in the right direction. She was married and divorced before she turned 27. She literally had to plough through the bad times and start her life over from scratch. She reached a point where she was broke and heartbroken, she was about to give up, until her best friend Cherry slapped some sense into her, metorphroically of-course.

At 30, Karen thought the whole idea of marriage was a scam perpetuated by the retail and events industry. Her marriage and divorce was painful and she vowed never to go through that again. But then she met Nick, who was amazing in every sense of the word. They had such a great connection, they laughed, cooked together, watched Netflix (GOT had become a weekly ritual), had common interest in watches, oh and the sex was amazing. She almost started believing in love again, she thought that maybe her ex husband was the bad apple in the lot. Maybe some men were nicer and made an effort. But as she later found out, Nick was nothing but a man slut. Not to be mean but he really couldn't keep it in his pants.  His need to juggle multiple women at the same time and then defend himself by saying he wasn't doing anything with them except for that one kiss or it didn't mean anything. Such a man slut. She wasn't innocent either, she kept going back to him, mainly because being alone was a scary concept and he continued treating her like crap knowing that she would always come back. During times of loneliness, she thought better to be with someone and turn a blind eye to his ways, rather than be alone.

Once again Cherry came to her rescue and put some sense into her. Told her to stop putting up with his nonsense. Stop pretending she was ok with his behavior and the other women in his life. That's when she broke down and told Cherry everything, how he said he didn't know they were dating and they were just friends and he made it clear in the beginning. How worthless she felt that she couldn't measure up to what he wanted that he had to look for other women. How he told her the girls he has been with and how many time they did it. Then she stopped and stared blankly while feeling her heart shatter into pieces. She felt like it went thru the grinder and was turning into powder. That's when it struck her, this is not what she wanted to become. She never wanted her life to depend on a man, a man who had no value for her. She didn't want to chase after someone who was blind to see how much she loved him. As difficult as it was going to be She was going to move on, and the first thing she was going to do was to cut him off. At this point her relationship with him was more like The Boyfriend experience without the commitment (you know the one where they will hold your hand at home but outside they are single), she was only surviving but not living. And that was going to change She was going to focus on her work and her career. Instead of putting her heart and soul into him, she was going to put it in her. From this day forward, she was the only thing that mattered. So she said bye to Nick, told him to have fun and spread his STDs to other women and enjoy himself, but she was no longer standing beside him as his back up plan.

She worked towards building the reputation of her auction house. And boy did she work hard. She focused in bringing in rare and limited edition watches and artwork. Scouring the globe for items her clients needed but was difficult to get their hands on. Working insane hours and traveling often without actually seeing the place, her life revolved around airports, hotel rooms and take away boxes. She met new people and networked until all the small talk she had in her arsenal ran dry. She hated networking, it wasn't her forte, she always thought too much and was worried that she would offend people. But she had to do it for her business, so she bit the bullet and networked.

During one of these networking events she learned that Christopher Geraldas was going to be in town for Watch Week and was looking to sell one of his limited edition Jaeger-Lecoultre watches. Karen was excited, if she could convince Christopher to showcase his limited collection at her auction house, this would bring a lot of footfall to her business. It would help her bring a greater name for her business. She just needed to get a meeting with him. Her competitors were throwing lavish parties and spending on expensive perks to lure customers. She didn't think it was beneficial to spend that kind of money. Plus she had standards, throwing money on strip clubs and lap dances was against her feminist beliefs.

She decided she would attend all three days of Watch week and bump into Christopher and convince him to visit her auction house. Only problem is that the only picture of Christopher was of 10 years back. She didn't know how he looked now, being a private person Christopher rarely granted interviews, barely made public appearances and his PR and security team were top notch, you couldn't get past them. Which is why there were barely any pictures of Christopher, it practically looked like he was a figment of people's imagination. But in the Watch world he was renowned as being one of the most hardcore Watch collectors, he fought tooth and nail and if he wanted a Watch he would do everything in his power to get it. So no he definitely wasn't a figment of someone's imagination. She hoped and prayed that she could get Christopher to visit her auction house .

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Authors note
So what do you think? Can you relate to the story? Would this work? Hoping to post a chapter every week. But would love your comments and votes.

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