Billionaire's One Desire (Formerly 'His Love? Or His Obsession?' )

Part 5- The Vicker's Party (III)

Hey hey! 😍 Uruguay Vs France, Brazil vs Belgium, good luck everyone! 😘

"I believe I've not introduced myself properly to you, I'm Christopher Vicker, it's a pleasure to meet you." She kept staring before finally snapping and accepting the hand he offered."Uhh..yeah, I'm Isabella, Isabella Dawn" she says then immediately looked down out of embarrassment of her actions during their previous encounter. The rest of them were not oblivious of how intense things got. With Robert being concerned about how strange his daughter was acting, Helen smiling out of happiness because of how angry Diana looked, Diana glaring at both Helen and Isabella, Michael who seemed to be enjoying every bit of the moment, Georgiana who focused all her attention on her drink to avoid the awkwardness in the air, Edwards who seemed happy he succeeded in introducing them to each other and Ivan who felt embarrassed that no one acknowledged his presence. Trying to get their attention, he brought out his right hand for an introduction, "Hello, I'm Ivan, Isabella's brother, it's nice to meet you too" he says sarcastically.
"I'm sorry Ivan, forgive my manners. I'm Christopher" he shook hands with him before gave a slight nod.
"You two met before? " Diana asks with a hint of irritation in her voice.
"Uh..yeah, it was a quick encounter not too long ago" Chris says as Isabella turned to cast a quick glance at Diana who glared at her. Isabella ignored her, grabbing a drink from one of the ushers that passed by. Mr. Edwards looked at his iPad before saying "Mr Vicker, it's time for you to give your speech, we need to go"
"Oh..Yes" Chris says, "do enjoy the rest of the party" he says trying to excuse himself.
"I hope we can arrange a proper dinner or something more private to get ourselves more acquainted. Your father was my very good friend so you can be rest assured you have my support whenever you need it" Robert says smiling.
"Thank you Mr. Robert, we can see to that some other time, please excuse me" he says then excuses himself leaving all of them to themselves, including Diana, as he followed Edwards to prepare for his speech.
The air suddenly became awkward again until Mike decided to break it.
"Well, how're y'all enjoying the Party?"
"Oh it's absolutely great. I have no doubt my friend left this company in the right hands after seeing all this. It's a shame I couldn't attend his funeral, I was in the hospital myself " Robert said.
"The decorations are perfection! Look at all the details on the chandelier." Helen says using her hands to illustrate.
"Yeah.. Glad you like it, cause these babes didn't come cheap. And how about you Miss Bella, enjoying yourself? " Mike asks Bella who had not yet recovered from what just happened.
"Oh yeah...the party's amazing"
"Wait a minute! Aren't you Michael Theodore? The great bull of The Hawks FC? " Ivan asks after standing there all the while trying to remember where he saw him.
"Oh finally, someone recognises me! I was starting to think I wasn't famous anymore" he joked as the rest of the Dawns seemed confused.
"Sorry man, no one really watches football in my house. In fact, no one tunes to the sports channel at all, except me and when I do, it's basketball. But I've heard your name from a couple buds of mine, gotta say, you look taller in person" Ivan complimented.
"Yeah, I get that a lot, thanks bruh!" he smiled raising his glass cup to him
"Can we take a selfie? "
"Sure!".

"My buds are gonna wanna kill me for this" Ivan says referring to the picture which they just took.
Diana who had been standing there had been glaring at Bella and Helen, but they seemed to pay no attention to her. She was about to say something when someone spoke on the microphone.
"Hello?...Yeah, hello, good evening everyone. My name is Mr. Victor Edwards, special advisor to the late CEO, The Vicker Group, Mr. George Vicker and now his son, Christoper Vicker. I trust that you have all been having a good time as it is with great honour that I, on behalf of the entire management, welcome you all to this special event, inaugurating the late CEO's son, as the new Chief Executive Officer of The Vicker Group " he said and they all applaused after which he continued, "...thank you. I have served this company for over ten years of my life and in these years, I've had no regrets whatsoever. Mr George Vicker was a business icon, a role model to so many young business entrepreneurs and if there's anyone capable enough to take over his legacy, it's his son, Christoper Vicker. Most of you might have known him as the Personal Assistant to the late CEO, but now, it is with great pleasure that I introduce him to you all, for the first time as Mr Christopher Vicker, CEO of The Vicker Group" they all applaused again before he continued, "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Christopher Vicker" he said and the crowd cheered to welcome him to the stage. Chris climbs the stage and the applauds became even more. He looks at everyone, flashing them a warm smile before spotting Isabella who had been staring at him from the crowd. Their eyes met and she immediately looked away out of embarrassment and then looked down to focus all her attention on the glass of wine which she held. Chris cleared his throat before he began talking.
"Good evening once again. I'll just briefly like to say welcome to you all and honouring our invitation. I hope you've all been having fun, because it'd be a shame if you didn't, considering the amount and time spent in putting all this together" he joked a little and they laughed before he continued "Although this celebration was put together to celebrate my inauguration, all these would have not been possible without the hard work of the entire management, so I'm sending a special thank you to them." Chris pauses to look at Isabella again and catches her staring at him. Her mum who had been watching the two of them exchange glances at each other, whispers into her left ear, "You know Princess, I think he likes you" she says and Bella looks at her shocked. "and of I'm not mistaken, I think you like him too" she says them winks at her.
"Oh mother! You're hallucinating again!"
"Oh am I now?"
"Yes you are! We barely even know each other and now we like each other?"
"Oh save that crap for someone who's not your mother. You two will make quite a duo, he's rich and handsome, you're smart and beautiful, just like your mother" she says still whispering.
"Mother that's impossible. I don't like him and he doesn't like me. Daniel and I are still together, I love him mum! And does everything always have to do with money?!"
"Of course my princess! Money runs the world." Helen points making Bella roll her eyes before sighing.
"Do you know where Ivan is?" Helen asks worriedly
"Uhh, he said he was going to use the restroom, which was a while ago, I'll go find him, here " she says handing her drink to her mum before disappearing into the crowd. Robert who had been standing next to Helen was so engaged by Chris's speech. He noticed his wife's anxiety and asked "is everything alright? "
"uhh yes" she says trying to sound convincing.
"You look like you're nervous about something. Are you having one of your migraines again? We can leave now if you don't feel okay"
"It's nothing Robert, I'll just use the restroom. Here, hold these for me" she says handing two glasses of wine to him before leaving.
"...we here at The Vicker Group, believe our customers deserve only the best. Which is why when you patronize any of our products, you're sure of nothing but the best. I'd like to keep that high standard in check, and I'm counting on your unconditional support. Our second refinery is still under construction and will be completed, hopefully in the next three months." They all clapped again before he continued, "Thank you. We thank all our shareholders and intending investors for believing in us. The night is still young everyone, help yourselves and please have a wonderful evening, thank you." he concludes with a smile before leaving the stage as they clapped and the press kept taking pictures.
Chris had already come down from the stage and was looking for Michael and the rest when someone called his name making him turn back.
"Christopher! "
"Mr. Anthony! It's so nice to see you again!" he says smiling as he shook the older man.
"I'm surprised you still recognise me, it's been almost ten years since I saw you with your father, only then he never told me you were his son" he says smiling back. Henry Anthony was one of the few friends George had while he was alive, they attended college together and both ventured into the business world after graduating which brought them together.
"Yes, well that was the plan, to shock you all and I guess we succeeded" Chris said convincingly.
"Well you sure did and please call me Henry, since we're going to be seeing each other more often. I'm interested in making a business offer the your company, I'm hoping we can schedule a proper meeting."
"Of course, just contact us whenever you're ready"
"That'd be great. By the way, Hailey sends her greetings to you. She couldn't make it today because she has a pageant show to judge"
"That's great, well my regards to her and tell her Michael sends his greetings too."
"Alright, I'll let you get back to you friends then"
"Okay, thanks again" Chris says smiling before he left.
As he searched for Mike, he indirectly looked for any sign of Bella but saw none. "Chris!" Someone calls.
"Diana, where's Mike?"
"He's over there" she points as Mike approached them with Georgiana.
"Yo man! That was some brilliant speech over there, I'm glad I taught you well" Mike says sarcastically as he taps him on his shoulder.
"Well you sure as hell did." he responds shaking his head. Mike noticed his friend scanning his eyes through the hall then asked "you looking for someone?"
"Huh?.. No,um did you really Hailey's dad? " he asks changing the topic.
"Hailey Anthony?!" Diana asks. Chris nods in response before Georgiana spoke too "Hailey Anthony?! As in the model?! Oh my gosh! She's like my role model!" she says dreamily as Chris smiles.
"Hailey's dad? Is Hailey here too?" Mike asks with a hint of irritation in his voice.
"No, it's just him, he said she couldn't make it"
"Glad she couldn't" Diana mutters to herself a little too loud making them all stare at her confused "No... Ummm I meant to say it's a good thing she's not here to steal all the attention from the paparazzi. Besides, if she was here , she'd be chattering about all the countries she's modelled in" Mike scoffs and asks, " And you don't chatter?"
"Michael! " Chris calls glaring a little at him. Diana gave him an irritated look. "What Stoph? You know I'm saying the truth." he says shrugging. Before any of them could utter another word, someone from the stage announced on the microphone that it was time for the dance.
Mike took his position with Georgiana as Chris did the same with Diana. As the music came on and they swayed to the rhythm, Diana felt on top of the world as the whole crowd had their eyes on them. When everyone joined the dance, Diana tried to engage in small talks with Christopher to give everyone the idea that they were a couple but Chris didn't even seem to pay attention the dance or to the person whom he was dancing with .
"...Chris are you even listening? "
"What? um.. What did you say? " he asks trying to recollect what she had been blabbering since the beginning of the dance.
"I said you look even more handsome upclose" she says smiling and trying to mask her disappointment.
"Oh.. Uh.. " before he could even respond, they were interrupted by the sound of a broken glass. Everyone looked to the direction from which it came and there stood a drunk Ivan with half bottle of wine. Behind him were Bella and Helen who had been trying to secretly grab him out before the glass cup fell off his hand. Bella met Chris's eyes and turned away, embarrassed for the second time that night as she tried to control her drunk brother.
"What is going on here?! " Robert steps out from nowhere to meet his family who were already the centre of attention.
"Hello father...miss me much? " Ivan hicupped, his eyes half closed as he slurred his words.
"Will you shut up! " Robert says angrily.
"Robert, lower your voice, everyone's watching." Helen whispers
"Why should I lower my voice when your son always choose to embarrass himself at the wrong time and place?! "
Dad, it's okay, please...that's enough, remember your health." Bella pleads. Robert sighed after hearing her words, she was the one person who truly cared about him in their family.
"Don't worry dad, I'll handle this...Ivan! You are coming with me!" she says as she pulls him by the ear and drags him out of the hall. Robert followed them, while Helen turned around to face the crowd. Putting on her most convincing smile, she says "We're sorry everyone..you know, family issues... Do have a wonder night!" she smiled before going of to join her family.
"You heard the lady people! The part continues!" Mike says trying to get their minds off the little drama they just witnessed. Chris kept staring at nothing till Mike came to speak to him. "You okay man? "
"Uh.. Yeah, sure. Thanks man" and so the party continues.