BUSINESS MARRIAGE (COMPLETED)

019

You know the thing about your past is that even when you decide that something that happened before doesn't affect you anymore and that thing suddenly jumps at you, glaringly obvious in a way you cannot ignore it, it affects us, it may not necessarily have the same effect or the effect might not be as intense as it was initially but it will be there, this was how I was feeling right now. It was easier to ignore this feeling in my chest when I saw him in the club the previous night but now sitting across the table from him the hatred I felt all those years ago was difficult to suppress. I was quiet for most of the meeting letting Paxton do most of the talking but then he noticed and tried to draw me into the negotiation

"12.5 is a good starting price for the equipment, if you agree on that we work our way up from there" Paxton said while all the assistants in the room scribbled furiously on their notepads "Alexandria what do you think?"

"It's more than enough if you ask me" I mumbled under my breath rolling my eyes

"Sorry what was that Alexandria" the bastard asked with a smirk on his face

"It's Miss Donovan, Mr Grant and I said the 12.5 is a higher starting point than I would have suggested"

"Then what would you suggest Miss Donovan" he asked mockingly

"How about moving the decimal point one number back?"

"So 125?"

"I thought you were smart, 1.25 Mr Grant"

"That's outrageous" he said losing his cool "Paxton, let's talk business, I always knew it was a mistake for Mr Donovan to hand over the company to you instead of your brother" he sneered at me

"Listen here Mr Grant '' I said before Paxton could reply "The fact remains that there are tons of companies that we could get the equipment from so we are not losing anything if we don't make a deal with you. Also I'm gonna send a message to my fellow female CEO's telling them your views on our positions in our companies. You can see yourself out" I stood leaving the meeting setting a reminder to actually send the message. I sent a message to Paxton telling him I was leaving and would meet him at home then one to Tristan so he won't bother picking Ava up.

When I got to the school it was a few minutes to closing but the kids were already out. I stayed in the parking lot waiting for the bell but then something caught my eye, Ava was pushed off the swing by a girl about her height. Forgetting to kill the engine I rushed out of the car and ran to where she was on the floor clutching her knee while the girl laughed.

"What the hell happened there" I asked, bending down to pick Ava up, the girl looked down suddenly finding her shoes interesting "Umm.. She mistakenly fell of the swing when she was going to high" she lied kicking the sand around

"I saw you push her, we are gonna wait for your parents and they are gonna hear about this" I answered but Ava shook her head telling me it was a mistake but I know what I saw. I decided that taking care of it later would be a better option when I saw the scraped knee starting to bleed. When we got into the car it was awfully quiet, I was willing to bet this wasn't the first time it had happened.

"Are you gonna tell me why you lied or am I gonna have to deprive you of Uncle Tristan's ice-cream for 2 weeks?" I asked sharing at her through the mirror

"There was no point in staying, Ashley wont get in trouble, her aunt is the proprietress" Ava replied holding the cotton wool to her knee

"And your mum is the Ceo of an international company and Paxton is the CEO of another international company and even if we weren't, I'm your mum and I won't sit around and let that fire ant get away with that" I pointed out "Ava, please can you not keep anything from me, getting bullied is not alright okay?"she nodded