The Ideal Deal

14

I gently tapped on the window in an effort to break the uncomfortable silence in the car. The tension had been very thick since our argument last night. I had hoped that we would have woken up and everything would be fine, but we barely spoke to each other. In fact, Dominic only spoke to me to tell me that he made breakfast and that Lumiere called and told us that the Circle wanted to meet us at 1 p.m. Now that it was 11:30 a.m, we were in his car and heading towards the directions given to us. I sneaked a peek at Dominic, who was very focused on the road.

"Um....Dom?" I nervously called out.

"Yes, Sum?" he asked, but his eyes were still glued to the road.

I hesitantly questioned, "Are you angry at me?"

"No," he answered, but his voice lacked emotion.

"Can you tell me why you're being so distant then?" I asked, hoping that he'd open up.

He replied, "I can," but gave no further explanation. Not being one to run after anyone when I knew that I did nothing wrong, I decided to let him be.

We spent the ride in silence, and when we got to a large gate that was guarded, I checked the time on my phone. I noticed that we had arrived ten minutes early. A guard approached our car, and Dominic rolled down the window and told him the secret password that Lumiere gave him this morning. The guard then went back to his stand and punched in a code, which opened the large gates. We then drove for about five more minutes until we pulled up to a large mansion. Dominic parked the car in the driveway, and as soon as he did, I undid my seatbelt and got out the car. Dominic quickly got out and walked over to me with an irritated look on his face. He looked around us before placing his hands on my waist and tugging my body into his. "I always open the door for you. Understood?" he whispered into my ear. "We're being watched."

"I can open my own door," I whispered back, and he tightened his hold on my waist. "Let go of me, Dominic. This is not the place to pick a battle."

He sighed in defeat and pressed a kiss to my cheek before releasing my waist and holding my hand. I wanted to pull my hand away, but the door opened and Lumiere came walking out.

He offered a bright smile as he shook Dominic's hand. He then motioned to hug me, but I stopped him in his tracks by stretching my hand out. Lumiere was a friend of my family as well as Dominic's, but if I were to ever be taken seriously, I needed to be treated like the big men running the game. He gave a simple nod and shook my hand, and Dominic seemed a bit pleased that I shook Lumiere's hand instead of hugging him.

"Follow me inside," Lumiere smiled, and Dominic and I nodded and did as Lumiere had instructed. Lumiere led us to the living room, where a few people were sitting around a round table.

"There they are!" a white man with dark brown hair smiled. He was a bit old, maybe in his late fifties or early sixties, but didn't have any gray hair in. Yet again, he probably dyed his hair, judging by how dark it was. "I'm Daniel Porter, head of the Circle." As I looked around the room, I noticed that I knew everyone that was here. I had met them before at conventions and whenever they'd visit my parents' house to talk business. Daniel, however, I had never encountered before. "I'm sure you both know everyone except for me."

"Don't be modest, sir," Dominic smiled. "You're the man behind three of the worlds biggest corporations, including an oil company, a tech company, and-"

I remembered my parents talking about Porter Inc, but I had no idea that they were talking about Daniel Porter, being that I never actually met him. Now that I knew who he was, I decided to cut Dominic off by joining in the convo.

I smiled, "It's actually four, Dom. He has an oil, tech, medicine, and his most recent success: a makeup company all under the name of Porter Inc."

"Impressive," Daniel smiled. "Please, take a seat, and you're both welcomed to call me Daniel."

Dominic pulled out my chair, and once I was seated, pushed my chair in. He then took a seat beside me, and Lumiere sat on the empty chair across from us. I noticed that he was seated next to his wife, Chanel, who was a brunette with pretty doll eyes. She and Lumiere owned a really big tech corporation that was partly funded by the government and had multiple big investors. They were both forty years old and were the youngest couple in the Circle. If Dominic and I were to be accepted, however, we'd be the youngest couple.

Everyone gave friendly smiles or waved at us, and Dominic and I returned the smiles and waves. We then focused our attention to Daniel.

"I'm under the impression that you two are married," Daniel smiled, but it sounded more like a question as opposed to a statement.

Dominic nodded, "Yeah. I got very lucky."

Everyone at the table chuckled, and I would've blushed if only he meant what he was saying. Instead, I smiled sweetly as I stared at him. He looked to me and winked, and I had to refrain from rolling my eyes.

"It's a bit refreshing knowing that you two were able to find something to live for during such an unfortunate time. On behalf of the Circle, I would like to send my deepest condolences. The Kings and Winters were very valuable to the Circle, and we are very upset to find out that things went this way," Daniel replied genuinely, and as I looked around, I could see the sincerity in everyone's eyes.

"Thank you," Dominic and I replied in unison.

Dominic added, "We hope to uphold their legacies."

I pitched in saying, "We also hope to create some of our own. This will be a new era for the Kings and Winters."

"Yes, indeed," Daniel smiled, "which is why we asked for your time today. Normally we'd send an invitation, but you two are from the families the Circle holds dear and appreciated, which is why we thought it only best to have you join us for lunch. We'd like to personally invite you to the Circle, if you'd both accept."

Dominic and I looked to each other and smiled before looking to Daniel. "We do," we smiled in unison.