"I have the following thoughts to offer, first, you can get married any time in your life if you choose to do so. And two: if you choose a career, you can buy a white dress yourself, have it made to order, and wear it whenever you want."
—Aunt Josephine
"Uncle Tristaaaan" Ava screamed barreling across the room into his open arms, he spun her around and she giggled till her cheeks hurt.
"My favourite cupcake, did you miss me?" he asked placing her on the floor, she nods exaggeratedly, lingering even after his attention shifted back to her mum. "Did you miss me?"
"I can't say I did" he replies with a smile and a mock british accent "Not that I'm not overjoyed to see you, but what are you doing here?"
"Nah, I dont believe you, if you were overjoyed as you just said, you'd have had a similar reaction to this ball of joy here" he punctuates the sentence by ruffling Ava's hair
"You're a potato, I told Shelia that I'm fine, you don't need to babysit" she walked back towards the wardrobe to continue packing
"Despite what you think mi Corazon, my world only partially revolves around you. I'm here for business. The rich and famous eat ice cream too, so I am opening a new branch here, going building shopping tomorrow" his explanation is cut off by his phone ringing
"Go ahead and tell Shelia that you're here" she said not bothering to look up from what she was doing.
"It is definitely not Shelia..." he said taking backward steps "... but I need to step out to take this"
"Ava honey, go pack your stationeries while your Uncle Tristan takes care of his business"
The Boy returns to get the bags and calls them when the driver is ready to go. Tristan decides to tag along, given the house is a 5 bedroom, more than enough space for the 3 of them.
"Hello Bailey" Alex answers the phone quietly, seing Ava asleep on Tristan's lap at the back seat
"Miss Donovan, I am so so sorry, I mixed up the dates for one of your appointments, You have to be at the Burger Empire in 30 minutes"
"The burger empire?"
"He chose the location. I'm so sorry"
"It's fine Bailey, just send me the address, I'll drop Ava and Tristan at the place first
- - -
The man was running late so she ordered a glass of grape juice to keep herself company.
"Miss Donovan, I apologize for the delay, I'm not very much used to this country yet" he said, taking her hand and placing a kiss on it before having his own seat.
"Not a problem Mr. York" she replied trying not to look like the gesture had affected her but in all honesty it had taken her by surprise. Well, that combined with his accent and the way his eyes stared into hers making the lunch feel like something it wasn't.
"Oh, I absolutely despise the formalities, call me Leo" he said playfulness dancing in his eyes
"How 'bout we meet in the middle and I call you Leonardo and you can call me Alexandria" she replied with a smile. When he nodded she asked "Shall we start with business or lunch?"
"Lunch please, it seems like an eternity since I ate breakfast" he replied already signalling for a waiter "Would you mind placing an order for me, I'm not sure what is good" he asked
"Of course, though I've been told I have a rather large appetite so I'm not sure I know how to order food for people with 'normal' stomach capacities" she said putting air quotes around the word normal making him chuckle
"I'm pretty sure I could stuff more food in me than you could in that tiny body" he said with an air of playfulness not knowing who he was talking to. "Let's test that theory shall we?" She replied with a smile that told him he was gonna regret that statement.
"You are so gonna lose" he said digging a deeper hole for himself
"Let's make this interesting then" Alex said after telling the waiter that had arrived to bring 30 burgers "If I win, you have to spray paint my name of your car in hot pink and you have to drive only that car around for the next 2 weeks"
"Goodness, where did that come from" he asked, surprised at how elaborate the instructions were
"Wanna back down?" She asked tauntingly
"Nope, but when I win you have to rent a billboard and put 'Leonardo York is hotter than the sun' and sign your name on the main highway" he said with a smirk
"When? Someone's cocky" she retorted with an equally cocky smirk "May the best woman win"
7 minutes later they had both forgotten that this was meant to be a business meeting and were shoving burgers down their throats. Alex was on her 4th one while Leo was finishing up his 3rd but this competition was not about speed, it was all about endurance.
23 minutes later Alex was struggling with her 11th one and Leo with his 10th, she dropped it when she felt her throat resisting to take anymore in but Leo finished his 10th before stopping using the table to support his weight
"I............am..............victorious" Alex said catching her breath between each word, she looked anything but victorious though.
"Only by half a burger" he retorted heaving after the sentence
"Said like a true loser, hope you have a good spray painter, if not I know one that does a magnificent job" she said sitting up trying to regain her composure.
"I....." he was interrupted by her phone ringing she looked at the screen and saw Tristan's name "Sorry, I have to take this" she said and he nodded telling her he didn't mind
"Hey Tristan, what's up?"
"..."
"What do you... I already sent the driver back... I'll figure something out"
"..."
"I'll be there in 25 minutes" she said before hanging up "I'm sorry Leonardo but I have to go right now" she said hurriedly. She tried to stand up but her stomach was too filled, it hurt to move. "Blighted hell, of all times to do a burger eating contest." If she was finding it hard to move it'd be a chore to get a taxi.
"Could I be of any assistance" Leo pipped up seeing the distress on her face
"Unless you could loan me a driver then no" she said with a sigh, this is what she gets for not knowing how to get a taxi
"Actually, I can do just that" he replied and in that moment he might as well have been a knight in shining armor.
He settled the bill even though she insisted, but he said it was his job as the loser. They agreed that she'd pay next time. They practically dragged each other to the door where his driver had come to meet them.
The car parked in front of the house and they stepped out, Leo included. "Thank you for the ride Mr. Y - Leo, I'll have my assistant call you to reschedule the meeting since we weren't able to do anything meaningful today"
"How bout you take this'' he gave her his card "and call me when you're free. Also I believe we did something meaningful today - we became friends did we not?" he asked, but didn't wait for an answer as he entered his car and it drove away.
- - -
Follow my instagram @ glimmering_moon_light and @agirlhasapen
YOU ARE READING
BUSINESS MARRIAGE (COMPLETED)
Romance"You know, I rather be married to a dog than to be married to you" Pheonix shouted while looking me straight in the eye. I lone tear ran down my cheek the he laughed and said "Actually it seems I am getting married to a dog" before leaving me with t...
