DateTheCEO.com

CH 29: Meeting of Minds

"You still didn't answer my question though. Why did you choose Evangeline?"

"I would have thought you'd ask her instead." Ambryan answered, not missing a beat. His right hand moved to the mouse. The cursor opened another document for him to review.

An irritated pout tugged the corners of Avery's lips.

He had to be playing with her. This was a low level of distraction tactics. Her son probably couldn't come up with any better since he was in the middle of work. Still, who made the choice? Was it not him?

Why would she ask Evangeline about it?

"Unless you told her, I doubt she'd know," she pointed out, scoffing softly. This would probably go in circles. She needed another approach."Tell me what was it or should I start to believe that my amateur psychology tricked work?"

Ambryan stopped typing and paused his work. His head rotated towards his mother. The new information captured him. If there was a trick, his hunches before turned out to be false. He guessed it was Mila who his mother favored.

Did this mean it was Evangeline all along?

Avery wore a smirk. She finally got him. Nothing interested her son such as tricks, especially if it turned out that he missed them. Even more so, when it was right in front of his face. She only wanted to try it.

Who knew it might have actually worked or not?

"Psychology trick?" Her son scrutinized. The smug look on her face aggravated him.

"Yeah," Avery nodded, feigning nonchalance. Her shoulders shrugged. "I added things on the website that would attract you to Evangeline."

"Like what?" Ambryan demanded. The site was simple, in his opinion. If she did anything to it, he would have noticed since it would stand out. How subtle was this trick of hers?

"Nothing suspicious!" His mother defended as he glowered for answers. She averted her eyes and twirled a strand of her black hair. Her gaze went to the ceiling as if she daydreamed out loud.

Ambryan felt his temple throb. She was relishing in the moment and he knew it.

"I merely used the colors of her profile picture for the website's layout," his mother finally revealed. "The red background, the gold outline, the gray circles, the white name... Since you saw them for some time while you chatted with other women, I thought it would work for you to be drawn to her."

'Red, gold, gray, white...' he pondered. The frown lines between his brows deepened. They were the colors of the website. The red seemed fitting since it was meant to be a dating one. Gray was a popular shade for indicating no activity. Gold seemed more like a finishing touch.

'Then, how did—'

The temperature of the room dropped. Ambryan became still, his muscles contracting. The pieces of the puzzle formed an image. The brush dipped into the colors and created a painting. It gave him an epiphany as he recognized the photo.

Not just any photo for that matter...

It was Evangeline's profile picture.

Avery hung her head, pressing her lips together and shutting her eyes. The montage of different expressions on her son's face was a comical sight. With all those colors, wasn't it obvious she favored one woman?

She could hardly breathe from muffling her laughter.

This was just too good!

"Tell me this then, mother," her son snapped. He ignored his work and gave his full attention to her. His arms rested on the table as he leaned forward. A dangerous look clouded over his face.