“I need to see all the company documents.” The man spoke from behind the desk."Yes, sir." The assistant answered, bowing and leaving the office.The man in the suit gets up, turns and looks at the people below. Out of all those people, there is only one person who matters to him, and now that he was back, he would rescue her.Knock-Knock“Mr Ashford?” A female voice sounded from the other end."Come in."The redhead walked into the room, smiling at Brandon.“I brought the papers you asked for.”“Why, please, Ellie. there is no need for so much formality.” He said and sat back down.“We are in the company. We do need formality.”The year and a half that Brandon was away made all the difference in his life. He recovered from the attempt on his life, and studied abroad, graduated, mastered martial arts, and now he could defend himself very well. Not just him, but her."How is she?" Brandon asked. He knew of Lucy's state of madness."She is better. She went back to college. Apparently, h
Lucy went to the gym where Brandon used to work and train. She looked around and didn't see him, but she wouldn't give up so easily.“Oh, excuse me.” she said to the receptionist. “I look for Friedrich Ashford…”“Who’s looking for him?” the receptionist asked in a very polite voice. “Lucinda Fairfax.” She replied, with a friendly but nervous smile.The attendant asked her to wait while he checked to see if the man she was looking for was there. After a few minutes of waiting, the attendant asked her to follow the other employee.She did and came to a farther room, much larger, with mirrors. And Friedrich was there."I knew you'd like to talk to me." He said and Lucy almost fainted. The voice was the same. More serious, perhaps."Oh yes. I… well… are you related to Brandon Ashford?” She asked and the man, who was shirtless, smirked. He slowly approached Lucy.“And who wants to know?” he asked and she knew he was playing. They asked for her name, minutes before.“Lucinda Fairfax.” She
Inside, Brandon was fuming, but on the outside, he even smiled, politely. Damon was paralysed by the door, looking at Brandon, no, at Friedrich. “B-brandon?” He asked, stuttering. “No, Mr. Montgomery. My name is Friedrich Ashford.” Brandon said and got up, walking to Damon and offering his hand for a shake. Damon didn’t change much, Brandon thought. He was muscled, and that was it. “Friedrich? I’m sorry, you really look like someone else.” “Oh, I bet I do. I had a twin.” Friedrich said and smiled. “A t-twin?” “Yes, a twin. He was a rebel, you see. Left the family, and in the end, we were the ones having to clean up his mess.” Damon frowned. He didn’t like Brandon, but what mess did the family clean? “Wasn’t him… murdered?” “He was. But we don’t have to talk about those private family affairs. What is it that you’d like to discuss?” Brandon asked in a very polite manner. “Please, take a seat.”“Thank you, Mr. Ashford.” Damon said. “Well, my company is looking for investors a
“What do you mean by that, girl?” Augustina asked, then she looked at Brandon and gave him a weak smile. “Don’t mind her. She is a bit silly. But professional and competent.” “So, is that a yes or a no?” Brandon asked, looking from one to another. “It is a yes!” Augustina said, supplanting Lucy’s ‘no’. “Great! Do you mind coming with me? I have some things I would like to show you already.” He said and Augustina nodded, pushing Lucy out of the door. “Mom! I am not dressed for that!” Lucy said, uncomfortably. “Nonsense. “ Brandon said. “I don’t mind it today. Why do you prefer to shower and come back in… twenty minutes?” He asked, looking at his wrist watch. “Great! That’s all she needs!” Lucy was pushed again, now, inside the house. While Lucy was gone, Augustina smiled at Brandon. “Mr. Ashford, your wife must be very proud of you!” She said and Brandon knew she wanted to know if he was single. “Yes, I bet she is.” He said, referring to Lucy, but her mother didn’t know that.
“Ah, you’re awake.” He said and smiled at her. “Want to eat something?” She nodded and Brandon asked someone to bring them food. Lucy waited and when it arrived, two big trails full of food. “Br, mean, Friedrich, why all that food? “ She asked him, astonished. “I didn’t know what you were eating today. I, for sure, am going for those muffins.”Looking at Lucy, he regretted not getting back to his family sooner. If he had done that a day earlier, he wouldn’t have to ‘die’ and leave Lucy. She almost went nuts because of his loss. And that was when he regretted it the most. And also, when he knew she loved him for real. “I’ll take care of you from now on, Lucy. I promise you.” She smiled at him. She wanted to hear that. Not from him, but…“When you’re not making advances, you’re quite nice.” She said and he laughed. She wanted to cry, because that was Brandon’s laugh. “I think I made quite the impression on your mother.” He boasted. “Of course you did.” Lucy rolled her eyes. “You
The dinner night arrived and Brandon was looking at himself in the mirror. He was now very different on the outside and on the inside. Before, Brandon was full of life, full of hopes and wanted to trust people. Then, he started to be suspicious and that broke him. “Erika called.” Ellie said. She was in his room. She helped him with his tie, something he never got to learn to perfection. They were best friends and, despite what everybody though on: boys never being friends with girls without sexual interests, they never, ever had anything. They were, in fact, best friends. “What does she want?” Brandon had Erik living in another city, with her child, someone helping to take care of the baby while she was studying. She changed a lot and as much as Kayle tried to find her, he couldn’t. “She just wanted to let you know she was approved for all her exams. She has been working hard on it.”Brandon smiled. “Yeah. At least one person that changed for the best.” Ellie nodded, but her eye
When Monday arrived, Damon was anxious. Lucy was being very evasive and so was her mother. Of course, he decided to do something about it and went to the University to wait for her. He saw her coming out of the building, and waited, but she didn’t walk to him, instead, she went to another man. He narrowed his eyes and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Lucy was walking to Friedrich Ashford!Damon clenched his fists, full of hate in his heart. Of course, Lucy was infatuated by that loser, Brandon. Now that his rich twin appeared, it could only mean her mother was approving their relationship. “But by all means, she is still my bride!” Damon murmured to himself before he walked to them. “Lucy!” He called for her, who turned around and looked at him, eyes empty of expressions. “Damon, hi!” She said, politely. “What are you doing? I came here to get you home.” He said and pointed at his car, a Bentley Continental GT V8 Convertible. “Oh, there is no need for that, Mr. Montgomery.
As promised, Brandon took Lucy out to dinner. They went to Janko’s Little Zagreb, a restaurant that Brandon knew was good from what his father said, but he had never been there himself. In reality, Brandon didn't go out much after he returned to Bloomington. Not that he did that before, anyway. "Brandon, I mean Friedrich, I don't think I'm dressed for this…" Lucy said sheepishly as they were still in the car, standing in front of the restaurant.“My love, you're going to get out of a Lamborghini. Do you really think anyone will care what you're wearing?” he asked and she pondered what he said. In fact, if she could be inside a car like that, then no one would say her clothes weren't good enough."Okay..." She said and smiled at him. Brandon leaned into her and gave her a kiss on the lips."I want to have you for dinner." He joked and she smiled."You're silly..." She said, happy, but then her eyes got sadder.“Hey, what happened?” Brandon asked and lifted her chin.“It's just that it