The car drove away from The Ribbon Palace, heading back to Ortho Speare. Keith had grudgingly given an apology to the host for having to leave abruptly but he had made clear the reason why he had to leave and he had said that the presence of Cheryl Xiu in his event had resulted in an insult to his person. Of course, Cheryl had tried to defend herself but she had no valid point nor reason for her claim of being the victim.
Nearly everyone had witnessed her lash out against Donna, she had been the first to attack. They had witnessed and testified to it. If Keith had been sympathetic, he might have felt sorry for Jeremy who had to stand by his wife and accept the scorn and embarrassment she brought to him but Keith was not sympathetic, he could not have imagined why anyone would choose to get married to Cheryl Declan, she was always showing her bad signs and he knew he was right about her being kept on a leash.
A literal leash.
And even though the host had asked that Cheryl be removed from his establishment so as to keep him there, his mood had already been soiled and he did not want to remain there anymore so he had left with Donna who had tendered a proper apology to the host as he saw them off to their car.
Now as they drove back, he kept his attention on Donna who sat to his left. He knew he made it obvious that he was looking at her and maybe it made her uncomfortable but Keith did not give a damn and she didn’t seem to be bothered. Sometimes she acted strange, nice, humble, and accepting, like a princess who had been locked up for too long in a fantasy castle, and sometimes she was daring enough to excite him.
Earlier today when she had hit Cheryl in the boutique, she had been daring but back at The Ribbon Palace she had suddenly gone meek and humble. That alone angered him.
“Why didn’t you hit her when I gave you the chance to? I know you wanted to.” Keith asked. He leaned back into the car seat and spread his knees apart.
“In as much as I wanted to, it felt wrong at that moment,” she replied to him honestly. “Plus the media was there and I was worried about how they might put it in the news tomorrow.”
“Fuck the media, and to hell with the news.” He almost yelled out. “It was very obvious to me that you wanted to put her in her place and a slap across the face might actually set her head right for a minute or two.”
“I had a company to represent and I refuse to belittle myself for her in front of the world.”
Keith chuckled and threw his attention out the window as he watched the city go by. “You should have hit her. She would deserve it, fuck the media and tomorrow’s news. I would have hit her.”
“I know you care about your reputation as it affects Ortho Speare.”
“Not when I have to deal with Cheryl Declan Xiu.” He said and Donna could not help but notice the hostility in his voice. She wondered if the two knew each other, maybe they had a past together, it would make sense if that were the case but she could only guess and make assumptions because she could not out-rightly ask him.
“I have my reasons for disliking her,” Donna spoke up but also kept her attention outside the car.
“So do I,” Keith said under his breath to himself. The hatred he had for Cheryl Declan was unfathomable and it ached his heart whenever he had to set his eyes on her that she was alive, breathing and carrying out her life like nothing had happened. It pained him to the marrow that he could not hurt her as much as he would love to because he had made a promise to someone.
A promise he was keeping in hopes that that someone would one day wake up. It has been years since he last heard her voice, years since the last time he had seen her standing on her own two feet, years since the unfortunate incident happened but it would forever burn in his heart and memory.
He shut his eyes and let out a breath and didn’t say anything else as they drove back to the company in complete silence.
When the car parked in front of Ortho Speare, Donna was the first to alight and then Keith, they both made their way towards the entrance as the driver drove the car away to its proper parking spot in the underground garage.
“Cancel the rest of any meeting, event, or whatever I have for today. I would not want to deal with anyone else.” He said to Donna.
“You don’t have any other thing planned for today, Mr. Preston.” She told him.
He hummed and nodded his head, glad that there was nothing else to look forward to for the rest of today as the drama that had happened at The Ribbon Palace was enough for one day.
“You can leave early today, you don’t have to wait up for me.”
“Alright, sir.”
Donna had his suit in her hand as they made their way into the building but just before they got to the elevator, a lady ran up to them, struggling in her heels to catch up to them before they got into the lift, Donna recognized her as the new lady by the reception table.
“Sir,” she called. “Mr. Preston.”
He groaned before he stopped walking and faced her. The look on his face was enough to scare the lady away. But she stood her ground and swallowed.
“There is a Mr. Maxwell Jones in the lounge area waiting for you.” her voice shook and she could hardly maintain eye contact with Keith as he looked down at her.
Keith grunted and groaned. He had completely forgotten about Max. He turned to Donna, still with a frown. “Why did you not remind me of the meeting with him?”
Donna looked at him confused. “I had no idea you were to meet someone today. It is not on your schedule for today,” she replied to him, confusion in her tone.
“Are you…” he paused and then remembered. Right. Max had called him only last night and he had agreed to meet him today. Donna had not been aware of it. He turned to the receptionist.
“Let him wait in my office,” Keith said and dismissed the receptionist, then he turned to face Donna. “Bring a bottle to the office immediately we get in,” he told her as they got into the elevator and Donna nodded her head in understanding.
“Did you wait for long?” Keith asked as he entered the office, accepting a handshake from Max.
“Almost two hours,” Max replied before taking his seat in front of the desk.
“So you didn’t wait for long.” Keith sat and Max chuckled. “Let’s get down to the reason you’re here, let me see what you’ve got.”
Max opened up the laptop he had in his hand and brought up the document he needed to show and then turned the laptop towards Keith.
“The whole thing is detailed to the least in there, and you will see…”
“Let me go through it, Max.” Keith stopped him. He was tired and just wanted to rest, so he would just quickly look at this and if it had any potential then he would ask Max to forward it to him and he would pick a good time to go through it again.
A knock sounded on the door once and it was then pushed open, Max turned to see the sexiest-looking woman he had ever laid eyes on walk in, she had in her hand a bucket of ice and a bottle of whiskey. He watched as she walked briskly towards the desk, placed the bottle on it and the bucket of ice beside it then she straightened up, turned, flashed him a welcoming smile and made her way out of the office.
He smirked as he watched her walk, her hips swaying as she moved and he could not help the thoughts that came to his mind and he wondered if Keith wouldn’t mind if he had this one for a night.