Carter had a grim expression as he was being wheeled into his home office by the nurse assigned to cater for him. The last week had taken a different turn than he had expected,he had totally forgotten about Ava,he couldn't even remember her name— anytime he fell ill,he was mad at everyone especially his parents and their stupid, selfish love that had set him up for great pain literally for the rest of his life.
Working was the only thing that kept him sane most of the time — he didn't have friends,no hobbies or whatsoever. The only person he had was his Grandma who loved him so much but he decided to distance himself from her—because she reminded him of an affiliation to family and also because he didn't want his walls to be broken down by emotions but she was the only one he respected, the sacrifices she had made played an important role in making him the Ryan Carter Ross he was today and he couldn't take that for granted.
He loved how his life was black and white without colors and frankly the only reason he acquired wealth and influence was so he could be self sufficient, never having to face rejection again and truly he had everything and everyone he needed at his disposal— he had filled the void of love and affection in his heart with the things that mattered, which was power and influence or so he thought.
The head of the project team at Ava's company had called saying they were going to send someone to his home office and he didn't give it much thought because all that mattered was getting the work done.
"Sir", Carter's PA said appearing at the entrance of his office. He acknowledged by shifting his gaze from his iPad to look at peniel his PA and went back to looking at his iPad.
"The representative from the project team is here" he said letting both himself and Ava into Carter's office.
"Good day sir" Ava said bravely looking in his direction but not directly at him.
"Good day" Carter responded to the female voice as he lifted his eyes to behold quite a familiar face. He stared at her for a while and then got irritated when he noticed she was staring back at him.
"Introduce yourself,I don't have all the time in the world" he said brashly trying to evacuate the awkwardness that filled the room.
"Uhmmm... Ava Williams...My name is Ava Williams sir" Ava responded taken aback, she didn't know when her gaze shifted from the piece of art by his side to him.
His hair was finely cut and combed suiting the shape of his head,she saw his face clearly for the first time and he was a definition of fine art—too bad he has quite an attitude Ava thought as she bent her head.
"Mmmm...Ava, have I seen you before?" He asked uncertainly as her name and face were vaguely familiar.
OMG he doesn't recognize me,whew! What a relief. She exchanged her long blonde for a short black Bob look,she didn't have swollen eyes like she had at the hospital, and of course she didn't have makeup on like she had on the day of the presentation being that that day was a special day and she needed to look her best, but today was just another work day.
I'm definitely going to tip my stylist extra the next time I stop by—she thought amused and happy at the same time. This was a clean slate and she was going to take it— she resolved as she remembered the threat of being fired by the CEO Candice threw at her the other day she passed out in the middle of an important meeting—she really needed this job.
"What nonsense,are you dumb?" Carter asked in a slightly high tone that jerked Ava back to reality. "I said have we met before?"
"No...no... not at all sir" she swallowed hard as her eyes met his PA's, who gave her the 'she was setting herself up' look.
Something about her voice sounded familiar but he let it slide," let's get to business,shall we" he said motioning to the seat opposite him as Ava sat graciously.