Chapter 8

• "The flight will take a while, so you can sleep," Arthur tells me as he settles into his seat.
• We are flying on the company's private jet, it's nice to have a plane to ourselves and be able to have a peaceful journey.
• I sit down and soon fall asleep.
• "Bella, sweetheart, wake up," someone says, stroking my cheek.
• Grumbling, I open my eyes and find Arthur looking at me.
• "We have arrived," he informs me with a smile, getting up. I also get up and grab my bag.
• "The meeting is tomorrow morning, I'll see you then," he tells me as we walk towards a black car waiting for us.
• A few minutes later, the car stops in front of a luxurious hotel, the building is illuminated and looks impressive. Arthur gets out of the car and I hurry to follow him. He walks towards the grand lobby and I am surprised to see how huge and modern it is. While I was looking around, I didn't realize what Arthur was doing until I see him standing at the reception desk, flirting with the receptionist, who just laughs at what he says.
• Angry and occasionally sad, I look at the scene in front of me, look away in annoyance, and feeling ridiculous, I sit on the lobby sofa.
• From the corner of my eye, I can see her still laughing at what he says and I see the smiles and looks he gives her.
• I try to calm down, besides, he and I are not dating, right?
• "Hello, beautiful lady," I hear a French accent next to me.
• Jumping in surprise, I look to my side and see a tall man in a nice suit.
• "Hello," I reply and he sits next to me.
• "And tell me, what is a woman as beautiful as you doing here alone?" I hear him ask charmingly with his accent.
• I want to answer him with a smile but a glare from Arthur makes me roll my eyes and stand up.
• "Let's go, darling, the suite for our honeymoon is ready," Arthur says with forced calm.
• I give a small smile to the Frenchman and walk with Arthur to the elevator. There are quite a few people, so Arthur stands very close behind me, which makes me blush. Through the elevator mirror, I see him smiling, he knows he makes me nervous.
• "Honeymoon? Really?" I ask irritably when we get out of the elevator, he just shrugs and smiles.
• "Tomorrow at 8 o'clock," he says, handing me the room key. I take it and he enters his room, which is exactly opposite mine.
• "Okay..." I reply to nothing.
• I enter the room and unpack the suitcases that had already been left.
• I think about taking a shower but it's almost 2 am, so it's best to go to bed.
• I wake up almost at 7:30 and run around the room looking for clothes, makeup, and other things.
• I take a quick shower and finish getting ready.
• I leave my room and look at the door in front of me, I don't think Arthur is still there, so I hurry down to the lobby.
• "Good morning," I hear Arthur's voice just as I reach the lobby.
• "Good morning," I reply.
• "Let's go, the car is waiting."
• After a 15 or 20 minute drive, we arrive at a large building, at the entrance I can read Tex and Lea CO."
• "This is a leather goods company, if we manage to make a contract with them as their supplier, we would increase our profits by 25%," Arthur tells me and I am amazed, it would be a total success to sign with them.
• I just nod and walk behind Arthur admiring the place.
• "Marcos," I hear Arthur cheerfully say as he approaches a guy in a suit waiting in the lobby. "And where is Margaret?" I hear him ask and I am left wondering who this famous Margaret is.
• "She will come soon," Marcos replies and looks at me. "Nice to meet you, Marcos Gonzalez, general manager of the company," he introduces himself politely and extends his hand, which I clearly accept with courtesy.
• "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Bella Swan, I work in the accounting department of the company," I say with a smile.
• "Oh wow, I've always thought that job is for women, they know how to handle money well, well, not all of them, but those who do it and manage their accounts well are amazing," he says with amusement and I just laugh at his words.
• ```
• Loud heel steps echo throughout the place, making us look at the woman in question.
• "There she is," Marcos says with a big smile, and I can feel the jealousy growing inside me.
• There, walking as if she owned the place, I see Margaret approaching our side.
• "Margaret, it's always a pleasure to see you," Arthur says seductively as he takes her in his arms.
• I am still in shock, I can't believe that the same girl Arthur was with at that club is standing in front of me, the one he was holding and kissing.
• "Let me introduce you, she is Margaret Gonzalez, my sister and in charge of public relations for the company," Marcos proudly tells me.
• I look at her frozen, she looks even more beautiful than I remembered, I feel bile rising in my throat, especially because Arthur is still hugging her and smiling stupidly.
• "You look good, as always," Arthur compliments her charmingly and then turns to me, "She is Bella Swan, an accountant, she is helping me with some company issues so she will be with me for a while," he comments as if I were just that, something indispensable for a while, but then disposable.
• Arthur only has eyes for her and I just want to cry out of anger and helplessness. I was an idiot the other night, I fell too easily.
• But I couldn't resist that man, it's like having a Greek god in front of me. When his eyes look at me and undress me, I lose my mind. I know I'm an idiot, I'm the first to admit it, but
• Arthur Dallas is everything I desire in a man.
• "Nice to meet you, Bella, it's a pleasure to have you here," Margaret says, extending her hand. As if in a trance, I grab her hand and shake it. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go to the meeting room."
• She says, and we all start walking towards the meeting room. When we arrive, we sit down and are offered drinks. I order a coffee for myself and remain silent for the rest of the meeting.
• I am surprised to see what a good businessman Arthur is. He knows how to handle himself, speaks clearly and firmly, doesn't hesitate or waver, gives the exact reasons why signing that agreement would be so beneficial for both parties.
• The meeting ends and we all stand up. Margaret and Marcos accompany us to the lobby to say goodbye.
• I say goodbye politely and step aside to wait for my boss to say goodbye.
• "Well, if you agree with all the points of the contract, we can sign tomorrow," he says decisively.
• "We will discuss the proposal internally and let you know tomorrow," Marcos replies.
• "Perfect, then we'll see you tomorrow," Arthur says goodbye and we both leave the place.
• On the way to the hotel, I don't say a word. I feel like I hate Arthur with all my might right now.
• He's behaving like the jerk he was the day I met him, cold and distant. I don't understand why he changes so much. I don't think it's my fault, I'm sure I haven't done anything wrong.
• But I really don't understand it. He's possessive one day and ignores me completely the next just because he's with his lover or whatever.
• Angry, I divert my thoughts by looking out the window to focus on the scenery and not on my biggest mistake.
• "Do you want to go out for a while and see the city?" I suddenly hear him ask. I turn to him and look at him angrily.
• "No," I say more sharply than I intended. He looks at me surprised and I see how he quickly gets angry.
• "How are you talking to me?" he asks angrily and approaches me. I should be the one angry, not him.
• "However, I want," I say, looking at him with hatred, and I turn around. I hear Arthur growl angrily but he swallows the comment, which makes me smile inside.
• When we arrive at the hotel, I quickly get out of the car without paying attention to him. With quick and furious steps, I run to the elevators, there is one open and I hurry to get in.
• As the doors are closing, I see Arthur quickly approaching the elevators but he doesn't reach me.
• The elevator stops on my floor and I walk slowly to my room. When I'm about to open the door, I am grabbed and pushed into the room. I stumble clumsily but manage to lean against the wall. I look up, horrified, to see Arthur's furious face, his body trembling with anger, his eyes burning with rage.
• "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" he yells.
• I look at him in shock until anger takes over me.
• ```
• "What's happening to me? What's happening to me? Leave me alone! This was all a mistake, stay away from me and realize that you're just my boss," I shout, letting everything out, looking at him with as much anger as I can muster. He just stares at me, surprised by my reaction, raising an eyebrow as his face becomes unreadable.
• "Just your boss?" he repeats with disdain, looking at me angrily. "Just your boss," he mutters to himself, running his hands through his hair.
• He steps away from me and turns around, still ruffling his hair, and I can see how tense his back is.
• "Tomorrow at 8 sharp, I'll be waiting for you in the lobby. I'll send you some files to review, I want them ready before that," he suddenly says, so neutral and distant, before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.