Chapter 4 It Was Annoying

• With no other choice, she sat next to her father, but without taking her eyes off Cauther. It was irritating to know that after getting on her nerves, he was sitting there as if he had done nothing. Suddenly, her father's secretary placed a folder in front of her, snapping her out of her thoughts.
• She wondered, what the hell was she doing? Why the hell was she looking at Cauther like that? Since she was very young, she had never felt curious about that man, and vice versa. She shook her head, she needed to pay attention to the meeting and not to... something made her raise her eyes slightly, she looked over the folder, and as soon as she saw Cauther, she realized he was looking at her in the same way.
• Startled, she lowered her gaze and tried to focus on what those documents were saying. She couldn't see the man's full face, but she could clearly see the fierce look he had. Shit! She was trembling like a pudding... she hoped he wouldn't go blabbing to her father and get her into trouble. She already had enough with the indifference her dad showed her, without adding a problem that would cause an unnecessary argument.
• [...]
• She was terrified of whether he would tell her father that he caught her on the terrace, it irritated her a lot that he interrupted her while she was smoking her cigarette. He had known her little secret for a long time when one afternoon he saw her running to the rooftop and leaning against the railing as if she couldn't breathe, of course, he was in a part where she couldn't see him, but he was a front-row spectator. Since then, he caught her going up very often, what he couldn't understand was why she went up to the terrace so frequently.
• The truth was that discovering her had left him quite puzzled, as her pale entrance into the office had taken him by surprise.
• Although he didn't care... for that reason, he didn't pay her the slightest attention at first, but when he felt her staring at him unabashedly, he got annoyed. That's why he decided to watch her so that she would end up hiding her gaze like a puppy, what the hell was she playing at? He didn't have time for those childish games, he had only gone to his company for that annoying meeting.
• Rafael loved meeting after meeting, although he shouldn't complain, the company was making him richer every day and that was his goal... so he continued reading the documents while listening to his employees talk about its growth.
• [...]
• "Cauther, I hope to see you at the next meeting," Rafael shakes his hand enthusiastically.
• "I'll make time to attend," he replies so reluctantly that Casey wondered, what the hell was wrong with him? Didn't he care about his company or what? "You know I don't like these kinds of meetings much."
• "You're the only owner of a company who gets bored at meetings," Casey shared the same opinion as her father, as if he wasn't interested.
• "I trust you completely, I have no reason to distrust my partner," his tone of voice was sharp.
• She was sitting in her chair reading some documents that she didn't understand at all, as she kept an eye on her father's conversation with Cauther. She harbored a deep fear of being accused, it was stupid, she felt like a child who had done something wrong.
• "Well, I am flattered by your trust," the man smiles at her, but Cauther remains serious. "I am sure that when Casey takes my place, you two will run the company perfectly," the young woman tenses immediately upon hearing her name mentioned.
• "I must go, Rafael," and that's all that damn man replies, didn't he take her seriously as his partner or what the hell? The raven-haired woman complained internally.
• "Of course, don't worry about anything."
• "Goodbye!"
• At that moment, Casey looks towards the exit, only to see Cauther's huge back. That guy was so strange, you only saw his face when her father scheduled meetings. Otherwise, he didn't show up, not even when they inaugurated a new assembly plant or when they displayed a unique car.
• She bit her lip, worried about the fact that when it came time to take over the company, she would have to do it alone. That man couldn't be relied on much, to say the least.
• [...]
• That night, as usual, Casey waited for her father for hours. Dinner grew cold and the candles eventually burned out. The young woman's plate lay half-eaten as she picked at some unappetizing vegetables. She sighed and then stood up.
• "Surely he had a lot of work, Miss Casey," the maid said as she cleared the untouched dinner.
• "It's always the same," she replied, leaving the dining room.
• Lying in her bed, she looked at a photograph of her mother. Casey smiled, enjoying remembering her when she was so alone in that house. A situation that happened very often, then her smile faded as she remembered her father. He always made promises, but never kept them. It was as if he didn't want to be with her, but why?
• Suddenly, the image of Cauther's face on the rooftop came to her memories, causing her to startle. And what the hell was she doing thinking about him?
• "I must be crazy, Cauther is much older than me and..." She smiled, knowing that thinking about that was nonsense.
• And with those wandering thoughts, Casey fell deeply asleep.
• [...]
• The night before, she didn't see her father, and that afternoon even less... she was driving so angry, it was incredible that he had sent word through his secretary that they would meet directly at Genaro's house. That he would meet her there, she hated when he did that. Because she was more than sure that he wouldn't attend that event, leaving all the weight on her. It was always the same with him.
• And since she had given her word to her uncle, how the hell was she going to get out of this mess? She couldn't leave him hanging, it would be a terrible snub. That's why, that night, she looked for a suitable cocktail dress for the occasion. As she had known Genaro forever, she knew that his parties were a bit extravagant. When he said it was just a gathering, he was lying.
• She drove her own car, as she strongly opposed arriving in a limousine like her father did with his famous grand entrances. As the dark-haired woman spotted her uncle's mansion, she slowed down. She parked at the entrance, handing the keys to a young man who took care of parking the cars, she lifted the train of her dress a bit to avoid stepping on it as she climbed the stairs to the entrance of the house, but in doing so, a large part of her thigh was exposed. You could even see the lace garter adorning her leg.
• As soon as she entered the residence, she let out a breath, she knew it! That was more than a charity fundraiser, it was a party for the wealthiest and most powerful people in all of Washington. Immediately, a waiter passed in front of her with a tray of tubular glasses, half-filled with bubbly champagne. She took one and took a long sip, the night would be long and even more so when she had to spend it alone.
• "Casey, my dear girl..." Genaro hugged her effusively as soon as he saw her at the entrance.
• "Hello uncle, what a great party," she lied.
• "Oh, no!, it's just a few friends," he downplayed. "Where is your father? Some friends want to greet him."
• "I don't know, Uncle Genaro. I'm very sorry."
• "That Rafael, always doing the same thing," he shook his head. "I'll try to contact him, but I want you to have fun."
• "Thank you," although she doubted that, she was already bored.
• "Be very careful with one-night infatuations, eh? Your father would kill me," the man patted her shoulder, leaving her petrified in the middle of everyone.
• Infatuation? What the hell was that? It was as if she had two fathers. If Rafael wasn't there, then Genaro was doing the dad job, for God's sake! She finished what was left in her glass and immediately looked for another waiter with more filled glasses.
• By the time she had a new glass in her hands, the first thing Casey did was look for some refuge. She needed fresh air, she was starting to have another anxiety attack. Lately, she suffered a lot from that...
• So, there she was, on the balcony of her uncle's office, overlooking the garden which by then was all lit up and best of all, empty. All the guests were inside the mansion, no one cared about the beauty of that place.
• Suddenly the wind blew, it was a cool breeze that suited him quite well, or perhaps the champagne had gone to his head... He closed his eyes and leaned against the balcony railing, enjoying the fresh air, but more than anything, that sense of intimacy.
• "Your stubbornness in seeking danger in such high places is remarkable," he said as the glass slipped from his hand and shattered on the ground below.