C9 The Book Launch

"Hope I didn't scare your guest?" Jason said as he walked properly into his wife's office.

"Not at all, sir. She was just in a hurry." Nadia smiled. "Are we done, Mrs. Reed?"

"Not yet, dear. In case I change my mind, will I get a refund?"

"Of course but you'll pay for making us waste our time if that were to happen," Nadia replied as respectfully as she could. She didn't want to seem disrespectful.

"Okay, that's fair." Claire nodded.

"We will be on our way now, ma'am. Nice to meet you, Mr. Jason Reed." She smiled at him and walked over to Stella. Together, they walked out of the office.

"What are you doing here?" Claire asked. Jason felt she was about to eat him telling from the expression on her face. He could tell that she was downright annoyed by his uninvited visit.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I just wanted to make sure you're safe. There was a commotion around here earlier and I wanted to check out what was happening."

"Miss Lane was happening. I told you she would be coming over, didn't I? You should have taken the hint. Hopefully, she'll look past your mistake and still grant me the contract." Claire seethed. Most of her anger was directed at the fact that her husband saw the curvy beautiful lady earlier than he was supposed to.

"Who is she anyway? I can get you another designer, the best of the best." He bragged and sat down. "Hello, Rita."

"Hi, mister Reed." Rita waved perfunctorily as her eyes were glued to her phone. The social media handler of miss Lane had uploaded already taken photos of her and she was trending more than ever in those tight ripped jeans.

"Man, I wish I had a body like her." Rita fantasized to the hearing of the other two. She looked at them and pursed her lips, making a thin line with them.

"I'm going to leave now. Goodbye girl, and good luck with your contract." She waved as she swayed her butt out of the office. She was the least of Mr. Reed's problems as he rolled her hands after noticing her gesture.

'Some best friend you are.' He scoffed.

"She is the best of the best. I've heard of testimonies from others and how her exclusive and non-exclusive designs changed their business totally, but you had to come here unexpectedly and bump into her. Who knows if she'll ever call me?" Claire paced about the room and for the first time in years, she was praying.

"Hold up, are you mad at me because I bumped into her or because I held her in my arms? Which?"

"Why would I be mad because you caught her? She was clearly about to fall."

"I don't know, it seems so to me." He smiled and stood up. He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him till their faces were only inches away.

"Don't be jealous, my love. I have eyes for only you. No amount of curvy women can make me lose that. You're special and you will always be number one in my life." He assured her with a deep, passionate kiss.

"Would be mind giving me a hot BJ?" He requested with a hoarse voice.

"I'm sorry, dear, but I have to get back to work. I'll do that tomorrow." She kissed him and walked out of the office.

He sighed and sat down, throwing his head back and staring at the spinning fan on the ceiling.

'She isn't giving me what I want.' He groaned and facepalm. No wonder he had been getting it outside because, on the inside, his wife was too busy for him.

***

"Hey, best." Elaine voiced out exhaustedly over the phone as she had concluded a successful delivery of triplets.

"You sound like an exhaust pipe that brings out bad air. What's up?"

"The World has been blessed with triplets." She replied, still exhausted.

"I really need to go on a vacation, I've been too stressed lately."

"Where are you anyway? Still in Bogotà?"

"Nope, I've moved back to Cali. It was an emergency shift due to Miss Lane's revelation party. At least, that's what I was told."

"How does that even relate to that?"

"If you ask me, who will I ask? I have no idea. But it's all good."

"But girl, you have a lot of courage taking up this kind of job. You know, since---"

"I know," Elaine cut her off. "I feel like doing it and it gives me joy to see babies being born and are very healthy. I love my job and I'm not going to quit because of some ill fate."

"If it's fine by you, it's fine by me too."

"So, how's that boyfriend of yours? If I remember, Tristan is his name? Or is it Lancelot?"

"Don't you ever call that stuck up idiot my boyfriend. I can't believe we're both being transferred to Cali."

"You don't like the fact that you're going to Cali?"

"I do, but I don't like the fact that I'm going with him. And he's coming with his girlfriend. I've never met her before but if she's like her boyfriend, I might end up hating her too." Hilary complained.

"Take it easy with them. And try to love your colleague for an effective working outcome. Why are you coming to Cali anyway?"

"Our platform extension has been opened there and either I or the idiot will be the director."

"Wow, that's going to be a long fight."

"Very." Hilary sighed deeply. "Okay, Elaine, I'll see you soon when I get to Cali. Pick me up?"

"When?"

"Tomorrow. Somehow we got invited to miss Lane's revelation party and I'm pretty excited about going. I wonder what she looks like. She's super curvy, that I know."

"Oh yeah, she is. I'll see you tomorrow. I need to get down rest."

"Sure, you do that. Remember to pick me up at the airport, okay? I don't want it to look as though I don't have anybody waiting for me."

"I will, just remember to text me before you land. Bye, sweetie." She blew a kiss before hanging up. She didn't even wait for Hilary's reply.

"Man, I got to sleep." She yawned and stood up, clearing her desk. She heard a knock and after louding a "Come in", her assistant walked up to her with a paper in her hand.

"What's that?" Elaine asked, staring at the paper. From the looks of the design, it was an invitation."

"It's an invitation letter inviting you to miss Lane's revelation party."

"Oh," She mouthed and accepted the paper. "You may leave." She waved her right hand curtly in dismissal and the lady left the office.

Elaine went through the invitation and smiled.

"Someone like me got noticed by miss Lane." She laughed to herself.

"Alright, I'll honor her invitation." She placed the card in her bag and walked out.

"I won't be coming to the office tomorrow, dear. I had quite a disturbing flight plus this emergency delivery. Please, inform every doctor in this department about it but if there's any trouble, don't hesitate to reach me, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am." The assistant replied.

"Sorry, I don't know your name yet."

"Jane." She replied.

"Alright, Jane. I'll see you the day after the party." She waved shortly before exiting the hospital.

*****

Rissa stood outside the event hall an hour earlier than the fixed time for the book launch. She was becoming a nervous mess and if it continued that way, her big day would eventually become a disaster.

"Calm down, girl, they will show up. I know it." Hannah assured her. "Even if they don't, just remember I'm here for you and I'm your biggest fan."

Rissa's tensed body became relaxed at Hannah's soothing words. Thank you so much, babe. For being here for me."

"It's nothing. What are friends for? Come on, let's wait inside. Standing here won't make them if they don't want to."

Thirty minutes to the time of the book launch, the event hall was almost filled up, much to the ladies' surprise.

"Did you invite this many people?" Hannah whispered to her.

"No, I didn't. I didn't invite up to a hundred people but with the crowd here, I'll have to print more copies. What do you think happened?"

"That happened." Hannah looks towards the door as Jason Reed walked in with his guards surrounding him, fighting off the crowd.

"Oh my God!" Rissa squealed. "He came! He actually came!"

Reporters were all around doing their jobs, interviewing people and taking pictures of Cali's multi-billionaire, Jason Reed.

"This has got to be the biggest event of this month." Hannah nudged her friend who was almost in tears. She walked up to Jason Reed to thank him for honoring her invitation.

"Thank you so much, Jason. I really appreciate this." She almost went to her knees. She wasn't expecting the massive turnout. The crowd had doubled at the time of the event, making them over three hundred people.

As the event was about to start, the crowd went mad with screams.

"What's going on again?" Rissa asked herself and looked at Hannah who shrugged.

The screams got louder by the minute as miss Lane and her assistants stepped forward into the hall.

"Miss Lane..." Rissa whispered.