C17 A Party To Remember

Chapter-17: A Party To Remember

Aria Anastasia

I gasped at the beauty of the dress Zaiden had sent a few minutes ago. It was an off-shoulder red gown with a high slit at one side. It was a mystery how Zaiden knew my size.

I was in my apartment since Zaiden gave all the employees a day off because he was in a good mood today.

“Yana, just look at this dress,” I called out Yana’s name because she was also in my apartment. I told her to come here and we would get ready for the party together since we had to go together. I even bought a dress for her which she was going to wear.

“Oh, my God,” Yana mumbled, her eyes ogling at the red gown which was on the bed. “Did the boss give this to you?”

I hummed in response.

I was afraid thinking what if I didn’t like the dress he would send for me. But how could I forget he was the CEO of a fashion industry? His taste in fashion would be the best of all. I shouldn’t have doubted in the first place.

Not only had he sent a dress, he also sent a pair of silver stilettos. He texted me a few hours ago asking whether I liked big earrings or studs. I knew why he was asking that, so I told him if he sent me any accessories, I would return it all to him including the dress.

“Yana, get ready while I shall get ready too,” I told her and we decided to get ready now.

I did a light makeup but wore red lipstick, keeping my hair open. I wore my diamond studs and a diamond necklace which my mom forced me to buy when I got my first salary. I decided to wear a bracelet full of stars along with my watch.

Once I was ready, I got out of my room, only to find Yana coming out of the guest room. She looked beautiful with the purple gown, her hair tied into a bun, keeping a few loose curls on her face.

“You look so pretty, Yana,” I commented, but her eyes were busy looking at me from head to toe.

“Wow, Ma’am, you look so stunning,” Yana complimented, making me smile. “You will make Boss speechless with your ravishing appearance.”

I raised my brows. “Is that so?”

She nodded her head.

I glanced at the time from my wristwatch and said, “If you are ready, then let’s go. Zaiden sent his car since I cannot drive wearing a gown.”

“Sure, I am ready,” responded Yana.

___

We reached the venue and got inside.

The party was decorated in a classy way. Everyone was busy talking with each other with a glass of wine on their hand.

I spotted Zaiden and Daniel at one corner, and Zaiden had a glass of champagne on his hand. He was wearing a tux and damn, he looked handsome. “Yana, there is Daniel. Let’s go,” I told her and we walked to them.

“Good evening, Ms. Anastasia,” Daniel greeted politely.

“Good evening,” I said with a smile and watched Yana greet Zaiden before she left me alone with him by taking Daniel.

“So, what should we do now?” I asked, standing in front of Zaiden, who was looking at me from head to toe.

“Aria, you look breathtaking. You look more beautiful in this dress than I imagined you to be.” As soon as he said that, I was dumbstruck.

Did he imagine me in this dress? I should’ve felt creepy about this, but I liked that he imagined me, which meant that he often thought about me. Maybe I was even creepier than him to like it.

“Thank you,” I mumbled. “You look handsome too.”

He chuckled and handed me a glass of champagne. “Here, have this.”

I took the glass in my hand and looked at the people gossiping until my eyes fell on the blond woman. “Mrs. Harbor is the best friend of Mrs. Raymond,” I started speaking. “If I get to bond with Mrs. Harbor, there are high chances we will get a deal with the Harbor Fashion, because Mr. Harbor only follows Mrs. Harbor’s command.”

Zaiden took a sip of his drink and nodded. “She is your target for today, so best of luck.”

I narrowed my eyes in his direction. “This is not fair.”

“What is not fair?” he questioned me.

“I thought we were supposed to stay together at the party, so you cannot push me alone to talk with Mrs. Harbor,” I pointed out.

“What will I do by indulging in women talk?” he deadpanned.

I smirked and locked my arms around his bicep. “You are coming with me,” I said sternly which made him groan and pulled him with me as I made my way to Mrs. Harbor and Mrs. Raymond.

“Good evening, Mrs. Raymond and Mrs. Harbor,” I greeted with a smile. “How are you?”

The blond woman returned to my smile. “Good evening, Ms…?”

“Anastasia,” Mrs. Raymond spoke on my behalf. “And this handsome with her is Mr. Zaiden Storm, son of Kael.”

Mrs. Harbor raised an eyebrow in amusement as she stretched her hand to shake it with us. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Anastasia and Mr. Storm. You do look like Kael a lot,” she commented, pinched his cheeks and laughed.

“Thank you, Mrs. Harbor,” Zaiden said, giving a tight-lipped smile. He hated talking to old women, especially if they knew Kael because they would just act friendly with him, making him feel awkward.

“By the way, are you both dating? You look cute together, totally couple goals,” Mrs. Harbor commented and looked at my hand holding his, making me shake my head in denial at that instant.

“Yeah, I wanted to ask that too cause I saw an article stating you two were dating, but I don’t know whether it’s a rumor like the last time,” said Mrs. Raymond.

Most of the time, people would assume that I was dating Zaiden, and the reporters would even publish articles on it. I decided to not talk about it anymore, but I didn’t want Mrs. Raymond and Mrs. Harbor to get the wrong idea.

I saw Zaiden was about to say something, but before he could say something, I said, “No, no, we are not dating. This is still a rumor.”

I could feel Zaiden tightening his grip over my hand, which I decided to avoid. We were not dating, were we? I didn’t lie to them.

“Oh, I really wished it was true,” Mrs. Raymond frowned and continued talking about other things.

We talked more for a while until Zaiden whispered in my ear, “We need to talk.”

I glanced at him, asking, “About what?”

He pulled me by my hand and took me to the backyard of the venue.

“What’s wrong, Zaiden?” I inquired, feeling my heartbeat fastening.

He snaked an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him, making my breath hitch. “Why did you say we weren’t dating?”

“Are we?” I breathed out, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. I didn’t remember Zaiden asking me to go on a date, nor did we talk anything about being together.

“Are we not?” he said sternly, his eyes darkening which made me gulp in fear.

“Zaiden, when I asked you what we were, you said we were just two different people with the same motive, working for the welfare of the company,” I pointed out.

He let out a humorless chuckle. “You really wanna know what we are, don’t you?” He looked at my lips.

As soon as I nodded my head, Zaiden locked his lips with mine.