บท 11: 11 Aching Heart

Dominic rubbed his forehead, getting frustrated. He just didn't know how else to explain to Rosalie that he wasn't interested in starting any romantic relationship with her.

"What are you doing in my office? Rosalie, why do you keep coming here?"

"I've come to discuss about the growth of our Clan. Am not allowed to do that?"

"And you think my office is the best place for that? Anything concerning the clan should be discussed at the Clan's meeting and not vice versa." He told her.

"Well, there's no rule that says so. You shouldn't make a big deal out of this. I don't even know why you suddenly hate me, is it because you're now married?"

"Don't you have better things doing? If you're idle then you can go for sightseeing or something else, I don't like the idea of you showing up here every time."

Rosalie's mind wandered to the lady she had a fight with on her last visit. Dominic had defended her that day, could she be the one he was married to?

Definitely not! It couldn't be her. She feels she's a random lady and doesn't fit into Dominic's life.

"I'll be waiting." With that, Rosalie ended the call.

Dominic blocked her number instantly. He was just so tired of her, now she was making it seem like he dumped her.

Franklin walked up to him, holding some files.

"Sir, it's time for the meeting." He informed him and Dominic hesitated a bit before following him. He couldn't stop thinking about Celine, if later he found out that she had gone out with a guy, then he wouldn't hesitate to break his bones. Noone should mess with his wife.

At the boardroom, the shareholders were seated. They had to continue with their last conversation which Dominic didn't make them complete simply because he was having an headache.

Anyone in their shoes would be angry but they had remained calm. Forfeiting the benefits they derived from his company would be a great loss to them.

"To begin with, does anyone have anything to say concerning our last meeting?" Dominic asked, looking at everyone's faces.

They looked at eachother, whispering things to themselves before a man spoke up.

"Mr Davenport, we don't think this company is exposed to market enough. We need to develop more advertisement strategies to get more sales."

"Yes, we can't afford to go into loss this year." Another man added.

Dominic stood up and walked towards the large white board which was placed at the front. He picked up a marker and wrote some things on the board.

"Last year, we ranked the highest in the general market and just last month, our sales have grown higher. How are we going to drift into loss when we have no liabilities?" He asked and the man who spoke earlier replied.

"Lately, there have been many companies trying to compete. We can't wait until they beat us, it doesn't matter whether we ranked first last year. Many other companies can't wait to beat us , so I suggest we widen our advertisement range."

Dominic snapped his fingers and Franklin shared the papers he was holding to everyone.

"Just take a look at the ratios. We're doing just great." Dominic stated.

"This is nice but I advise that we change our way of advertising. Let's do something else, go through another process. If we have good potentials, then we can be rest assured that we'll remain at the top forever."

Dominic nodded. "Alright, Mr Sean. I'll take that into consideration."

After the meeting ended, Dominic was the first to leave the boardroom followed by Franklin.

He had many things to attend to today and he just kept going from one private lounge to another, for meetings with his business partners.

He came back to the company and went to his office. But to his suprise, Rosalie was still there, sitting comfortably on his swivel arm chair.

He chuckled. She had so much guts to do this. She must have thought so highly of herself.

"You're back." She smiled, walking up to him. She tried to hug him but Dominic moved away and she almost tripped.

"Leave now, Rosalie." He told her sternly.

"I came here for something remember?"

"Tell me quickly and leave here already."

She closed the gap between them and trained her fingers down Dominic's chest.

"Don't you think we're going make a great couple, Dominic?"

"Is that a strategy for our Clan's growth?"

Rosalie nodded. "Of course, it is. Right from our youthful days, everyone had thought we would end up together, we were so close and you never kept anything from me. What changed now?"

Dominic pushed her away and went to have his seat. "A lot has changed, Rosa. Then we still had immature minds and never understood what we really wanted from eachother. But as we grew up, I realised you liked me and I didn't want to hurt your feelings, so I maintained the friendship between us." He paused and continued.

"But now you have to understand my feelings, you can't force me to like you. I can't do something against my will."

"Do you even care about how I'd feel too? I'm human too and I deserve love." Rosalie said.

"You'll find love, Rosalie. But definitely not from me." Dominic shook his head.

"My heart aches, Dominic. I long for your love. I've not been myself lately. I've been thinking about you but now you wanna leave me because you found someone else? Is she even better than I am?"

"Rosa, you have to stop doing this. It can't change how I feel towards you."

"You hate me, right?"

"I don't hate you but can't date you. I appreciate the way you stood by me then, Even after the death my parents but I don't love you, Rosa." He explained.

Without caution, Rosalie locked their lips together and it flowed in a gentle rhythm. Dominic tried to push her away but she only deepened the kiss.

Celine who was sent by the manager to submit a file to Dominic, met them in this action and she couldn't stop the tears that flowed down her cheeks.

This was the same woman that called him yesterday and now they were even kissing each other?