Alexander watched the door to his office swing open, a sigh immediately escaping his lips.
He didn't need to raise his head to know who had just walked in. Only one person had the effrontery to barge into his office without his permission. And that person was no one other than Yvonne Evans, his close friend.
"Yvonne," he called out to her, watching her flip her long blonde hair as she got comfortable in his office. She took her seat on the sofa directly opposite him, crossing her legs and placing her bag next to her, showing off her new diamond bracelet wrapped her wrist as she did. "What are you doing here?"
She smacked her lips, pretending she didn't hear him for a second. She then spared him a quick glance before rising to her feet, adjusting the blazer of her perfectly tailored pant suit as she walked up to him to confidently sit on his table.
Alexander parted his lips to speak, pressing them together almost immediately. There was no point speaking- not a single word from him would be able to stop her. His words had never been able to stop her ever since the moment they met five years ago at business school and he was sure as hell a sudden change wouldn't occur overnight.
"What do you think I'm doing here," now sitting on his table, she crossed her legs, facing him directly. "I'm here to congratulate you, duh."
"Yvonne."
"Congratulations on your wedding," she briefly looked away from him as she said. "I hope you have a happy married life."
"Did you come to my office to lie?"
"Of course not," she returned her gaze then smiled at him, the smile familiar leaving Alexander with no choice but to not return it. "I do wish you happiness. Not in that marriage though."
"Thank you," nodding at her honesty, he reached for his laptop and flipped it open, Yvonne immediately placing her hand on his to stop him from working. "What are you-"
"Seriously, why did you decide to go ahead with it?"
"You know the answer to that question," he brushed her hands off easily, inputting his passoword. "It was necessary for work. We both needed the deal to expand our empires and strengthen our market positions. You know that."
"I do," her gaze was locked on him as she prepared to utter her next words. "But if that was really the only reason, why didn't you just get married to me instead?"
Her words managed to get Alexander to meet her gaze, another sigh escaping his lips as he watched her expression dissolve into an even more familiar one. Nodding, he slammed his laptop shut, massaged his knuckles and leaned in closer to her.
"Because I care about you. And I can't do that to you."
She bit her lip then looked away, wishing she didn't understand what he meant. But she did. A bit too well in fact.
Her feelings for Alexander was no news to anyone. She fell for him the moment she laid her eyes on him five years ago and for five years, Alexander had done nothing but reject her and offer her nothing but platonic friendship.
Over time as she got to know him, his reason for offering her nothing but platonic friendship slowly began to make more sense to her. It was nothing about her- she was successful, beautiful, smart- it was no exaggeration to say she was every man's type. The problem was just with and had always been about Alexander. His incapability to fall in love.
"Don't try to play hero by saying that," she rolled her eyes. "I can make my decisions myself."
"You dream of love. Of romance," he reminded her. "I can't give you that if you get married to me. And if you did get married to me, you won't stop hoping one day I'll give you that when we both know it's never happening. So I'm sorry Yvonne but I'll make that decision for you if you're to blinded by your emotions to make it yourself."
"Shut up," a scowl appeared on her face followed by her pushing him away to rise to her feet. "You're an ass. I feel so bad for the poor girl that got married to you."
All she got in response was silence.
"I can't believe that business trip made me miss your wedding," she went on, desperate for a response. "What's she like?"
His fingers twitched as he paused to think, pressing his lips together as he considered giving her a response.
Lana Sanderson. His wife. The daughter and heir to the Sanderson's empire.
"She's of average height," he finally replied. "Brown hair- not really sure what color her eyes are but that aside- yeah, I think that's all I remember."
"What?" Yvonne's mouth fell open. "Are you being serious right now?"
"I am," he nodded. "Now if that's all you are here to talk about, you should leave."
He turned to face his laptop, hoping she'd actually take the hint. The last thing he wanted to do was listen to someone else talk about his marriage and what they expected it to be like. The marriage was nothing but a contract to him and since he was lucky enough to have a wife on the same page as him, he didn't need anyone else's opinion.
Unable to focus immediately, he balled his fists, thinking about it all again. Yes, he was married but that wasn't going to change anything. He had met Lana two years ago and just like half the business contracts his father was incharge of, all he had to do was give his approval. She was from a good family and with her family's status, the perfect tool he needed for the business expansion so he decided to go ahead with it.
It was nothing less or more than that.
"That's all you have to say about her?"
He wasn't interested in her enough to spend more than ten minutes in the totality of two years thinking about her. Nothing about her had ever stood out to him-she was just another prim and proper girl his father considered good enough to walk into their family.
"Oh," he muttered, recalling her outburst from the previous night. Asking for a reward and accepting his card was probably something he wasn't expecting from her but even when that happened, it wasn't an encounter strong enough to have him think about her for a minute longer. His card was just an apology. One she was smart enough to accept while the offer lasted. "Mhm, that's all I have to say."
"Fine, let's not talk about your wife," Yvonne nodded then returned to the sofa. "Can we at least talk about Nicholas then?"
His silence this time was one she saw coming. So taking full advantage of it, she folded her arms and went on.
"I heard he wasn't at your wedding. And then I heard you two fought. Not like kids this time. Apparently a fight big enough to have Nicholas end your friendship."
"Nicholas and I weren't friends."
"Stop the bullshit, Alex," Yvonne was suddenly irked. "You weren't friends? Oh, in that case are we not friends too? Because he was your business partner since forever doesn't rule out the fact that you two were also friends."
"You seem to have nothing reasonable to say. Leave my office."
"Is he telling the truth?" she simply asked, terrified of what answer he was going to give her. "Did you really sleep with the girl you knew he was interested in?"
Yvonne could feel her pulse quickening as she stared at Alexander, mentally preparing herself for whatever was about to come next. Alexander's habit of sleeping with random women was no news with her and everytime she watched him get in bed with a new girl that wasn't her, she flashed a huge smile on her face pretending it didn't hurt her all the way to her bones. She was fine with it. She knew it didn't mean anything to him. those women didn't mean anything to him. he was just naturally cold and closed off which was the reason he only had two friends- her and Nicholas.
But with Nicholas' accusations? Sure, Alexander could be a jerk but he wasn't a complete asshole. He acted like he didn't care about anything but she knew he cared about her and Nicholas. Enough to not purposely hurt their feelings. So if that was the case, why would he sleep with a woman he knew Nicholas was interested in?
"His feelings for her were never that serious," Alexander finally spoke up. "And even if they were, it has nothing to do with you so stay out of it. This is between Nicholas and i."
"Of course it is," she was unable to hide her hurt this time. "What was I expecting anyways? Of course, nothing matters to you. All you think about is yourself."
"Yvonne-"
"I'm leaving," she rose to her feet with a huff. "You wanted me to leave, didn't you? I'm doing that already. I achieved my reason for coming here already so I'm heading back. You're not the only busy person, you know?"
"I know," he responded. "You must have had to clear your schedule to come here."
"Don't act like you know me," she hissed as she grabbed her bag. "And you're right, I didn't come all the way here to lie to you so two things. One, I hope you have a awful married life and two, I hope you'd resolve things with Nicholas cause there's only a handful of people who can actually tolerate you."
Her words didn't come off as a threat to him. He knew every word was true which was exactly the reason he didn't need anyone else having to tolerate him.
"Good bye, Yvonne."