Apparently, Ian was trying to give me the rightful credit in front of the US executives from JC Investments.
“I attended the meeting in London along with my UK colleagues. I thought you said she was your personal assistant. She was the one who came up with the UNIQUE project?” Mr. Eric Jones, one of the executives from JC Investments asked looking confused.
Before Ian could say anything, I responded. "I’m sorry for the confusion. I was my fault. I was going to present the project plan myself on that day, but I became too nervous and asked Ian to present the project to JC Investments. I thought Ian could present the project more confidently than I could that day.”
I continued, “Ian insisted that I should be recognized for the UNIQUE project at this party tonight and he had to literally dragged me here in front of you.”
“Well, we are glad that we can finally meet the brain behind the UNIQUE project. We hope you are no longer nervous in front of us.” Mr. Jones smiled.
Ian just stared at me speechless. I avoided his gaze long enough to keep up my act.
Chapter 20
Ian
"Thank you." I said, barely looking at Ashley and trying to walk slowly to keep up with her pace.
"For what?" She asked pretending she didn’t know what I was speaking of.
"Thank you for covering for me. I was wrong to not introduce you properly to the JC investments on that day."
She smiled and said nothing. As she continued to walk, she was in pain from the heels that were a bit too tight. At that point, I knelt in front of her. She is perplexed.
"What are you doing? She asked, looking around to ensure no one is seeing what is going on.
I said nothing and just reached out to her to take her heels off.
"No one can see you here. You don't have to keep wearing the heels if they hurt you that bad." From the way she exhaled, one could tell that she had been walking in pain.
"It's 8". She just blurted out.
"What's 8?" I asked confused.
"My shoe size. It's 8." She said and looked away, keeping a straight face like she didn’t say a word.
"Ohhh…" was all I could mutter. We kept walking with her heels in my hand.
I gave her a tour of the rest of the house that isn’t being used for the party and we arrived in my private wine cellar. There was a sitting room with a comfortable couch and chairs across the wine cellar and I often used that room to escape from everything else and relax with a glass of wine.
I opened the door to the cellar and she follows me in.
"Wow. This is very impressive. Maybe you should be a sommelier. Do you drink a lot of wine?"
I shook my head as I got closer to the island table in the middle and placed her shoes on it. Then I pulled out a stool and directed her to sit on it.
"I enjoy them often, but I like to keep a clear head so I don’t indulge too much or too often." I came around the island table and sat on a stool opposite from her.
"Why did you treat me so badly? Why are you so uptight with everyone else? Don't you think you're driving away the people who are supposed to care for you?"
"I am driving no one away. Anyone who wishes to be around me, must accept me the way I am. Besides, I'm a grown man, I don't need anyone caring for me. I can do that all by myself." I am slightly getting agitated.
"Are you doing all these because of a past experience? Did someone hurt you? You could share it with me and we could talk. Maybe I can help you."
I suddenly burst out, "You know nothing about me, and I am not a nut job that needs fixing!" I see the shock and resentment slowly return to her face. I could feel the tension in the air suddenly.
"Now I need a drink!" I said as I got up and picked up a wine bottle from the cellar; one that is very strong. I returned with the wine and two glasses. Then I opened the bottle and poured myself a drink.
"You can join me if you want." She stared at me for a while, then reached out and grabbed the bottle of wine and began to drink directly from the bottle. I looked at her in amazement.