Trevor asking me to be his date for the party was too much of a shock for me, despite our little incident in the car. But when he actually showed up at my apartment's front door, it was whole another level of surprise.

I'm not the kind of girl to be nervous around guys, or handsome guys at that. But there was something about Trevor, from the very first day at work, that made the butterflies in my stomach flutter. Seeing him in a charcoal gray suit with a midnight blue tie, the same shade as my dress, was something from whole another universe.

"You look good. Uhm, actually you look gorgeous." He complimented me, giving me an appreciative glance.

"Thank you. You don't look bad yourself. Hey, we are even matching." I pointed out the obvious.

There was a look of pure shock on his face as if he noticed it just now. Then his face broke into a huge grin, and I found myself reciprocating the smile.

"Shall we?" His expression back to its calm and collected as he asked offering me his hand.

It was then that I realized that I had yet to put on some heels.

"Uuhhhh, can you wait a minute? I just need to put on my sandals."

"Yeah, sure." He replied easily.

I went back to my room and put on the simple black strappy heels that I had picked out. Checking myself one last time in the mirror, and grabbing my wrap and clutch, I walked back out.

As I was walking towards him, he had this weird expression on his face that I could not decipher. It was gone as soon as I was in front of him.

"Shall we?" He offered his hand for me to take.

I took his hand and walked towards the elevator and then out towards his car. It took us almost 30 minutes to get to the venue. It was 7 already and we knew the guests would be arriving anytime now.

Most of the guests I knew, from the parties hosted by my parents. One's that I did not know, Trevor introduced me to them as his friend. Most of my time was spent with him until my parents and Jase arrived.

"Hey sweetheart, you look lovely." My dad complimented me, kissing my cheek.

"Thanks dad. Hey mom." I said kissing her cheeks.

"Oh, honey you do look lovely. And I see you and Mr.Chapman decided to coordinate." She said winking at me.

That brought a blush to my face thankfully hidden under my subtle makeup.

"Just Trevor, Mrs.Parkinson. And it was just a coincidence that we coordinated. By the way, you are looking beautiful." Trevor said, taking my mother's hand in his and kissed it.

"Oh, such a gentleman. Reminds me when Elijah was your age." She said smiling.

"Come on love. I'm still a gentleman, and young at that." My dad said winking at her.

"Uughhmmm. I'm still here. Can you guys atleast acknowledge me?" Jase piped in.

"Oh your presence never goes unnoticed my friend. Long time no see, Jason." Trevor said to Jase, giving him a bro hug.

"Oh, you look good man. Especially on my sister's arms." Jase said teasing Trevor, punching his arm.

This again illicited a blush from me. My folks were definitely trying to embarrass me today. Trevor did not deny Jase's comment. Rather just smiled at that. He just looked at me and gave me a small smile. And I was just standing there like an idiot.

Just then Stephen's presence saved me from further embarrassment.

"Elijah, good to see you could make it." Stephen said shaking my dad's hand.

"Couldn't miss a chance to see you getting old. Happy 51st birthday." My dad's comment made Stephen boom with laughter.

My mother was off chatting with Trevor's mom and another lady that I did not know.

"Your daughter is such an asset to any company. I really should thank you for sending her to me." He said, giving an appreciative glance my way.

"Oh, dont you think I know exactly how capable both of my children are. I'm so very proud of them." Dad said, looking at both me and Jase.

I glanced at Trevor only to find him looking at me attentively. Our eyes locked for a second, only for me to avert my glance towards Jase who was also looking at us.

My dad, Stephen and Trevor were in conversation when I decided to slip away, Jase following me.

"What exactly is going on between you and Trevor?" He asked giving me an exaggerated raised brow expression.

"Nothing is going on. We are just friends and I'm his assistant." I replied, keeping a calm face.

"You know I'm your brother and you can share anything with me, right?" He asked, pulling out a chair for me.

"Yeah I know, and if there was something going on you would definitely know." I said and he grinned, getting a seat beside me on the table.

"Yeah, but there is something I need to tell you." He said.

I could see a mixture of excitement and nervousness shining in my brother's eyes.

"Is Maureen pregnant? Oh my god! I'm gonna be an aunt." I asked, excited.

"Uhm, no. You are not.''

And, with that, my face fell. All the excitement draining out of me.

''Actually, I'm going to propose to Maureen." He replied.

"Oh my god! Oh my god, really? Oh, that's great. I always wanted this to happen. I'm so happy. Well, did you pick out a ring?" I asked him, grinning huge.

"A ring for what?" Trevor asked, taking a seat beside me.

"Jase is going to propose to Maureen." I said, a huge smile on my face.

"That's great. Did you pick out a ring? When are you planning to propose?" Trevor asked, smiling.

"I got a ring custom made for her. And no, I've not yet decided the When and How part. I need time for that." He replied.

"Oh don't worry brother. You'll figure something out I know." I said, giving his hand a squeeze.

''Yeah. You are gonna make her one happy woman. I'm happy for you.'' Trevor said, getting up.

"Anyways, I gotta go. There's a cake waiting." He grinned and walked away.

All the guests started settling down at their respective tables. Mom and Dad were beside us too. Just then Trevor stepped onto the stage.

"First of all, let me thank all you guys for taking out the time and joining us for my dad's 51st birthday. My dad, Stephen Chapman, the CEO of Chapman Inc. is the best father in the world. I do not need to talk about his business ventures and success, as everyone already knows them. I just want to say, how he is just a normal yet the most amazing dad.''

I looked towards Stephen, and he had this huge, unwavering smile on his face.

''When I was in highschool, my friends used to love my dad more than they loved me. I remember those countless injuries and broken bones of mine that he himself attended to. I remember that one time, when I was in a football accident and I was out cold for an entire night in the hospital. I remember how he cried when I opened my eyes the next morning. I think that was the first time I saw him cry. This man, I have no words to express how grateful I am to have him in my life."

Trevor spoke about his dad with a huge smile and silver shining in his eyes. He loved his dad, and the entire ballroom could see that.

Stephen got up onto that stage and hugged his son fiercely. Both of their eyes were shining now. His wife was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. It was a really sweet moment.

Just then a man rolled a huge four-tier cake on the stage. I helped to pick out the flavour but I did not know this cake was going to be so gorgeous looking.

Trevor grabbed two glasses of champagne from the waiter and handed one to Stephen.

"Here's to celebrating my dad's amazing fifty years on this planet, and wishing for many more to come.'' He raised his glass in a toast.

We all raised our glasses in a toast. Then there were the usual festivities of a birthday dinner, cutting of the cake and exchanging good wishes.

It was already half past eleven before we knew it. Many of the guests were gone including my mom and dad. Stephen was off talking to some cousins of his. Me, Trevor and Jase were sitting at a table, having wine and just laughing and chatting.

"And she snorted and the beer came out of her nose. It was hilarious. Ashton was trying so damn hard not to laugh but he couldn't control." Jase was saying in between his laughter.

I just stopped laughing at that name and went silent, and as soon as Jase realized his mistake he stopped too.

"Hey, what happened. Why did you two suddenly got so serious?"

Trevor was confused by our reaction,looking between both of us.

"Nothing. Um, excuse me." I got up and went out.

"What happened to her? Who's......." The rest of it I couldn't hear because I was out of earshot. He most probably asked who was Ashton.

I don't think I would ever be able to not flinch or react badly. He was that part of my past I would never want to recall. Lost in my thoughts I did not realize that now I was out in the huge garden. I found a very posh looking marble bench and sat atop it. After sometime, I felt someone sit beside me.

"I don't want to talk, Jase. I will be fine." I said dismissing him.

"C'mon, you could talk to me. Tell me what was it all about?" It was not Jase, but Trevor.

"I'm sorry, I overreacted. It was nothing." I tried shaking the topic off.

"Your face and eyes say it was not nothing. Tell me, I won't judge." He said.

I don't know what my face was looking like at that time, but I was sure it was not at all pleasant to look at. So, I decided to tell him. Vaguely.

"Ashton was my boyfriend in highschool. For almost 2 years. I loved him. But we broke up a couple of months before our graduation." I told him as vaguely as I could.

"Everyone has a bad breakup in highschool. There must be something more to get you so upset even after 5 years." He said, placing a hand on my hand.

"It was not a just bad breakup. It was worse. I just don't wanna talk about it." I was literally pleading now.

I don't know if he saw something in my eyes, he decided to drop it.

"Thank you for helping me out with today's party. Dad totally enjoyed and it was great." He said.

"You don't need to thank me. I'm your personal assistant, it's my job." I replied, smiling.

"You really think you're just my personal assistant?" He asked me.

"Well I'm your friend too. But even then it would have been my job to help you." I said laughing.

"You really don't get it do you."

And what happened next, I don't know what to say.

He just leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips. At first, I was shocked. But soon it was replaced by something else. He had his one hand on my thigh and other one on my cheek. I fell into that kiss, and turned towards him, looping my hands behind his neck.

He slid his hand from my thigh up to my waist, grabbing it and pulling me closer to him. The kiss was very soft and sweet, and yet it left me breathless. I pulled away, my hands still behind his neck. His eyes were shining bright.

"Why did you kiss me?" I asked him stupidly.

I am really stupid. I mean who asks 'why did you kiss me' right after being kissed. There was definitely something wrong with me, this was not me. And my lips felt all tingly, and I had the aftertaste of the rosé we were just drinking inside.

"You really don't get it do you." He said again.

"I liked it." I just gave him a small smile.

"Good." He got up, holding one of my hands in his own.

I was smiling so damn hard, it was hard not to blush. We both did not say another word to each other. We just walked back inside. Jase and Trevor talked some more and we bid our goodbyes to each other.

"Did he kiss you?" Jase asked me once we were both inside the car.

"How do you know about that?" I asked, my eyes wide.

"I'm your brother. Your face says it all." He replied smiling.

We did not say another word to each other the whole ride. He dropped me at my apartment and drove back to his hotel. This whole time, the kiss replaying in my head.

                    ******************

So finally, they kissed. Now it's gonna get a whole lotta interesting.

Also, new character entry alert.....

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