Noel

"Go on a date." I just stared at her as if I hadn't heard what she had said.

" You will go on a date. I have a perfect person who would accompany you on this date. It is just a positive publicity stunt because thanks to you, the negative aspects you have been throwing at me for so long have me thinking of resigning." I just gave her a sideways glance as she sat in front of me as if it was just normal.

"This doesn't seem like your idea," staring right at her I saw her giving me a somber expression.

"It is of my staff because I had asked them to give me something or the whole team was going to be fired. This is the best they all could come up with." She sat straighter confident in her team.

"It doesn't seem promising." I didn't want to be in the proximity of another human being and another woman was a big no. After what had happened with Allison, I needed a break to stop judging people. Going on a date under the public eye was a big no. Not when I didn't trust anyone any longer.

"Neither has been your behavior from last two years but did you see me complaining." She took out her phone and pushed it towards me.

"Lauren Johns. She is a corporate lawyer. Next in line to inherit her father's law firm. We have used their services and they come from old money. The icing on the cake is that she is hard-working, ambitious, and passionate about her job. I talked with her last evening and she understands that it is just a blind date. Just like you, her priority is her work but unlike you know how important public appearances her." I looked at her trying to come up with something negative to say but in reality, I couldn't. How could I blame someone for being wrong when the only wrong was inside of my mind and heart because it wanted someone who no longer wanted me and belonged to me. She seemed to be a strong person too.

Would be it be that wrong to give it try? How hard can it be?

Her face flashed behind my eyes making me remember how I still wasn't over the woman.

" Can't you come up with some idea? Some charity stuff for pets, cancer, or children?" The doubt inside of me that I couldn't do this only made it harder for me.

"We need to address the pink elephant now, Noel. It's time to tell them you have moved past even if you hadn't. Nothing is going to change and you need to get used to it." Dolores sighed as she took out a cigarette. That was her tell sign that she was tired and frustrated with this.

"If there was any other way I would have opted out for it but you need to stop all this bullshit and we all need to concentrate on the growth of this firm rather than chasing competition because we are the better than them. Maybe it's time we stop letting them having them power over us by getting our own back." she walked towards the door. The unlit cigarette between her lips as she turned back towards me.

"I have set it up for tomorrow. A heads up has already been given to some of the reporters so I hope you show up or else I might have to fire people and resign myself," she said with a sigh. Giving me the last ultimatum. Either it was this or I was going to lose the only support I had for years.

She didn't wait for an answer but rather walked out of there without a word. While I stared at the place where she stood. Was it all worth it? There was no going back to Cheryl. I had tried for years to get her back but she had moved on in her life while I was still in the same spot she had left me.

How hard I try I couldn't prove my innocence to her anyway? She didn't believe me then why would she now? I still have no proof and even if I did I don't think that it would be the same. We couldn't magically turn into those people before the incident. All pillars of have trust had been shattered in a snap of a finger. The problem was she had stopped trusting me. She was the one who hadn't trusted me, who had left me, and still, I was the one who was pinning for someone who had already moved on. She was pregnant and starting a life with someone she loved. Maybe it was time to move forward.

Maybe it was time to start to unlove her and love me and those who cared for me.

I was nervous.

For the first time in my life, I felt nervous because of how people would judge me. As Dolores has asked I had prepared myself. Worn a blazer and jeans to give a casual edge. Something out of the daily attire. I had no idea about who this person was I was meeting. I had never been nearby people in a situation like this for so long.

A date.

I had held business dinners, had a meeting with clients some were women but I had never felt like this. Maybe it was going to be like that. Maybe I should treat it that way as if it was a business deal but the problem was that woman who would sit in front of me would judge me from all she had heard about me and my personal life. I knew Dolores stand was clear about her and I knew it was just appearances but I was on edge.

Baffled by my feelings because in a way it was the start of something new for the company a new publicity perspective. I didn't want it to go downhill. On the other hand, it was about me beginning to let go of something that I should have done a long ago but I hadn't. It wasn't until tonight on my drive to the restaurant that I had googled my name and found that so many things that I haven't paid attention to have caused a problem for us. In a way, I felt as if I was the one drowning the image of my empire. How the public portrayed me was a person stuck on her ex-wife, a lunatic at times. I didn't like what was shown and it was degrading too at times. Maybe it was the thought that I never realized that every action had consequences too.

"Sir, your table is ready." I was drawn out of my thought when I heard the host beside me at the bar to guide me to the table. I looked at my watch realizing that Lauren was yet not here. Maybe she was running late. Giving a nod I moved to the table she showed me to.

"Would you like to order something until your partner arrives? A waiter could let you know about the chef's specialty," the host asked.

"That would be great." I looked at my phone. She was running late for more than fifteen minutes. I texted Dolores about it because clearly, I didn't want to make a fool of myself. This was her idea and it was her responsibility.

The waiter had come and gone. I had ordered red wine and some starters to be sent out when my partner arrives but she was nowhere. I sipped on the wine as I looked at my phone out of the reason I was bored. Dolores had texted that she was running late but arriving giving a breath of relief.

The news that Noel Rivera's date stood him up wouldn't have gone well.

I was on my second glass when I started to look around at the faces some familiar some not. Some were old business partners, some celebrities, some friends of my fathers and their children. However, my breath stopped when I saw a familiar set of eyes not too far away. Those same eyes that were now my past. I could feel the rush of my heartbeat as I looked at her.

She was here with her husband and I could see her friends. All celebrating and my breath stopped. I wanted to laugh at the fates and timing. The only time I was moving forward in life leaving behind the past I was bound to face her here. In these surroundings, seeing her happy and laughing with someone else that was not me.

She was pregnant and having his child. She was celebrating while I was still trying to forget her. How she had once been mine but no longer was mine? My hand grew clamp around the glass of wine.

I felt pain inside me but now it was accompanied with resentment, anger at someone her or myself I didn't know. How could she do this to us? To me and all that love we had? Didn't I try hard? Shouldn't I still be trying but why should I when she had been in the wrong.

Why is it always a woman who is hurting? Why is it a man who can't be hurt? Why is it that a man can't be innocent?

Our eyes met and in those, I saw nothing familiar. She was once a woman who I know emitting the same emotions that she had for the last many years which were nothing but disgust and anger.

"I'm sorry I'm late but in my defense, it was very short notice," I looked away from her to greet my date only to be surprised.

The woman who stood in front of me looking nice and professional in a sleek black dress wasn't Lauren but Allyson.

I blinked thrice to make sure and yes it was Allyson.

Someone had a lot of explaining to do.

...........................................................................

Updating at last!!!

How did Allyson end up here?

And what will happen with Cheryl being around?

Writing the next chapter now.