Chapter 104

"Aria, come on, tell me what happened? How was the Lawson family? Any favourites already?" Lisa kept going on the phone.

It was early Monday morning and Ariana had just gotten to work. She was trying to set up everything for the day before Calhoun came and working became even harder because she knew he wanted to talk to her but she wasn't sure she was ready for any sort of conversation yet. It was crystal clear, his family didn't approve of her in anyway. He was only forcing his decision on them.

"Aria! Hello! Are you even listening to me?" Lisa yelled on the phone.

"Lisa, can we have this conversation later? I really can't do this now," Ariana said in a tired tone. She didn't have the energy Lisa was looking for that morning or anytime at that.

"Come on, Aria! You have been like this since last night! When am I ever going to get information! I need details girl!" She yelled.

Ariana could hear the excitement in her best friend's voice but she just didn't have it in her to break the news to her. She didn't even know where exactly she stood in all of these.

"Lisa, I promise I will tell you everything... But not now. I have work," Aria tried to pass the questions again.

"Ariana Brown! I am going to call you in the next one hour and you had better be ready to speak to me!" Lisa spat ending the call.

Ariana slumped into her chair and placed her fingers on her forehead trying to calm her nerves.

"Okay, I am dating the richest man in the country and his family doesn't want me... What's the big deal in that?" She whispered to herself.

As soon as the words left her mouth, a sharp knock came to her door and she wondered who it was. Usually, Sarah would knock and step right in. Zion wouldn't even knock, so who could this be?

She got up and made to go open the door when her phone started ringing. She picked it up from her bag and she was surprised to see Calhoun's number.

With a raised brow she swiped through her phone to answer the call. "Hello?" She said with hesitation. He didn't usually call her on work days. They were going to see in like thirty minutes so why would he call?

"Ariana, good morning. How are you?" His husky voice came in through the phone and Ariana found her nerves dropping a bit. But the feeling of doom was still there.

"Good morning. I am fine. Is everything alright?" She asked unable to stop herself.

"Yes, everything is fine. It's just that, I have this sudden meeting and I have to go for it right now," he said.

Ariana tried to remembered his schedule but she couldn't think of anything meeting that was scheduled to happen that morning.

"It was sent to my direct mail. These are major and sensitive investors, they speak to me directly." He explained as if he heard her thoughts.

"Oh, that's fine," she said, finally getting why she didn't know of it before now. "How long will you be gone?"

"A day or two. I will send you the password to my personal mail so you can get information like this..." He added.

She heard the hesitation in his voice. It seemed he didn't want to go but he knew he had to.

"I'll be fine." She quickly put in trying to make him feel better. They had their differences but they could put that aside till he got back.

"Okay, do take care of yourself and send me lots of messages," Calhoun requested and Ariana found herself smiling at it.

"Okay, I'll try," she replied.

The person at the door knocked again and Ariana jumped. She had totally forgotten that someone was at her door.

"Is everything alright?" Calhoun asked after hearing her gasp.

"Yeah, sure. It's probably Zion at the door. We'll talk later. Go for your meeting, bye!" Ariana ended the call and walked to the door.

It wasn't even locked so she was surprised who ever was knocking couldn't just step in. She got closer and pulled it open with a puzzled expression on her face.

There was a woman heavily dressed with dyed blonde hair that reached her shoulders and large dark sunshades that made it impossible for Ariana to tell who it was.

"Good morning ma'am..." Ariana trailed off. Maybe it was a business investor, she had to be respectful. "How may I be of assistance?"

"Finally, the door opened! I was beginning to think aside being broke you are deaf too!"

Ariana looked at the person speaking from head to toe, wondering where she had seen her. The voice was too familiar.

The woman took off her large sun shades and Ariana recognised her. She was a Lawson.

"You are probably wondering who I am, but that is a long story, get me something to drink first." She walked pass Ariana like she owned the office and walked to the chair and sat down.

Ariana was shocked at the rudeness. It made her freeze. Why was one of Calhoun's aunt here in the office and acting this rude?

"Why are you just standing there and doing nothing?" She asked in a high pitched voice.

Ariana left the door and walked to where the office fridge was. She pulled it open and took out a bottle of water and walked back to where the woman sat. She placed the bottle on the table and went around to her seat.

The woman took the bottle and uncorked it. She threw her head back dramatically and drank a little from it. When she was done, she let out a loud sigh and placed the bottle on the table once again.

"So, you may not know but I am Lily Lawson and I am here to warn you..." She started.

Ariana narrowed her eyes at the woman's statement. She remembered a certain Lily that was causing a lot if trouble at the dinner. But back then she had on less make up and she wasn't this overly dressed up. Who wears a tail long evening dress with a white wooly scarf around her shoulders? She even had long white gloves on to match.

"Calhoun is not your trophy to get. If you think I will let you steal our hard earned money then you must be mistaken!"

Ariana felt like she had been slapped on the face. Her cheeks were burning and her heart was rising to her throat threatening to come out of her body.