When I Miss You

"Nicholas, have you brought all the files?" Edward asked as he and Nicholas were walking toward the lobby of the AlpaBeta building.

Nicholas nodded. "I've brought everything. Nothing else left." After arriving at the entrance, Nicholas immediately gave his car keys to Edward. "You're the one driving. I want to read our presentation material for American investors."

Edward agreed to Nicholas's request and then reached for the car keys handed to him. "We have to hurry. You know how congested LA is at this hour."

Along the way to the Capitol building, Nicholas was busy reading the presentation materials for later one by one. His face was solemn, as if he didn't want to be bothered. The understanding Edward chose to concentrate on driving instead of the usual distraction. "I've read and mastered our material. I'm optimistic that I can get this tender worth 25 trillion," Nicholas said confidently.

From behind the wheel, Edward smiled faintly. "As usual, there's no doubting your abilities, Nicholas. If you weren't a genius, how could Jacob appoint you as CEO in his place." Edward praised sincerely.

Nicholas nodded. "Thank God, I do master this field. But without your help, I'm also nothing," said Nicholas. "I guess I have to admit that we're a solid team. You're good at negotiating and convincing clients to choose our company." Edward smirked. "No need to praise, the definition of perfect is indeed in me. Handsome, crazy about women and finally good at business ---"

"But it's a shame If you don't have a girlfriend," Nicholas sneered quickly. Even though he was known to be a playboy and liked to change dates, Nicholas had never seen Edward in a serious relationship with anyone. He is a free man. Edward is the same as Lucas. Too much toying with the women. For now, Lucas has been hit by a stone when a woman claims to be pregnant with his child. Tomorrow it will be Edward's turn to have the same fate. Who knows? Edward snorted from behind the wheel.

"Please underline. Many women are lining up wanting to be my lover. It's just that I'm too picky when it comes to partner matters, let alone a wife. Besides, don't pretend to be amnesiac, Nicholas. You're in the handsome category yourself, but you can't win over one woman's heart." replied Edward. The man was delighted in mocking Nicholas, who could no longer respond to his scorching words.

Nicholas lightly punched Edward's left arm. "You'll see. I can get Kimberly back."

Edward glanced at Nicholas and then laughed. "We'll see, Nicholas." It only took about thirty minutes, the two of them finally arrived at the courtyard of the Capitol building.

After giving the car keys to the valet parking attendant, Nicholas and Edward immediately rushed into the main building to the meeting room. There, many other business partners were already present and gathered. Each of them was still busy chatting, and some were busy preparing before the presentation started.

However, of all that, one thing made Nicholas so transfixed. When greeting one by one the people in the room, a woman was sitting not far from the window, distracting her world. The woman was so engrossed in the story at first.

Until not how long, accidentally, their eyes met each other. Nicholas stared at him in silence for a long time. He ensured that what he saw was real, not a hallucination. After making sure, Nicholas approached the position where the woman was sitting.

"How are you, Kimmy. Long time no see." full of confidence, Nicholas flashed a smile as he stretched out his hand. Kimberly herself was so surprised. But as best she could, she kept her face calm and then took Nicholas's hand.

"Nicholas...nice to meet you. As you can see, I'm doing very well."

Nicholas nodded. "I'm so happy to hear that."

Despite missing Kimberly so much, Nicholas chose to sit down immediately because the investors who organized the event had arrived in the room.

"Welcome business participants, and thank you for the time you take for our company. To shorten the time, we from the Capital side invite each participant to present their company." a spokesperson for Capital gave a speech to start the event.

It took almost three hours, and the presentations started to finish one by one until it was Kimberly's turn to present herself. From behind his chair, Nicholas didn't even blink an eye. His eyes focused on Kimberly, who was so confident in presenting the material from her company. Listening from start to finish, Nicholas finally concluded. Kimberly was quite proficient, and so mastered the material she brought. He could answer all the questions asked by the Capital correctly and with total balance.

"It turns out that Kimberly is indeed a superior seed, Nicholas," Edward joked on the sidelines of listening to the presentation.

Nicholas turned his head and furrowed his brows in confusion. "What superior seeds, Ed?"

Edward chuckled. He brought his face closer and whispered. "She's beautiful, granddaughter of a conglomerate, smart, too. There must be a lot of people fighting to be her lover. I'm also very sure that when Kimberly fell in love with you, she must have made a mistake."

"Mistake, how?" Nicholas asked.

Edward whispered again. "Because a normal woman, would not want to be the lover of a man who is very bad like you." At times like this, Edward mocked.

Nicholas chuckled, annoyed. "Don't provoke me to beat you up, Ed!"

Edward chuckled, then rolled his eyes again, looking at the last participant who gave a presentation. "Thank you for all participants' participation, we Capital side have discussed with each other.

For this reason, we would like to announce which company will be included in the selection list." All participants paid close attention to the announcement that the speaking jury would read from the Capital side. "After careful consideration. We decided on two companies that would participate in the next stage of selection. For that we chose AlpaBeta and Sanjaya Group to follow the next selection stage. We will announce the final decision via email in the next two days. Thank you for your participation and cooperation." the participants rose in unison and began to leave the room one by one.

Hearing AlpaBeta's name being called when they were outside the room, Edward couldn't stop smiling at Nicholas. The man even hugged him. "I can't wait for another two days. I'm sure our company will be selected." Nicholas nodded slowly but didn't answer. They almost won, but why didn't he feel good. Instead, he thought of Kimberly. The woman's company also entered the next round of selection. That means they will be competing against each other.

Realizing his best friend was silent, Edward concluded and said. "Don't say you will yield to Kimberly, Nicholas." Edward said. "Don't be crazy!" he hissed later.

Instead of answering Edward's accusations, Nicholas brought his eyes to the new Kimberly. I just left the room with Marco. Nicholas walked over to the woman without hesitation.

"Kimmy, can we talk for a minute?" There was a pleading tone in his sentence.

Kimberly gave a faint smile. Then shook her head slowly. "Sorry, but there's nothing we need to talk about. I told you to forget me immediately."

Finished saying that, Kimberly immediately pulled Marco's hand to leave. He was leaving Nicholas just like that without even turning to look at the man. However, before going to the car, Kimberly asked for permission first from him. Marco to go to the toilet. "I have to do my makeup first."

Marco nodded. "Then I'll go to the car first. When you're done you can follow me."

Then they separated. Kimberly herself continued her steps towards the toilet. She fixed her hair and makeup. After feeling tidy, she immediately decided to leave. But just as she stepped through the door, someone pulled Kimberly by force. He was headed for the emergency stairs. Trying to unlink their hands, Kimberly lost her strength at that time.

"What do you want to bring me here, Nicholas?" Kimberly asked. She looked so annoyed.

Nicholas let out a frustrated breath. "What other way should I be able to meet you , talk to you?"

"There's nothing more we need to talk about, Nicholas. We're done. Oh, sorry we're not even in a relationship with each other." Kimberly corrected. She laughed bitterly after that.

"Kimberly, I beg you, just give me one chance. Don't you miss me?"

Kimberly chuckled loudly. "Why should I miss someone who has hurt me so many times? Why do I miss people who don't trust me at all. It's the same as wasting my time which ---"

Kimberly didn't expect. Nicholas pulled her body and pushed her into a corner on the side of the wall. Without warning, the man pressed his lips to Kimberly's the next second. Crush without permission. Taste the strawberry flavour on the woman's lips. The more extended Nicholas's kiss deepened. Passionate even dominates. He acts as if this kiss is an outlet for his buried longing.

Kimberly could lied if she didn't miss the man. But the response her body showed was the exact opposite of what she had said earlier. The woman seemed to enjoy it even in the end also replied. For a long time, they drifted into a passionate kiss. Until Kimberly's breath hitched, Nicholas was forced to let go of their lips. Nicholas pressed his forehead against Kimberly's forehead.

"I miss you, Kimberly Alistair. I miss you so much." the man was still panting. Kimberly took a deep breath. He chose to enjoy their intimacy rather than replying to Nicholas's words. "Tell me something, Kimberly! Say you miss me. Say you love me." Nicholas urged as he didn't hear a comment come out of the mouth of the woman in front of him.

Kimberly listened to her breath again. "Yes, I miss you. My feelings have never even changed a bit for you. I'm still the same, and I always love you."

Hearing that, a smile appeared on Nicholas's lips. He immediately pulled Kimberly's body back and hugged her. "I love you too, Kimberly. I love you so much." Nicholas continued to recite the sentence. "But we can't be together, Nicholas," Kimberly replied.

Nicholas untied his arms and then distanced himself to see Kimberly's face. He even grabbed her chin so that their eyes met. "What do you mean?" he asked, confused.

Kimberly closed her eyes briefly. She was trying to muster up the courage to tell the fact that Nicholas had to hear right away. Prepared to be scared after hearing what Kimberly said, the man immediately ask her. "Kimberly, answer my question," insisted Nicholas."

"You know I just had surgery for cancer that I had some time ago."

Nicholas nodded. "Yes, I know that. Then what's the problem?"

Once again, Kimberly took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "One of my ovaries was removed by a team of doctors. It will make it difficult for me to have children or, at worst, not be able to have children in the future."

Nicholas was quite surprised by the fact that Kimberly revealed to him. He knew that the woman had cancer. But about Kimberly, who was sentenced to have difficulty having children, she didn't think about it. So what should she do now?

"Do you want a woman who can't have children? Just say you accept me as I am, but will your Nicholas family accept me? Willing to marry off their only son to a woman who can't give their big family a grandchild?" Nicholas couldn't help but be silent in the face of so many questions. He was too lost in his thoughts.

"Please convince me, Nicholas. Answer me if you want to accept me."

Silent from a moment. Nicholas not say anything.

"I think I can guess your answer." Kimberly smiled bitterly.

"Kimberly, listen to me---"

"Enough, Nicholas! I don't think we need to be in touch anymore," Kimberly said angrily.

"Kimberly Aurora, listen to me first," Nicholas begged. He tried to grab Kimberly's wrist. But the woman quickly brushed it off.

"I'll never see you again!" grimacing, Kimberly left Nicholas just like that. While Nicholas was trying to catch up, the woman's steps could not be followed because Kimberly had entered the car. In his position, Nicholas could only swear repeatedly.

"It would help if you gave me a chance to talk irst, Kimmy.

***

Arriving at her house, Kimberly chose to go straight to her room. She was ignoring the existence of Arthur, who had been sitting waiting for him in the living room.

Marco, who had just entered, saw Arthur, so confused by his grandson's behaviour, immediately approached Arthur.

"Why Kimberly? Didn't you guys manage to get the tender today, that's why he looks upset now?"

Marco took a seat first. Then nodded slowly at Arthur. "Not because of the tender. Kimberly might just be tired. If you want to know, Sanjaya Corp is entering the final stage of selection. The final announcement will be the day after tomorrow. And more importantly, Sanjaya Corp will compete fiercely with AlphaBeta Corporation."

Arthur gasped at Marco's explanation. On the one hand, he was happy because Kimberly's first presentation yielded extraordinary results. But on the other hand, he thought that maybe Kimberly looked sad and upset because she met Nicholas there.

"Opa is proud of you. Nothing wrong with Kimberly deepening her business knowledge with you," said Arthur.

"This is all because Kimberly's ability is above average, Grandpa. I'm just directing her not to make a wrong move."

Arthur nodded in agreement. "Then do your best. Make sure our company wins this big tender." Marco agreed to Arthur's orders.