Fated to the Ruthless CEO

“Hello Devlin…” Amber hesitated a bit. But she wants to cook a nice dinner for him before she goes home to her marmee. This is the only way she thinks she could repay his kindness towards her.

She waited for Devlin to say something but the other line was quiet except the background sound of cars honking. He must be driving somewhere.

“Devlin, can you hear me? I am not sure what you are doing but do you want me to hang up?” It took Devlin a full minute to respond to Amber. She could hear his deep breathing.

“Yeah, don’t hang up. I’m here. I just had to do something.” He lied. He is actually seething with anger right now. He blamed Amber for everything. Had she not met his grandma that day on her appointment at the hospital, he wouldn’t get entangled with this mess. His grandma would have not made that drastic decision if she hadn’t been very sick. Amber’s appearance could have reminded his grandma of her wish to marry someone from her family to her friend’s family.

He had to control himself to not yell at Amber. He wonders why she called right after his meeting with the lawyer. Did she know? Did Mr. Harrison inform her about his grandma’s will? Did she manipulate his grandma with nice words so..? He had to stop himself. There are too many questions in his head right now. He almost believed that Amber is different from the other women he met in his life. However, she is of the same cut as them.

“Okay. I called because I wanted to invite you for dinner tonight here in your condo. It is my way of showing gratitude to you.” She finally got to say it. Amber also wants to tell him tonight her plan. The line went quiet for a very long while. Amber has to check her phone if Devlin is still on the line. Then, she heard the heavy breathing again.

“Devlin, is everything fine with you? You don’t sound good to me.” She asked with a worried voice. She still knew little about Devlin but she knows that from time to time he got this moody side of him.

“Yeah, I am fine. I will be there for dinner. I also have something to talk to you about.” He said calmly. He really tried hard to rein his emotions. He just wants to know how his grandma decided to include her in her last will. And worst of all, the wedding that his grandma had already set-up for them. He is thinking that Amber played a huge part by manipulating his sick grandma. That made him start to boil with anger. He immediately ended the call. For now, he wants to keep calm so he knows what he will do next with her. The timid, naive woman who almost fooled him.

Amber was wondering what happened with Devlin. He surely is in a bad mood. He mentioned wanting to talk to her. Now, she wonders what it is. She will find out tonight. She hopes that she is not the reason for his moody attitude. Anyway, it is high time for her to go home. With that in mind, she went to the kitchen to check what ingredients she would need. After checking everything, she called Jackson who does most of the grocery for her. However, she wanted to go with Jackson so she could do the grocery herself.

A few minutes later, Amber was ready to do her grocery shopping. She barely spends her money for this vacation so she decided to use her own money to buy the ingredients she needs for cooking. Jackson protested at first but Amber would not back down. She was happy to personally spend from her money. Everything went well however when she was going to the parking lot with Jackson, she saw someone she did not expect to see at all. It was the reporter who asked her some questions during the business dinner. She remembers her face but she forgot her name.

“Hi! We’ve met again. How are you doing, Ms. Adams?” Amber was definitely surprised to see the reporter’s familiar face. She just came out of nowhere. Does she live around the area? It looks like she is going to do her groceries as she is just getting out of her car.

“Hi!” Amber simply answered. She didn’t want to be rude but she is also not comfortable to strike a casual conversation with her.

“Who is he, Ms. Adams? Where is Mr. Wesley?” The reporter’s intrusive questions caught Amber off guard. She looked at the reporter with a shocked expression. But instead of answering her, she quickly got inside the car. She could not believe how that reporter dared to ask her. It is none of her business. She was breathing heavily when Jackson’s voice came.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” He asked politely. He must have noticed her uneasiness.

“I am fine. We should better get going.” She only replied. She does not want to think about what happened in the parking area. Never in her life did she experience getting asked by random people. Well, not really a random one but a reporter. What kind of mess she is getting herself into. However, she quickly reminded herself that she will be leaving soon. So, there is no need to worry that much. She will just charge all of these to experience.

The moment Amber returned to the condo unit, she immediately made herself busy cooking for tonight’s dinner. She made the salads first since they are going to be served cold. Then, she also baked a cake. By 6 pm, she finished cooking their food for dinner.

She called Devlin to check on him but his line seemed busy. She called a few more times but she failed to get hold of him. She checked the time. It’s still twenty minutes past 6 pm. She looked around the dining area. Everything is ready. She already set up the table. The food is all cooked. She just needs to serve them on a nice serving plate later. There is nothing to do in the kitchen anymore. She already cleaned and washed all the things she used for cooking. She decided that she should take a shower now before Devlin comes. Thinking of him, she is actually excited to see him tonight.

She took a nice shower. It took her 15 minutes to finish and put on a nice dress. It is one of those dresses that Devlin bought for her when they went shopping together. She decided to put on a little bit of makeup. She doesn’t understand why she had to put an effort to look good. Devlin would never care anyway.

At 6:30 pm, Amber is already in the living room, waiting for him. She tried calling him again but she still couldn’t contact him. She left him some messages to remind him of her dinner invitation. Amber thought that he must be somewhere having a meeting or anything could come up. She decided to watch a movie that is playing on the TV. It will keep her mind occupied.

She waited until she felt hungry. When she checked the time, it was past 8 pm. She wonders what happened to Devlin. Is he still coming or did he forget about her dinner invitation? Then, she realized when she called him earlier, she never mentioned any specific time for dinner. She just told him to come for dinner. Devlin did not even ask the time for dinner. Amber castigated herself for being stupid not to inform him of the dinner time. Who knows he usually has late dinner? So, instead of eating dinner alone, she decided to wait for Devlin for an hour more. She still tried calling him several times but still couldn’t contact him. She felt bad that the food would go to waste. She cooked a lot of food.

After more than an hour of waiting, Amber decided to eat by herself. But first she needs to put away most of the food in the fridge. She will just take some for herself. It will be useless to assume that Devlin is still coming. He must be busy. She felt disappointed that he couldn’t make it tonight.

She finished her dinner quickly. She started clearing everything. She just finished washing the last dish when the doorbell started ringing. It didn’t stop ringing until she was at the door asking who was outside. She didn’t have time to check from the peephole.

“Who is it?” She raised her voice. She has a feeling it’s Devlin. No one else would visit her in the condo except him. Then, she heard him say his name. She immediately opened the door for him.

“Devlin?!” She asked in a surprise but worried voice. The Devlin she is seeing right now looks wasted. His hair is in a mess. His buttoned shirt was opened way more, showing a slightly hairy chest. He got that strong alcohol smell. When he got inside, he could not even walk straight.

Amber struggled to help him get settled on the couch. He put his right arm all over her shoulder. Since he could not walk straight, he put more of his weight on her. It took Amber almost five minutes just to let Devlin settle on the sofa.

“Devlin, what happened? You are drunk. I better call Jackson now to drive you home.” Amber said with a serious tone. She saw the time on her phone before she was about to dial Jackson’s number. It’s past 11 pm.

However, before she could call, Devlin grabbed her left hand.

“Do–don’t call no–no one. I wa–want to relash–lax a lil bit.” Devlin said with incoherent words. Still, Amber could understand a few words he said.

Amber put her phone back in her pocket. She decided to get some warm water so she could use it to clean him up. She would make him a cup of strong black coffee. It would help him regain his senses.

She went back to the living room and gave him a cup of coffee. She saw him leaning back his head on top of the sofa’s headrest with his eyes closed. He put his legs on the center table with his shoes on. He sure looked like a big mess… Amber thought to herself. She just slightly shook her head.

“Devlin, I hope you are not asleep yet. I made you a cup of black coffee. Please have a drink.” She offered. She didn’t get any response from him. He didn’t even make any slight movement.

She left and brought a bucket of warm water and a small cloth she could use to wipe on his face. She saw him already lying down on the sofa. His coffee was not touched at all. Amber had to sigh deeply. She thought he must have come from a party with friends. But if he did, for sure one of his friends could have taken him home if he was too drunk to drive. Why did he decide to come right here? Well, of course this is his condo unit. He has every right to come here anytime. He must have been too drunk to remember her staying in his condo.

Amber removed his shoes and socks before she started cleaning him up with the warm water.

She took a while to finish tidying him up. He has fallen asleep. She wanted to change his shirt into a fresh t-shirt that she has. However, he is too heavy for her. So, she just took a blanket from her room and covered Devlin instead. She also fixed his pillow underneath his head. Then, she turned off the light in the living room and went to her bedroom. There are so many things that went into her head but she could not find the answer as to why he drank himself to sleep. She yawned, too tired as to what happened today. She fell asleep thinking about him.