Sharon rushed out of the meeting room. She didn't want to say that she ran but if anyone saw her, they'd say she ran. But she couldn't help it. This meeting had been ambushed upon her. And, not only that, it was one of the most uncomfortable meetings in her life.

Before this, she had been doing her job, minding her own business, the usual stuff. That had been when Matt's secretary suddenly called her in. Having no idea what that was about, she felt like she had been sprung a trap by Matt.

Going in, she had paused at the doorway. Apparently, the meeting was about Cameron and his progress with the physiotherapy. That was fine and she would understand the reason for her presence. She was the one who had the latest update about the physiotherapy from the agency. But within the room, apart from Matt, the client himself and Bryan, there was also his girlfriend, Holly.

His girlfriend!

If it was not uncomfortable enough seeing Cameron again after their last confrontation, she had to endure Holly's presence. She had had to steel herself and present the most professional front she could. Luckily, he didn't say anything to Matt. But she couldn't relax.

There were eyes on her the entire time. Eyes that were both hostile and furious. Focusing on the front the entire time, she didn't know who was doing what or if it was just one person. But it was disconcerting and she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

Which explained her speedy exit upon the conclusion of the meeting. Not even sure about what the others were discussing about, she just wanted to put as much space between herself and the meeting room as possible.

"Sharon, wait." A hand caught her wrist, pulling her to a stop.

"Mr Ballard, how are you doing? Is there anything I can help with?"she asked, turning coolly to him. There were other unpleasant words at the tip of her tongue but she had to hold it back. This was still her office. But her eyes were shooting fire at him. Of which she was sure he was immune to.

"Ah, I need to speak to you. Do you mind if we talk over lunch?"

"About what? If it's about work, we can just talk here-"

"It's not about work. Do you want me to talk about it here?" From the look in his eyes, it was clearly about her sister. Cursing Amelia in her mind, she was about to refuse when his furrowed brows showed how serious he was.

Feeling backed into a corner, she shook her head reluctantly. She was trying to minimise her interactions with him but that was failing miserably. He knew how and when to push her, something she wished he wouldn't use against her. But of course he'd use it to get his way.

"Oh look,"she said tonelessly, "I have some free time. I'd be happy to have lunch with you, Mr Ballard. Let me grab my purse."

"I'll cover for it-"

"No, no. I can't possibly let you do that. Please wait for me here,"she said firmly before leaving for her desk. But as she walked away, she couldn't help but notice the hostile glare from Cameron's girlfriend.

----@@@-----

Inside Cameron's car, Sharon wondered what she was doing. He was weaving through traffic in some unknown part of New York. All she knew was that she was in the richer part of the city. A part where she had never been to. A part she never wanted to be to. It felt too much like the world Amelia was in.

Having a bad feeling in her stomach, she wished she had asked him where they were going.Oh why had she simply gotten into this guy's car? Her initial assumption had been that they were going to the usual diner. Which, now that she thought about it, was no reason to get the car if it was that. It was a simple walk over.

And she hadn't even paid attention when the car had moved further and further away from familiar surroundings, it wasn't until they were stopping in front of a restaurant, a restaurant with a valet, she knew she wasn't going to have an enjoyable meal. Wanting to run away the moment she got out, she was thwarted when Cameron engaged the lock for her side.

"Let me get it,"he said with a smile.

Trying to be a gentleman? She almost snorted aloud but held it in. Now she knew it was something she wouldn't like. This was just to make sure she didn't escape. Well, she wouldn't let him. Stretching over to the driver's seat, she almost let out a diabolical laugh. Poor him. Now that she was alone, she just had to find to button to unlock and...

Which one was the button?

She was almost screaming in frustration when she couldn't figure out the car. It was too advanced for her. Her car back home was much simpler, much older than this. It even still had wind down windows while most cars had those automatic ones.

Glaring at him when he opened her car doors, she angrily took off her seat belts and got out. She almost shook off his hand when he grabbed her arm but taking note of the attention on them, she took a deep breath and allowed him to lead her in.

Her bad feeling was confirmed when she saw her sister and brother-in-law at the table.

"What is going on here?"she asked acidly, glaring at Amelia, Scott and then Cameron. She refused to sit down even when the waiter was standing there, holding her seat out awkwardly. She tried to shake off his hand. "Let me go, Cameron."

"No. You have to make up with your family,"he said staunchly. "You can fight but always make up. That's what my mother taught me."

"I'm sorry. Why are you getting involved in my family's problem? I've been saying again and again that you do not have to care about this-"

"Well, I'm a friend of the family so I don't want to see you guys fight."

"And we can talk more about this over lunch,"Scott said stiffly. Looking over at her slim, slight brother-in-law, she could see that he was terribly conscious of the stares on them. And as much as she liked him, this was not something she was going to cave on.

"Oh let her go, Scott,"Amelia said, finally getting into the scuffle. Flipping her rich brown hair over her shoulder, she looked indifferently over Sharon. Her already flaming anger burned hotter.

"Alright. Fine. I don't want to be here anyway. Luckily, I brought my purse. Well, Cameron, thanks for the drive here but I'll just get a cab back to the office." Barely sparing Cameron a glance, she was about to leave when she heard the last person she wanted to see in her entire life.

"Sharon, I'm so glad to see you."

Feeling like she had just connected eyes with a Medusa, her body stiffened all over and her eyes shot to her sister. Who looked remarkably guilty.

Oh no, she hadn't.

----@@@---

Lunch was a tense affair. Cameron didn't know what was going on but he knew that Sharon was barely holding in her feelings. There was anger, fury and resentment. Barely looking at anyone, she was silently eating her entrée while the others talked. He couldn't help being curious. It just occurred to him that he didn't know much about her. So was these feelings related back to Amelia or the others?

And the others included the three newcomers, a couple and an older lady, to the table. From their conversation, he gathered that the couple, Jasmine and Tony, was their neighbor from back home. They were in the city to shop for their wedding.

He was surprised when he heard that but upon knowing that the guy is part of the family running the biggest company in the state, he wasn't as alarmed. Even so, this was still a massive drain to the man's pocket.. But he was aware this trip served more as a bragging right for the woman than to really prepare for their wedding.

The one thing Cameron was more shocked by was the fact that the older woman was Amelia and Sharon's mother. There was absolutely no resemblance between the three. There was more between the two mismatched sisters but nothing between the mother and daughters.

Their mother, Alicia, was tall and slim, not unlike Amelia. She was curvy, much like Sharon. But that was where the similarities ended. Where the daughters had a certain warmth and softness to them, Alicia was all coldness and sharp angles. If it was not her natural body shape, he believed she would be all bones. Like all those white rich women.

Another thing that he found strange was the distance between the family. She didn't speak to her daughters much, apart from the perfunctory greeting. And, if he wasn't mistaken, she was colder to Sharon than Amelia.

"So I know you're the famous quarterback, right?"the woman, Jasmine, asked, turning to Cameron suddenly. Still chewing on his mouthful of pasta, he nodded and hurriedly swallowed. Jasmine clapped and squealed like a demented seal. "I can't believe I am meeting a famous person right now. Not that you're not famous, Amelia dear. This is just different famous."

Amelia just waved her comment away but Cameron noticed that her face was quite pale and the area around her mouth was especially white. With tension? Wondering whether she was offended by her question, he didn't have time to speculate. There were more questions to answer. Questions that were getting increasingly personal and uncomfortable

"What? You don't have a girlfriend? I thought it was all over the news."

"It just didn't work out,"Cameron said, feeling the sweat trickle down his neck. This time, there were more eyes on him. Eyes he didn't want to scrutinise him. Deep green eyes that were trying to bore a hole through his side.

"Oh wow. This reminds me of that time Tony had this girl following him around like a puppy. An ugly puppy but a puppy nonetheless." The tension at the table skyrocketed, as if she had said something off-limits. As the only outsider, Cameron was frustrated, feeling left out. "They were nothing more than co-workers but she misconstrued it to be more than that-"

"Jasmine, stop,"Tony said. That was the first time he had spoken during the lunch. It was clear that he held the pants in the relationship. One word from him and Jasmine kept quiet. And it was like everyone on the table was holding their breath. But he had a feeling that it wasn't due to the show of dominance.

Suddenly, with a clatter of cutleries, Sharon stood up. Like a spell breaking over the table, everyone just looked silently at her.

"Amelia, Scott, thank you for this unexpected treat. But I have to get back to work,"she said before grabbing her purse and walking out. Startled, Cameron was about to go after her when Jasmine called out to her.

"Running away? Again? Is that the only thing you know to do?"

That seemed to strike a chord with Sharon because she stopped and turned to glare at the woman. This was a different kind of glare. A glare that was hot enough to set someone on fire. And if he had to venture a guess, this person would be to Jasmine.

"I'm sorry that I don't have a rich fiancé to support me, like you. That means I have to work to live. And, I have to say, I like my job. I get to meet other famous people. You know, the kind of famous people you are dying to meet? Yeah, I see them every day,"Sharon hissed, spewing all the suppressed anger at a convenient target.

"Really? And what is your job exactly? A high-class call girl?"

"Not even that. Maybe just a prostitute,"Alicia snorted, supporting Jasmine. Cameron was both shocked and outraged. That came out of the left field. Like what did she have against her daughter? And Sharon was visibly shocked as well. Her jaw slackened before she regained her composure. And all emotions left her face.

"Alright. Whatever. I don't have to deal with this. I didn't ask for this. I definitely didn't know about this. And I, for sure, don't have to stay for this. So thank you again for the meal. Hope to see all of you never. Just for the record, Jasmine, an ugly puppy is so much cuter than a man-grabbing slug. And since I know you're too slow to get it, you're the slug I'm talking about. Good day."

"I think- I'll just make sure she's alright,"Cameron said, barely sparing the table a glance before chasing after her.

It was only when he was nearly out of earshot that he heard Jasmine's angry screech.

AN: Jeng-jeng-jeng, the antagonist is here! Yeah, finally this is progressing more and more to my liking. What do you think? Do you like it? What do you think/want to happen next? Let me know, let me know.

In other news, I wore new shoes this week and got massive blisters from it. Crying in pain. The Malay community has a saying which translates to, "Bite the shoe before the shoe bites you" but that never made sense to me. That didn't stop me from trying once but didn't work. Ugh!!!

Anyways, please VOTE and COMMENT if you liked this. Follow me on Wattpad and Twitter for more updates. Also please check out ko-fi or my new book "Mini one shots" for more stories from the Accidental series. Ko-fi has the most current ones but I am slowly updating MOS on Wattpad too.

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Have a good week guys.

THANKS :)