Sophia's POV:

I woke up breathing heavily almost as if I just ran a marathon. Another nightmare, ugh, these wake me up every day now.

The clock reads 5:00 am, might as well get out of bed and start the day. I went to my closet and change into my exercising clothes. I walked out of the door and was greeted by my bodyguards. They followed me wherever I went; after all, I needed the protection.

Although I have a gym in my penthouse, going out for a run in the fresh air helps me to relax. Running has been one of the few things that have helped me after having a nightmare, and it also made me feel free of my past.

I ran for about an hour then headed back home. I immediately went to my room and took a shower. I can't be late today.

After taking a shower, I put on some light make-up and headed towards my closet. I chose a black skirt with a white shirt along with a black blazer to make the final look more professional. Usually, I don't take much time to dress, but since I have a meeting at the Williams Enterprise, I thought to myself why not make a little more effort, though a blazer isn't much of an effort.

Williams Enterprise, they sound familiar like I heard the name before, but unfortunately I don't have time to think about it.

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

Their building looked somewhat similar to mine, except that it was unique and in black while mine looked similar to the buildings surrounding it.

I parked my car and got into the building. While heading towards the reception, I suddenly bumped into someone, making my file for the meeting fall to the ground. I looked up to meet the most brilliant green eyes that could be mistaken for brown most of the times and looked far too familiar right now. Oh my god, they look like his eyes. I haven't thought of him in a really long while.

My train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted when the guy I bump into cleared his throat "You look familiar, have we met before?"  We both say this at the same time.

"You probably work here, right?" he said anticipating my reply

"No, I don't. I'm here for a meeting, though. This isn't my first time here so that's probably how you'd recognize me" I stop and he stared at me, as if he was going to say something.

"I apologize, but I need to leave before I'm late" I say this while picking up both files that fell on the floor. I hand him his file and leave without waiting for his reply.

Today my meeting is supposed to be with the CFO of the company, Nick Miller, who happens to be CEO's best friend. I never paid enough attention to remember his name since I never met him. Every meeting I attend here, he is too busy to meet with me and I'm far too in a hurry to wait until he is available. So here I am in the end meeting the CFO, Nick.

While waiting for Mr. Miller to arrive, I opened my file to review everything, but what I don't expect is to find some spreadsheets of god knows what making me realize this file isn't mine. I most likely switched files with the guy I bumped into earlier. 

I suddenly heard someone clear their throat "I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long, I just had an emergency meeting that I needed to attend" he said seriously. He has always been such a flirt; I hope this time is different.

"Don't worry about it Mr. Miller. Before we start the meeting, if you don't mind, I need to use the restroom" I say in my business tone. I’ve always used it when I'm at work. Once, I overheard some people saying that I scare them because I'm too serious and formal, and I never smile. I actually do smile, though not a lot, especially not at work. 

"Sure, go ahead it's at the end of the corridor. But please call me Nick, Mr. Miller makes me sound old, and fortunately to you, I'm not old" he says while winking at me. There goes my hope of him not flirting with me. I slightly roll my eyes and leave the meeting room.

Now I need to find the guy who I swapped files with. The whole restroom thing was an excuse. I went back to the reception and found cameras while looking around for the guy. Perfect!

"Ma'am, you're not supposed to be here!" says the guy in Security Room. I ignored him and told him what I came here for

"I need you to look through today's footage and find the guy that bumped into me, we swapped files by accident" I said using my poker face

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I'm not allowed to do that unless you have authorization from the CEO himself"

"Do I look like I have the time? Do you even know who I am? Trust me; you don't want to know me unless you're looking to get fired. Now show me the damn footage!" I said this angrily and felt like I've been a little bit too harsh.

"Rrright away ma'am" he stuttered and looked a little scared. He started looking through the camera footage back to the time I entered the company building, and I found myself walking into the building and then bumped into the anonymous guy with familiar brown greenish eyes. I pointed at the screen as soon as my eyes caught him.

"That's him. Do you know him? If not, can you find out?"

"Ma'am, that's our CEO Aiden Williams" he said this still staring at the screen and I immediately froze remembering things that I shouldn't be thinking of right now

"Thank you" I managed to let out and walked out.

OH MY GOD, that's him, it has to be! I doubt he even remembers me. That's why we both thought we looked familiar, because we know each other!

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

"Ma'am you're not supposed to be in here unless you have an appointment" the small lady behind a desk pointed out. She seemed like the secretary and was the only person on this floor.

"Why is everyone telling me that today? Listen miss, I don't have the time so if you won't ask him to meet me now I will go on my own. It won't take long" I said walking, not even bothering to wait for her reply. I knocked on the door, and heard some familiar voice say come in. I walked in explaining what happened quickly without looking at him.

"I'm sorry sir, I told her not to come in but she won't-" the 'secretary' cut me as she trailed behind me

"It's alright, I can take it from here" he cut her off. She smiled at him nodding and left the room, but not without giving me a glare.

I looked up and looked at him, and it's him. I feel-

"There you go, this is your file" he said, stopping my thoughts "Are you sure we don't know each other?" 

I can't let him know who I am, he'll hate me. So I won’t tell him. If he remembers me then he will start asking questions which I'm not ready to answer yet. I tried so hard to bury these memories that I'm still not ready to let anyone know of.

Blinking back the tears that threatened to fall down my cheek, I masked my face and looked at him in my business look "No, sorry, I don't think we know each other"

"You said earlier that you have a meeting here, who are you meeting with?" he said while looking at me like he's trying to remember something. Probably me.

God, please don't let him remember me.

"Yes, I'm meeting the CFO. I'm the CEO of King Enterprise"  

"Welcome Ms. Kings, but why are you meeting Nick instead of me?" he sounded a little confused

"I was in a hurry to do this meeting and your assistant said that you're busy till the end of the month. I couldn't wait" Now, he was surprised

"Oh okay, my assistant didn't inform me. From now on, you will be meeting with me instead of Nick. This project is important and I need to be up-to-date with it so meeting you will help" he nodded affirmatively.

"Okay, thank you. And I'm sorry for barging in like that" I said with a soft smile

"No problem, it's a pleasure to meet you" he smiled widely and I couldn’t help but mirror his.

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

The meeting took longer than I expected and I started to get exhausted. I could really use a drink after all that happened today, so I pulled out my phone and called Hailee. Hailee and I met at college, she was the only one who knew about my past and is basically family.

Once she picked up, I immediately start speaking "Hey Hailee, do you want to go clubbing tonight? I need a drink" I said sighing

"Hey, sure. Is everything okay? I usually beg you to go out with me. Are you okay? Do I need to kill someone? Do I-" she went off.

She is the only one that would say that. That's why I love her.

"Hailee, calm down. I'll tell you everything” I paused “I kinda saw Aiden" the words came out softly, almost like a whisper.

"WHAT? HOW? WHERE?" She screamed and I had to move the phone away from my ear so I won't go deaf.

"Well, turns out he is the Aiden Williams. I guess my mind pushed it off, but that's why I thought the name was familiar"

I heard plenty of things about Aiden from the media. He was the usual playboy who was a workaholic and known as a ruthless businessman.

"How could you forget something like that?!" She yelled

"I don't have time to think about him, and you know that I'm trying to forget about him" She can't see, but I look down 

"Aww honey, I'm sorry. How do you feel about seeing him after all these years? Did he remember you?" she asked softly

"It all felt like I was in high school all over again. I don't think I will be able to forget him no matter how hard I try. And no, he didn't remember me, though he did say that I looked familiar. I just hope he doesn't remember me, even though it's almost impossible. The moment he knows my name he will remember me. God, he will probably hate me" I sigh again 

"Honey, I'm sure he doesn't hate you"

"How could he not when I suddenly left him?" I asked frustrated

"You didn't leave him on purpose. We both know that" she reassured

"Yeah, but he doesn't, and I know what you're thinking of-no, I won't tell him. Plus you know what the media says about him. He probably forgot me with all these women around" the last sentence stung 

"Why not, don't you think it's time to let someone in again? If you still love him then you owe it to him. And don't believe everything the media says” her words felt like a hug

"It's hard. I'm sorry, I can't. I'm not ready yet. I just want to forget about him" I could feel my tears emerge 

"Yeah, but you still love him after all this time" She said this and I hang up.

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This is my first chapter. Hope you liked it.

Next chapter will be Aiden's POV.