Steven Richards

Parking the car in the parking lot of Zainav Fashions Mitch turns off the engine, "Come on Pal, you ready" he says and gets out of the car.

I follow him outside and we together enter Zainav Fashions. How difficult is it to say sorry, its just one word five letters, 'sorry'! As much as I kept telling myself, it was just one word, inside I knew it was not going to be that easy.

Mitch walks towards the reception and says "Good evening, we are here to see Miss Evelyn Weber. Please pass on the message that Steven Richards is here to express his deep apologies for his ridiculous behavior earlier today."

The receptionist looks at us wearily. I glare at Mitch and stamp on his foot. He just smirks at me in return. If I thought that this whole apologizing thing is not going to be easy before, now I am very sure that Mitch is going to make every posible move to make it even more difficult for me, I don't know what kind of friend does that!

I take a deep breath and tell the receptionist "Can you please tell Miss Weber, that I am here to speak to her?"

The receptionist nods and starts calling, presumably Miss Weber's extension.

After a few moments Miss Weber joins us near the reception, her expression is completely blank not letting me know anything about what she is thinking.

Before I could say anything Mitch gasps loudly and says "You spoke rudely to her, how could you even bring yourself to raise your voice at her. You do not speak rudely to women, especially someone as beautiful as her."

I again stamp his foot to shut him up giving him a glare. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. However, his words have no response from Miss Weber as her expressions still remain as blank as ever, as for mine I'm quite not sure what to do and that is definitely new for me.

Should I greet her good evening,  shake hands with her? Is it fine to offer hand shake a few hours after you have blatantly insulted someone, I don't think so. Now you understand why apologies are so difficult, because apologies are complex and awkward, you don't understand where or how to start. Yes, that is the main cause, how to start an apology, is there like a specific format, well for letters there maybe but what about when you're speaking, can you just outright  say 'Sorry', definitely not.

Mitch realising I am not saying anything anytime soon he nudges my shoulder with his, bringing me out of my 'how to start an apology dilemma?'

Mitch slowly whispers in my ear "Need help talking to the girl?" Smirking at me yet again with eyebrows raised and I understood what he was quoting.

Back in high school, Mitch was quite a shy boy, hard to believe, I know. So whenever he was interested in any girl but couldn't make the first move I would always tease him 'Need my help talking to the girl',  Karma sure exists!
Mitch completely changed in college though, he just had to smile and the girls were all over him.

I take a deep breath and decide to just get it over with "Good evening, Miss Weber, I...um I am here to apologise."

I look around to see the entire store looking at us and whispering among themselves. This scene giving me a feeling of deja vu. At that time I understand how easy it is to shout and scream at someone compared to admitting to your mistake and apologising. I then look at Mitch and he rolls his eyes shaking his head at me.

I clear my throat once again and continue, "Miss Weber, I apologise for my behavior earlier today."

I sigh, thinking I've finally done it, its over now, but soon realize how wrong I am when Mitch looks at me ridiculously "What, thats it? Your words of insults were much more than your apology words, Pal. Come on you can do better than this," he whispers into my ear.

This entire time Miss Weber just stands there with her eyebrows raised and hands folded, which indicates that she definitely expects more. Well, I did say some real cruel words. So, I try again,
"Look, all of that was a misunderstanding, I am not trying to justify my actions or explain things. I realize I let the rage get the best of me and I deeply apologise."

Wow, now this is good enough an apology right, well Mitch again thinks its not enough beacause as Miss Weber tries to say something he interrupts saying "What about all the scene you created in front of everyone, all the words you called her boss and herself, not to forget you showing off your power of money, you should apologise for it specifically."

"Miss Weber, I was blinded both with anger and love for my sister, the thought of her being mistreated didn't sit well with me and I acted way out of limits. I did not mean any of it, I shouldn't have boasted and accused you of trying to get money out of us, it was ridiculous. Also, I must apologise to your boss, I did say some awful things about her, when I haven't  even met her." I say the last part looking at Mitch briefly then looking back at Miss Weber before he brings up other things I should apologise for.

"I hope thats enough." I say through clenched teeth slowly so only Mitch can hear.

"Miss Weber he should apologise to the designer whose dress he ruined, I believe it takes days of hardwork to get one dress ready." Mitch says innocently looking at Miss Weber.

Now seriously, what the hell is wrong with him. I know my actions were unjustifiable but I have realised it and I am guilty about my actions, why he has to stretch things so much!

"Yes you're right, it takes days of hardwork to get one masterpiece ready, that gets the honour to be on a mannequin at the entrance of the store and its not just one designer behind it, there is an entire team. It won't be convenient for your friend as well as my team to complete this apology ritual." she says looking pointedly at Mitch and he sure looks amazed.

As I said, he's had quite an effect on women since college, girls not being able to talk to him without stuttering, so its not very surprising to see Mitch amazed by Miss Weber's confidence.

"Mr Richards, here's your cash and cheque." She hands over the bundles of cash and the cheque I threw at her earlier to me and continues,

"The purpose of asking for an apology from you in front of everyone here was not to demean or insult you. Arayna contacted your sister with the video only because she cares of my reputation and my feelings, so that the respect I have gained from the employees here over the years is not tarnished by todays incidents. Though she doesn't make public appearances she knows how to take a stand for her employees. I have no hard feelings Mr Richards, let bygones be bygones." with a smile she offers her hand for a hand shake.

"I understand, I would like to meet her personally to apologise, but I assume she wouldn't want to see me right now. I also must apologise for almost manhandling the security."

She lets out a short laugh and says "If Arayna was here right now she would have thanked you for it. She fired them, for being incompetent and in a way you helped her know it."

Hearing about Arayna from Evelyn, her way of doing things, her decision making sure screams of her deep experience and wisdom, it makes me want to know more about her. Even when I had read her website I was intrigued, at the time I thought it was because of her success, her company but now standing here in front of Evelyn who talks so highly of her, it gives me the vibe that there is a lot more to her, the admiration in Evelyn's eyes for her is palpable.

"Great, now that the apologies are settled I can make my introduction. Hello, my name is Mitch Powell, its very nice to meet you." Mitch says extending his hand for a shake to Miss Weber.

Its like his whole drilling me for apology mission is over and he is now his usual self. I roll my eyes at him as Miss Weber very politely makes her introduction.

"We must now leave." I tell Mitch turning to leave.

"By the way, you must consider changing your CCTV cameras, they do no justice to your beauty." Mitch says to Evelyn and then turns to leave, a victory smile on his face.

I don't first realise, then later notice the slight tinge of pink on her ears, though her expressions remain very much stoic.

We get to the car and thats when I burst out "Why were you acting like such a jerk back there, was it your lame attempt at impressing Evelyn?"

"Are you accusing me of using you to impress a girl?. I was only doing what Stellary asked me to, making sure you apologised properly. I don't know if you realized, but for apologising you need to say the word Sorry, and you didn't, not once." He says raising his brows at me.

"But I genuinely meant whatever I said and realized I was wrong."

"Yes, and thats the reason I let it go."

He drops me home and goes to the office saying he has somethings to wrap up.

****

Now lies another difficult task, facing Stell. I hope her anger has subsided. I check her room and she is not there. I go and check the backyard to see her sitting there sipping on her favourite wine lost in thought.

Sitting besides her I whisper "Hey,"
She doesn't say anything for a while and then just when I'm about to say something she says, "You remember middle school, I was being bullied in my class and I was not able to defend myself or fight them so out of fear I ran away and hid in our backyard store house," with a short laugh that didn't quite reach her eyes.

I don't understand where the conversation is going but for the sake of it to keep going, and to confirm that she was not still mad at me I say, "Yes, we were so scared where you went, we kept looking for you the whole day."

"You know, I didn't hide away because I was scared of my bullies. I hid away because I didn't want you to see me all bruised and scarred, I knew you would be so hurt that you didn't find out about it earlier, you would blame yourself for not being able to protect me. I thought by hiding from you I would protect you from being hurt and bothered because of me but I ended up hurting and bothering not only you but everyone else, Nono, Nina, Mitch and his family all looking for me," she says with a long sigh.

I understand the relevance of the incident as this time it was me who thought I was protecting my sister but ended up disappointing her and hurting others, but something about Stell's thoughtful gaze tells me that's not it, there is more going on in her head.

She turns to look towards me a smile on her face but somehow her eyes look sad. 

"Steve, I know your actions today resonated because of this incident, I know you pledged to take care of me, take a stand for me and fight for me and I appreciate it but you have to understand that I am old enough to take care of myself and even if I can't stand for myself you have to let me deal with it. I am not just Steven Richards sister or Bryan Johnsons fiancé, I am Stellary."

I don't understand what to say. Maybe she is right, I did take things in my hands without asking her if she wants me to fight for her but isn't that my responsibility as her brother.

She takes my hand in between both of hers and continues, "I love you and I am very grateful that I have you, for always having my back. Its just sometimes I wish you had more faith in me."

Her last line throws me off guard. I never thought she felt that way.
"That is not right Stell, I have complete faith in you. I believe in you, you're strong and..." I get interrupted by my cell phone ringing. I ignore it the first time without checking the caller id I disconnect it only for it to ring again.

I receive the call, its Mitch. As soon as I pick up, I hear him yelling "Pal, its all over the news. I don't know what she is trying to do here. You have to check it out."

Confused I move towards the living room in a hurry and switch on the television, Stell following behind me. There on the television screen I see myself standing inside Zainav Fashions screaming at Evelyn Weber. Even after apologising and explaining to them about the misunderstanding they still released the video. I clench my fists in anger as I read the headlines,

"The most eligible bachelor's true face revealed, every woman's prince charming found insulting and disrespecting a woman."

"I hope you won't have a problem with me fighting for myself this time." I say to Stell, anger evident in my tone. It has taken me years to build a reputation in business, in society, I won't let anyone destroy it.

Stell looks stunned watching the news, I take my car keys and rush out driving towards Zainav Fashions for the third time in a day but this time I am directly speaking to the devil who is playing her puppets.

*****

Arayna Oberoi

"Here are the reports for today and your dinner, this smells delicious,"

Evelyn says reports in one hand and my dinner in the other. Weekdays are always busy, I don't get the time to cook so I order it from a Trust home, it is an organization where homeless women have come together and are working towards becoming independent, its a very brave step taken by them and I am doing my bit to support the cause.

"They always send extra, do you want to join me for dinner?" I ask Evelyn.

"I would love to, but I have date tonight." She says a little excited.

"Hmm... what do you think about our security cameras, are they not good enough? I have paid a lot for it and if they don't do justice to your beauty I don't know if that's worth it" I say hinting to Mr Richards friend and immediately notice a little blush on Evelyn's face.

"Stop making fun of it, he was just trying to charm himself. I don't fall prey to such men. Anyways, you look quite in a good mood now, look at you teasing me and enjoying at my expense. Anyways, what do think about Mr Richards, are you convinced that it was all a misunderstanding and he is not actually that arrogant?"

I'm unsure, but somewhere I do want to believe that whatever he did was for his sister, that indeed shows his love and care for her, his apology though inadequate, I understand how difficult it is to express yourselves at times. Which also means that the night I met him was not a lie, he is what he was that night. I don't know if that makes sense. Me not being able to comprehend things is not an everyday occurrence.

"Earth to Arayna! I should leave, don't want to keep my date waiting. I'll see you tomorrow and please eat and also feed your dog, he's already eyeing the food." Evelyn says rolling her eyes before dashing out.

I unpack the food, putting Dexter's food in his bowl and he is at it in seconds, I pat his head, watching him as he eats. He barks lightly signalling for me to start eating too, my heart goes out for the love he has for me, selfless love.

Dinners are usually meant for a family to come together at the end of the day, the dinner table filled with chatter about what all happened the entire day, dinners are to discuss your plans for the next day, some serious talks, some lessons to be learnt from the elders of the family, some fun and teasing from the younger ones, dinners are meant to be happy, something you look forward to at the end of the day.

My dinners are not that eventful, but I don't complain as I have Dexter and his company is what I can call my 'Peace'. Peace is just being at ease and comfort, nothing more nothing less.

But, humans they are greedy. Where a part of me thinks about the past, all six chairs of the dining table filled, everyone talking one after the other, passing the serving bowl to each other, on the other hand there is Dexter enjoying every bite of his dinner without a complaint even after being in a boring company that is me.

Animals are amazing creatures, all they need is your love and food to selflessly love you back and they would never stab you in the back.

We both finish our dinner and Dex lies  on the ground besides my leg already dozing off after a full belly. I decide on finishing the final touches of a design, when I hear a loud bang as the door to my office is opened harshly and it collides with the wall behind. Dexter wakes up with a jerk glaring at the intruder.

I see the reflection in the glass ahead of me and immediately recognize the man responsible for all the drama today entering my office with long strides. My back is facing him, so he doesn't see my face.

I look at him through the reflection, his expression full of fury, did he find out it was me?

"What the hell do you think of yourself? " he screams as soon as he enters in.

Dexter starts to bark aggressively at Steven.

Hola!!
Yess I'm alive, to all those who are wondering😝

Its been a long crazy month since I have updated.
Every time I decide, this time I will update super fast, some or the other thing keeps coming up.

Okay, no more excuses.
How have you guys been?

So a super long chapter to compensate for a super long delay, worked really hard for this one.

Tell me what you think.
Are you excited for the next one?
I did promise Steven and Arayna meeting in this one😅

Also, I have changed the pattern of my chapters, I have decided on giving titles to it rather than the name of the characters.
Tell me what you think about this too👆

I have so much to talk, but I'll end this one wishing you all a 'Happy Raksha Bandhan' from Steven and Stellary and also 'Happy Friendships Day' from Arayna and Evelyn, Steven and Mitch also from Stellary and Susan (I hope you never get a friend like Susan though)😜❤

I am so excited to hear from you all after such a long time.
Okay bye ;)