I stood rigidly as I watched Bonnie move away from me the way she used to years ago. I wanted to say something, perhaps have her stay, but words failed me. I remained there and watched her hair swing back as she hurried towards the door of **Anora's Coffee**.
As much as I could remember, I loved her hair. I loved it when she had it down and would not mind playing with my fingers through it.
But her hair was no longer straight. It was now wavy and of another color, unlike the golden brown that I knew.
But that did not mean that I would not recognize her with a different hair color.
I was pulled out of my trance when she could no longer be found anywhere. I wavered in my mind about dashing after her, but I knew she would have escaped with the pace at which she had left the cafe.
I picked up my phone from the table and sat in the chair I had been sitting, cursorily scrolling through my contact list.
Noticing the number I had been looking for, I dialed Bonnie's number immediately and waited for the person on the other line to answer.
"Good day, Boss." Husky, thick voice responded.
"What was the latest update you gave me on Bonnie?" I spat out venomously, struggling to keep my voice tone stable since I was out in public.
"We couldn't gather anything on her, Sir."
"Brother, did my mother threaten you?"
"I don't understand you, Sir. No, Madam didn't threaten me. We simply didn't find anything on her."
"If I discover that you're lying to me, I swear I'm going to remove your balls and feed them to the dogs."
"I just caught sight of Bonnie here in **Fareo Island**, but she sneaked in out of luck before I could get my hands on her. She's also not wanting to believe who she is, so perhaps you'll want to look that up too. I need to know everything there is to know about her and I need a real report within an hour."
"I'll get right on it, Sir."
I hung up.
I questioned what I would do with my sanity for the next hour until I got an answer when my eyes sparkled towards the entrance door and I saw her again.
I had no idea why my heart began to race suddenly, but some part of me felt glad that she had come back. I was slightly excited that I could see she was walking towards me, but the excitement lost steam when she walked by where I was sitting and sat down across from a man wearing a dark blue suit.
Bonnie dabbed the edge of her eyes with a handkerchief, trying to put the tears aside. While being in the same environment as me still made her a little nervous, she gathered enough courage and stepped out of the car with her purse.
I could feel those particular eyes upon me the moment I stepped back into the cafe, but I made a conscious effort to ignore the feelings on my body by making a special effort not to look in his direction. I proceeded directly to the reserved table of my client.
"Miss Shawn?" My client rose the moment I arrived at the reserved table for both of us.
"Mr. Brian Robert."
He bowed his head when I addressed him by his name.
"Good day, I apologize for the wait. I'm terribly sorry for it."
"It's all right, good day." He smiled out of courtesy though it failed to reach his eyes. We greeted each other with a handshake, then we sat face to face.
The customer waited for me to sit, then he followed.
"You look beautiful."
"Thank you," I said with a courteous smile.
Do you want anything before we get into the nitty-gritty? Of course, it's on my account."
"No, it's okay," I said quickly, attempting to conceal how anxious I was. I truly didn't know how long the meeting was going to last, but I prayed it would be as short as possible.
"I insist. It's the least I can do for keeping you waiting.
Having known that he would still harass me, I decided to give in to something. "I'll have an iced latte."
He nodded, called the attention of the server, and ordered two glasses of iced latte.
While the customer was talking to the server, I felt those eyes piercing me again, but I tried not to think about it by focusing my mind somewhere else.
"Do you know him?"
I raised an arched brow in confusion. "The server?"
"No, the guy behind us."
I gulped painfully. "No. Why do you ask?"
"If it were possible to kill someone with looks, then I would have been buried already. He's looking at you and simultaneously giving me this nasty glare."
"Really?"
The patron nodded.
"It has to be some madman. Let's go on with the meeting, please," I said, not daring to glance back.
I took out my tablet and started the business talk with Brian.
The conversation continued for about twenty minutes before we decided it was time to wrap things up.
Those were some of the most awkward twenty minutes ever. J'ONN's presence made me so nervous. I was wishing at some point that he would go away, but he never did, and I wondered if he had something else to attend to.
The moment the meeting was over, I stuffed my tablet and phone into my purse and got up hastily as though I had a flight to catch.
Brian got up too.
"We look forward to hearing from your company. Thanks for having me."
"Sure, see you soon." We shook once more and then I turned to leave. I was a few steps from going when I was stopped with a firm arm around my hand.