Tristan sat by the bar, swirling a half empty glass in his hands. A sound from the bathroom made his brows draw together in a frown.
Through the few minutes he'd been by the bar after she had disappeared into the bathroom, he had called someone to give him a detailed history of the woman, Celine Roberts.
"President, please don't tell me you're still thinking about stealing the bride?" Kaleb's voice over the phone sounded absolutely horrified the moment he heard who Tristan had asked about.
He sounded like he couldn't understand where the sudden interest in the movie star had come from.
If Kaleb should analyze his boss's thoughts in the past, he never succeeded at coming up with anything, but right now he seemed to be sensing a strange, growing obsession.
First of all, his boss was never interested in weddings, but earlier on their way to their meeting his boss had suddenly entered the open wedding hall as if something had called him there, and immediately he set eyes on the bride there had been a strange look in his eyes.
Secondly, the boss never cared to know the history of any random woman, heck the boss cared about nothing at all expect winning bids, rising stocks and numbers, huge huge numbers in business.
"I don't need to steal the bride anymore." He muttered to himself with a strange glint in his eyes as his gaze settled on the bathroom door.
"Right. The bride is nowhere to be found anyway, the entire hotel is in chaos right now. I heard the bride ran away from the wedding for no known reason. People are even saying that..."
"I don't want to listen to petty gossip Kaleb, just give me the information I asked for."
Being suddenly cut off when he was about to deliver the juicy news to his boss, Kaleb felt quite wronged.
Wasn't it his boss being interested in the woman just now, why was he yelling at him now?
Kaleb sighed to himself. Though this was the first time his boss was reacting this way, wasn't it just his lust speaking?
"Celine Roberts, rose to fame five years ago when she was nineteen, at the time she starred in a movie called 'Anelia' it's about a young eighteen years old girl who finds her strength in a world dominated by men. People praised Anelia's character for being fierce and powerful, the role gave miss Roberts her ladder to fame when she played a perfect depiction of what a strong woman is supposed to be. Ever since then, she became a household name. Miss Roberts is said to have met Ian Rode in a very romantic manner on set three years ago while shooting a romance movie, during the time Mr Rode wrote the songs featured in the movie she was playing, and after that they were named the perfect couple when pictures leaked online of Miss Roberts and Mr Rode interacting, they were shipped by fans even before they started an official relationship.
Till today, no one has ever felt anything off about their relationship, they appear in public hand in hand, each time looking happier than they were in the last image. So many young women aspire to be like her and wish for the kind of life she has. It's a big shock that she suddenly ran away just before she could say the wedding vows."
After hearing this information, a thoughtful look appeared on Tristan's face.
"What about her family?" Tristan asked.
"Hmmm, according to what I'm seeing online right now...her mother is said to have died eight years ago, her father remarried a woman who brought a daughter into the marriage, the girl should be about the same age as miss Roberts, she is also a rising actress but none of her movies seem to have gotten that much recognition yet. Her father, Timothy Roberts is the leading stock owner of Silverline Realty, a well performing real estate company."
"Silverline?" Tristan muttered thoughtfully. "Isn't that the company applying for a collaborative investment for several years now?"
Kaleb wasn't surprised that Tristan recalled a collaborative request from a mediocre company in the country, Tristan was a man with good memory and even though their request has repeatedly been denied over the years, they continued to remain persistent at seeking collaboration with the Grayson Corp, actually every real estate company in the country and beyond sought collaboration from Grayson Corp, it was nothing new.
"Yes, that's the one." Kaleb replied, wondering if the president's new found interest in that runaway bride would lead him to finally approve the collaboration with the Silverline Realty company.
At this moment, a crash suddenly seemed to come from somewhere in Tristan's suite, Kaleb heard it as a distant sound over the phone.
"President, is everything alright?" Kaleb asked.
"Yes." He heard a succinct reply before the line was cut off. He was left staring at the screen of his phone resignedly.
Tristan had dismissed the sound from the bathroom a while ago, after all he couldn't probe into the young woman's privacy, but this time it was a crash in the bathroom he couldn't dismiss.
Something in him pulled him to go and check what was going on, but he reprimanded himself again. What was so special about this woman that had him caring about her emotions?
The tears in her eyes earlier had disturbed him, and he had looked displeased not because he was mad at her for breaking into his suite but because he disliked the sting he felt in his chest as she teared up.
He couldn't understand why she was stirring all sorts of emotions in him that he couldn't comprehend, just like right now, even if he reprimanded himself not to bother about her he couldn't help but find himself standing by the door of the bathroom where he could audibly hear the sound coming from inside.
It was the sound of muffled sobs, without being able to stop himself, he was knocking on the door.
She was crying?
"Hey, are you alright?" He called but the sobs didn't stop, nor did she answer.
"Celine." Saying her name felt...right for some reason, it felt addictive in the way that he liked the taste of it on his tongue, as if it were a name he was meant to say frequently, but there was a strange gnawing at the left side of his chest.
That gnawing feeling was painful, it was a kind of internal pain that didn't come from a physical wound, nor an internal wound, but it hurt nevertheless in a way he couldn't make it stop.
Again, this woman was making him feel things he wouldn't normally feel. Something inside him was hurting badly at the broken sound of her crying. "I'm coming in, alright?"
He said once more, his voice gentling in a way he wouldn't usually speak to anyone, as if he were talking to something fragile, something he didn't want to break further than she already was.
He still got no reply, it prompted him to immediately push the door open with a sense or urgency...