Chapter Six
Lucas's conference was postponed to 2 o'clock in the afternoon. So he decided to drop in at Violet's apartment to see her. As he got ready to leave as luck would have it, he received a call from Tyler. He was on his way to LA with his PA, to attend some important meetings. He requested Lucas to receive them at the airport.
Lucas drove his Audi to the airport to receive them. The flight arrived and he greeted Tyler and his beautiful PA, River Ann Wilson. He could see that Tyler was whipped with her already. So he decided to pull his leg and have a little fun at his expense. Tyler didn't talk to him much after the rift that Meredith had created between them. Lucas missed the bond they used to share when younger.
After dropping a very pissed off Tyler and his PA at his hotel, he left to shower and get ready for his conference. He was impatient to finish everything and go to see Violet. The conference started forty minutes late and stretched till 4:30 in the afternoon. He returned to his penthouse to freshen up.
Sarah called him urgently on the intercom. Two officers from the Gang and Narcotics department of the Los Angeles Police Department had arrived and arrested one of the guests at their hotel. There was a lot of chaos.
By the time normalcy prevailed, it was 9 o'clock in the night. He dragged himself to his bed to sleep. Tomorrow he had to accompany Tyler to all the Parker Suites of LA for an inspection tour. He sighed thinking about Violet. He would get her number from the employee file and call her. He should have noted it down when Sarah had handed it over to him. He soon dozed off to sleep out of exhaustion.
The next morning, he woke up late. He had to go to Tyler's penthouse at the Parker Suites on Santa Monica beach. He didn't have time to talk to Sarah about Violet or get her number. He decided to meet her when he returned to the hotel. He rushed out to Santa Monica. After the first tour he went to meet the owner of the villa he liked at Santa Monica and fixed the deal. He would consult a lawyer for the legal formalities. He had another meeting with an important client who wanted to have a tie up with their Parker suites for holding conferences.
By the time he was free, it was evening and Tyler invited him for dinner. He could never say no to Tyler. He loved him like an older brother although he only managed to only irk Tyler and pull his leg more.
After dinner, he went back to his hotel to sleep. It was too late to visit Violet anyways.
The next day Tyler and River returned back to Las Vegas. Lucas had grown close to River and approved of her as his sister-in-law. It was obvious that they loved each other. Lucas had to fly to their hotel in San Francisco early the next morning. There was a press conference on their new hotel that had been launched a few days back. The whole day he was busy. He was summoned by his father to Las Vegas by evening to attend the Board of directors meeting the next day. He directly flew from San Francisco to Vegas.
The next morning he went to their Staywell group's head office to attend the meeting. He was twenty minutes early so he sought out River at her cubicle.
"Hi, when did you come to Vegas?" She asked him.
"Last night," he said, looking heartbroken and down.
"What happened to you?" River asked in concern.
"Ann, how do you feel when you're in love?" He asked, looking like a lost puppy. He called River by her middle name.
"Well, you have this uncontrollable wish to be with the one you love all the time," she explained and he nodded.
"And?" He asked curiously.
"And you miss him the moment he's away from you," she continued and Lucas nodded.
"And?" He prodded.
"You want to do it all only with him. Your heart beats faster when you see him. You're in heaven when he kisses you," she said and he nodded enthusiastically.
"Well then, I'm in love," he declared with an excited expression. "Meet me for lunch at Corner cafe downstairs at the ground floor of this building at 1 o'clock. I'll tell you everything." He said and left.
He attended the meeting and it was 1:10 in the afternoon when his meeting ended. Je rushed downstairs to Corner Cafe at the back of the building. He saw River sitting and waiting for him at one of the tables.
"Hey Ann, thanks for coming, " said Lucas as he dragged a chair and sat down in front of her.
"Have you ordered?" He asked her.
"No, I was waiting for you. Let's order," she said, summoning a waitress who checked out Lucas as she approached them. Lucas ordered a burger and fries and she ordered grilled chicken sandwiches.
"So, what did you wish to tell me," she asked after the waitress had left, frustrated that Lucas didn't pay her any attention.
"I'm in deep love with this girl who's just 19 and works as a housekeeping staff at one of our hotels in LA. She's scared of me and won't even look me in the eye. For a month, she'd been cleaning my penthouse leaving a fresh fragrance of violets in my home everyday. I stayed back one day and didn't leave the penthouse to see her and what she did to my home. I've been in love with her after that one encounter. She's elusive and insists on calling me sir. What do I do, Ann? I'll die of heartbreak," he confessed with a deep sigh, holding his heavy head in his hands.
Their food arrived and they started eating. Lucas popped fries into his mouth absentmindedly. "Why is she scared of you? Have you tried anything with her?" She asked in between eating.
"No, I have a bad reputation that I play with women. I really don't. I didn't have any relationship for the last two years and my last hook up was a casual one night stand six months back, before I met her," he wailed.
"Hold on. Tell me how serious are you about her?" She asked him.
"Very. It could marry her right now and be with her forever," he said and River nodded, deep in thought.
"You need to meet her regularly. Once she sees you everyday, she'd be convinced that you're not a monster. Then you can start talking to her. When she opens up, you could get to know her. It's a gradual process Lucas. You can't expect her to jump into your arms overnight," she advised him.
"So what are you suggesting?" He asked, nodding his head in understanding.
"See how you can get to see her everyday. Maybe fix a different time for her cleaning when you're at home. Ask her to make you breakfast too. She could join in and you can make her open up that way. Whatever suits you," she suggested and Lucas's eyes brightened up.
"She's very young Lucas, you have to remember that. Maybe she's totally inexperienced with men. So be careful. One slip of tongue might ruin everything for you, " she said as she finished her sandwich.
Lucas too had finished his burger and fries. They paid and Lucas hugged her. "You're the best sister-in-law ever." He said and she grinned.
"Thanks and update me about what happened. I should get back before Tyler misses me," she said and they grinned at each other.
"He's very possessive about you. He doesn't trust me around you. He thinks I am after you, " he said, unhappily.
"Don't worry, I'll clear the misunderstanding," she said, patting his arm.
"Meredith used to hound me to sleep with her. I never did. But she created this misconception in Tyler's mind, telling him lies and stories about how I slept with her. I swear I didn't but he doesn't trust me anymore, " he told her with a feeling of dismay.
"Everything will be alright, Lucas. I'll clear all misunderstandings when I get the chance," she comforted him.
"Thanks Ann. I love you, you're a dear," he said, giving her a casual hug.
"How dare you?" Boomed Tyler's angry voice as he punched Lucas on the face.
"Tyler it's not what you're thinking. I," she started as Tyler picked her up on his shoulder and walked away towards the door leaving Lucas with a busted lip staring at them in confusion.
"Tyler let me down. I just came here for lunch and to have a talk," she started and saw all eyes upon her, staring at all the drama.
Lucas came running after them. "Bro, listen to me. I was just talking about my own…," he started but Tyler simply dumped her in his car and sped off, leaving an astounded Lucas standing on the pavement.
