15 Mixed Feelings
Athena chuckled softly after Ewan’s plea, causing Ewan to ball his fists.
“Well, I won’t take up the case. Leave my office. And when you do, send the next person inside.“”
Ewan was rendered speechless again.
After a few beats, he opened his mouth to speak, but shut it, not knowing what to say, especially with Athena looking at him that way.
He held back a weary sigh and met her mocking gaze; she was deriving utmost pleasure from rejecting him, from playing with him.
But there were people’s lives at stake! Didn’t she care about that? Wasn’t it a doctor’s first need to heal people? So, what was this sentimental bullshit?
He opened his mouth to tell her this, but thought better. He didn’t know much of the new Athena, but knew that if he spoke now, he would be incurring more problems on him and his
town.
He took a step back, and diverted his gaze from her to the pictures of Zane’s family on the wall.
If he had known that she was the only doctor who had found the cure to the strange ailment plagiarizing the country, he wouldn’t have gone berserk yesterday.
No. He would have stamped his anger and frustration down, just to see his people safe. He would have been cool, would’ve even made an attempt at friendship.
He was an astute businessman, putting his businesses before his personal life.
Last night, however, had been a shock to him. Why had he been so bitter?
He looked at Athena. She was poring over the documents, and he felt like overthrowing the
table.
He sighed deeply, seeing that he still felt the same, noting that this frustrating feeling won’t be leaving anytime soon, unless Athena left.
But he didn’t want her gone. He needed her help. He would have to suck up his feelings. But how did he go about pleading? He has never been a beggar. Would he start now?
His eyes wandered to a lone picture of Zane, and he sighed for the second time.
Fiona thought Zane was on their side, but the Zane that he had spoken to this morning wasn’t exactly sure; the excuse his best friend had given was that Athena was needed; her talent was needed and they couldn’t just let her go; that he would find a way to deal with her still.
But Ewan knew that was half hearted. Zane loved his wife!
He rubbed his forehead, thinking of the possessiveness that had added to this terrible feeling at
his chest.
Probably because he never divorced Athena.
15 Moved Feelings
“Mr Ewan, don’t you have a business to run?” Athena’s cold question brought Ewan back to the
Land of the conscious.
“Well, if you don’t have one, I do. And I don’t appreciate being stalled. Leave
Ewan thought of kneeling to plead. But even the thought disgusted him. How could he kneel to
woman, especially a woman that had cheated on him?
Moreover, he didn’t think that this changed Athena would be easily thawed by that singular action. If anything, she would laugh in derision.
Ewan wasn’t ready to be mocked. He didn’t know how to get Athena to listen to him, but he would find a way to do that, no matter the cost; his people needed him.
He tried one last time. “You are a doctor. Shouldn’t the lives of people matter to you, more than a personal vendetta?”
Athena looked at him with a bored expression. “And who said anything about a personal vendetta? Lives matter, that’s true. But a doctor has choices. This isn’t Hollywood, Mr. Ewan.”
Ewan pushed down the feeling to pull Athena into his arms and shake the madness out of her, and then kiss her madly like his life depended on it.
He cussed himself mentally for wanting to taste her lips.
“Is there nothing really I can do to change your mind?”
This was said through gritted teeth.
Athena had to laugh. She didn’t bother to conceal that she was enjoying this banter.
Yes, she had promised Gianna not to make the first strike, but there was nothing in the deal against doing business. She was a delectable business woman.
What could he do? Oh she had something he could do.
“Make me a shareholder in your company, with access to twenty percent of your shares.
There was silence in the office for a few minutes.
“Do you know how much that is, Athena? Do you know what you are asking for? That’s an insane request!”
Ewan didn’t know when his voice texture skyrocketed. Athena was bent on making him crazy! Athena chuckled softly. “Of course I do, Ewan. I’m not an uneducated woman anymore. I know business. Trust me, there’s a reason I’m the counselor to the Patterson’s family
Ewan furrowed his eyebrows. Counselor to the entire Zane family? Impossible!
“Athena, there’s a difference between being a doctor, and a counselor? You weren’t taught that?” He couldn’t help the dig.
Athena chuckled again. “Ewan, your brain cells really need some recuperation. The audacity for you to think I don’t know the meaning. You should blame your pathetic brain for thinking that at
23
15 Moxed Feelings
Ewan paled visibly.
Since Athena came back, he has been subjected to all forms of insult, he wouldn’t have ordinarily taken lying low. Was it a sigh to let her be?
Yet how can he do so when she was the key to healing his people? Twenty percent shares? Wasn’t that greedy?
She had a smirk on her lips now, and he felt like wiping it off her lips with a hot kiss.
Ewan cursed himself for the second time. Here was a woman trying to strip him of his dignity, and he was thinking about kissing her.
He shook his head. He needed to leave her office; her scent was intoxicating him.
He had managed to ignore it for a while, but it seemed impossible now; it seemed as if the was fighting this case too, against him.
“I know we have a lot between us, Athena. But please, for the sake of the innocent people involved, have a rethink about the situation. I’ll be back”
scent
Athena sat up on her seat, and clasped her hands together on the desk. “Don’t come back here. without an answer to my proposal, Ewan. That’s the only way we can move forward.”
Then she picked the telephone and called Ciara. “Send in the next client.”
…Not minding that Ewan had opened his mouth to speak.
She was tired of hearing his voice. It gave her mixed feelings thin. — *
