9 Years Later

Chapter 19 - Moving On

HER

WE HAVE NOT SEEN EACH OTHER SINCE OUR CONVERSATION LAST SATURDAY. I have been busy working on the new hotel design and the coffee shop project. I heard that he went out of state for some meetings and I have not seen him in the office this week. He is a very busy guy. He is the same workaholic Tristan that I know.

Finally, it is Friday. I can give him the blueprint today. For some reason, I was surprised that I finished the design one day shy from the deadline that we set. I think our conversation last Saturday gave me peace of mind and I was able to do the project smoothly.

It has been a long time coming. I have always wanted to say sorry to Tristan. All this time, we never had closure. It took 9 years for us to finally forgive each other. I felt an exhilarating sense of relief after our meaningful talk in the coffee shop.

But even though I feel a lot better after that conversation, deep inside, I can feel immense regret on my part. All our memories together came back out of nowhere. For sure, I have not gotten completely over him. If he were just single, I would have courted him this time around!

Even though he likes us to be friends, I cannot do it. It will be difficult for me. I will try to be civil to him. I already made up my mind to try to stay away from him. After I give him the blueprint today and he likes it, I will finalize it fast so I do not have to deal with him again. I am keeping my fingers crossed!

I will try to move on with my life. I know he is getting married soon so there is no reason for me to have false hopes of us being together again.

I looked at the time, it was 7:30 am. It is still early but I have to get ready with my presentation for the new hotel design. I grabbed the blueprint together with my notes. I headed to the boardroom where we planned to meet.

As soon as I entered the room, I saw Tristan already sitting at the other end of the vast table. He is busy working on his laptop. He must have heard the door open. He moved his gaze from his computer and focused on me. He smiled, stood up and walked towards me.

He has this devastating smile that makes my knees weak. Please Tristan, do not smile at me like that! I tried to keep my composure.

"Hi Alecx! How have you been? You are early! By the way, I got us some breakfast. My secretary is on her way to bring it here. So, are you ready to show me the new design?" He said excitedly.

"As promised! Let me know what you think." I smiled back at him. I spread the whole blueprint across the table so he can see the entire hotel building layout. It has 126 rooms spread out over 25 floors with a 360-degree rooftop bar that offers a breath-taking view of the river, the street, and an interior courtyard with an oasis quintet lighted fountain in the middle. I held my breath while waiting for his response. It took him a while before he said something.

"Alecx, this is amazing! I love it! I thought you are just going to give me a sketch, you have almost finished it! Wow, you are amazing! No wonder, Sam loves your design! I cannot wait for her to see this. She will go nuts over this!" His gaze never left the blueprint while rambling all those praises at me.

Ouch! He did not even look at me! And he even said Sam's name which made me roll my eyes and smirk sourly. It is good that he did not see me do that. I thought I was the star right now! Hmmmp! He really loves Sam a lot.

We continued to talk about the details of the hotel. He made some small suggestions especially regarding the building materials we are going to use. I am just like a robot listening to him and jotting down notes. I did not even bother to argue.

We are sitting side by side at the table so he can point to me the details that he wants. He is so close to me and literally, I cannot breathe. He smells so good. I just want this meeting to be over so I can get away from him! Lord, help me! Restrain me from kissing this gorgeous man beside me!

"Hey, Alecx! Are you listening?" He cut me from daydreaming about him.

"Yes, I am! Look, I wrote all the things you want. All your points, well taken! You will have the final design in no time!" I showed him all the notes I made in my small sketch pad. He grinned at me.

"Really, no arguments? No outrageous complaints, comments? Wow, you really amaze me! You have changed a lot!" He teased me.

"Yes, I have changed a lot! I am a good girl now! No need to spank me, Sir!" I teased back. He laughed hard at my response. I hope he did not think of any "hidden meaning" behind that remark.

Oh Boy! These are the things I learned from Raine/Reynaldo! If he can only hear me now, he will say I am a good student! He will be proud of me!

I have to get out of here now before the devil makes me do something I will regret! Tristan's presence makes even the coldest room smoking hot!

"Well, is there anything else? If you are satisfied with the design, then, I will go ahead and finalize everything." I smiled at him and stood up, ready to leave.

He also stood up and we were facing each other. He held both my hands. I looked at his hands instead of his face. I cannot look at him directly, my eyes might betray my feelings for him. He has always told me that my eyes are expressive. They never lie.

"Wow, do we really need to hold hands?" I teased him.

"I just want to thank you, Alecx. I mean it. You made me very happy today." He smiled sincerely.

"I am glad I did. It is my pleasure." I smiled back at him. I gathered all my things and hurriedly stepped out of the room. I was finally able to let out a sigh of relief.

That was tough! Moving on is hard but I know I can do this. I am glad it is a Friday. I cannot wait to see Carla and talk to her. I picked up my phone and called her.

"Bes, call the gang! Let's get drunk tonight!" I said in a defeated voice.