Chapter 11: Chapter 11

ELEVEN- HOW ABOUT A HUG INSTEAD?

"Louisa." The man standing before her breathed out.

Louisa couldn't move. After fifteen solid years, she was meeting the love of her life all over. Granted, she knew she'd definitely meet him again after a while, but then after ten years she had started to relax, resigning herself to the fact that she'd probably never see him again. After all, he had come into her life and made a sad period of time a very happy one, not forgetting the gift of life he had left her with-Her only love, Isabel. She had assumed that he was just one of those people, the type who came into your life for a while but were not meant to stay and she had learnt to accept that.

Seeing him now, a lot of feelings rushed through her body- anger, nerves, disbelief, joy, love, and all at a pace she had no control of. She didn't know what to do, what to think. Of course the only thing she could do was stare.

William Blankson couldn't believe his eyes. His Louisa stood before him, looking almost the same, like about fifteen years hadn't passed them by.

She's no longer yours. His subconscious mocked darkly. For all he knew she was probably married. He drank her in, his gaze lingering on her left hand. He had no idea why the absence of a ring on her finger gave him so much pleasure.

Yo dude don't be looking at her like that. You brought all this upon yourself and you've learnt to move forward so hold it together. His inner voice scolded.

The atmosphere was tense and not knowing what to do, William began to pace as he run a hand down his face. Louisa could see that he was obviously as shocked as she was.

She reined in all her feelings and channeled them to fuel her anger.

"Mr. Blankson, what a pleasant surprise." She managed to let out in a curt tone.

William wasn't buying it. After all these years, he could still read Louisa, and it was obvious she was angry.

Very much so infact.

A part of him wanted to poke and prod at this beautiful angry bear in front of him just to see how far she'd go before she unleashed her anger, and that was exactly what he decided to do.

"Lulu, how long has it been, fifteen years?" He asked pleasantly grinning widely inside when he saw her wince at the pet name he had given her when they used to be together.

Louisa was grasping at threads. She was definitely not going to lose her shit.

"Mr. Blankson. Can you please not call me that? Uhm...I really wasn't expecting you, although Chris had mentioned a Mr. Blankson in passing I had no idea, it'd be you...."

She sat down in her seat momentarily ashamed of herself for rambling. She always did that before she totally unleashed her anger and she had promised herself she wasn't going to get mad.

She cleared her throat and continued,

"What I meant to say is, we can't work together Mr. Blankson. Given our history, it's going to be a conflict of interest and I'd rather much prefer to deal with Chris than to deal with you."

William felt like he had been punched in the gut. He knew she was right but she not wanting to deal with him hurt him more than he would have thought. He just had to do something, say something. He settled down in one of the chairs opposite Louisa and couldn't help but smile when he saw her lift one perfectly plucked eyebrow as if to ask who the hell had told him to take a seat.

"I know that Louisa, but I'm afraid to say that even though the case concerns our company, it has more to do with me that it does with Chris, so you'll actually have to be dealing with me."

Louisa smiled menacingly as she arranged a couple of folders on her desk.

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to refer you to someone else in the office then. Again, conflict of interest."

Will could see that perhaps, he couldn't read Louisa anymore. This was where she should get angry but he wasn't drawing any reaction from her and his feelings were all over the place. And Mr. Blankson! How old was he? What the hell. She kept throwing Chris's name in his face but couldn't even call him William or Will like she used to and it fucking hurt.

"Would you like to meet the person now, or you'd want to book another appointment?” Louisa asked as she glanced at her watch. They'd been here for thirty minutes and she couldn't handle another minute.

"I think I'd be back for another appointment. I've got to be somewhere else and I honestly didn't know I'd be this long."

Louisa nodded as they both stood up. She stretched her hand out for a handshake but William stood staring. He seemed lost for a moment. All he could do was think about how lovely she looked in the red power suit she was wearing.

Louisa cleared her throat awkwardly, bringing him back to earth.

"Naah, Lulu. I don't do handshakes. Especially with beautiful women that I already know. How about a hug instead?"

Louisa was saying the alphabets rapidly, counting numbers, anything to keep it together but she had reached her limit.

"The day I hug you would be the day hell freezes over Will. So if you don't want a fucking handshake, you can get your ass out of my office because I believe we're done here." She seethed.

Will was ecstatic. He still got it after all. Louisa was showing some emotion and she had even called him Will just like old times. He couldn't stop smiling and this was riling Louisa up even more.

"Relax lady Bear." He laughed.

"I was just asking for a hug, not sex. You still haven't changed Lulu. And you're still just as beautiful."

"I don't think your fiancée will be delighted to hear you call an ex beautiful Mr. Blankson." She spat out.

"How did you know I was getting married? Have you been keeping tabs on me?" He asked incredulously.

Louisa laughed. "It's funny how you think I'd waste my time on you like that. We're done here. Please leave."

William still stood there staring.

"You know what Louisa, I don't want to leave. Because I feel like if I do, this is going to be some weird dream and I'm going to wake up. You ask me to leave but all I can think about is placing my lips on yours and tasting them again to see if they still taste the same or are somehow even better now. I missed you Lulu."

A tear rolled down Louisa's face. Why was he here all of a sudden making things hard for her? She had locked her feelings for him in a box and his reappearance had opened everything and caused it to come rushing back in.

She shook her head sadly. "Well I'm not the one who left Will. So you don't get to waltz in and expect me to take you back. Please do us both a favour and leave. It'd be best if you took your case somewhere else, I'd recommend a place if you don't know one. Let's just pretend this meeting never happened. You never saw me and I never saw you."

Tears formed in Will's eyes. He knew she was right, and after all the pain he had caused her that was the least he could do.

He nodded in understanding. "I hear you Louisa, and I'll do as you said. I owe you that much. Have a nice life." He stepped out of her office.

Louisa held on for a little bit longer and when she felt it was safe, she rushed to her door, locked it and broke into wrench wracking sobs.

******

Louisa went home early that day pleading sickness. She barely said a word to her mum when she got home and skipped dinner. She kissed her daughter goodnight explaining that she didn't feel too good and wanted to sleep. After a cold bath and some aspirin, she tucked herself into bed and cried herself some more to sleep.