Chapter 6
Amber POV
By the time I reached the building of Lumena Entertainment, the afternoon heat had already started burning through my clothes. “Perfect,” I muttered. As if being late wasn’t bad enough, my entire body now smelled like sweat and regret.
I sent a text to Sonia before rushing into the guard room stationed at the entrance. The guards at the front raised eyebrows at my appearance, but I paid no heed, asking to see their head. They granted me access, and I made a beeline for the small office, knocking before slipping inside to see a middle-aged man seated with a document in his hands.
“Good day, Mr. Thomas,” I greeted.
He looked up, eyes lighting up and widening in surprise. “Oh dear! Is everything okay?”
I slipped inside and pressed my palms together. “I’m fine, sir. I just need to change here, please.”
The older guard pointed to a small room. “Go ahead, dear. That’s the room.”
“Bless you,” I whispered, slipping into the tiny room and closing the door.
I exhaled sharply, turning to the grimy mirror and doing a double take at the scandalous sight. The ruined dress felt like a uniform of humiliation. After a few minutes, the door swung open, and in came Sonia with a bag. She stepped inside with dramatic grace, pausing as her eyes skimmed over me with a bewildered expression.
“Oh my God,” she said, eyes wide as she closed the door. “It seems you had quite the night, Amber. You look like you fought a lion for territory.”
“Please,” I muttered, collecting the bag from her and pulling out the clothes. “Not now. I’m begging you.”
She ignored that completely, an amused smirk on her lips. “No, no, you’re going to give me the tea. You owe me after bailing you out. You literally have no underwear! I need to know what happened.”
“Fine,” I sighed, buttoning the blouse up. “I will tell you later, but for now, how’s Mr. Gems?”
“Not in a good mood, obviously. The CEO called for an emergency meeting, so he waited for you for a while. He ultimately had to attend alone,” she explained, and my heart sank.
“Wasn’t the CEO away for business? Why is he suddenly back?” I asked.
“How would I know?” she shrugged, leaning closer to whisper. “We were also shocked to see him. Apparently, he flew in for this meeting; all senior level managers are involved. I heard it’s something about the new artists being signed.”
A nervous pinch tugged at my stomach as I slipped the skirt on. “So is the meeting… over?”
“Not yet, but the atmosphere won’t be good when it is,” Sonia shook her head. “The only way you may survive being this late is begging; otherwise… I’m not sure.”
Fantastic.
We left the security room together. I thanked the kind guard again before I made a quick escape to my desk on the manager’s floor. Luckily, when Mr. Gems returned, he was still with other senior staff, and they entered another closed-door meeting, so I was majorly ignored whilst they discussed loudly in his office.
Once I settled outstanding tasks and pending requests, I was finally free to leave for a short break. Making my way to the cafeteria to grab leftover food, I texted the girls in our group chat:
Hi everyone, are you okay? Sorry for disappearing like that.
The replies came instantly.
Lilah: Yes, we’re all good. But we are dying of curiosity, spill!!
Ginny: You left us high and dry!! We need details about mystery man!!
Jane: Name, address, job, SSN… EVERYTHING!!
I rolled my eyes in exhaustion, typing quickly:
I’m sorry to disappoint you all, but I don’t have his name. It was… a moment. Nothing more.
Ginny: Hmm.. No one looks that into someone they want “nothing more” with like you did, Amby
Jane: Even I, who was completely wasted, could see how smitten you were by him.
Lilah: Maybe he’s your long lost soulmate.
“Soul mate? Absolutely not,” I muttered, biting hard on the bread in my hand while replying:
Last night was a mistake, and you caused it. So I’ve decided we focus on other exciting things I can do to get back at Liam that aren’t sex or men. Please remove any filthy items you wrote down on that list NOW. Thank you.
They sent emojis that screamed “sure, Jan.”
I put my phone away and returned to work, channeling my focus on scheduling the upcoming talent meetings, including reviewing the new artists onboarding program Mr. Gems would need after the emergency meeting. The names placed on my desk to draft the document were blanked out pending approval. Yet something in the manager’s tone about the fourth artist through the office door made me uneasy. A new star coming in… someone the company was already nervous about.
But that was a future problem.
Right now, I just needed water, ibuprofen, and maybe a nap to restore my nervous system. Still, every time I allowed myself a second of silence, memories of last night crept back in. I could feel his hands on my skin, and hear his unnervingly quiet breathing—the way he slept beside me like he trusted me with something he didn’t name.
“You will never see him again,” I said silently, sitting on the bus back to my apartment later that day. “So get him out of your mind and move on. That’s the plan.”
******
Dominic POV
“Boss, here is the information you requested regarding Amber Ross.”
Rafe’s voice cut through the quiet in the office as he placed the binder neatly in front of me. I picked it up, feeling the weight of it in my hands before opening it, reading through carefully.
“She is 29 years old and was raised in Y City orphanage,” Rafe continued evenly. “Left at eighteen and moved here shortly after. She has no criminal record, debts, or sketchy involvements.”
“She currently works as a secretary to a senior talent manager at Lumena Entertainment and has been there three years. Nothing remarkable there either,” he finished his brief, and I paused, tapping the edge of the page against my desk.
“She lives alone?” I asked.
“Yes. A rented one-bedroom apartment in a quiet neighborhood.”
I nodded, flipping to the next page to see a timeline of her daily routine, mapped out with precision.
Workdays: early commute. Same coffee shop three mornings a week. Goes to her boyfriend's apartment twice a week, sleeps over if her schedule allows. Walk when the weather allows. Grocery shopping on Sundays. Occasional nights out with friends, rarely impulsive.
That is, except for yesterday, where things took an unexpected turn and she ended up in a club on a weekday. I leaned back in my chair slowly, eyes lifting to the ceiling for a brief moment.
“And what about her relationship status?” I continued.
“She is freshly separated from her fiancé, Liam, after a four-year relationship,” he explained. “Apparently, they had begun plans for a wedding.”
“Is that so?” I mused, eyes fixed on the photograph clipped to the page which was taken from her friend’s SNS account.
Amber smiled into the sun, hair tied up carelessly, as she lay on a beach mat in a sundress. She appeared so unseeming, it made my desire to claim her grow stronger.
“Good job, Rafe,” I said finally, setting the papers down neatly, aligning the edges like this was just another business file. “Have Stone and Ken keep an eye on her. I’ll need daily updates from now on.”
“Yes sir.”
“Then schedule a meeting with executive management tomorrow,” I said decisively.
Rafe straightened. “In what context, boss?”
“Inform them to prepare updates on our entertainment fronts, current partnerships, and potential expansions.”
He nodded, noting down on the tablet.
“After that,” I continued, a slow smirk spreading. “We approach Lumena Entertainment formally with an interest in collaboration. I need a reason to be where she is. You can leave.”
He exited my office, shutting the door with a soft click, and I flipped the file open to her picture again.
“There’s no use running away, my little Ember,” I thought, tracing her features lightly. “Because I don’t lose things that choose me first.”