4

He was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. About six feet two with a chocolate complexion and dark brown eyes that pierced your soul if you looked into them too deeply, he could take any woman’s breath away. His shoulders were broad and his biceps moved in his dress shirt. Moreover, she knew him, she knew him more than anybody else in this world knew him. She knew James Cobalt to the core; she knew the inside and under of his soul and body. She mentally pushed back memories she had sealed up for years and she was determined to seal them up for years to come.

He obviously recognized her because his eyes darkened, his body became tense and he coughed. It was a very strange cough, like a cough you used to suppress a sound. She studied him and decided she was not going to get all friendly with this man because she knew him from wherever.

“Good morning Mr. Cobalt.” she held out her hand and he hesitantly took it, surprised that she didn’t show any emotion. It was something she had adopted a few years ago. She called it SNE (Show No Emotion). It had helped her throughout the years so she wasn’t ready to drop it now. Barbara said it made her seem cold and distant from everybody and that was just how she liked it. That was exactly how it was in the world of business; cold and distant.

She snapped out her thoughts to notice James shuffling and squeezing his fingers. An old habit he was used to whenever he was nervous. Good, he felt guilty. She decided to take him out of his misery and make him understand that she wasn’t there for fun and games or to discuss about the weather or their past, she was there strictly for business which was her main priority in life.

“Shall we start by me explaining the theorem for what we want in the new factory?” she asked.

“No, there is no need for that, Mr. Lawson already filled me in on the plans but we may need to plan extensively to the very last detail to get the kind of quality you want for this project.”

“No problem then, lets have our seats.” she gestured to the table and he took his seat in his chair and she sat opposite him.

Throughout the meeting, she avoided severe eye contact and kept the discussion simply business. Afterwards, James escorted her back to her car. Before she entered, she gave him her P.A’s business card and told him to reach her through him and ask for her house address if there were other important issues to be discussed.

As she was about to step into the car, he used his foot to block the door from closing.

“We need to talk, Jean.” His eyes were pleading her to spare him just five minutes of her time. There was honesty and sincerity in his eyes but she could never believe those eyes anymore. They had deceived her many times before. She would never have had anything to do with this man anymore if not for the fact that the company he worked for needed her help.

“Does this have anything to do with the deal between our two companies?” she asked him in a flat tone.

“No, this is personal.”

“Then I'm not interested.” While he was still in shock at her reply, she quickly closed the door and locked it.

She saw him mouth the word ‘please’ at her through the window. That word stopped working on her long ago. She had fallen for it too many times already. It had turned her into a fool and Jean Taylor was no fool, at least not anymore. She was glad she had driven herself here and a driver didn’t witness this exchange. When the vehicle moved away from the building, she didn’t bother looking back to see what he was doing behind. He was good for nothing and wasn’t worth her time at all. Not now and not in a million years.