Chapter 7:
Once home in the comfort of her apartment, Olivia placed her keys in the small bowl by the door and headed straight for her bathroom. Discarding articles of clothing as she walked, Seto's fiancée replayed the day's events in his mind. The audacity of that group of kids, the press and media, that stone.
"It reminds me of you."
She had initially meant that to be fodder for the public, but as she thought on it, it wasn't entirely untrue. The stone was like Seto; cold, hard, with a deep untouchable side no one could reach. She saw him in that stone. It was as if someone had plucked one of his sapphire pools and set it in her hand. It was unnerving enough that he made that ridiculous request of marriage, but to wear the symbol of that request on her finger…to have that constant reminder of him glittering up at her filled her with a near overwhelming quandary.
She entered her bathroom and switched on the lights. Removing the last piece of clothing and dropping it on the marble floor, Olivia stepped into the shower and let the searing water drench her. She let her mind wander; The Christmas Party, the name game, the agreement, and now today. She thought of the feeling of his arm around her, the smell of his cologne on his clothes and skin. The way he effortlessly paid for that outrageous gem thoroughly impressed her. And she was left with the debate whether or not he did it for the act? Or if he actually bought her an $11.5 million dollar ring. As much as she tried to keep the lines clear between them, after this, she admitted to them blurring a bit. Was she uncomfortable of the expenditure? Perhaps.
Sure she loved expensive things, and bought whatever she wanted when she wanted. But there was something different about today. Her heart gave little flutters when she pictured the way his pen scrolled across the lines of the check. It was so carefree for him, so unbothered. The notion that he was willing to spend such an outlandish price on an engagement ring for a woman he barely knew two months made her question her standing in the whole situation.
She was curious to see where this "relationship" would lead her-and him. She knew there were no feelings of love, for if that were so, she would be furious with herself. She did not wish to love like that again. Too many failed attempts had taught her that. This was all a game to her. It was just a game. She had worked too hard for what she had, her fortune, her independence, to throw it away again to the trivialness of love. Seto was a business partner in all this. An attractive business partner, but a business partner just the same. He knew that and she knew that.
Then, smiling at the conundrum she found herself in, Olivia leaned her head back under the steaming water and sighed.
"What have I gotten myself into now."