Chapter 11

There was a sudden silence and suspense in the room as the audience waited for Alejandro to speak, sparking a tension in the atmosphere which only seemed to be further exacerbated by the bright white lighting in the event hall.

Heather couldn't believe that he was standing right there at the very back of the crowd. First my mom, and now Alejandro. What is he doing here? Did he actually buy a ticket to my launch party?

At the same time, Nathan gritted his teeth at the sight of Alejandro. It was the Spaniard again. Way to ruin things.

"This question is for Heather," Alejandro began in a soft voice as he held onto the microphone. "To the young woman who was left disappointed by a man - what would you say to her if the man realized he was an idiot and never wanted to hurt her?"

Heather closed her eyes. Trust him to use my own speech against me. There's no way I'll be giving in.

"Well," Heather confidently retorted moments later as she re-opened her eyes. "I would tell her that the damage has been done and it's time for her to move on."

Nathan smiled to himself in satisfaction at Heather's response.

Alejandro took a step closer towards the stage. He then gazed up, right into her grey eyes as he spoke again. "What if he wanted to let her know that he has feelings for her and has never felt like this with anyone else before?"

Heather stood completely frozen on the stage. Is he actually serious now or is he just saying that to play me again? No, remember he's a player. Don't look into his eyes, she ordered herself. She forced herself to look elsewhere - anywhere but those beautiful - no, sneaky emerald green eyes.

"I- I would still say that it's too late," Heather finally managed to respond, her head turned away.

Alejandro couldn't take his eyes off her for even a moment. She was wearing a dark red long dress with a split on the side, and her long, raven black hair was neatly pulled up into a high bun. She's still so beautiful.

He saw the pain and sadness in her eyes.

But he also caught a glimpse of something else. It was only one tiny glimpse, yet it was all that he needed.

He slowly continued to walk closer to where Heather was standing on the stage, slowly sealing the distance between them, until he was less than ten feet away from her. With every step that he took, Heather felt as if she were slowly losing control of her emotions, her feelings and her thoughts, and as if she were being pulled towards Alejandro like a magnet. She gulped. No, be strong. Don't resist. Don't give in...

Alejandro took another few final steps closer towards the stage, and at this point they were now only five feet apart. He then took a deep breath and hesitated for a moment. He needed to take a leap of faith.

The words then came out of his mouth: "What if there was the slightest chance that she still felt something for him too?" His voice was shaky; breathless; raspy yet at the same time ever so soft and ever so gentle.

Fuck. Oh my god. Fuck. What is happening? Heather could now feel her entire face flushing a bright red that was almost as deep as the color of her dress, and her heart pounding heavily against her chest like a drum. She swallowed again and took a step backwards on the stage to regain her composure, but it was no use. And then as if on cue, the butterflies in her stomach instantly appeared as if they'd suddenly and desperately been released from a cage.

"I...I...um, I-" Heather stammered. At this point, her entire mouth felt dry and she would now finally admit that she was at a complete loss for words.

Nathan immediately noticed Heather's expression and an irritated scowl formed on his face. This cannot be good. I must step in and act now before this escalates.

"Alright, can we please move on from the irrelevant questions and onto the next person?" Nathan loudly and impatiently interrupted. He began quickly walking closer towards Alejandro and then glared at Cody. "Cody?! That's your cue!" he snapped.

"U-uh yes, sorry, no problem, Nathan," Cody stuttered.

"Hey! Don't talk to my Codykins like that!" Sierra shrieked at Nathan, but he ignored her.

Cody nervously walked over to Alejandro and reached out to take the microphone from his hands. "Sorry, uh, what was your name, sir?"

"Alejandro," Alejandro replied, as he reluctantly handed the mic back to Cody and then glared at Nathan.

"Sorry, Alejandro, that's all the time we have," Cody said to Alejandro and then turned towards the crowd. "Alright, we might take one last final question from someone else..."

Nathan smirked at Alejandro as if to give him a look that said 'you lose'. Alejandro glared at him. There was something about Nathan's smirk - he knew there was something fishy about him the first time he met him at Heather's office and tonight only reinforced that.

The voice of the next person asking a question interrupted Alejandro's thoughts.

"A few months ago, Illuminate's Strategy and Operations Director Nathan admitted to doing some regrettable things during his time at high school. What was your reaction to that, Heather?"

Back on the stage, Heather was still struggling to regain her composure and she hesitated for a moment when she heard the question. It was one that was not unexpected, but admittedly, it still threw her off. "Well-" she began and paused again.

At the same time, Alejandro frowned at the question being asked and he turned his attention to the questioner who was standing in the middle of the crowd. And that was when he noticed a suspicious looking man wearing a black hoodie standing behind.

Alejandro slowly walked over closer to where the man was standing and made sure to keep a close eye on him. And at first, nothing happened.

He then watched as the man then slowly took something out from underneath his hoodie and then aimed it towards the stage. Alejandro froze. It didn't look like an actual gun, but...no, there wasn't time to care what it was.

"Heather! Watch out!" he quickly yelled.

The audience gasped and watched wide-eyed as the next moment Alejandro instinctively and practically leapt up onto the stage. He protectively and tightly wrapped his arms around Heather, shielding her from the sudden splashes of something wet and cold that had now landed on his back and over his jacket. Alejandro furrowed his brow as he realized what it was. What the fuck? Paint? Who would pull a sick joke like this?

Heather was about to pull away from Alejandro's grip when she felt a sudden rush of warmth at his touch and firm hands around her.

It was a warmth that she felt spread over her entire body, a warmth that she had never experienced before, and a warmth she admittedly didn't want to let go.

She slowly shut her eyes and told herself that she would allow herself only another five more seconds to savour in this moment and feeling.

Five...four...

Three...two...one...

And yet those mere five seconds somehow felt like it was enough for a rose to blossom amongst the thorns.

"Ale-" Heather began as she opened her eyes but was quickly interrupted by his voice.

"Heather! Don't move!"

Heather froze as she saw another splash of paint spiralling towards her direction. She gasped and lost her balance, accidentally pulling Alejandro down with her. And then it happened just like a scene in a movie - they both toppled to the floor, with Alejandro landing on top of Heather. Their eyes met and their lips were merely inches away from each other's. Heather felt her heart pounding quickly once again as she stared into his emerald green eyes.

Alejandro stared intently at her lips, wondering what they would feel like against his.

What was it like to him? A tiny spark which had slowly but strongly grown into a passionate fire - of lust, of desire, but most importantly, of love.

And for a moment, despite all the chaos and mayhem surrounding the two of them, it was as if everyone else had faded into the background and nothing or no one else mattered.

But their moment was quickly interrupted by the rapid sound of cameras clicking, as people in the crowd began taking out their phones, filming what was happening and posting it on social media.

Alejandro helped Heather up to her feet and then used his body to shield her once more, this time to block her from the cameras. "No photos!" he yelled to the audience.

The crowd almost instantly obeyed - Alejandro had that effect.

"Heather, are you ok?" Alejandro gently asked her, as he led her to an area backstage. She nodded. Her red dress was now tainted with stains of paint, but Alejandro had clearly taken a much worse hit. "It should wash out," Alejandro said in a soft voice as he carefully eyed the paint on Heather's dress.

Heather now finally had the chance to properly collect herself and process everything that had happened tonight, or more specifically the second part of the evening.

He came to my launch party event.

He took a dive for me just then.

And he said those things to me during the Q&A...

...Ok, so maybe he wasn't exactly trying to play me when he said all of that, but even still, he probably still just said those things because he feels pity for me.

After all, that is what it is, isn't it? Just pity for silly, pathetic, me who had just exposed all my vulnerabilities to the whole world.

"I would give you my jacket, but-" Alejandro continued and hesitated as he looked at his paint-stained jacket.

"It's fine, I should go back out now," Heather muttered.

"Wait, Heather, it may not be safe-" Alejandro said, a concerned look on his face as he tried to grab her arm.

"I said I'm fine!" Heather retorted. "Everything's fine! No, everything's perfect! It has to be. This is my launch party!"

She confidently marched back out on the stage, ignoring the stain marks on her dress. Just smile.

"It's ok everybody, no one's hurt!" Heather said as she smiled at the crowd.

Alejandro quickly followed after her and walked down the steps back into the audience. He then carefully scanned the crowd - there were no more suspicious looking people for now. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Nathan clenched his fists at the sight of Heather and Alejandro walking out together. He had actually paid the man in the hoodie to carry out the stunt and purposely spray Heather, but for some reason Alejandro had faster reflexes and had acted one step ahead of him. I'm supposed to be the one up there protecting her. I'm supposed to be her hero, not that Spaniard, he angrily thought to himself.

"Alright, it looks like we had a bit of an incident just before, but it's been dealt with by security and the good news is that everyone's safe!" Cody tried to put on a smile as he clutched the microphone with one hand and scratched his head with the other.

"And now for the most awaited part of the night! We'll now draw and announce the winner for our special prize," Cody continued. "Remember each purchase you make tonight earns you an entry into our lucky draw!"

He pulled out an iPad and began drawing the name of the winner on an app. He gasped at the result and motioned for Heather to come closer.

"What's the problem?" Heather glared at Cody as she walked towards him.

"The winner's Alejandro. Are you ok with that?" Cody whispered.

Heather's eyes widened and she hesitated for a moment. "Do it again," she eventually muttered.

Cody nodded and then redrew. "Uh, Heather, it's still Alejandro," Cody whispered again.

"What?! That's impossible. Check again," Heather whisper-yelled.

Cody gulped and then quickly scrolled through his iPad and the entire list of entries. "Uh Heather?" he began in a low voice. "Alejandro has the most number of entries. He purchased the entire jewellery collection."

Heather couldn't believe what Cody had just said. What the fuck? He purchased the entire collection?

"Hey what's taking so long?" An annoyed voice in the audience suddenly called out.

"Yeah, we've been waiting all night for this!" A second voice echoed.

"Just announce the winner already!"

"You better not be rigging this!"

"Uh, yes, j- just a moment," Cody gulped again. Little beads of sweat were now dripping from his forehead. He turned to look back at Heather for her direction on what to do. Heather took a deep breath and sighed. "Just announce it," she muttered.

Cody nodded.

"And the winner is ... Alejandro!" Cody announced as he held up his iPad to show the audience Alejandro's name on the screen. "Your prize is that you will feature in the upcoming magazine photoshoot for the Red Velvet jewellery collection! Congratulations!"

Heather instantly froze. She had completely forgotten that this was supposed to be the prize.

At the same time, a scowl flared on Nathan's face.

But a mere few feet away, a certain Spaniard was smiling with happiness.

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A/N - ahh, hope you guys enjoyed this one hehe & thanks for reading!! ;)