To Walk in Her Shoes

Chapter 8

"What did you mean when you said good when I answered that Edward was not my boyfriend?" If she only knew the answer. Lawrence thought of this all through the afternoon in his office. He was in a good mood now and he was smiling often. Mrs. Kenol had realized this too and she was thankful for Brittney's visit. Since morning, his boss was in a foul mood and he would shout at his employees, which was unlike him.

Thank God he did not have any meetings because he could not think straight now. Was he falling for someone else again, these past few weeks that he has spent with Brittney he has been happier than he could ever think he could be since the breakup with his fiancé.

She was different and hardworking and easy to talk to. He had realized that she was bubbly around him and could talk anything then realize she had said more than necessary. He loved the way she blushed and bit her lower lip. Those lips were plump and pink that he wished to kiss them. Her choice of clothing was always attractive, that made her stand out of the crowd.

"What are you doing to me Brittney?" He thought. His feelings for her were growing and he could not deny them. The only thing he had to find out was if Brittney felt the same. But how? He had to think of something and fast. May be Joe would have ideas. He always does. He would make fun of him but help him out. He took his phone out and messaged him. "Let's meet at the club at 8:00 PM." Immediately, Joe replied with a dancing MOG with a "YESSS!" Lawrence laughed at his friends excitement and decided to finish his work early so he could meet him.

Joe checked his watch while sitting at one of the bars executive area. It was around 7:45 PM and he was waiting for the arrival of Lawrence. He wondered what his friend wanted to talk about. He remembered last time they were here; he had to drug Lawrence out of the club and take him home. He shook his head and smiled remembering how he was crying in the car, professing his love for Brittney. He had made fun of him after he was sober, which irritated Lawrence. Speaking of the devil, he saw his friend entering the club and looking around until his eyes met his and he smiled. There were only few people considering it was a Monday.

"Hey man, sorry am late, it was the traffic." Lawrence said greeting his friend. He gestured for the waitress to come and take his order. "So what did you want to talk about?" Joe asked with curiosity. Lawrence thought of how he could start with this conversation. Before he could speak, the waitress came back with his glass of squash. She leaned before him and gave him a seductive smile while butting her eyes. Back then, Lawrence would have been interested and talked to her. But now he only thought was that Brittney was the only woman who was attractive in his eyes.

"Ahem" he cleared his throat. "Could you be kind enough to excuse us?" He said looking straight in her eyes. The waitress made a pout, but got the message and left. When he looked at Joe, he was looking at him with a knowing smile. He ignored him and took a gulp of his drink that burned his throat. "I need your help Joe" his friend only nodded encouraging him to continue. "I want to find out if there is any chance that Brittney likes me." Joe broke into a laughing fit that caught the eyes of other clients in the club. Lawrence only glared at his friend. When he realized that he was serious, he formed an "o" with his mouth. With what he had seen in the restaurant and the bar, Joe knew that Lawrence liked Brittney. She was a beautiful girl and if his friend had no interest in her, he would have tried his luck.

He had seen her face when Lawrence had walked out of the restaurant without talking to her in a proper way. "I think she likes you, I mean she was sad when you left the restaurant." Lawrence arched his brow. "You had talked about having a gala dinner to announce the merger between your companies, why not try to work with her and also during the gala you may dance with her and talk more." Lawrence smirked and parted his friend at the back. He knew he could count on him.

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Two weeks had gone by and Brittney had not seen Lawrence. He had only talked to her if the matter was of great importance and needed his attention. Most of the time, she had worked with Mrs. Kenol. He had travelled to England for an important meeting.

Today was also the day that they were having their board meeting and give updates. She was nervous to see him. They had been arranging the gala dinner and had finished with the invites and venue, and she hoped all will go well. She checked her watch and saw she was remaining with half an hour to the meeting. She straitened her pink dress and wore the black leather jacket and left her office to go check the set up for her presentation. She wanted to be the first in the room.

When she opened the conference room, she saw a man standing with his back to her talking on his phone. When he heard the door closing, he turned and her breath hitched. It was Lawrence. He looked more handsome and he had a new haircut. He had a one day beard on his face that she wished she could run her fingers on his face. She just stood there taking him in that she did not realize he had walked up to her. She blinked and greeted him with a voice that she could not recognize.

Lawrence knew that Brittney would come early to the meeting so after he had arrived from England, he had asked his driver to take him straight to Mark Times Entertainment offices'. He had hoped she would be in the conference room, but after a few minutes of waiting. She had walked in. He could see the shock on her face when she had seen him there. Lawrence could not stop his legs from moving to where she was standing. She looked so good and smelled good as well. He just wanted to bury his head in her hair. She had left her long hair hanging, just the way he liked it and was wearing a pink dress that had buttons on the front, which made him think of things he knew she would slap his face if she found out.

"Hi" Her voice brought him back to earth, he gave a dazzling smile. "Hi, you look good." He told her. She blushed and looked away from him saying a small thank you. "I have brought you a gift from England." Lawrence said removing a box from behind which Brittney had not realized he was carrying. "Oh no Lawrence, I cannot accept the gift. I was only joking when I said I will be angry with you if you won't buy me a gift from England. I did not know that you took it serious." She said looking at him with big brown eyes. "I insist Brittney, when I saw the gift I thought of you and hoped you would like it." He was looking at her with those puppy pleading eyes that she could not turn him away. She took the box from his hands and placed it on the long board room table. When she opened it, she was shocked to see the shoes she had been admiring online. They were statement pair or what she likes to call as "glad shoes" that former top British model Naomi Campbell wore when she curtain raised this year British Fashion show week and showed the young models how it is done.

She had asked Edward to find them for her when he was still in England but he had told her they were custom made and ran out of stock with few orders. She squealed with excitement and jumped up to hug him. "How did you get them?" She asked while looking at his face which had a smile. "I have my own ways." Lawrence said while still holding her on the waist.

In the restaurant, he had overheard her ask Edward about those particular shoes and she looked sad when he said he could not find them. When she had joked about killing him if he didn't bring her a gift from England, he knew it was the best way to surprise her by finding those shoes. He had connections in the fashion world and lucky for him, they were the only remaining ones and her size. "Thanks Lawrence." She said softly looking him in the eyes. They kept staring at each other, and did not realize that their faces were close. Brittney went on her tiptoes and closed her eyes waiting for the kiss.

Suddenly the door opened that made them jump away from each other, and Brittney pretended to be taking her tablet and the box from the table. Ayden was the first to walk in, followed by her father and other stakeholders. He looked at them with a confused look but Brittney pretended to have not seen. "We were waiting for you." She said walking to the front so that she could settle down and start the presentation. She just hoped that her team had arranged everything well because Lawrence had distracted her before she had checked. She knew she had to avoid looking at him, during her presentation, or all her thoughts will go back to the point where they were about to kiss. She shook her head to clear her mind and looked at the stakeholders as she started the presentation.