Time To Heal [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THE PUBLIC DECLARATION

"Aimee, the strategy of making her jealous is not working out. The whole charade's been going on for nearly one month without any reaction from her behalf. Forget about making a scene, she's not even responding to my phone calls," growled Dev frustratingly on the phone clutching the device so hard that his knuckles turned white.

"I know! I never knew she was so indelible," Aimee responded according, a facsimile of his own resentment for having his plans thwarted. "Can you give me until this afternoon to confirm something before you start using your caveman tactics?"

Dev muttered something unintelligible under his breath, only curbing himself just in time from uttering any harsh expletive out of respect for the lady in question. "Do I at least get to know what you're planning?" he asked gruffly, doubtful that her ploy would function.

"Jennifer is planning a conference tonight with the media who claims that Ana's fans are dying to know about her impromptu love story. Ana's been stalling the face-off for weeks, but we've finally managed to hook her in."

A sense of nervousness mingled with restless anticipation gripped him, feelings he'd not harbored since his teens. "So where do I figure in all this?" he questioned unable to keep the skepticism away from his voice.

"Make an educated guess," came the caustic reply, which made him wince with indignation. The way that chick was treating him, anyone would think he was some dork instead of a high-profile business tycoon. "You're the surprise guest. Even Ana is not aware of your appearance – so surprise us."

"Okay," he acknowledged blowing a hard breath in the receiver to evacuate his stress. "I'll intercept her after the show and..."

"Uh-uh," Aimee intervened before he could even finish. "Bad idea. Been there and done that kind of thing. Didn't work last time. Whatever you're planning, it will have to be live."

"What are you suggesting?" he croaked trying to hide his horror, already guessing the best logical outlet but the mere thought tying him into knots. "Are you insane? Proposing in front of millions of people is not quite my forte."

"Why not?" the virago retorted back, not even bothering to display one ounce of sympathy for him. "If my memory serves me right, you did ditch her in front of millions of people, right?"

He gulped, twisting his collar as he felt the cloth suddenly too tight against his skin, like something was suffocating him. Then, a depiction of Ana with her full-blown glorious smile flashed in his mind, and every uneasiness dissipated. The mere thought of bringing back that glow on her face was motivation enough for him to work on his guest appearance for the next evening.

"Alright," he conceded briskly gritting his teeth, damned if he would show the woman that considering his current situation, it was the best option he had. It was time he rectified his mistakes anyway, and he would stop at nothing to conquer his sweetheart back.

His belligerence was not because he was risking ridicule in front of the whole world, but because that woman was starting to get on his nerves. Had he not been so desperately in need for her assistance, he would have told her in clear terms what he actually thought of her malevolent attitude.

"Well, try to hide your enthusiasm," Aimee delivered scathingly. "Wear your best coat tonight Mr. Crighton, you will be on TV," was the exaggeratedly cheeky cheerful exit line before the monotonous tone indicating that the call was disconnected.

Yayy, Dev jubilated sarcastically, but was far from being enthusiastic about the whole idea. Being born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he was used to media attention and being the center of attention. But in the past, he'd been the one to manipulate the output of any conversation with a reporter, or diffusing only meaningful information which served his purpose.