Speed.
Ariel had never thought herself gifted in that department, but clearly she had been wrong. She ran out of Tristan Asher's office so fast it felt as though the world were moving in slow motion. Moving at super speed, she ran past a red haired woman who looked as though she was about to grab Ariel in a chokehold. But Ariel was too fast for that, and she was dashing towards the elevator before the woman could move.
When the doors opened again, Ariel ran outside the building, shame, fear, and disappointment fuelling her steps.
Ariel managed to hold herself together until she made it all the way to her apartment. Once she was inside, the door closed and locked behind her. She finally let it all sink in, falling to her knees right where she stood. Ariel buried her face in her hands. What had she done? It took monumental effort for her to find the strength to get up and walk to her bedroom. And once there, she collapsed once again, this time going face first into the covers.
Grabbing her pillow, she screamed into it in frustration, making the sound as loud as possible and gripping the material so hard that she actually worried that it would tear beneath her grip. Luckily for her, it held, and she was able to vent for a few long minutes. But eventually, that had to end and she had to face the consequences of what she had done.
"Ariel Jones strikes again," She muttered to herself for the humorless laugh.
That morning she had woken up with two problems. Her brother was nowhere to be found, and there was a lone shark who was seeking to either break her kneecaps or sell her to the highest bidder. They were big problems, but now with the knowledge of how badly she had just messed up, Ariel realized that those had been good times. A few hours earlier, Ariel had thought that those two problems were some of the worst in the world to have. She had not been able to see any possible way out of them and she thought that it could not possibly get any worse. Now she realized that there was a reason people were often told not to tempt fate when in a difficult situation.
It can't get any worse, she'd thought, and like a train of fire, going off the tracks and plunging into an endless ravine...things had gotten worse. In her desperation, she had gone out and had brought more trouble to her doorstep. So now she had a missing brother, a lone shark out for blood, and... the most powerful man in the city now possibly saw her as a threat. Rolling over, she stared up at the ceiling. And this time when she screamed, there was nothing to muffle the sound. Why on earth had she gone there? Was she insane? That was it. She must have temporarily lost her mind. That was what had given her the courage to just sneak into Asher
Industries headquarters and do what she'd done. Why had she knelt? Why had she gone with her hair in a ponytail? Ahh! The whole thing had gone south with the quickness that Ariel still could not believe despite the fact that she had been there to witness it all. Taking deep breaths, she clenched her fists and continued to stare up at the ceiling some more. "All right, Ariel, breathe, breathe," She told herself and followed the command up by doing just that. A few deep breaths later, she began to think more clearly on her situation. There was nothing she could do about her brother and about Madam Mo. But the situation with the CEO of Asher Enterprise Industries, Tristan Asher, could still be salvaged.
Sure he knew her name, but Ariel Jones was pretty common.
You had to simply throw a coin in the city and for sure you would hit an Ariel, or somebody with the last name Jones.
Such a plain name was a blessing in this case. Plus with the way things had been going so fast, maybe he had not seen her face. But that one wouldn't matter too much. He had CCTV in the building after all. Oh no, CCTV. What if he went through all of the footage. Picked the camera shot with the best view of her face, and had people out looking for her!
Realizing that she was not helping her situation, Ariel forced herself to breathe again. Alright, so he heard her name, but that was it. Sure he also knew of her food truck thanks to her big mouth, but it would be too much effort to try and find her using so little information. Hopefully he would leave it at that. She really hoped that he did not come after her. Clinging to their tiny shred of hope, Ariel let her mind wander to the conversation that she had overheard.
A contract marriage.
The CEO of Asher Industries had to get married or lose everything. Rich people really were built different.
Kicking her legs out on the bed, Ariel settled down once more.
Silence...that was what she had to practice. She would pretend that she'd not heard a thing, that she knew nothing. In fact, what thing did she even have to know about? There was absolutely nothing for her to remember, absolutely nothing important. She was just Ariel Jones.
A lady with a lot of debt that she had no idea what her brother had done to accumulate.
Her name was common enough and if she stayed quiet about what she'd overheard in the CEO's office, then most likely he would not even be out looking for her.
Deciding to focus on that optimistic possibility Ariel nodded to herself. Her heart settling for the first time since the whole thing had begun. That was it. She just had to bide her time and stay silent. Tristan Asher was a busy man. He would not be wasting his time worrying about somebody like her. Besides, who'd even believe her if she went out and said she'd overheard such a thing?
Contract marriages were probably pretty common in those circles. Besides even if she did say something, it would be his word against hers.
As she settled back down, Ariel, despite how desperate she was for cash, did not even entertain the thought of selling the story to the highest bidder.
She had her own problems, she would not be creating more for a person that she barely knew. Done thinking about Tristan Asher, and everything concerning him, Ariel picked up her phone and dialled her brother.
"Come on Peter, pick up. I need to know you are alright," As had been the case for the last three weeks, Peter did not answer, and Ariel's worry for him became heavier.