I woke up early in the morning and took a quick bath. I put on a pair of black jeggings, a baggy grey sweater and my sneakers. Then, brushing back my hair into a messy braid and donning a red lipstick, I went downstairs.

I was supposed to be leaving for the airport in about an hour so I decided to get some breakfast. As I sat on the table, in front of my baked beans and bread, Dad joined me with a newspaper. I greeted him, pushing back the raw feelings from my yesterday's conversation with Kate.

He smiled and then returned back to reading today's headlines. He was a man of few words but sometimes, I really wished he spoke more. Seventy-five percent of my interactions with him were arguments. It was better than Adrian's statistics though...

Adrian. Oh yes!

"Dad, I wanted to talk to you about something.", I said, finally putting my past two day's plans into motion.

"Go on. I am listening.", He said from behind the paper.

"Umm...Dad I was hoping you could talk to Matthew..."

"About what?"

"About not throwing Adrian out.", I said, biting down on my lower lip, nervous of what he would make out my demand. I definitely hadn't phrased that right.

He looked up from his newspaper, studying me and I just sat there staring at him blankly, anticipating what his question would be.

Dad tilted his head slightly towards me, closed the newspaper and inquired, "Any specific reason why?"

"Yes, it is so close to Christmas, Daddy. No one one would want to stay away from their family at this time of the year."

At this dad's eyes widened and I gasped, "Oh! Consider me as an exception. With all that had happened then, I couldn't have been happier to spend Christmas in a plane, travelling to London, away from a bad TV Show that I called family."

"Are you ever going to let go of it?"

"Are any of you?", I countered and then when I was greeted with silence, I hid my hurt feelings behind a smile and said, "Thought so."

I looked at my watch and then, wiping the baked beans sause off my mouth, I told him, "Time for me to leave. It is an international flight and I don't want to be late. Bye dad."

He got up and hugged me. I was taken aback by this sudden gesture of affection but I wrapped my arms around him tightly and wished for this hug to last forever because an eternity could pass before we had our next peaceful conversation, especially with Nate and my rivalry.

Before we broke the hug, he said, being barely audible,"We can't change what happened but what we can do is mend these broken bridges. We will fix things when you get back, ok? This Christmas will be better and we will all spend it together."

He looked at me hopefully and I gave him a wide reassuring smile though in the back of my mind, I wondered what all meant.

"What should I get you for Christmas?", He asked me.

"The Hudson Enterprises' CEO position!"

"Nessa...I", He started with a concerned look.

"Relax! I was just kidding. Get me whatever you want. And as for that position, I am not going to take it as a gift but as a reward for my capability."

"You are so confident that you can win?"

"I sure am.", I gave him a winning smile and with that I left for the airport.

■■■

I pulled a black crocheted shawl out of my bag, feeling cold and then tucking my bag away in the overhead compartment, I sat down on my seat and buckled the seat belt and opened a magazine, flipping through it until I found a familiar face inside it.

I smiled as I debated if those sculpted cheekbones and dangerous blue eyes looked better on paper or in person but before I could take a final stand, a man who was, give or take, the same age as me, sat on the aisle seat next to mine. He had tousled brown hair, a strong jawline and hazel eyes.

When I was still studying his features, which to be honest were quite impressive, he looked at me and placed put his hand out, saying, "Hi! I am Blake."

I smiled and shook hands with him," Vanessa."

"So what is taking you to Cairo?", He asked me.

"The Global Bussiness Meet."

"Oh! Me too. Which company are you representing?", He leaned towards me, extremely interested in my identity reveal.

"Hudson Enterprises"

"Wait! What did you say your name was again? Vanessa..."

"Hudson."

"You are the Vanessa Catherine Hudson, contender for your company's CEO position?"

"Indeed, it is me.", I smiled as my curiosity peaked about this devilishly handsome man, maybe a little lesser than Adrian, but just a little. I bet I had seen him somewhere before but I wasn't too sure.

In the corporate world, for all the legacy companies, it was the surname which gave the person's actual identity. I was just some Vanessa like some several hundred thousand others over the globe but the moment I said I was a Hudson, people instantly recognised me. It was both good and a bad thing but I always tried not to focus on the latter.

I asked, "You are going there as well?"

"Hell yes! Erik throws the best parties ever."

I really needed to figure out who he was because if he was on a first name basis with the Meet's host, Erik Sokolov, he was definately a very big fish in the sea.

I jogged my memory frantically as the air hostesses began giving safety instructions. Blake? Blake...Hamilton? Steward? Colby?

Who the hell is he!!!

"Your company is doing really well.", I said, trying to get him to provide me with more information. Yeah! I know, I should have been a detective.

"When was it not?", He said proudly.

Well that didn't work out as well as I thought it would have.

"Isn't that Adrian?", He asked pointing to the open magazine on my lap.

"Yeah! You friends?", I asked innocently but he raised his eyebrows, seriously judging me and then cleared his throat," Be honest. You don't know who I am, do you?"

My stomach did a nervous flip. I felt like an accused standing in the witness box as I silently shook my head in embarrassment.

He sighed and then reintroduced himself, "Hi! I am Blake Walters. Does it ring a bell now?"

My eyes widened at the sound of that name. Blake fucking Walters!!! Businessman of the year and the CEO of Walters Pacific, Greys and Co.'s biggest business rival and look at the fool I am, asking if he was friends with Adrian.

Adrian just snagged the three billion dollar project of the Lot Navigator from under Blake and Blake, the businessman of the year award that Adrian had been looking forward to. If they met, the tension would be very close to what was between me and Rebecca but definitely more professional so no wine throwing, name calling or cat fights would ensue hopefully.

The flight took off and for a while I silently flipped through the magazine, though half of my attention was towards this friendly enemy of my non-friendly ally.

The refreshments arrived after about an hour which felt painfully long because of how ackward I felt, sitting with a potential threat beside me. I took a glass of guava juice, wanting to fly sober, and a Chicken sandwich and Blake mimicked my order for himself.

I smiled at him and began eating my food, as sophisticatedly as possible.

"You are awefully quiet.", He complained.

"Why? Do you talk to your fellow passenger on every flight.", I said, coming off more rude than I intended to be.

"Well. No, I don't but then again, all my fellow passengers aren't as beautiful as you.", He winked and my face deeply coloured. I loved compliments to a fault. And that was the ice breaker I needed because after that we continued making small talk every now and then throughout the trip.

The captain announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Cairo International Airport. Local time is 1:00 am and the temperature is 15°C.

On behalf of EgyptAir and the entire crew, I'd like to thank you for joining us on this trip and we are looking forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. Have a nice stay!"

Everyone started to pick up their luggage. Blake turned towards me and asked, "So, this is the end of our trip together unless you are planning to exchange business cards. Or if I am lucky enough, your number maybe?"

"Depends whether you want my number for business purposes or...not.", I said, tilting my head sideways with a wide grin and shamelessly flirting with my investor's rival.

He unlocked his mobile and passed it to me and I entered my number.

"See you around.", He smiled, taking back his mobile once I was done and with that, we deplaned.

I quickly passed through the custom, hailed a cab and within half an hour I reached the hotel lobby. It was very spacious and its interior was exquisite and regal. Different tones of yellow were interweaved together, giving a golden appearance. A single, huge chandelier was in the center of the lobby. I walked towards the reception where a couple of other people were standing, asking for their room keys and I too did exactly that.

The receptionist looked through the records for my name and then looked back at me, with a rather judgementally look on his face and said, "Ma'am! There is no room booked under the name, Vanessa Hudson for today."

"Huh? Ok! Try William Hudson."

He typed in the name but then looked up at me, nodding negatively.

"This is the Najmat hotel, right?"

"Yes Ma'am.", He smiled, though his expression made it clear, how pissed he was at me for wasting his time.

My stomach flipped and my heart began pounding inside my chest. Not now! This can't be happening. What am I supposed to do now?