some wine?" The flight attendant asked her.

Nyla quickly declined. She was already hungover from last night. It had taken a while for the alcohol to enter her bloodstream, but the effects also seemed to be lasting longer. This morning she'd stumbled out of bed to a notification from her calendar saying that she had a flight in the next hour.

The next six minutes had consisted of her frantically trying to reach the airport while also not throwing up in the back of the car. Luckily, she had packed her suitcase a few weeks earlier so that wasn't a problem. However, Nyla would be speaking in a few hours once she landed in San Francisco, so she needed to freshen up.

Nyla tried revising her speech, but her mind kept taking her back to last night. She was ashamed that she had admitted to Darius that her heart was broken. But now that Nyla was no longer drunk, she had time to process everything she had been feeling. She was pretty sure that she didn't care that Rohit and Karishma were getting married but the fact that she was still alone. Her old friends had found one another, and she had been left behind.

She leaned back in a chair and sighed. She still vividly remembered the moment that Rohit had broken up with her. The two of them had met through their parents and in a couple of months—with a lot of pressure from their parents, they had become engaged. At the time, Nyla had still been studying medicine. However, when she switched over to business, they had grown apart—just like she had with Karishma. Then, one evening out of nowhere, Rohit had phone her and asked for his ring back.

Nyla had been hurt—and scared. She didn't want her parents and the rest of her Indian community judging her. Her parents were already quite upset with her for switching her degree to business and there was a lot of tension between the two of them. Rohit had been the final nail in the coffin. He'd calmly explained that he was looking for a woman who was more in the science field—so she could relate to him and understand his intellect. After all, business was the easy way out, he'd said with a laugh.

At the moment, Nyla had taken off the ring from her finger and smashed it into pieces. Then she'd mail the parts back to Rohit and moved on with her life. Raymond had been her ray of sunshine through those times. Nobody approved of what she was doing, and she'd been shunned by everyone, but Raymond continued to encourage her and push her to the next level. Her summer internships at Renne is what kept her going through all the years. Raymond became her family as he helped her regain her confidence and footing.

There was a light tap on her shoulder and Nyla looked up to see the same flight attendant from before. "We will be landing soon, so please return your seat to an upright position."

Nyla looked out the window and she could see the tall sky scraper. She did what she was told and returned her focus on the speech. After all, it was useless to look in the past.

♠♠♠♠♠♠

Nyla stepped off the stage and smoothed out her black blouse and white trousers. Her speech had gone well enough and the crowd seemed interested which was good. There had been a few thought-provoking questions which Nyla always enjoyed as it showed that the audience was paying attention.

"This way Ma'am." An event organizer ushered her away from stage towards a partly hidden door.

"Is there anything else I need to attend?" Nyla asked the organizer.

She was quite tired from her flight and long night of drinking. All she wanted to do was go to sleep.

The young man checked his clipboard. "You're good for the rest of the day however, there will be a dinner for all the speakers in the evening."

Nyla smiled at him. "Thank you."

She began walking before realizing that she had no idea where she was going.

"Do you know which way the hotel is?"

"Take a right at the next door and keep walking. You should reach the hotel lobby in about five minutes."

Nyla nodded and began walking. Her feet wee aching from the heels and as much as she liked to kick them off and walk bare feet, there were professional dressed individuals surrounding her that would surely frown upon that.

Sighing, she stumbled into the hotel lobby.

"Miss, do you need anything?" The concierge asked.

"Sleep," she replied.

The man smiled politely. "I'll be happy to let the staff know not to disturb your room."

"It's room number 308."

She walked to the elevator and impatiently waited as it went up to the thirtieth floor. On her way out, she nearly bumped into someone stepping in.

"Watch it." she said with an unusually snarl in her voice.

The man turned around and she frowned when she saw it was Darius.

"I totally think you're stalking me at this point."

Darius let the elevator go and gave her a once over. "It's nice to see that you're not drunk."

"Merely hungover."

Darius cracked a smile. "And in fine spirits it seems."

"What are you doing here?" Nyla asked.

"Attending the conference, like you I presume."

Nyla frowned. "I didn't see your name on the speakers list."

"I'm one of the surprise speakers."

But Nyla wasn't done, she continued poking around. "You weren't on the plane either."

"Last minute meeting," he placed his hands in his dress pants, "I had to take the corporate jet to reach in time."

"That's nice," Nyla said casually.

She began walking towards her hotel room but to her surprise, Darius followed her.

"Don't tell me you're going back to work."

"As a matter of fact, I'm going back to sleep."

Darius scrunched his eyebrows. "You're in a new city and you rather sleep than explore?"

Nyla sighed. "We are in San Francisco, not some other city like Cairo. It's practically New York 2.0."

Darius looked deeply offended. "You miss, need to learn how to explore like a tourist and not a businesswoman."

Nyla laughed. "What's the difference?"

"Simple, tourist have no expectations. They don't want something from the city. They set out and they explore while saying yes to everything."

Nyla was feeling a bit intrigued by Darius' proposition. "Fine, I'll bite. What do you have in store?"

Darius grinned, and his face transformed. His normally blue eyes seemed even lighter than before. "Say yes like a tourist would first."

"Yes," Nyla grounded out.

"Leave the rest to me." He checked his watch. "Shit, I have to get on stage soon."

Nyla snorted while watching Darius press the elevator button again.

"Listen, take a nap and change into something less formal. Once I'm done, I'll come pick you up and we will explore the city then."

He stepped into the elevator. "Oh, and don't be late!" he called.

"I never am." Nyla shouted but the door shut before Darius could hear her parting words.

Nyla walked to the end of the hall, she had a king size bed that was waiting for her.

♠♠♠♠♠♠

Nyla stepped out off the hotel and she was surprised to see Darius dressed in dark blue jeans and a simple grey t-shirt that clung to his muscles. Until now, she had mostly only seen him wearing suits so see him dressed casually, was different for her.

"Ready?" he asked.

Nyla tugged the backpack straps tighter. "Yes." She bought the bag on an impulse and she had also changed into comfortable clothes consisting of tights and a breezy tiered shirt.

"Where are we going first?"

Darius slowed down his steps to match hers. "I was originally thinking the golden gate bridge, but I think that will be the best during the sunset. We can start with the pier, they have good seafood there apparently."

"Lead the way," Nyla said.

After a short uber ride, they arrived at a placed called the Fisherman's Wharf. According to Darius, it was home to many museums but right now, all Nyla could see were the different seafood restaurants.

"Do you want to eat first or explore?" Darius asked her.

"Why don't we get something to eat and then we can walk around, maybe even sit by the pier."

Darius nodded and the two of them ordered crabs from on of the shops. Before Darius could pay, Nyla had slipped a twenty.

"Remember you paid for the pizza?"

Darius laughed. "That was many moons ago."

"You also paid for my lunch when I had to leave the restaurant for a meeting." She reminded him.

Darius shook his head but put back his money with a smile. The walked around and saw the wax museum before taking in the pier and multitude of boats.

"Okay, serious question." Nyla took a bite of the crab, it was delicious—different from anything she had ever tasted before. Simply put, it tasted like the ocean. "This determines if you're the ultimate rich boy, do you have a yacht?"

Based on how quickly Darius turned his face, Nyla knew she hit the nail on the head. "Honestly, I don't think I've met anyone as preppy as you."

"Shut up," Darius said. Nyla knew he was feeling a bit embarrassed and his skin was turning a light shade of pink. "It was my fathers, it's in Florida, near our beach house."

"Beach house?"

"Don't you dare say anything." Darius grumbled.

"I won't so long as you take me for a ride." Nyla said teasingly.

Darius looked surprise for a moment before he recovered. "It's a deal."

The rest of their day was spent exploring San Francisco. They visited museums, botanical gardens, and everything else that the tour guide pointed out. Finally, they finished off the day at the Golden Gate bridge. The sun was coming down and the beautiful shades of pastel blues and pinks could be seen across the sky.

The two of them were seated on a jagged rock taking in the scene in silence.

"Thank you." Nyla said softly.

Darius turned towards her and in the fading light, it his seemed darker—more enchanting. "For what?"

Nyla broke the eye contact. "For taking me around and letting me explore this city. I'll admit it, I didn't think San Francisco could be this fun."

A smile made its way onto Darius' face before he placed a hand over hers. "That's what friend are for, aren't they?"

In the dimming light and vague sound of city traffic behind them, Nyla did realize that Darius spoke the truth. Somehow, between all their arguments and weird encounters, he had become someone she relied on and that terrified her.

She took out her hand from under his and crossed her arms instead. Darius' gaze lingered on hers, but she refused to look at him. She had trusted so many times before and it had only come to bite her in the back. It was terrifying to trust someone again. She was scared but also a small feeling of hope sparked up inside her chest after a long time.

She was shaken out of her thoughts when Darius stood up abruptly. "We should head back to the hotel now, for the dinner party."

Nyla stood up and brushed the gravel from her jeans. She almost forgotten about the dinner party. "Yeah, we should go before we are late for the event."

Darius didn't say anything but walked on. Nyla followed silently.

♠♠♠♠♠♠

Nyla walked into the dinning hall feeling a bit self-conscious. She didn't really know many of the people here tonight besides Darius of course. Her eyes scanned the room looking for him and she spotted him wearing a suit—it looked like he was back to his regular clothing. He was surrounded by a crowd of people and Nyla didn't really want to approach him.

She pulled down her plum coloured dressed. She had not opted for a blazer as the dress seemed professional enough. She didn't know where to go but luckily, she was approached by a young brunette in a forest green dress.

"Everly," the women shook Nyla's hand.

Nyla introduced herself and the women's eyes lit up.

"You're the CEO of Renne?" The women produced Renne in the French way making Nyla think that maybe English was not her first language. "I love the new products you introduced. You are making great stride with the company. I heard about the vitamins, it seems like a very interesting project."

The two of them became quite engrossed in a conversation about skin care products and supplement. It turned out that Everly was dabbling in her own home remedies and she was quite willing to share with Nyla things that worked and other things that didn't. During their conversation, Nyla was also able to learn more about Everly. She had graduated from University of Chicago with her Bachelor of Business Administration before completing her Master's in in Marketing from the same place.

Nyla was so engrossed in the conversation that she didn't notice that Darius stood by them until he gave a little cough.

She turned her head so fast that she almost hit Darius with her tight pony tail.

"Ah, this is my partner in crime, Darius Giordano." Nyla introduced. "He's helping me with the financing of the vitamins."

The two shook heads. "It's a pleasure to meet you," Darius said smoothly.

Nyla almost rolled her eyes and she glanced at Everly's reaction. Darius had barely said a couple of words, but it seemed like the women was enthralled. The two of them carried a conversation till the dinning room where they were seated in different places. Nyla quickly took her seat not minding at all that she wasn't seated to Darius.

"He's quite charming." Everly said from beside her.

Nyla gave her a small smile. "Isn't everyone in the business world?"

Everly looked at her for another moment before she too smiled. "Never heard a more truthful statement in my life."

The rest of the dinner was spent pleasantly in Everly's company. She could feel Darius staring at her from across the room on occasion but whenever she looked, his gaze was averted elsewhere. At the end of the night, she said goodbye to Everly inviting her to come visit her in New York when she could. Nyla rushed to her room, carefully not to linger in the hallways—she didn't want another encounter with Darius, or worse—someone else.

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