Laura walked out of the restroom wearing an easy smile, she kept her attention on Donovan like he was the only person she could see. She came up behind him, planted a kiss on his cheek, rounded her chair and sat beside him.
"Hope I did not stay too long?" She asked him with a childish look on her face.
James took a hold of her hand and stroked it gently, "not a problem my lady, take all the time you need."
Laura smiled and then faced Keith, "You're the one here for business?"
"You must know Keith Preston of the Ortho Speare," Donovan said to Laura, stretching a hand in Keith's direction first, and then towards Donna, "and his secretary, Donna... Brooks, I believe?"
Donna smiled and nodded at him.
"Yes I've heard of Keith Preston of the Ortho Speare," She said with a smirk, completely ignoring Donna, "nice to finally meet you Mr. Preston."
"Likewise," Keith replied to her with a casual smile, keeping his reply down to one word. Laura frowned.
Donna sat in silence, she could not take her eyes of Laura although she tried not to make it so obvious, the shock of seeing her brought back memories of what she had done the night she waylaid her. She glanced at Keith, but he sat looking at Donovan like he had never met Laura before, then she brought her attention back to Laura.
Mr. Donovan had already started narrating how he had met Laura, Keith listened with a smirk, he had leaned back against the chair and had one hand stroking his chin like he was trying to hide the look on his face. Occasionally, he would glance at Laura only to find her staring at him.
Laura's smirk was suspicious. She sat with her arms and legs crossed and would not take her eyes off Keith, and somehow, that angered Donna. She frowned and rolled her eyes.
Donovan's loud laugh brought her attention back to the group and what the man was saying, apparently Laura had been involved in a bar fight and that was how she had met James Donovan. It only took her two days to have him wrapped around her little finger.
“Now why would a lady go drink at a man’s bar and get drunk enough to pass out?” Keith asked casually with a half smile on his face.
Laura shrugged her shoulders and replied. “Oh, you know, for many reasons, heart break maybe, being rejected by the one you’re supposed to be with because he seems to have found a new toy he can play with.”
Donna's frown deepened when Laura looked in her direction with a cold stare that lasted less than a second.
“Wow, heart breaking indeed.” Keith replied with a cold voice, bringing Laura's attention back to him. Donna looked on at Keith, occasionally shifting her gaze from him to Laura and then back to Keith, she knew they were talking about their relationship but Mr. Donovan was oblivious to it as he looked on at Laura with pity in his eyes for her and patted her hand.
"I mean, who would want to hurt such a woman?" Donovan said with a pitiful look.
Keith folded his lips to stop himself from laughing. He turned his head away from the two and held his hand to his chin, this time he was trying to hide his laughter. He remained like that for a while before looking back at Laura, letting out a long breath.
Laura turned to Donovan with a smile and stroked his breads with her fingers. “I’m grateful to Mr. Donovan here…”
“James, Laura.” Donovan smiled and squeezed her hand gently. “James.”
She smiled and squeezed his hand a little too. “I’m grateful to James. He understands how to treat a woman. He understands how to treat me."
Silence fell upon them as Donna watched in wonderment at the display of fake Laura was giving to Mr. Donovan. The man was gullible, very gullible, to have fallen for her, or any woman at that in less than two days. But she could not trust Laura, their “accidental” meeting was just too perfectly timed, and she knew Keith felt the same, he was no fool, but what she could not figure out was what her agenda was.
“Right.” Keith coughed and straightened up in his seat. “Let’s get down to the real reason we had come here, shall we, Mr. Donovan?”
Donna sat straight as both Donovan and Keith became serious, she was grateful for the shift in conversation, finally they were talking about the main reason they had come here in the first place.
She had done a little research on James Donovan on her way here, the man was really as important as Keith had mentioned. He was a very wealthy man that dealt mainly in gold and other materials like that, and now he wanted to move a large part of his wealth - in gold - into the city.
She could not help but feel on edge. Laura's presence alone, tanglee up with such a man doing business with Keith made her jittery. She couldn't help it.
“I did consider having this meeting with both you and Mr Xiu of The Aviary as your companies both deal in importation, but Laura here,” he turned his attention back to her with a smile. “Strongly suggested that I go with Ortho Speare.” he returned his attention back to Keith. “And that is why I will not be having this meeting with The Aviary, my lady seems to trust your capabilities fully.”
Donna frowned slightly and swallowed, she moved her gaze to Laura who was smiling smugly at Keith but he was paying her no attention. She became uneasy, although she knew nothing about Laura other than her name and her previous relationship with Keith, she could tell that the woman was up to no good, she had other motives, but what?
Keith managed a smile to Mr. Donovan. “Ortho Speare has never disappointed any of its clients, Mr. Donovan, and we will not break our record with you.”
“I am counting on that.” the man said and got serious then leaned forward on the table with a frown on his face. “You see my goods are not just goods, they are my treasures, real treasures worth more than Ortho Speare.”
Keith too got serious. “I am very much aware of your dealings, Mr. Donovan, and your goods, whether they are toys or gold, Ortho Speare values a customer’s items equally.”
“That is good,” he said and leaned back on the chair he was sitting on. “But the fact is my goods are not like what your company gets to ship on a regular, no offense to you Mr. Preston…”