1 Elijah's Girl

The minute whispers and chattering of the guests resounded into Keagan's ears like screaming sirens. Her head spun, and her mouth was shut tight from the scare of a gag reflex. A hand kept her from opening it as well. The party was elegant and classy, but to her, it was like some kind of warped club party. The sounds and sights didn't match what she was seeing.

'I shouldn't have drunk that…' Keagan whispered in her mind as she tried her best to navigate to the bathroom. However, in a huge place like this, it was impossible to get to the restroom from the heart of the party. The ground was waving, and it took her all to walk without swaying.

"Isn't that her? Elijah's girl, right? Look at her. What is she doing?" A voice echoed from the side, but Keagan ignored the chattering it gave birth to.

"What's happening to her? Did she get drunk?" Another group chattered as she walked past them. "Really? At a company party? That's so embarrassing."

"Maybe she never drank something so good in her life," someone answered. 

Keagan was even tempted to speak to them, but her state right now was incomparable to getting drunk. Getting drunk? She only had one glass that her boyfriend's friends offered to her.

Her eyes grew heavy, and her entire body felt so itchy. The part between her legs began to pulse, but her throat and mouth asked for more attention. Unlike that thing, those two could ruin more than her mood. Her dress and her boyfriend's reputation were surely on top of the list.

Right, she only came to this party to accompany her boyfriend, Elijah. After all, some directors were bringing their wives, so he—being the youngest and most eligible as they called him—should bring the prized girlfriend. Yes, she was just supposed to be a decoration around him tonight.

It was just that the directors were called to an urgent meeting by the President/CEO. Their wives only went to crowd around one another and play a game of tooting horns. As for Keagan, she was left to the company of Elijah's friends. They had their girlfriends around them as well, but they didn't let Keagan into their conversations.

Keagan Allard was a has-been model of a famous magazine. However, she left the industry five years ago. She just stuck to being a stay-at-home girlfriend while Elijah housed her in a condominium unit he owned. However, her past would always come up because of Elijah's bragging. She was also stealing gazes from a lot of men, making their wives and girlfriends hate her.

After all, she left the modeling industry after a long and arduous silence due to a huge scandal. To their eyes, she had always been that kind of woman.

'Elijah… help me…' Keagan reached the double doors to leave the dancehall where everyone gathered. She reached out her other hand to open the doors, but the knob moved away from her trembling hand. When she looked up, her eyes grew wide at what she was faced with.

Right in front of her was a woman who stood almost a head taller than her. The woman's dark hair seemed to have a strange pink shine underneath, while her sharp eyes gave off a lazy gaze. Her blood-red lips sat on a line as if she didn't even notice Keagan right in front of her. The only sign she noticed Keagan was that she stopped after one step inside the dancehall.

Her sharp eyes moved down to look at Keagan, the girlfriend panicking and freezing in terror. Why wouldn't Keagan cry? She just ran into Wren Chastain, the President/CEO of Golden Bloom, Inc., a member of the Carousel Group. 

This woman was literally her boyfriend's boss!

"Keagan? Get out of the way!" Elijah hissed at his girlfriend. He didn't know why she was trying to leave, but it would be best if she moved out of the way now.

Keagan didn't even realize that Elijah was with the boss, along with the rest of the directors and the VPs. When she turned to speak to him, she forgot how she was holding back everything for a very long time. Like a bullet, she threw up right at the president's dress.

Along with the disgusted gasps were screams from the others. Keagan couldn't help but fall to the floor as she retched and threw up more violently than earlier. Elijah didn't even know what to do if he got fired because of this woman.

"She's having an allergic reaction. Call a doctor." Wren didn't react with more than a subtle flinch when Keagan threw up right in front of her. Seeing how sickly Keagan looked, Wren knew something was wrong. Even when Keagan soiled her shiny dark green dress, she still kneeled to keep Keagan's hair out of her face.

"I'm really sorry, Ma'am!" Elijah wanted to bring Keagan away from the president, but he still froze at the glare she gave him.

"Go around the food stalls. See if she ate something that she shouldn't have. It'll help the doctor prescribe medicine." Wren just gave an order Elijah couldn't refuse. She didn't even watch the man run to the food stands to look for his friends. After all, they should know what she ate.

Keagan coughed out the last drops of the bile in her throat. Because she barely ate anything these days or at the party, there was nothing much to clean… aside from those on the president's dress. Even her own beige gown was cleaner.

Instead of using her wrist to clean her mouth and chin, Keagan felt how a handkerchief pressed against her mouth. She looked up and saw how Wren was helping her clean her face, even holding her hair for her. With a blush, Keagan looked down at the mess she made.

"I'm so sorry, Madam Chastain. I'll pay for the dress… and the handkerchief—!" Keagan murmured at the start, only to start panicking. After all, she remembered how Elijah saw the entire thing.

"It's fine. I can buy ten more of these. Let's just get you cleaned up before the doctor arrives." Wren only smiled for a second before helping Keagan to her feet. She then let Keagan deal with her chin as the lady ran her fingers along Keagan's smooth and long neck. "You're breaking out in hives. Maybe allergic reaction. Do you remember what you ate?"

Keagan stared at the lady, her blush spreading to her ears and shoulders. The touch on her neck tickled her, but she did her best not to jerk. When Wren stared right at her, Keagan realized she was asked a question. Right, what did she eat?

For some reason, her first instinct was to look down as if scanning what she spilled on the floor. Then, she remembered, "Uh, the champagne…"

"All right. Let's go." Wren gently pulled Keagan away from the spot of her shame and demise. Her first secretary was also making calls to get things cleaned up, while the second one had to follow Wren and lift the gown to keep it from soiling more of the carpet.

"I'm really very sorry… Please don't fire Elijah…" Keagan couldn't help but beg even if she was still lightheaded from her sudden sickness.

"Mm…" Wren only assented with a hum.

When the doctor came and looked at Keagan, he just prescribed a few pills and some sleep. Since she was sent home, Elijah also had to leave the party before everyone else. Wren was also not seen anymore for the whole duration of the party.

They might have gone away, but their names were all that there were on the guests' lips.