38 You have friends?

Alexander Sterling looked down and saw that he had indeed left some marks on Cindy Richards' hand. He immediately felt regretful and let go of her hand. There was deep remorse on his face at the thought of causing her any pain.

He looked at her and said slowly, "Sorry, I gripped too tight!"

He remembered that this was the reason why they always fought so he struggled to put a smile on his face.

Cindy Richards Looked at the hand that had just let go of her own. She coughed and asked, "What are you doing here?"

She reminded herself to act cool.

Seeing her expression, Alexander's face remained still for a moment before color came back. He needed to rust her and that meant that whatever emotions he was feeling right now needed to be suppressed.

Alexander Sterling looked at her, "I was here with a friend who recently came from abroad. It is his welcoming party.

For all the times Cindy Richards had known Alexander Sterling, she had never seen him with any friends. He was often alone and this made Cindy wonder if he had any friend at all but hearing that he actually had one made her surprised.

She smiled, "You have friends?"

Alexander Sterling looked at her, "Does it look like I don't?"

He did not know the kind of life he was living for Cindy to make such an assumption. He had friends, he just didn't speak with them often…

Cindy Richards laughed, "It is surprising that you do! I always knew you were void of any emotions and was incapable of making any friend so it is very surprising that you have some and even came to a place like this…this is unbelievable!"

Alexan Sterling walked and stood so close to her that Cindy almost forgot to breathe. He lowered his head and gave her a toothy smile, "Maybe you just don't know me that well!"

Cindy walked away from this dangerous man and coughed. He as a bit drunk so there was a charm he had that was making Cindy very sweaty. She moved away lest she do something she was going to regret.

She looked up and her gaze met with Alexander's. his gaze was burning and she looked down towards his lips and then looked away. She remembered how soft his lips were and she could not help but imagine the kiss they shared that say.

She coughed, "Well, if you have friends, that is good. I was also here with a client of ours. You met him in the morning. Our team was chosen to be in charge of his designs but I was feeling a bit tensed so I asked him to come with me here that was why I texted you earlier. You don't mind, right?"

She was saying this just because she did not want him to misunderstand. Although they did not love each other, they were still husband and wife on paper so it was good to show him some respect.

Alexander heard that and the storm brewing inside his heart settled. He looked at Cindy again and felt that this was too unreal.

Them talking like this and explaining things so they would not misunderstand and them having such a casual conversation was something he always dreamt of.

He did not know what force pushed him but he walked in slow steps and hugged her. His arms tightly wrapped around her small frame. He whispered softly, "Cindy, let us stay like this for a little while, alright?"

Cindy Richards felt the warmth wrapping around her and her heart calmed down. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his broad back. The two of them stayed like this for a good while before Alexander let go.

He gently pushed Cindy's hair away from his face, "Do you want to meet my friends?"

Cindy nodded but first she had to tell Benjamin. She promised to come in once she wrapped things up. Alexander nodded and quickly went back to the private room to wait for her.

Cindy also returned back to give Benjamin Clarke a heads up that she would be joining Alexander and his friends.

She found Benjamin by the open bar. He was sitting on his chair while sipping on his gin slowly.

He looked up and his eyes met Cindy's. a smile formed on his face as he started to complain, "Where did you go to? I looked everywhere but I could not find you."

Cindy Richards took the seat next to him, "I ran into my husband and we had a chat outside for a bit."

After saying the sentence out loud, she realized how wrong it sounded.

A married couple running into each other at a bar? Nothing sounded more absurd than this.

Benjamin Clarke looked at her. For some reason there was sadness in his eyes but Cindy did not notice this.

She quickly picked up her bag and apologized, "I have to go. Some friends of his are around and he wants me to meet them. I don't know when it will end and I am afraid I won't be here to accompany you anymore."

Benjamin smiled, "No need. Go join him. We will meet tomorrow for work anyway."

Cindy Richards nodded, "Okay then. I will text you our meeting time early tomorrow and then we can meet up later."

Benjamin nodded and he watched as she climbed the stairs that led to the VIP section. Her body was so slim that he thought she was going to fall off the staircase but luckily, she made it up.

Cindy Richards walked quickly towards the room Alexander had told her. Her heart was beating weirdly this was the first time she was meeting Alexander's friends and the thought alone made her giddy with joy.

The room was around the corner and she practically ran towards it and opened the door.

She was looking down but the moment she looked up, he whole body froze and the hands on the handle began to shake.

She whispered slowly, "Alex…"