3 A Past Love

"Where do you think you two idiots are going?" Oliver Wright asked as he noticed Nathaniel and Jay making a move to leave.

Behind him, Clark visibly stiffened and paled.

Nathaniel subtly tilted his head, signaling for Clark not to intervene.

"It seems to me, Mr. Wright, that you have more important matters to deal with," Nathaniel said as he smiled at Oliver.

"Assistant Clark, are we just going to let Mr. Wright get away with this?" the bodyguard closest to Clark whispered as they watched Oliver humiliate their boss.

Clark sighed and shook his head.

"I've worked with the boss for several years now. He doesn't want us to intervene and I fear him more than I fear Oliver Wright," Clark told the bodyguard who simply nodded and returned to his spot.

As his men whispered among themselves, Nathaniel stood his ground against Oliver.

He knew that things would go much easier if he simply informed Oliver of who he was, but where was the fun in that?

"Who are you?" Oliver Wright demanded as he looked Nathaniel in the eyes.

Just as chaos was about to unfold in the hotel lobby, a white Toyota Corolla quickly pulled up to the parking lot.

"Fucking crazy," one of the parking attendants hissed as the car smoothly slotted itself into the only empty slot. "These young men are too confident with their driving skills."

The attendant was walking over to scold the driver when the car door opened and he was given quite a shock.

"These boys are stupid," a woman complained as she got out of the driver's side of the white Toyota Corolla. "I never said yes and now I have to fix their shit."

The attendants watched as the woman dressed in a black dress and business suit walked across the parking lot with her high heels clicking on the pavement.

"Damn, it was a woman." One of the attendants gasped as they watched her enter the lobby of Primus Hotel.

Out of earshot from them, the young woman, Maya Miller gently patted her brown hair making sure that it was neatly tied in a ponytail.

The scene that greeted her was one she never thought she would walk into.

"Nate?" She gasped as her eyes landed on a man she thought she would never see again.

"Maya—" She heard him gasp right before Oliver Wright threw a punch at him.

To Maya's surprise, Nathaniel caught Oliver's arm by his wrist and quickly applied pressure to Oliver's wrist allowing him to manipulate the situation. Nathaniel quickly incapacitated Oliver by twisting it and pressing it against his back.

"What the fuck!?" Oliver groaned as he struggled against Nathaniel's hold.

"Nate, let him go!" Maya said in a stern tone as she approached the two men. "You're hurting him."

"Maya, who is this man?" Oliver demanded as he tried to break free.

"Nate!" Maya shouted.

Nathaniel frowned but released Oliver from his grasp knowing full well that that was what Maya wanted.

"I only defended myself." He told Maya.

"I know." Maya said, nodding, acknowledging that Nathaniel had only acted in self-defense.

Maya's eyes scanned Oliver from head to toe to make sure he wasn't gravely injured. Nathaniel smiled victoriously as he noticed the disappointment in the other man's eyes when Maya didn't move closer.

"Who is he?" Oliver demanded to know.

"Oliver, this is Nate Rue, my ex-boyfriend." Maya said as she introduced Nathaniel to Oliver.

"This is the fucking reason you won't agree to marry me?!" Oliver shouted, clearly offended by Maya's choice not to marry him.

"I will not do this here," Maya responded in a stern tone. "I refused to marry you for my own reasons. I can't marry someone I don't love Oliver, stop pushing me to do something I don't want."

Nathaniel reached out to comfort Maya but was shocked when she brushed his hand away and slapped him on the cheek.

"Okay, I deserve that." Nathaniel sighed as he lifted his head and looked Maya in the eyes.

He stared into her black eyes and saw how much pain she was in.

"Can we talk about this?" Nathaniel pleaded.

"Give me a second." She answered before turning her attention back to Oliver.

She glared at Oliver, sending a chill up Nathaniel's spine. The Maya he remembered did not have an aura this domineering.

"Oliver, please leave. I'll talk to you another day, you clearly have other matters to attend to." As Maya spoke her eyes kept darting between Oliver and Clark.

She could tell that Clark was an important person, what she was unaware of was just how important Clark actually was.

"Maya—"

"Mr. Wright, my boss will arrive soon, I hope that you are in the proper mental and physical state to meet with him." Clark said in a warning tone as he tried his best to help his boss get a chance to speak privately with Maya.

Oliver nodded and left with his friends, Maya was surprised to find that Clark and the bodyguards remained standing at the hotel entrance.

"Sir, I'm sorry you had to witness this, I hope Oliver does not get into trouble," Maya said as she bowed deeply. "He is a friend that is merely worried about me and under a lot of stress, please forgive him."

Clark looked towards Nathaniel asking him what to do.

The woman bowing to him was the woman his boss loved, he was completely at a loss.

Nathaniel couldn't help but be amused with how awkward and uncomfortable his assistant looked. But nonetheless Nathaniel nodded, signaling to Clark that it was alright.

"It's fine, we will discuss the matter tomorrow when out boss arrives." Clark said as he assumed Nathaniel would want to speak to Maya.

"Thank you, sir." Maya said as she smiled sweetly at Clark, making him blush and look away.

"We will be off then," Clark informed Maya. He spoke loud enough so that Nathaniel could hear that his men were leaving and where they were headed. "Our boss is at his penthouse apartment, we will inform him of what happened."

When Clark and the others left, Maya then finally turned her attention to Nathaniel.

"Let's talk." She declared as she led him to a more private location where they could speak.