ENCHANTED LOVE, VOLUME 3 - Season 10 Episode 57

“This afternoon?” asked Isla. She furrowed her brows slightly with as a mark of concern spread over her face.

She took a moment to think and then asked, “I need to go out this afternoon. Can you handle it yourself?”

“Don’t worry about me,” Sheryl replied with a reassuring smile. “I have worked on this for years. I can deal with it properly.”

Isla maintained her creased brows and remained thoughtful for a while. “How about taking Alicia with you?” Isla suggested, looking worried. Sheryl had joined back after a very long time and Isla was not yet ready to let her handle any assignment all by herself. The best person who could be with Sheryl in Isla’s absence was Alicia.

Alicia was a new intern in Cloud Advertising Corp. Just like Sheryl, she was smart, modest and enterprising. She was a fast learner and both Isla and Sheryl had high expectations of her.

“There is no need for that,” Sheryl refused, shaking her head slightly. “Alicia has been busy these days. Besides, I am just going to meet a client and take note of her requirements. I can do it on my own.” Sheryl sported confidence to put Isla’s concerns to rest.

Isla heaved a sigh and agreed at last, “Well, then call me if anything happens.”
Isla picked up her hand bag and got ready to leave the office. She was still in two minds as she walked towards the door. As she reached the door, she stopped holding the door knob and turned around at Sheryl. Isla watched Sheryl go through the papers. She still felt unsettled about Sheryl meeting the client alone. She repeated once again to Sheryl, “No matter what happens, I will always be your side. So feel free to talk to me whenever you need any help, okay?”

“Sure, I will,” Sheryl replied with a smile. The worries on Isla’s face didn’t evade Sheryl’s eyes. She said reassuringly, “Don’t worry, Isla. I am good.” Isla forced a smile on her face, opened the door and walked off.

The door close making a soft bang, leaving Sheryl all by herself. The thoughts of the strange man she had run into this morning came hovering into her mind. She closed her eyes and shook her head trying to put the thought away and tried to focus on the client she was going to meet this afternoon.

The appointment with this new client was fixed over a telephonic conversation. Hence, Sheryl knew little about her identity.

Sheryl collected all the important papers she needed and left for the meeting. Upon reaching the restaurant, she was greeted by the waitress, “Hello, are you Miss Courtenay? “Miss Travis has been waiting for you.”

“Miss Travis?” Sheryl repeated looking a little taken aback. The only one in Sheryl’s knowledge with the family name Travis was Helin. But she had no idea why the lady would come to her. Sheryl creased her brows as she became thoughtful for a moment. When she looked up, the waitress was waiting for her with the same welcoming smile on her face. With a tint of surprise and confusion, she nodded at the waitress with a smile.

The waitress led her across the main hall into a private room. She then held the door open for her to enter. “Miss Courtenay, Miss Travis is waiting for you inside,” she said politely.

Sheryl entered the room to find Helin sitting on a couch. Helin gazed at Sheryl as she entered the room. Their eyes met and both of them forced a diplomatic smile.

Dressed in that dark green long dress, the young girl looked pretty elegant and charming as she leaned on the couch making a graceful arch with her slender frame.

After the initial hitch between both of them sunk in, Helin made the first move. She rose from her seat and dashed towards her guest. “Miss Courtenay, here you are. Please have a seat,” she gushed.

Helin grabbed Sheryl by her hand and seated her down on the sofa. She smiled as she poured a cup of tea for her. The next moment she sprang up and did a twirl exhibiting her dress. “Is it looking good on me?” she asked merrily.

“You look very pretty,” Sheryl pressed her lips in a diplomatic smile as she replied. “Miss Travis, you are beautiful and slender. You look pretty in whatever you wear,” she added as she marked the playfulness in Helin’s demeanor.

“I should thank you for letting me buy this dress,” Helin beamed with her eyes sparkling with joy. Sheryl smiled back in reciprocation to her enthusiasm. Women love being flattered, and Helin was no exception.

Helin returned to her seat and held Sheryl’s hand in a very warm manner. She lowered her eyes momentarily and Sheryl could mark a glimmer of regret lurking behind her smile. Helin looked up at Sheryl once again and spoke in an earnest voice. “Miss Courtenay, I hope that you will not blame me for my rude behavior and words. It was a mistake. I just came back from a ceremony abroad. The first thing I thought of is apologize to you. I am really sorry for what I did to you.” Sheryl remained quiet and allowed her to speak.

Helin pulled a shopping bag from the side of the couch and held it out to Sheryl. Sheryl looked at the shopping bag and her jaws dropped out of surprise. But before she could refuse it, Helin spoke with excitement. “This is the gift I got for you. I don’t know if you will like it.” Then she handed the shopping bag to Sheryl.

Sheryl held the bag feeling awkward. A peek inside it made her eyes pop out. The next moment she furrowed her brows as she reflected in her mind, ‘This is a luxurious brand. Any of its product costs at least tens of thousands. Helin is stinking rich and spoilt. This amount is nothing for her. But how could I take such an expensive gift from her? It does not seem proper for me to accept her gift, especially when we are not even close friends.’

Sheryl maintained the frown on her face and shook her head as she returned the bag to Helin saying, “Miss Travis, this is too much. I can’t take it.” Sheryl held out the shopping bag, waiting for Helin to take it from her hand.

Helin frowned and looked a bit awkward. She gazed down at the bag for once and then at Sheryl’s face and managed to bring a smile on her face. She said, “Come on, Miss Courtenay, this is just a small gift and you are refusing to take it. Are you still mad at me?”

Helin did not make a move to take the bag from Sheryl’s hands. Sheryl smiled back at Helin and replied, “Miss Travis, you didn’t have to buy me a gift. I did not have any grudge against you. So there is no need for you to make an apology.”

“Miss Courtenay,” Helin called out as she took Sheryl’s hand in her hand intimately. Sheryl was startled at this sudden gesture and stared at Helin with a blank expression. Helin lowered her eyes in hesitation and spoke after remaining silent for a few moments. “I actually came to you because I hoped that you could do me a favor. But now that you have refused to take the gift, I feel so difficult to speak it out.”

Sheryl could see the cloud clearing by now. Definitely, there was some vested interest behind such sugary sweet demeanor sported by Helin. Sheryl gazed straight into Helin’s eyes and responded flatly, “Miss Travis, please feel free to let me know if I can be of any help. There is no need to beat around the bush.”

Helin lowered her eyes once more out of hesitation and bit her lips. ‘I failed to bribe Sheryl, but now that she is here, I have to ask for her help. I can’t give up after coming halfway,’ she thought in her mind.

“Well, here is the thing,” Helin began, fixing her eyes on Sheryl. Sheryl looked back at her waiting for her to speak. Now, Helin’s face was straight, bereft of any formal niceties that were just overflowing a few moments back. She cleared her throat and continued, “You know that I have feelings for Roger. We work in the same company and we get along with each other very well. I really like him.”

Helin’s face blushed as she confessed her love for Roger in front of Sheryl. With a coy smile, she continued, “I have been dreaming to marry Roger one day. I also work hard to achieve my goal. But I am not sure about Roger’s feelings for me. Sometimes he treats me very well and I think he likes me. But sometimes he is distant to me, and I feel that he has no feelings for me.”

With a troubled look, Helin smiled wryly. There was a tint of pain on her face as she continued to blurt her thoughts, “I thought that I would have a chance to win his heart as long as he didn’t date other girls. I thought he would find out that I am the only one who loves him sincerely as long as I don’t give up and stay with him.”

“Miss Travis, have you called me here to talk about your feelings towards Roger?” Sheryl asked, narrowing her eyes at Helin. Sheryl looked a little upset as she spoke. She was under the impression that Helin wanted to meet her to discuss business. When she learned her client was Helin, she was taken by great surprise. She had no intention of continuing to listen to the girl’s romantic story with Roger.

Sheryl looked disinterested and thought, ‘Instead of wasting time over here, I’d rather return to the company to finish the work so that I can get leave the office early to pick up my children.’

“Easy. Please. Hear me out,” Helin responded as she noticed Sheryl’s scowling face. She held Sheryl’s hands once again requesting her to stay. With a bitter smile, Helin explained, “I came here to talk business with you. But it has something to do with Roger.”

“Well… please go ahead,” Sheryl said with a frown.

Helin proceeded to tell Sheryl what had happened between her and Roger. She aired her concerns as she spoke, “I like Roger very much. But my father is always up to some measures to keep us apart. That makes me really angry.

I am not a little girl anymore, you see. I can handle my own things and I know what I want. I just hope he can stop getting involved in my love life.” Sheryl kept quiet, still wondering what business angle could be attributed to Helin’s concern. Helin’s eyes lit up in hope, she gave a sweet smile and said, “So I intended to propose to Roger in public. This way, my father can’t get in the way of my happiness even though he will be angry.”

When she heard Helin’s plan, Sheryl furrowed her brows. “Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked looking at Helin’s face ardently, trying to read her expression.

“Yes, I want to do this,” Helin nodded, the joy and excitement radiating from her face. Helin had made up her mind to fight for her love even though she had to face her father’s wrath by doing so.”