The Grand Mistress

Hawk's empty seat made Feather's eyes tear up and in a moment, she laughed self-deprecatingly at the thought that he left just because she took so long to choose  a dress.

  How foolish was she? 

For the last few days she thought that somehow she had gained Hawk's love again by sending her own Father to beg him to be  good to his daughter.

However right then, seeing how he shamefully left her and in this most special time kind of made her lose some self-respect. How far will Hawk make her feel so worthless?

The bouquet she was holding fell on the ground and Feather, without a word, she went to the sofa  and sat there herself frustratedly. If only she had been a little early, perhaps things would be a little different and she would not have experienced this humiliation in front of the store's staff who all took pity on her right at that moment. They hated her just minutes ago but seeing how she was stood up made them sympathize with her, they were after all just humans.

"Miss Han, I believe President Hawk must have an emergency," Ami tried to lighten up the mood that sank in depths of chaos. "We all know he wouldn't just leave if it's not that important,"

Feather wasn't listening then. Her heart was shattered to pieces and it felt like there was no more remedy to Hawk's treatment of her. How could he be so hard on her now that he had taken his love and devotion already. If only she didn't love him and all she was after was the wealth he had then she shouldn't have felt this way, but she loved him already and every rejection he casted on her was a cut right through her heart.

"Miss Han, please don't cry," Ami sat beside her to comfort the ballerina. Although they couldn't blame Hawk for leaving as it had been so many hours already, they also thought Feather didn't deserve this. She was just merely overjoyed to the point that she missed the time.

"Miss Han—"Ami wanted to say something more but she noticed Feather stopped crying and started sniffing on the sofa. She caught an unfamiliar fragrance that she never smelled before, did someone come here and give Hawk a company?

"Red currant…" Feather's nose recognized it. Already in panic and messed up, she looked at everyone in the room and asked, "Who among you had a perfume made of red currant?"

Everyone looked at each other and immediately shook their heads no. This made Feather suspect more and so she asked further. "Did someone enter this room without my knowledge?"

"Miss Han, this room was reserved for President Hawk, only persons that he allows can enter here," One of the staff explained.

"Then did someone enter while I was busy dressing up?" Feather continued asking and the color of her face became worse to worse until it became frightfully pale at the realization that someone had indeed given Hawk some company. 

"We sure don't Miss. We were all there attending to you," the staff members explained  although some of them were lying. Of course they knew something happened there but they were all paid to shut up no one was going to give Feather a detailed narrative of it.

"I need the CCTV camera here," She demanded, head already turning and heart bursting out with so much annoyance. Was she tricked again? Did his mistress come to steal him at one of their most important moments? How long was Hawk going to allow this woman to ruin them both? Does he think he can go away with it just because he was Hawk Monsanto?

"I'm sorry Miss but only President Hawk can request that," The staff refused. They were in strict protocol and since Hawk was their client, he was the one who had the call for everything. Feather wasn't married to him yet and so she cannot insist on it.

"What? She is about to get married to President Hawk and you are denying her this?" Ami's confrontation raised above everyone's refusal. She was frustrated on how the staff was treating Feather specially that she knew they were stabbing the ballerina behind her back. She definitely could sense their indignation and mockery.

"It's a protocol Miss, we apologize"

"No! I don't care what your protocol is, get me the manager now!" Feather was screaming then. She couldn't control her anger anymore and would just do anything to get what she wanted then. She needed that mistress face! She needed to know who she was and so she could make her pay for what she was doing with her. God! She might just kill her right away and feed her filthy body to the sharks!

"As I said Miss—"

The staff member was not able to finish her words as the door suddenly flew open and right then, Hawk entered with Lucas at his back. When they both saw the commotion and Feather's tear jerked face, their heads both formed lines.

"Where have you been?" Feather spat at his face that made Lucas raise a brow at it. This was the first time he saw Feather breaking loose and the sight of her face ruined with mascara made her look like a crazy woman. 

"He was from the men's room Miss Han," Lucas answered for him. "His dress got messed up with wine so I brought some fresh clothes for him," He added some lies knowing that his boss was in a serious mess. He dragged his eyes then to Hawk who only looked down at Feather without expression. "Right President?"

"What's wrong with you?" Hawk's deep voice filled the room and everyone grew silent at his question, like his presence shut off all their courage and confidence. Even the staff bowed their heads down, not daring to take a peek at the couple's ongoing quarrel. "It took you so long to choose a dress and so I thought you wouldn't mind if I excused myself for few minutes,"

Truth was he needed to go to the men's room to freshen up because Simione not only ruined his pants, he also ruined his ego. She left him helpless that he ended up calling Lucas for fresh clothes and had to spend a few minutes in the men's room to remedy his urges and falled pride.

Hearing his explanation, Feather stepped back shamefully. "You weren't here the moment the curtain flew open, I thought you left,"

"And so you went on chiding everyone instead of calling me?" Hawk wasn't in a good mood then because of what happened between him and Simione. Of course he knew he couldn't take out his anger on Feather but for some reasons, she was annoying him knowing that she and his own foolishness got Simione really mad.

"I… I…." She lost some words to defend herself because she instantly feared the expression that flushed across Hawk's face. If not for Ami who supported her by caressing her back, she could have run away from his presence out of fear.

"President Hawk, I'm sorry for this mishap. My Miss was having a hard time picking a dress. That's why it took us so long to dress up and she was already in deep emotional trauma so I hope you can understand why she acted that way," Ami spoke for her. "She just went in panic when she was not able to see you here,"

Instead of pitying the girl, Hawk just found the commotion petty, so was Ami's excuse.  How did Feather end up being weak like this? He had been watching her all his life and received no single report of her being abused in the opera house where he last saw her. In fact, she once sent him a letter saying how she was being treated better and being recognized for her talent and so he thought she would grow up very confident and full of dignity. All this only made Hawk more frustrated, not only with Feather but also with himself.

"Feather, don't you think it's time for us to see a therapist?" He suggested then knowing how messed up she had been for the past few weeks. His frustration with her got him thinking too that all this was his fault and that perhaps he should pay more attention to her emotional well being because the sight of Feather right now, definitely tells she wasn't in a good state of mind. 

"I'm okay President Hawk," Feather refused it outright. Her mother Fara also suggested the same but it was kind of risky on her career. If such a thing were leaked to the media, they would all say she had gone crazy and would not want to be subjected to such judgment.  "I'm just stressed out and perhaps overwhelmed with the upcoming wedding. I'll work on it and act better  next time,"

"Feather—"

"Please president Hawk. I just want to go home right now," She was done with it. She had already accepted the fact that one of the most important days of their wedding preparations was ruined. "Let's just schedule another day for this,"

There were no more words uttered after that. Hawk only looked at Lucas and he already knew what to do. Soon, Feather and Hawk were seen leaving the fashion house with nothing but Hawk's fallen pride and Feather's cold heart.

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