Amelia's gaze narrowed at the young man.
"Excuse me! Do I know you?"
Maria was also confused, her gaze darting between Amelia and her son's best friend.
Henry immediately took off his disguise hoping to impress Amelia with his killer smile and handsome looks.
"Not really. But I know you." Henry was about to confess that he was the one who sent her flowers. But then that was meant to be a secret. "I am Henry..."
"... Gordon!" Amelia's eyes widened.
"Yes!" Henry was ecstatic. He couldn't believe his luck. Even though he was famous for his acting skills, he never dreamt she was the type of person who loved the action movie genre.
"Oh my goodness! As in the Henry Gordon?" Amelia asked, cupping her mouth.
"Yes, but please not too loud."
"Ah..." Amelia wanted to scream out loud, but Henry pleaded with her nonverbally to keep her voice low. "I'm your biggest fan."
"Really! Wow! That is good to know." Henry said scratching his head while grinning sheepishly like a young boy standing before his crush.
"Can I shake your hands or hug you," Amelia asked beaming like an excited child who was about to receive her Christmas gift from Santa.
"A hug will be much better." Henry couldn't hide his happiness and emotion. He felt breathless as Amelia jumped into his arms and hugged him briefly like a true fan before pulling away and giggling. If only she could top up the hug with a kiss.'
Maria, seeing the spark between the two quickly stood up to protect her son's interest.
"Have I suddenly become invisible, Henry? You see a beautiful lady and you forget your manners." Maria asked in a stern voice, hands akimbo.
"Sorry mom, I didn't mean to." Henry apologized. He quickly moved across the table to hug Maria.
"Forgive me, Maria, I got carried away too. I love watching all his movies. He's like the best action romance actor ever."
Amelia's words made Henry's head swell.
"It's fine. He is the best at what he does and he's a natural lady charmer." Maria said beaming.
"By the way, he called you Mom. Is Henry your son?" Amelia asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"He is like a son to me. But he's actually my son's best friend." Maria corrected.
"Oh...okay. Umm, Maria, if you don't mind, can I take a picture with him? I would like to show my friends that I met with the blockbuster superstar today."
"Sure!" Henry said without hesitation.
"She was asking me, silly." Maria playfully slapped Henry on the back of his head making Amelia laugh.
"Go ahead, Amelia." Maria made room for Henry to move closer to Amelia, whose phone was already raised and ready to capture a selfie picture.
"Cheese." Jerry smiled as the camera light flashed.
"Can I please take another? This time, I want Maria to join us."
"You can take as many pictures of me as you want," Henry said dreamingly.
"Such a dramatic young fellow. Don't forget that this is not a movie." Maria came between them and smiled as Amelia took another selfie.
"Thank you, Henry and it was such a pleasure meeting you," Amelia said putting her phone in her bag.
"The pleasure is all mine."
"Take of yourself, Maria. I will chat with you later." Amelia said as she took her leave.
"Bye, sweetheart." Maria waved before taking her seat.
"Mom, I think I found the love of my life," Henry said as he took his seat beside Maria.
"You better take your eyes off her because I'm planning to make her Blaze's wife," Maria warned in a very stern voice.
"Oh come on Mom. Blaze is not ready for love. But I am." Henry said playfully.
"I will be the judge of that. So stay away from her and look for another girl to dazzle." Maria eyed him before resuming her meal, beaming to herself.
After more than four hours at a closed-door meeting session with some of the leading business tycoons in the gold and diamond mining industries, Blaze was alerted to some disturbing information that left a really sour taste in his mouth.
On his phone were a series of missed calls both from, his ghost hunters, Amelia's bodyguards and Marcus. He also received text messages, keeping him updated on all of Amelia's activity in Salvine City.
However, when he opened a series of pictures sent to him, his entire calm frame was distorted.
The first picture that made his blood boil with rage was the brutalized corpse, of his informant at the Mort Lead enterprise, - a textile company. This company was operated and run by Stanley Morgan, Jerry Morgan's younger brother. However, instead of the genuine business of producing textiles, they were discreetly involved in laundering money for some notorious drug traffickers and underground sex work.
The second picture was a bouquet sent to his wife by his best friend. Even though Blaze was yet to confide in Henry concerning his marriage to Amelia, he was still piqued by Henry's romantic gesture.
The third picture that left him completely speechless and furious like hell was that of Amelia cozying up to his mother, at the hospital and a certain restaurant.
Then the last straw that broke the back of the camel was the picture of Amelia hugging Henry in the presence of his mother and also taking pictures with him.
With eyes darkened like a gloomy cloud about to rain hail and muscles tensed as a hungry grizzly bear about to wreak havoc, Blaze kicked the stool in front of him so hard that it flew across the room and smashed on the wall.
Marcus, who was standing beside him, shuddered slightly, taking a few steps backwards.
"Make arrangements for the next available flight back to Salvine city. We are going home."
Blaze stood up from his seat and strode to the mini-bar in his presidential suite, to fix himself a strong drink. His mind was chaotic with only thoughts of the things he would do to Amelia, for breaking one of the conditions in the contract.
Marcus, who hadn't seen his boss in this terrifying mood for a long time decided to stall their departure by raising concerns about their unfinished business in country Y which was time-bound.
"Do as I have instructed, damn it" Blaze boomed, smashing the glass of wine he was initially pouring from himself, on the cold marble floor.
Marcus flinched, his pupils dilated in horror. He stared at the shattered glass on the floor, his mind painting a raw picture of what Blaze would do to his innocent best friend. 'I have to do something to stop him.'
Just then Blaze's phone rang, pulling him out of his excruciating thoughts.
Marcus, who was standing closer to the phone, craned his neck and said.
"Boss it's your mother."
Gritting his teeth, Blaze took long strides back to the bed to receive the call.
"Mum, can we talk later, I'm in the middle of something?"
"No, son. Please, you have to listen to me. This can't wait. I just found you the perfect girl. Her name is Amelia and she is so beautiful." Blaze could feel the excitement in his mother's voice as she spoke.
"I know... I know you told me that you found someone." Maria cut him off, not giving him any room to argue. "But this girl is different. We connected from the first minute we interacted and I think I like her so much. Even Henry thinks the same thing.
Blaze's grip tightened on the phone, his gaze more darkened than usual "Henry is also interested in her?"
"Don't mind Henry. I've told him to look elsewhere because I'm saving her for you."
"How nice of you, Mom." Blaze chuckled bitterly.
"So, how soon can you come back to town?"
"Because I'm planning to set you up with her, silly. I want you to just see her. You will thank me for this."
Blaze's anger softened a bit at his mom's tenaciousness.
"Fine, I'll be in town tomorrow evening."
Marcus, who hadn't moved from where he was standing, released a sigh of relief as Blaze ended the call.
"Does this mean I can still arrange tomorrow's meeting?" Marcus's voice was low but firm.
"Get lost," Blaze said, tossing his phone on the bed.
"Thank you, sir." Marcus smiled as he left the room to get the hotel housekeeping.