"What's this?" She asked him in confusion.
"Why don't you find it yourself?" He cheekily replied to her, making her shake her head with helplessness. Nevertheless, Stella still listened to him and opened the box.
What greeted her eyes was a small sunflower shaped pendant in a rusty gold color. She took it out of the box carefully and held it in her right palm. The rusty gold colored petals had lines of a darker shade, adding more depth to them. The petals were attached to the centre base which has small raised projections resembling the seeds of a real sunflower. The minute details added to the overall beauty of the pendant. The pendant was attached to a matching chain which was long enough to make it rest below the chest if someone was to wear it.
"Open it." Stella was busy admiring the gift when his voice interrupted her, bringing her back to the present. She was confused by his words at first but then she noticed a fine line running across the centre of the flower, dividing it into two equal halves.
She tried to pull the two parts apart, but instead of being divided into two, they two portions slid to the sides, exposing a small circle of the same color on which some letters were engraved. 'You are my Sunshine.'
Stella smiled while looking at the sweet words. She remembered the day he called her 'my sunshine' for the first time. As those memories flashed through her mind, her cheeks turned pink.
Adam was quietly looking at her, taking in all of her expressions as she looked at his gift. "Turn it around." He spoke up again after a while, causing her to shift her line of sight from the pendant to him.
Stella did what she was asked to. On the back of the circle, she was a date engraved just like the letters. She could recognize the date in one glance. How could she forget the day she said yes to him and agreed to be his girlfriend? Never in a million years.
"Do you like it?" She heard him ask. She looked up from the pendant and gazed into his eyes. Though she couldn't understand why but she could clearly see that he was a little bit nervous. 'Is he worried that I might not like his gift?'
"Nah! I don't like it." She replied to him with a straight face.
His face dropped down with sadness when he heard her reply, but it didn't last for long. What she said next, made him jubilant.
"I love it." Stella added after a dramatic pause. Her face didn't have a blank look anymore and her lips were curled up in a wide smile, showing off her perfectly aligned white teeth.
Adam heaved out a sigh of relief and pulled her in his embrace, hugging her tightly.
"How can I not love your gift? Silly." Stella spoke into his chest. 'This man worries for nothing at times.' She thought to herself, shaking her head sideways.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you something." Stella added smacking herself lightly on the forehead. How could she forget to inform him about today? 'You silly fool.' She reprimanded herself internally for her own forgetfulness.
"Forgot what?" Adam asked her as he released her from his embrace.
"I will be going to Uncle Liam's mall today." She replied. "I have to meet Rachel there in one of the restaurants there."
"Alright. But be careful around her. I don't trust her around you." Adam added heaving out a sigh.
"Don't worry. I won't let down my guard. It's better to be safe than sorry. Even if she's changing for good. I can't trust her at all, not yet at least." Stella nodded her head in agreement.
"Neither can I." He added softly before patting her head lovingly.
"Can you put it on?" Stella asked him, handing him the pendant and turned around so that her back was facing him. She grabbed her hair in between her hands and pulled them up, giving him clear access to her neck.
Adam complied to her demand right away and put on the pendant around her neck, securing the lock in the end.
Stella turned around and showed him the pendant which rested slightly below her bosom. "It looks good. I love it." She added with a bright smile, throwing her arms around his neck, throwing herself on him. The force almost knocked him down on the bed. "Thank you so much, darling." She uttered her thanks heartily.
Adam felt his heart skipping a beat when her sweet voice entered his ears. It was the first time that she was using an endearment for him. 'Darling. I like the sound of it.' He thought inwardly while the corners of his lips turned upwards.
------------
"Are you sure that you don't want me to accompany you?" Adam asked her as she was getting ready for her meeting with Rachel. Stella was inside the walk-in closet, changing into something less casual, but not too formal either. Adam was working on his laptop, leaning his back against the headrest.
"I am more than sure, Adam. And are you forgetting the fact that you train me daily? I can easily handle her if she tries to pull off some funny stunt on me." Stella replied to him while walking out of the closet.
She was dressed in a plain, turquoise off-shoulder dress which reached till her mid thighs. The sunflower pendant which hung around her neck, looked more appealing and eye-catching on the plain dress. Just like always, she had kept her make-up to the minimum with a blush lip color. Two small golden studs adorned her ears, glittering as they reflected the warm lighting of the room. Her slender, dainty feet sported a pair of plain off-white, heeled pumps.
"Woah!" Adam exclaimed at the sight before him. He could never comprehend how could someone look this good in a plain dress.
"What are you gawking at?" Stella asked furrowing her delicate eyebrows.
"You, of course." Adam stated as a matter of fact, still not tearing her eyes away from her beautiful silhouette.
Stella walked towards him, her heels clicking against the marbled floor. She came to a stop right next to the bed where he was sitting. Leaning towards him, she spoke softly. "You are drooling."
Adam raised his hand and traced his fingers next to his lips only to realize that she was playing with him. He narrowed her eyes at her, his gaze darkening as he looked intently at her mischievous smile. Grabbing her shoulders, he tugged her towards him.
"Why don't you clean it for me?" He smirked and captured her lips with his own. After kissing her senselessly, he let go of her lips, allowing her to breathe. "Is it still there?" He added as his eyes glowed with a mischievous glint.
Stella huffed and smacked him across his chest, hard before walking out of the room.
Adam chuckled when he saw her figure disappearing from his line of sight. He knew that he would be having an earful from her tonight. A ping sound from his laptop distracted him from his thoughts. He clicked on the notification and opened it. His gaze darkened as he scrolled through the content. He cursed under his breath a couple of times and picked up his phone.
"Did you get the email as well?" He asked the person on the other end of the phone.
"Yes, I did." The person replied. It was none other than Robert, the Vice President of his company.
"What do say about it?" Adam asked him.
"I think it's better if I go there in person and have a look at the situation." He replied to Adam
"You do that and let me know about it as soon as possible." Adam added before disconnecting the call.
He grabbed his laptop and walked out of his room, heading towards the rooftop. He needed some fresh air to clear his mind so that he could think about how to tackle the situation. He couldn't let this escalate in any case, it wouldn't be good for the company's reputation.
*********
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