"Jen" Lucas said in a calm voice as he looked at his girlfriend that was clearly upset. He did not know what to say at that moment.
"Forget it," Jen said decisively and stood up to leave.
"Calm down first, it's a negotiation" Lucas said in an attempt to persuade her. When Jen heard this she couldn't help but scoff at him. Lucas felt strange when he saw her actions, but he didn't try to agitate her anymore.
"Negotiation? This is obviously you hoping for a boyfriend discount! let me tell you, forget it" Jen said
"How did you want to split the profits?" Lucas asked.
"20/80" Jen said as she touched her empty gla.s.s of water. she knew that she would have probably emptied its contents on his head if she didn't spit it on his face.
"20/80?" Lucas said with a raised eyebrow. She thought he was being outrageous? What exactly was she trying to accomplish?
"Yes," Jen said.
"Why?" Lucas asked.
"Well, it's my brand, I'm the one who will be responsible for training my staff, besides, people travel from all over the world just to have a taste of the food from my restaurant and besides, it will be a marketing point of the hotels. We'll be bringing you so much more guests and you have the audacity to exploit me?" Jen said in a single breath her voice rising gradually as she continued to make her point.
Lucas was feeling perplexed. He did not know his girlfriend could be so fierce. She thought he was being outrageous but wasn't she being even more outrageous with her demands.
"20/80 is too much, 50/50," Lucas said as he compromised.
"50/50? isn't it more beneficial if I just open the restaurants one by one in every city rather than rely on your hotels?" Jen asked.
"Jen!" Lucas said as he too started getting emotional. He was being disillusioned about her while simultaneously being the victim of her tyranny. So he was understandably upset.
"What? Are you upset?" Jen asked with a raised eyebrow. It had been a while since Lucas was in the position he currently was in since people normally yielded to Lewis & Co. but now he was not speaking for Lewis & Co. but himself and in addition to that, he was talking to his girlfriend who was being abnormally overbearing with him.
"I'm not upset, let's talk about this some other time" Lucas suggested, although his mood had already turned sour, he knew if they continued negotiating like this they would end up fighting and having a real falling out. So it was better if he stopped the negotiations completely.
"Mmh" Jen replied. Her mood had also taken a turn for the worst and she didn't look at Lucas as she stood up to go to the living room and resumed the movie she had been watching.
Lucas watched her as she gracefully walked towards the living room, her long smooth legs exposed from under the s.h.i.+rt and he couldn't help but think that she was beautiful. Even though they had a small argument.
Lucas sighed as he covered his face with his hands, he was feeling very frustrated but had no way to vent.
He silently cleared the table and put everything on the trolley the waiter left before pus.h.i.+ng it outside the front door so that they could come to pick it up later and went back inside. He looked at Jen who was still busily watching her moving and he went upstairs without saying a word.
Jen knew that she was being too ruthless with him but his proposal was certainly not proportionate with the amount of work that she would be putting into the whole project so she couldn't help but become angry. She watched him as he went upstairs and heard the bedroom door close softly.
Shortly after she saw him walk back downstairs wearing gym shorts and a vest and walked past the living room towards the gym. They both did not say a word to each other and Jen remained on the couch as she watched his figure disappear into his indoor gym.
Lucas turned on the music in the speakers and went to the treadmill where he started running. His body was tense and stressed from all the overtime and lack of rest. In addition to the fact that he had not been getting enough rest and also the fact that he almost had a fight with Jen, he was really just waiting for a meltdown.
He ran until he was tired before turning to the weights where he ended up moving instinctively towards what seemed to be the most suitable at relieving his stress. By the time he left the gym two hours had gone by and Jen was still sitting on the couch in the living room by the time he got out of the gym.
He briefly glanced in her direction but went back upstairs without saying anything.
Jen was so used to being pampered by Lucas that she did not know what to do when he was feeling upset. She didn't think that he would just ignore her after he finished venting in the gym and she couldn't help but feel at a loss.
Lucas went to the bathroom and took a quick shower before brus.h.i.+ng his teeth and going to the dressing room. After he put on his boxers he directly climbed onto his bed. He was still slightly upset but he didn't know if Jen was still mad at him. He kept on thinking about their conversation and before he knew it he fell asleep.
Jen sat in the living room for another hour before she gave up on the program she was watching and went upstairs. she concluded that Lucas was not going to return so she decided to check on him in his room.
When she entered, she saw him under the covers already asleep and she couldn't help but frown. She was busy stressing while he was asleep? She could only shake her head because she really was not good at fights. She always ended up losing but this time there was no conclusion so she was feeling fl.u.s.tered.
Jen sighed before she too climbed on the bed and turned off the lights. she got under the covers but maintained some distance from Lucas as she was trying to avoid touching him.
[A/N: I'm rolling my eyes]
When she finally settled comfortably, she felt an arm around her waist before she was pulled into Lucas' warm body.
"You finally came to bed," Lucas said sleepily as his leg slipped between her legs. He adjusted her body so that her head was resting on his muscled arm and her back was completely flush against his bare chest. He moved his head to the crook of her neck and made himself comfortable.
"Goodnight," Lucas said as he kissed the back of her ear before going back to sleep.
Jen was frozen as she laid in bed with him. she could feel his breath on her neck and shoulder and she had to close her eyes to revive her brain cells. She didn't think that he would embrace her so intimately after their altercation just hours before.
"You're thinking too loudly, just sleep," Lucas said his deep voice sounding right next to her ear. She was fidgeting as she was lying there which prevented him from falling asleep.
"Oh, okay," Jen said quietly as she closed her eyes and stopped moving around.