Chapter 97 - 97

Dealing with the final stack of documents that Macro had given them was much more difficult than Ian expected. 

He wasn't even through half of the pile when his phone began to alarm, signaling that it was time for them to leave and head to their meeting.

They had agreed to arrive ahead of time so that Ash could quickly brief them on what was going to happen.

As Ian knocked on Camilla's door, Jake came into the assistant's area, panting.

"Oh, great, you guys haven't left." Jake said as he struggled to catch his breath.

Ian gave Jake a confused look before knocking on Camilla's door.

Camilla opened the door as soon as Ian knocked, she seemed to have been anticipating the time as well. 

"Oh, hey Jake. Why are you here?" Camilla asked as she closed the door behind her and locked it. 

"I'll be joining you guys. Marco just told me who you'll be meeting." Jake said as he tried to recover from rushing up to the CEO's floor.

"Why do you need to come with us?" Ian asked as he gave Jake a curious look.

Was it possible that Jake was tagging along so that he could keep an eye on Ian?

Ian was aware of his short temper, he knew it could get the best of him at times. But today he was sure that he had it under control and that he wouldn't be doing anything stupid. 

He knew what was at stake for both him and the investigation that Jake wanted to happen. He wouldn't let his temper get the best of him this time.

"Because I want to be sure that if the Juans don't do anything stupid." Marco said as he stepped out of his office.

Ian could help but smile and let out a sigh of relief as Marco chased away his doubts that Jake was coming along to watch over him.

"From what I've heard, the Juans seem to be quite an unpredictable family. I want to be safe on this." Marco said as he looked at Ian.

"The Juans know me, or at least they know of me. When they hear that I am working for the Reyes Group they will behave." Jake said with a nod.

"But won't that be counter productive to us trying to catch Mike and Armand trying to steal sales and ruin the names of the other sales teams?" Ian asked Marco and Jake.

"Mike and Armand have no idea who Jake is." Marco explained. "They will still try to take that client."

"Even if they try, the Juans would never risk offending a family like mine." Jake said with a grin. "They also wouldn't dare to inform Mike or Armand of who I really am."

"We can't arrive in the same car." Ian pointed out. "That will look suspicious."

"I didn't say we were. I'll leave after you. I've also informed Ash that I'm tagging along." Jake said. "Now shoo, or you'll be late." He said with a laugh as Ian rolled his eyes at Jake and left with Camilla. 

The place where Ash had planned to meet with Manuel and his father was quite a drive from R tower.

It was a country club owned by the Reyes Group and one favored by Ash when meeting with her clients. 

She liked that place because very few sales people from Krisanta Land or any of the Reyes Group's affiliate companies chose to host their meetings there. It was mainly because it wasn't one of the new and popular places to go.

Despite the country club not being popular, it was still beautiful. It was designed to mimic the legendary hanging gardens with it's lush greenery and exotic plants.

It had a beautiful veranda where Ash had reserved a table for them.

As soon as she spotted Ian and Camilla arriving, she waved at them excitedly.

"I thought you guys would be late." Ash said with a smile as she gestured for them to sit next to her.

"We wouldn't dare." Camilla said as she pretended to be scandalized by the idea.

"I'm surprised you guys came together." Ash said as she gave the pair an odd look.

"We came from the office, so we decided to just carpool." Ian quickly explained.

"So the two of you, anything romantic going on?" Ash said in a low voice that was practically a whisper.

"What? No! We're just friends." Camilla said as she overreacted to the question. 

"Relax, as long as you aren't romantically involved you'll be fine." Ash said as she shook her head. "The Reyes Group isn't exactly the best place for couples." She explained.

Ian could see the sad expression on Ash's face, as if she was a victim of that fact. He decided to ignore it since it wasn't his place to have a say on the matter.

"Trust me, we aren't." Camilla said with a laugh. "I have no idea how many times I've had to say that. It's just silly because Ian actually has a girlfriend."

"Sorry about that, you guys just seem, well, close." Ash said with a weak smile. "Anyway, let's get back to work. Ohm before I forget, Jake will be joining us today. He wanted to watch our first sales meeting, which makes sense."

Ian and Camilla simply nodded as Ash began walking them through what she would be presenting to their clients.

She also confirmed that they would be meeting with Manuel Juan and his father.

Ten minutes after Camilla and Ian arrived, Jake arrived as well. He was now less friendly and more businesslike as he pointed things out to Ash that she could improve on.

As soon as they were done discussing, Ash spotted Manuel and his father arriving. She looked up and gave them a professional smile.

Manuel curtly nodded at her as he made his way to the table.

As he walked up to the table Manuel stopped and grinned, it seemed like he had finally spotted Ian and Camilla.

Ian wanted to laugh when he saw the confident look on Manuel's face. If only he knew what horrors awaited him in a few weeks.

"Ah Ian, are you a waiter here?" Manuel asked with a grin.. "I hope you didn't hire someone as worthless as him, Miss Ashley."