A Weekend With The Alpha
A Weekend with the Alpha Chapter 20

My heart doubled a beat when my eyes returned to rest on him and I found him watching me, but unlike others, he wasn't clapping; he was just watching me intently like I owed him like I took something that was his.

I wasn't hallucinating when I saw him at the restaurant many days ago. Seeing him here today told me what I had seen was him. He was there that afternoon, watching me like he was doing now.

He looked the same way he did when I had seen him at domino restaurants and also in my dream. He had longer hair length and trimmed beards unlike five years ago, but didn't look to have aged a bit since then.

His appearance now meant I was no longer safe with my son. Five years ago, I said goodbyes to him and thought I would never see him again, but here he was at the place I least expected. This was my nightmare becoming a reality and there was nothing I could do.

"Zera, they are waiting for you." the host whisper-yelled at me, forcing me back into the reality of my surroundings to know I wasn't in the room with Aaron alone, but with over a hundred others. I couldn't let him have control over my mind. I had to focus on the task at hand.

I dragged a deep breath, and once again, I forced a smile. A low applauding started from the corner of the room and I knew it was Daniel doing. It was his way of encouraging me, and it worked. In a few seconds, the hall echoed with rounds of applause. This fueled my confidence as I stared down at the speech typed out on the paper before me. I lifted my head with much confidence, nodding my appreciation to him before facing the crowd.

I cleared my throat. "Thank you for the encouragement. I haven't done this before, so pardon my sudden stage fright." I said, letting out a small giggle. "But thanks for giving me the platform and having confidence and faith that I can deliver," I spoke, making sure I avoided the corner where I had spotted Aaron a while ago and knew he sat.

"Welcome everyone to the hand of hope fundraiser. Ladies and gentlemen, we are so honoured to have you take time out to be here. A lot of you had busy days and tight schedules and so it is an honour to have you here. We will not forget to mention our partners who flew across countries and states to be here with us tonight. Know that we appreciate all your effort."

"The need to give one more student all he or she needs to advance in education keeps us going. With your donation four years ago, we were able to grant scholarships to over forty students, foreign and domestic combined. And one hundred and twenty educational aids to others." loud applauds went through the crowd, and when the clapping seized, I continued.

"On behalf of over one hundred and sixty students whose lives your generosity affected positively in the last four years, we want to say thank you. With our voice as one, we welcome you to the tenth fundraiser hosted by Stanford University. We encourage you to feel at home and we have so many entertainments lined up just for you. Once again, welcome and have a great night ahead." With this said, I rounded up my speech and exited the stage.

I could feel the intense gaze of Aaron on me as I made my way towards my seat, but I did not give him the satisfaction of looking at him.

I had done the task given to me and the next was how to make it through the night in one piece. Aaron's presence wasn't a good thing. It didn't take a genius to know that and his presence threatened a lot of things in my life.

"Your hands are shaking." Daniel, who sat beside me, spoke and I glanced down to replace my hands trembling.

I wrapped my second hand around it, but it didn't help. Instead, they both continued shaking. "Well, will you look at that?" I chuckled, not knowing what else to do at this point.

Without warning, Daniel placed his hand on mine and they felt warm and calming. The trembling of my hands reduced, and I glanced up at him and found him holding onto a smile. This made me smile as well. The applause that went off made us look away, but I didn't pull away from his touch.

I look to the stage and found Mr Kephas Cruise there, about to begin the auctioning of the books Martha had given me earlier.

"At Stanford, we always have the back of our own, and that's what we are doing here tonight." I heard him say.

"We all begin with the first literary work, the wolf who cried sheep. I'll start bidding from three dollars." A hand went up for three dollars and he moved onto six and another hand moved up and so he kept moving until he got to five hundred dollars.

"Is there a buyer at a thousand?" he asked, his eyes scanning the crowd seated. "No buyer?"

"One thousand dollars." the voice I would know anywhere spoke up raising his pile card.

My eyes travelled over to him, and our gaze locked. I dragged a deep breath once again. I felt affected by him. I quickly recovered myself and turned away from him.

"One thousand dollars. Do I hear two thousand dollars for the wolf who cried sheep?"

"Two thousand dollars!" another yelled from the back.

"Two thousand dollars. Can we get four thousand?"

"Four thousand dollars," Aaron said.

"Four thousand dollars. Is there anyone going up to eight thousand dollars?" Kephas asked, scanning around the hall, but no further bidding came.

"Going once, going twice against, sold to the gentlemen at the third roll," he said and knew he meant Aaron.

Then he moved to the second book and, just like the first, he gave a quick remark about it before moving to the bid, which started at ten dollars.

Once again Aaron showed off and prove himself over the rest guest seated. Unlike the first, the second bidding went up to twenty thousand dollars, but in the end, Aaron bought it.

My hands had stopped trembling and Daniel released them, and I thanked him.

I didn't let the night end before I took my leave. I didn't want to run into Aaron or have a talk with him. When Daniel asked what was wrong, I told him I was unwell and though I declined his offer to take me home at first because I wasn't unwell; I ended up accepting and handing him my car keys.

I picked up my clutch as the vice-chancellor, Dr Frankie Maury, gave the appreciation speech. He thanked the guest who had honoured the invitation they received from the university and the professors who had dedicated their time and effort to see the success of the night.

Daniel told me to go to the car while he informed the organisers about my state of health before leaving. I nodded and made my way out and towards the elevator when I heard.

"Leaving already?" I turned around and found none other than Aaron behind me.