Banna - Chapter 5

Shay went back to his apartment where he had a very sleepless night. The next morning, at work, he wasn't feeling any better. He'd found himself in a situation of a new kind, one where he was the one getting the rejection and not dishing it out as was usually the case. He got with models all the time and women constantly threw themselves at him and the fact that the woman he now wanted had rejected him, quite frankly infuriated him. Of course the fact that she was his best friend's long-lost half-sister didn't help any. Yep, it was all Max's fault, he's the one who planted the thought in my head to begin with thought Shay with disgust.

Now what he needed was a distraction from Banna and her backside and her..... Okay, I need a cold shower he thought, frowning at what the girl was doing to him.

Banna frowned at her computer screen and erased everything she had written. She had been that way ever since Shay had kissed her. She mentally shook herself and analyzed the situation. Charlemagne McPartlin was one of New York's most eligible bachelors, he was gorgeous, successful and extremely rich. She tried to remember pictures of him in magazines she read, he usually had some stick-thin model on his arm and the caption usually went somewhere along the lines of 'Charlemagne McPartlin..... a new bimbo?' She'd never been a bimbo her entire life and she wasn't about to start now for some guy she'd only just met. Even if he was gorgeous. And an amazing kisser. She mentally shook herself again and got back to work.

Meanwhile, Shay's phone rang. he looked at the screen and the Caller ID identified the number as Eleanor O' Sullivan's. "Hello?"

"Hi, Shay, it's Eleanor," she said quickly.

"Hey Aunt Eleanor. Is something wrong?" he asked. She'd never called him before and for her to call him and her tone of voice, he gathered that something was wrong.

"No, no. Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to talk to you about something. Are you free or should I call you back later?" she asked.

"Now's fine. So what is it?" he asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice. She wasn't exactly everyone's favorite person, but she'd raised him as her own son and for that, he had always been tolerant, but honestly, he thought to himself, I can only put up with so much.

"It's about that Banna girl." she simply stated.

Great, he thought to himself, the one person I've been hopelessly trying to avoid all morning and now, I have to talk about her. "What's wrong with Banna, Aunt Eleanor?" he asked. Eleanor O' Sullivan was pathologically suspicious. She hardly ever trusted anyone and was always wary of the people around her, her own family included. She was also extremely snobby and cared about her image more than anything else.

"I don't trust her. She wants something from us. And she's charmed the pants off Celine, Max and Patrick. You're the only reasonable one of the entire bunch. I think she's gonna tell the press. And you know that a scandal like that would destroy the O' Sullivan name. I need your help to find a way to get rid of her." she said.

"Get rid of her how?" he asked with amusement. His aunt had obviously read one too many Miss Marple mysteries.

"I don't know. Be creative. Pay her money, send her off to Siberia, kill her... I don't know. Charlemagne, this is extremely serious. Promise me you'll take care of things," she said firmly.

Not wanting to upset his aunt, he decided to humor her. "Okay, Aunt Eleanor I'll try."

"I knew I could count on you, Shay. Now don't forget, the Harrison party is tomorrow night. You're expected there. no excuses this time," she said.

"Okay Aunt Eleanor. Bye." he hung up with her and started thinking about Banna. He jumped out of his seat when the door to his office flew open and Celine entered.

"Celine, please knock before you come barging into my office next time. What if I'd been with a woman?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You don't bring women to your office. You're too much of a workaholic. Besides, I'm not here to see you. I'm here to see Banna. Where is she?" she asked, sitting down on a couch and looking around.

"In her office, I guess. Downstairs. Why?" he asked curiously.

"Call her up here then. She won't like it if I go to her office. And it's none of your business." she said boredly.

"Okay. I'll call her." he called Miranda and asked her to send Banna up to his office.

Banna came in a few minutes later, with a frown on her face. "What?" she asked.

"You have a visitor." he pointed at Celine with his head.

"Banna. I have a business proposition for you." Celine said.

"Why for me?" Banna asked, trying to keep from smiling.

"Just because. Well okay. here's the deal. You have to come to the Harrisons' party with me." Celine said, jumping around excitedly, unable to keep her hands still.

"Celine you have to give me something in return, that's the way a business proposition works. You make me an offer, and we alter it. And, in the end, we make a deal if we're both satisfied." said Banna, smiling.

"Oh, I know. I'll show you pictures of Max and Shay when they were younger. Trust me, they weren't as genetically blessed as they are now." she said, grinning widely at Shay, who was not looking at all amused.

"Tempting as that is, Celine, I don't really go to rich people's parties. Especially not if there's press involved, not when people can find out that I'm related to you. Tell her Shay." she said, giving him a pleading look.

He grinned wickedly at her and turned to Celine. "Celine, I never thought I'd say this, but you're a genius. Banna, you do have a say in the matter. You can either be my plus one or Celine's." he said smugly.

"Oh, shove it. I don't like these kind of parties. I don't like champagne, dresses, or cameras flashing. The thought of it alone scares me." she said, shivering slightly.

"Banna, you're going and that's that. Consider it a business party if you want to." said Shay.

"Banna if you don't say yes. I'll tell Max. And I think you've heard of how annoyingly persuasive Max is. Together with Shay and me, you'll go mad. So you could end your suffering by simply accepting." said Celine, smiling at her. "Okay, intimidation doesn't suit me. Please Banna, please. Please, please, please, please. Pleeaaaaaasse."

"Fine. Just this once, but I swear if you ask me to go to another party or family function or anything like that, I'll kill you." said Banna, not knowing whether she should get mad or be happy that Celine wanted her to hang out with her, regardless of the event.

"Okay, thank you. See you tomorrow okay. Bye." Celine picked up her stuff and ran out before Banna could change her mind.

"So, what time should I pick you up?" asked Shay, looking her up and down.

"I choose to be Celine's plus one, not yours," she said, extremely annoyed with both her awareness and her body's reaction to how close was to her.

"You'll change your mind." he said, and with that, he dipped his head and kissed her.

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Note: Chapter 6 might take me a bit of time because I won't have access to my laptop for the next 2 weeks.... Please comment on whether you like the direction this story is taking though =D