Music recommendation - Thinking out loud by Ed Sheeran

Noah was eating silently with a happy expression on his face. He looked like a small boy who had been given his favorite candy with the way he was beaming. Joshua and Ian went to him and sat on either side of him with questioning gazes which he did not even heed to. He was busy in his own thoughts and there was no need for him to entertain anybody else's now.

"Umm," Joshua cleared his throat trying to attract the indifferent man beside, but he did not get any response. "Ummm." He dragged on the sound and this time Noah gave him a glimpse before he went back to his food. However, he did not forget to push the glass of water in front of him towards Joshua. Seeing this Ian chuckled lightly. His friends were still the same. While one was cold and indifferent, the other was as mischievous as ever. He was the only sane person here and bless him for being here to control the other two.

Joshua could only glare at his friend which went completely unnoticed. "Why are so happy? What happened?" He finally could not tolerate it any longer and fired the question that was bugging his mind since Noah had returned home.

"Aria wants to meet me tomorrow." That was all Noah answered before he went back to eating.

"That's so cool," Ian commented. Though he was happy for his friend, he was still sad as Aria was still angry with him.

"It sure is. I am going to make everything fine between us tomorrow. All misunderstandings will be cleared and we will be back together." Noah declared with a huge smile on his face. Even his friends were happy for him and wished everything to go well.

However, when the time actually came for them to meet, Noah had to take a rain check. His dream project, which was Hotel Arvy faced some problems out of nowhere and he had to attend meetings the entire day. One of his employees had embezzled the company funds which were allocated solely for the hotel marketing purposes as well as for the final completion of the hotel. Now, they had to find him as well as get money for their work to continue.

This matter was huge as Carter Enterprises had never encountered such a problem before. So, Noah was busy trying to allocate finds and reluctantly he had to cancel his meeting with Aria. The opportunity that fell into his hands vanished just like that.

Aria, who had been looking forward to getting the answers she needed, could only console her heart. She would now have to wait for them some more time. They then decided to meet after his problems were solved. She did not want to rush through things especially when he was facing such a serious problem now.

During this time, Aria missed Noah as much as he was missing her. She had not once met him and had restricted him from meeting her until the day she would get her answers. At times, she even wanted to forget her anger and just embrace him. She just wanted to bury herself in his warmth and drown herself in his soul-piercing kisses. Then she would remember the lies he had woven before her and her anger would take over her rationality. She had to be bold and she knew that her heart would waver if he came before her. Unbeknownst to her, the man who was dying to meet her would drop by her apartment every day and stay there for almost an hour before he would leave with a heavy heart.

Ivy had also moved out of Joshua's house back to her apartment much to his annoyance. He had tried all possible methods to make her stay, but the girl was as adamant as ever. She wanted to stay with her sister until she resolved her issues and had promised Joshua that she would return the day her sister got back with Noah. So, now the man could only hope for the two love birds to patch up as early as possible. Their love story was being a hindrance to his love story.

Among all this, the person who was most affected and deeply saddened was Ian. Aria was giving him a cold shoulder since the time they had returned home and she had made up her mind to not speak to him until she got her answers from Noah. She would first talk to Noah and only then would she talk to Ian. Their friendship was almost ruined now and it was all his mistake.

A week had passed since then and Aria had come to visit her Dad like she usually did. Oliver was staying at Noah's house as it was the only place that had top-notch security. She only came to visit him whenever Noah was not around as she did not want to face him. She knew she was being stupid here, but what could she do? She was sure that if she saw him now, she would lose control. Noah's hotel issue had wavered her confidence and she had become a coward all of a sudden. Every day she would build up some confidence that could help her the day she was going to face Noah. But who knew that the day would be today?

Aria had gone to meet her father just like every day and the first person she saw when she entered the mansion was Noah. He knew she was going to come that day and had specifically cleared his schedule for the day. His problem was almost solved now and the man who had embezzled the funds had been caught by his men. The work that had been halted had progressed and now it was running smoothly. Since all his problems were solved, he now had to solve the most important issue.

However, to his dismay, as soon as Aria saw him waiting for her with his eyes fixed on the entrance, she retraced her steps and ran away in fear. All the courage she had pent up for the week vanished in an instant. She became as meek as a lamb.

Noah's eyes widened seeing her run away and he got up instantly. If his woman wanted him to chase her, he would do just the same and this time he would not allow her to go without giving her the answers she needed. He had had it enough without her and he was not going to endure it any longer.

By the time he came out of his mansion, Aria had already driven out. But he was not the one to give up, not this time. He got in his own car and gave her a chase until he reached her apartment. In his excitement to meet her, he had completely forgotten that to enter her apartment, he needed permission, and seeing Aria, he was sure she would not allow him to enter, not today at least. But that did not matter. He had someone who was more than willing to allow them inside the apartment. He just had to give a call to Ivy and she came to fetch him personally.

Ivy was a smart woman. She knew that it was time for her to leave and without further delay, she left the two alone. If those two were going to makeup, it was better she did not come home for the day and the only place she could think of going was Joshua's house. Imagining the man's face when he saw the woman he loved coming to stay with him for the night made Ivy to crack up.

Aria did not know that Ivy had sold her until she came out of the kitchen after chugging down a glass of water. She was stunned to see the man she wanted to avoid at all costs standing before her and her jaw dropped. "What are you doing here?"

"Why are you avoiding me?" Noah ignored her question and asked a question of his own.

"I am not ignoring you," Aria answered defiantly even though she knew he knew she was lying.

"Oh really? Then why did you run away as soon as you saw me? Don't tell me that you were chased by a dog." Noah sassed and folded his hands.

Aria did not have an answer to his question. How could she say that she was a coward and she had no guts to face him? How could she say that seeing him made her lose all her rationality and she would even forget that she was angry at him? Seeing Noah waiting for her answer, she decided to change the topic.

"What are you doing here?"

"I am here to give the answers you need."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you have some questions to ask me. Ask me all you want and I will answer them honestly."

"But.."

"And don't worry. I am not going to leave this place until the issue between us is solved. If you delay the time, I don't mind. I can stay here forever until everything gets back to normal between us."

With that Noah sat down on the couch and leaned back casually as though it was his own home. Aria could only gape at him with her eyes wide. She had never expected to face such a situation in her life and the worse part was her sister was the one who had sold her off at the wrong moment.