Chapter 113 - 112

Aiden Cooper, the last single Aristocratic heir, had been immersing himself in work these days. The most carefree, chill, and relaxed heir had been working like his life depended on it, but that was not the reason he had been drowning in paperwork. He was doing it out of boredom. Whenever he called his friends to hangout at their regular meeting spot they always said they are busy with their spouses. Like after marriage friends have no value compared with their beautiful wives. Who know he was going to be the same very soon.

His friends had abandoned him for their wives, and he had no one to hang out with after work anymore.

Dimitri was far off in another country enjoying his honeymoon, continuously posting pictures of his beautiful wife, making him wish he had a girlfriend. Leaving Enzo with his grandparents , they both enjoyed their alone time without a single worry in the world. Blake had taken Sarah shopping in Milan, she was such a shopaholic that Blake had one of their bedrooms converted as her dressing room. Even though now she was handling business , she was once a model so her love for fashion never decreased . She used to get invites to popular fashion shows which she attended in her spare time .And Tristan, the guy who was scared of the word marriage, had been married blissfully with his wife and was having date nights once a week.

"Seriously, they see each other every day, is it necessary to go on a date every week," he shook his head in exasperation. These days the only way he could see his friends was in their chat group and when they sent pictures. They were hopeless.

-=-

Cooper Industries was investing in the Collins Beauty Company. And at the meeting today, even though they just needed an assistant to look over the paperwork, Aiden volunteered to go. Not knowing that this meeting will change his life forever. 

Sophia Collins' day starts early. She wakes up at 5 a.m. every day. Starting with a very healthy breakfast then her rigorous workout. She always believed that each second wasted was equal to losing a dollar. Except work she had no other hobby or interest. Before doing anything she used to think whether this was going to bring her profit or not.

She was very organized, and her schedules were usually set up weeks or sometimes months in advance. And today was a very important meeting, the shareholders were coming to talk about her funding. The money they will get today is going towards the expansion of her business overseas. 

Aiden had been standing near the elevators talking on the phone when he saw her. The woman had the bluest eyes he's ever seen in his life, they had him captivated the minute he looked into them. She was waiting for the ride up and was not really looking at him, but she definitely got his full attention. He tried to memorize every aspect of her image. From her fair oval-shaped facial features, dark brown wavy hair, her high heeled clad dainty feet that brought her height just enough for her to reach his shoulders. Down to the business suit she was wearing. It was hugging her curves in all the right places.

She looked very reserved by wearing a minimal amount of make-up, and he would have loved to stare at her a little bit longer, but the lift came down too soon.

All of a sudden he didn't want to be in this meeting anymore, he wanted to pursue the woman who had captivated his attention. 

A lot of people got excited when they saw him at the meeting. Aristocratic heirs rarely attend these small functions, opting to send their PA's most of the time. But Aiden being here meant it was going to be a good investment. 

As the employees and marketing head presented one after the other, Aiden half-listened to their presentation. His mind was still filled with the thought of the woman at the lift. And as soon as they turned the lights back on, he was going to make his grand escape, leaving his PA to deal with the contract. They have reviewed the paperwork already and were ready to invest, attending the meeting was just a formality.

But all plans went out the door when the founder of Collin's Beauty Company walked through the door. "Hello everyone, I am Sophia Collins. I am here to discuss any questions you might have."

She noticed him standing by the door, so she asked her PA who he was. "He's Aiden Cooper, Aristocratic heir," her assistant whispered. Sophia raised an eyebrow, "So this is what he looked like." She heard about him, and he might have been featured in the media time and again, but she did not recognize him, as he had been very private about getting his picture taken.

"Mr.Cooper is everything alright, it looks like you're already leaving," Sophia said.

Aiden couldn't stop staring at her, his elevator lady was right in front of him, how can he leave now? "Uhm... No, I had a phone call. But it can wait,' he lied as he went back to his seat. Thank god even if he left one minute early he could have missed seeing her.

Sophia answered all their questions confidently, and Aiden was impressed. She was not only beautiful but also smart and confident.

He listened as she tried to justify why she needed a large amount for the funding, "The investment amount had already been decided when we came up with our product. It would be difficult to change it now. We cannot compromise any aspect of our product, doing so would make us look bad, using less than perfect ingredients will lower the quality of our merchandise. 

This is the first time we are launching our product, and we are trying to make a huge impact so it would be easier to gain the customer's trust." 

Someone asked, "How about reducing the packaging cost? Do away with the extra box or shrink wrap. People are bound to throw those away anyway."

"Packaging plays a very important role in catching the customer's attention. Most of the time, people buy a product because of how the wrapping caught their eye. Just like how snacks always have those bright orange packaging to entice you to buy them without even tasting what's inside.

Shops know that the items packaged meticulously sell first, so they always place those in the front of the store or beside the register, so the minute you walk in, you get the inkling to buy them. 

While the others who skimped on their packaging will have their products at the back of the store, or in between the aisles where nobody can usually find them. 

There's a saying, do not judge a book by its cover, but in the beauty industry, we do it all the time. And that's alright," she ended confidently. Who know better than her that people always give more important to outer beauty than what lies inside. She had learned the truth the hard way.

When they asked about advertisements, she repeated what they said in their presentation, they were going to tap into the social media influencers that could get them to the masses faster than the stores could. 50% would still rely on promotions made through billboards and banners, and later when they get more popular, they could hire famous models or artists.

"If everyone is satisfied, you can sign the contracts and hand them over as soon as you are done," she stated. People were satisfied with her answers and were scrambling with their pens when Aiden interrupted their buzzing.

"Ms. Collins, I will still need some time to study your proposal," he said. And as soon as Aiden declared his hesitation, the other businessmen declared they will sign after him. If he was apprehensive about this investment, then there must be something wrong with it, something they did not see. So they would wait and see what Aiden does, then they will all follow suit.

Sophia sighed as she nodded her head in agreement. "I will wait for your response Mr. Cooper," she declared as she left the meeting.

Aiden smirked as he watched her retreating back.

Hello everyone ,Aiden story is starting from today , read and enjoy.