Chapter 51

Chapter 51
NOAH
“Dalia,” I called out, glancing around the living room just as I stepped into it, and before I could think she had already left, her voice came from the kitchen.
“In here!”
The corner of my mouth quirked up while music started playing in the kitchen and I quickly made my way there to find her making breakfast. She turned to face me after using tongs to flip the bacon in the skillet and pointed at me with the tool.
“When you asked if I would stay for breakfast, what exactly was your plan for breakfast?” she asked and I slightly drew my brows together.
“Huh?”
She tipped her head to the side as she dropped the tongs on a plate before heading to the refrigerator and opening it. The only thing in it were bottles of beer.
“Oh!” I hadn’t cooked in quite a while because I had been eating out, so most of the things in the refrigerator ended up getting spoiled. I threw them out and didn’t bother to get groceries because those would probably get spoiled too. “I forgot.”
“You forgot to get groceries?”
“Yeah… I’ve been eating out because of work.”
She frowned and closed the refrigerator before walking back to the cooker to check the bacon. “I think you should take a break from work. You’ve been working way too hard for weeks.” She didn’t sound happy.
I closed the distance between us, wrapping my arms around her from behind and she leaned into me. “I know. I’ll ask my dad for some time off.”
“The hours you work now… Are they going to get better when you take over?”
“I’ll make sure they do. Promise,” I said, pressing my lips to the top of her head, and she muttered an ‘Okay’. “Where’d you get these?” I gestured at the bacon and the stuff on the cabinet before spinning her around in arms, leading us away from the cooker as Boney M’s ‘Sunny’ filled the kitchen.
“Javier.” She smiled as her arms went around my neck and she began to move along to the music. “You wanna show me some moves?” she asked, earning a snort from me.
“I have zero moves.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” she said and I couldn’t stop myself from grinning while she swayed her hips. “Come on,” she added with a laugh before making me move along with her. We let the music take over and moments later, we were jumping around each other and laughing randomly.
God, I love her. As the song neared its end, she ended up in my arms again and we kissed each other, slow and sweet. The smell of something burning tickled my nose and I remembered the bacon in the skillet just as Dalia pulled away from me, and quickly headed to the cooker. She turned it off while using the tongs to pick up the bacon which was now burnt on one side, and we faced each other before breaking out into laughter. I love her so much.
“I don’t want to lose you,” I muttered as she dropped the bacon on a plate and she tipped her head to the side.
“Where’s that coming from?”
I set my mouth in a hard line and tucked her hair behind her ear, letting my fingers linger on her face.
“What?” she asked and I shook my head sideways.
“It’s nothing… Let’s have breakfast.”

“You’re all smiles today,” mum said after walking up to me and I hmmed, keeping my gaze on my laptop. “Noah.”
“Yes, mum.”
She and I hadn’t spoken much since she tried to make me invite Shane to my birthday dinner and I was still angry even though she had apologized several times, because she always made it seem like she had tried to do it for me.
“... How’s Dalia?”
“She’s fine,” I muttered, the corner of my mouth curving up as I remembered the time I spent with her, and mum didn’t say anything for several moments.
“Noah, please.” She held my hand to stop me from typing and I heaved a sigh before finally lifting my eyes to hers. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to fix the relationship between you and your brother. I didn’t mean to make you angry.”
“I’ve heard you, mum,” I said, but she didn’t look like she believed me. I gestured at the laptop in front of me. “I need to get back to work.”
She pursed her lips and nodded as she let go of my hand, before I smiled at her.
“... Let’s have lunch together,” I added, hoping she wouldn’t find another way to upset me during it, and she grinned.
“Okay.” She ruffled my hair before heading towards the door, and a couple of minutes after she left, the door opened again. I thought it was mum coming back to ask where and when we would be having lunch, but when I looked up, I saw Shane standing next to the door instead. I paused, expecting him to leave the room since I was the only one here, but he just stood there, staring at me.
I returned my attention to the laptop and when he didn’t move or say anything for several moments more, I broke the silence. “What do you want?”
He finally moved, walking over to me, and I frowned after he came to a stop next to me. “Consider your words very carefully,” I stated when he opened his mouth and he set his mouth in a hard line.
“...Hey, Noah.”
“Hey, Noah?”
He glanced over his shoulder warily, like he was scared to get caught talking to me, before he slid into the seat next to me and I frowned. “I just want to talk.”
“And what could we possibly talk about?”
“The company,” he said and I raised a brow while he took a deep breath. “Could you, um… What do you think of… dual leadership?”
It took me a little while to figure out what he wanted to say and the corner of my mouth turned up. Wow. “Let me guess,” I started, adjusting myself in my seat. “You want to be the co-CEO.”
He nodded.
I scoffed and moved my chair closer to the table. “Get the fuck out of here, Shane. I’m busy.”
“No, I’m serious,” he said in a rush, grabbing the arm of my chair, and I gritted my teeth. “You need the help, Noah. I can help. You know it.”
I did know that he understood a lot of things about the company and if he were to become CEO, he would do a good job. But dual leadership meant we would have to work closely together.
“Look,” he continued. “More than half of the people on the board are against you. They wanted to kick you off when they heard you were dating a student, but I convinced them not to.”
Ah, so that’s why they did nothing.
“Why?”
He slightly drew his brows together. “...Why?”
“Why’d you convince them not to?” I asked, wondering if he had done it because he felt bad about what happened between him and Allison or because he wanted to get back in my good graces.
“It wouldn’t be right…” he replied and I tilted my head, waiting for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. “We could work together, Noah.”
He did have a point about me needing help because I had quite the work loaded onto my shoulders, and since he understood the company well, he would be a right choice for a co-CEO if I wanted the company to have dual leadership.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Noah-”
“I said I’ll fucking think about it,” I stated and he stared at me for a couple of seconds, probably trying to figure out if I meant it, before nodding.
“...Can I get your number?”
“No,” I replied without hesitation, frowning at him, and his expression dulled.
“What if I have something to tell you?”
“Shane,” I started and he raised his brows. “Fuck off.”
His lips twitched into a small smile and he got to his feet, patting the back of my chair before walking towards the door. “See you around, Noah. I’ll be waiting for your decision.”