Chapter 14 Chapter 13:
Devon:
The meeting room is chilly, I have always loved it cold, it makes me concentrate more. One of the board members, Troy, is stammering as he presents the slides while I gently stare at him.
Theo Duncan, the one who’s hell-bent on throwing me out of the CEO position is silently glaring at me, I manage a half smile back at him, assuming it is other people, they will have been worried because the CEO’s voting is in a few weeks, but I am not other people.
I don’t ever worry, worrying are for other people, I take my time and plan things effectively.
“I think that if we manage the available budget as well as cutting some of the incentives of the marketing team. We can as well save money.” Troy goes on, adjusting his glasses.
I stare at Troy, the other members are looking at me, waiting for what I will say, I tap my pen lightly against the table. “Why suffer those that are helping us in return for our own selfish gain? Does that sound right to you? Depriving them of what they truly enjoy?” Troy swallows and all the other members nod at me.
“Well.” Theo speaks up, glaring at me, “It’s not like we are depriving them of every bonus, they still get the vacation bonuses and all.” Theo’s words are interrupted by the pinging of a cell phone.
Everyone stiffens, looking at each other in awe; my number one rule is to always turn your phone off during meetings. Anyone who doesn’t obey the rules gets kicked out immediately.
“Whose phone is that?” I ask calmly.
“Troy, is it yours? Don’t you know the rules? You can’t have your phone during meetings like this with the CEO.” One of them says.
Theo turns to me. “It must be Troy’s. Forgive him, he’s new to this kind of thing, he got transferred here recently.”
Another ping and then everyone starts to trace the source of the message only to see that the message is coming from my phone, I can tell that they all want to gasp.
I always have my phone switched off, but since Arya said she would text me, I left it on
“Let me check this.” I say, grabbing my phone and unlocking it, it’s a message from Arya.
Arya: Just a quick reminder, we are already at the airport, Ethan’s plane is landing any minute now, see you there.
When I glance up, they are all still looking at me.
“That’s all for today, meeting dismissed.” I say, grabbing my suit jacket from the edge of my seat and walking out. Daphne joins me as I walk towards the elevator, striding effortlessly.
“Fill me in on the details.” I tell her, getting into the elevators. She clicks the button.
“Theo Duncan was spotted yesterday playing golf with one of the respectable board members; all I can say is that he wants the CEO’s position really badly.”
“I am not scared of Theo, he might be cunning but he’s not smart.”
“We have to get the deal with Aurora Digital before Theo does. Jenna Harper, the CEO is a stubborn young lady as the media describes her. I already scheduled for you to have tea with her, it will also be good for the media, they want to see you with someone popular for the upcoming voting.” Daphne says, when we reach the lobby, she hands me my keys and I leave the company for the airport.
It takes me twenty minutes before I am there. I go to the terminal where Arya and her friends are already waiting; she told me that she took a day off today so she’s wearing a light white shirt over plain jeans.
“Hey, Devon!” Her blonde-haired friend waves over to me as I join them. I recognize her. It’s hard not to, she’s Emma Roberts, owner of GameInc. The other woman is frowning at me, gray eyes and a deep frown. She's Nicole Hart. I once collaborated with her family’s empire years ago, and her twin brother, Nicholas Hart is right by her side, smiling at me.
The Hart’s infamous twins, bubbly and cheerful as the media described, identical but different. And, then there’s Emily Hart, from what I heard, she’s their cousin.
Apparently we are waiting for Emma’s twin brother, Ethan Roberts, I don’t know what he actually does that requires him traveling, maybe something to do with business?
I have no doubt that someone will see me here and take a photo; some people are already staring at Arya and I. I can only imagine what the headlines will be.
“Who misses me?” We all look up to see a built man with champagne blonde hair wheeling his luggage towards us. Of course, he’s Ethan Roberts, because the moment he reaches us, Emma surprises him by hugging him tightly by the neck.
From up-close, he looks like the sort of person you will want on the front page of your fashion magazine, deep dimples appears when he smiles, and he seems to be smiling so wide, he’s wearing an oversized shirt and slant loose denim pants, a golden curb chain dangling between his neck.
I am standing in the far corner so he doesn’t easily see me. He fists bump with Nicholas and whispers something in his ears only to earn a chuckle, he then embraces Emily who blushes so hard, I am not one to interpret romantic relationships, but that blush means something. He and Nicole exchange a cool smirk.
I heard once in an interview that she doesn’t hug anyone and she’s very hard to display emotions so she only gives Ethan a soft glance.
Then, he turns towards Arya.
“I saved the best for last! My favorite.” He crushes Arya into a hug, lifting her up so effortlessly, she laughs brightly, smacking him teasingly.
“Stop it!” She yells playfully.
A sharp feeling rushes towards me, making me uncomfortable as heat scorches inside me. I don’t understand this feeling that’s piercing through me. It's a wonder how he’s hugging and making her smile without any hassle.
I clench my fists in anger, before striding over to Ethan so that he will see me.
“Oh, hey.” He drops Arya down, still smiling. She leans into him without any hesitation, it feels a knife slicing through my insides, my jaw clenches in anger.
“Aren’t you Devon Brookes?” He clasps a hand over his mouth, appearing fascinated. I try to keep my composure but something hard is brewing inside me and somehow, I don’t feel the need to be nice to him, he still has his hand around Arya.
A surprising feeling outweighs me; I want to yank her away from him.
“I saw the news, I was shocked!” He turns towards Emma. “Is it true? Are they dating?”
Emma simply rolls her eyes. “Why don’t we just go home. Let’s get your welcome party started.”
Arya looks at me with a half-smile. “Uh...You can go now, we are partying together today, so it might take a lot of time, besides one of us has to take care of Vera.”
I clench my fists tighter, managing to swallow; my tie feels stiff and tight against my neck. “Alright.”
“Alright, let’s go.” She turns towards her friend, they walk up ahead but Ethan stays behind, his hand still tightened around his luggage handle.
“Let’s meet together for beer sometimes, okay? Just us men, you, Nicholas and I.” He shakes my hand firmly, before jogging to catch up with the rest. I watch them go, their laughter ringing out.
“Fuck.” I exhale, I rarely curse. Now I am wondering what’s wrong with me.
\--
The day moves on pretty slowly, back at the office, I review the contract of collaboration with Jeremy Hart, CEO of GameTec; I have lunch with some of the division managers. I am not one to beg people to vote for me, but the election is approaching quickly and I tend to win them fair and right.
After the whole day, I walk into the quiet house, after thanking the babysitter and watching her leave, I go to find my daughter sprawled on the couch, watching a cartoon. She whips her head and looks at me, a bright smile lightening up her olive tanned skin.
“Daddy!” She says brightly, it’s a wonder that her words can manage to lift all the day’s burden.
I remove my suit jacket, and drop it on the rack, positioning myself on the chair, I ask her, “did you have fun today, angel?”
She nods her head so eagerly, pointing at the TV. “Yes, yes.”
I want to wrap my hands against her little body and protect her from the darkness of the world; I didn’t have a good childhood, hell. It was messed up, surviving meant I had to ward off the pain and focus on other things such as building my empire and my company.
Everything that I have worked for years managed to numb away the pain. The company that I started was my sweat and hard work, none of it has my father’s money, I will rather go through hell than accept his money.
I notice that Vera looks around eagerly, as though she’s searching for someone.
“What’s the matter, angel?” I ask her. “Are you hungry?”
“Where’s mama?” She asks, shifting closer towards me.
“Mama’s out with her friends,” I tell her, easily carrying and swinging her on to my laps. “Did you already have dinner?”
She nods her head rather too fast.
“Why don’t we get you settled for bed, huh?” I ask and Vera giggles. I spend the next thirty minutes in the bathtub with Vera, she doesn’t seem to like bath time and babbles on with a frown, she splashes water on me and even refuses to dry off.
Dealing with a baby can be both exhausting and amusing at the same time. After a long time of arguments and frowns, I manage to dress Vera in her pajamas and tuck her into bed, after reading her a bedtime story of course.
After making sure Vera has fallen asleep. I make myself a pumpkin spice latte from the latte machine, ever since Arya said she liked taking pumpkin spice latte, I have been trying it out myself, it tastes weird but okay.
I stand in front of the glass windows overlooking the view of central park, the gleaming of the night light and the stars glistening before my eyes. I should get back to working. I have a house office on the last floor, but something prompts me to remain here and wait.
The night is getting much darker and the clouds are already looming over the sky. There's no doubt that there will be heavy rainfall tonight.
Still, Arya isn’t home. This shouldn’t bother me, but it does, it makes me uncomfortable and it pricks at my skin. When I close my eyes, the memory of Ethan hugging Arya pops back into my mind.
I check my phone; the only email that enters my phone is of Daphne sending me the revised contract for a construction plan.
I furrow my brows, it’s eleven-thirty and I don’t feel good, I don’t even feel the need to go to bed, I just stand there, wondering why the hell Arya isn’t home yet.