Part 4

Lia’s POV:

The sound of my mobile penetrated my ears. I tried to snooze, but my mobile acted as if it had its idea to bug me. I tried to open my eyes only to find that I was getting a call and not an alarm. I groaned myself. Who in the Earth was calling at this early hour? I suddenly became awake to see that it was Max from my office. Max was the chief design architect in our company. He was a complete brainer and recently had come up with some exciting designs for future technology.

"Morning, Max. What is the emergency to call me at this morning?" mumbled between my yawns.

"Good morning Lia. We have a meeting with my boys on the new gearbox designs, remember? We need to finalize this by this week."

"Oh, Crap. I forgot that. My car broke down yesterday, and I don't have transport. I cannot hitch a ride with dad as he and Jax have to go to the warehouse." How could you be so reckless Lia, I mentally face palmed myself.

"Don't worry, Lia. I will pick you up. I will wait for you in the diner down your street in 30 minutes. Will it be fine for you?"

"Oh, Max. You are a lifesaver. I will be there in 30."

"Lia, Since we are going to work site, come in comfortable clothing. Bye"

I chuckled at Max's request. Comfortable means 'Come in a dress by which his boys would not get distracted.' At times he is overprotective than my dad and Jax. He is such a sweetheart who sees me as his younger sister he never had. I am so lucky to get such a family and friends.

I mentally knocked the wood so as not to jinx myself. I rushed to my bathroom to start the day.

When I reached downstairs, I already heard my family's voice in the kitchen. "Good morning, sweetheart" I smiled at my father's greeting with a 'good morning.'

"Good morning Jax" I greeted my brother Jaxon while getting seated on island chairs.

"Greet me properly, sister, like Good morning, my handsome most and smartest brother in the whole world" I smacked at the back of his head but could not stop laughing.

"Hey, don't spoil my hairstyle."

"You asked for it. Also, I did not"

"Did too"

"Did not"

"Did too"

"Jax, Lia, stop fighting and have your breakfast." My mom came into the kitchen.

"Morning, Mom. Where have you been?"

"Morning, Lia darling. Shelly called to check on today's lunch in the club. Do you want to join us?"

"No, Mom. I have a meeting today morning. I don't know the course of events today. I will join next time."

"Shelly's niece has come back from Canada. He is joining us for lunch. If you could join us for 30 minutes at least...."

I interrupted my mom with a laugh "No, mom. I know what you are up to. So a big no." Since I completed my graduation, my mom was trying with this match-making business.

"Come on, Lia. I am not getting younger every day. I want to see my grandkids soon." she said with a pout.

"Leave her be, Susie. Our princess will get her prince charming someday."

"Oh, Dad. You are equally bad as Mom" I rolled my eyes towards him when he chuckled back at me.

"I am getting late for my meeting. See you in Office Dad and Jax." I kissed mom Goodbye and left to meet Max.

I reached the diner precisely 28 minutes later. Well done, myself, you made it on time. I looked out for Max's car. Even if he was nearby, he could not reach here in the next 10 minutes. I can see the truck had blocked the entire way for all the vehicles behind, and I could hear the irritated horns at the back. I decided to get a cup of coffee in the meantime.

I could see the truck moved away when I emerged out, but Mac got stuck behind a black Acura TLX. The driver was unaware of the honking at the back. I waited for a couple of minutes and saw Max signaling me to join him as the driver in front was not going to move the car, and we were already late for the meeting.

I passed the blocking car, and I got into the vehicle with Max.

"Hey, beautiful," Max greeted me with a smile, and I laughed back. "Hi yourself."

I was surprised to feel the same pull I suddenly felt the day before. Why was I feeling like this often? Was I feeling sick? I shook my thoughts to concentrate for the day.

*****

"So, what do you think, Lia?" Max questioned me after the demo cum presentation.

"The ideas are good max. But the specifications look more for a smaller air vehicle." Max beamed at my question.

"Exactly my point too. We need to expand our business apart from larger air crafts. I heard our prime customer, Alastair Corporation, is getting into helicopters. We can try with them."

My face fell on Max's answer. "Oh, Max! We are currently in danger of losing our existing contracts. I heard the new CEO wants to check in new suppliers."

Max's eyes widened in surprise. "But why? We are supplying without any hitch till now. Why they want to go for a new company suddenly?"

I rubbed my temples in frustration. "I don't know, Max. I am trying to catch the CEO for the past week but couldn't get an appointment. If I can get 10 minutes of his time, I can convince him to continue the business with us."

"Are you sure you can convince him? Not the other way around?" I frowned at his stupid question.

"What are you blabbering at?"

"Come on, Lia. Have you not seen him? All females will fall for him in one look."

I snorted at him. "Do I look like all other females?"

Max's eyes widened, seeing my reaction. "No... I... You..."

I laughed as I sensed his nervousness. "Chill out. Not all guys who are good looking at screens are not real handsome in real life."

"Not all?" Mike laughed, catching the weak link in my statement.

"I know who you are trying to hint. So don't." I threatened, raising a finger.

"You and Als are the same. I still don't understand what you see in that guy." He shook his head while mumbling at me.

Alyssa was her girlfriend who worked in Mandarin. She is a sweet girl but loved gossips. We have similar interests starting from books to movies.

"Hello, Earth to Lia." Max waved his hand in front of my eyes. I smiled at him back. "Sorry, zoned out."

"What are you doing today evening?"

"Nothing Max. I am planning to complete 'Ship of the Dead.' It's long-pending." Max laughed at my answer.

"Are you still a kid?"

"How dare you? Don't you dare comment on my choice of books? You first read the books before commenting on my choices." I snapped at him. Max lifts his hands in surrender.

"Cool. Cool. I want to know if you are free. Can you join Als and me for dinner?"

"I would love to. It's almost a month since I met Als. What time?"

"You don't have a car, remember? Why don't we leave straight from my office? We are going only to my home. No need to dress up. I will drop you back home later."

"I forgot about my car again. You are such a sweetheart Max."

"I know that." He laughed when I rolled my eyes at his comment.

"When will your car get ready?"

"I checked with my mechanic. No luck. I will be getting at the earliest only on Saturday." I shook my head in clearly in annoyance.

"I need to check on the discussion pointers we came up with within today's meeting. See you at 5." Max left with a smile.

I turned back to check on my day's work. After some time, I closed the laptop with a sigh. Words got out that Alastair corporation is looking for new manufacturers. This affected our existing contracts too. We need to win the contract somehow. I turned to look at the window at a larger horizon without actually looking at it.