DAVE'S POV
Parking my car outside Nixon's apartment building, I picked up my phone and sent him a text to meet me in his place, knowing that he was on lunch break. I climbed down from the car and went up to his apartment on the fifth floor of the building, ignoring the group of men watching me from the black Sedan parked a few blocks away from my car.When I got to the door, I punched in the password on the keypad to unlock the door. I slumped on the couch and turned on the TV while I wait for him to arrive.A few minutes later, the door opened followed by Nixon's voice, "I can have you arrested for breaking into my apartment." He stood in front of me with his hands shoved in his pants pocket."It's not breaking in if you were the one who gave me the password." I rolled my eyes at him."Why did you make me come here? My lunch break will soon be over, do you want me to get fired for slacking off at work?" He perched on the edge of the couch adjacent to me."You can't get fired. You are one of my dad's best employees." I smiled at him."Yeah, right." He scoffed. "Back to my question, why did you call me here?""I need to leave.""Leave?" He raised his eyebrows at him."My parent's men have been watching me since yesterday and it's making me sick." I ran my fingers through my head."That explains the suspicious black Sedan parked outside." He nodded."I just want to go away from them for some time, so help me think of a way to escape." I rested my back on the couch while waiting for him to think of an idea."Dave, why not just listen to your parent and help them out?" He asked, making me pause in my actions. "I know you don't want anything to do with the company but they have no choice either. You can expect them to give all their fortunes to some stranger when they have a son who is living fine.""But..." I started but he cut me off."I get you, Dave. You are also scared of what happened to Daniel but that doesn't mean the same will happen to you." He stood up and moved to sit next to me. "You know, you always say your birth was a miracle to your family. There was a reason that miracle occurred in your family and it might have been for this reason."When my mom was pregnant with Daniel, she had some issues which resulted in her delivering him using a C-section. After the delivery, they confirmed to her that she could not get pregnant again. Of course, it left her heartbroken, but they accepted it and treated Daniel like their everything.Six years later, my mother miraculously got pregnant with me. At first, they were scared that it would be dangerous for my mom to bear another child but my mom chose to risk her life to have me and that was how I came to be."Dave, just listen to your parents and help them out. I know they wouldn't be frustrating you if they had a choice."My brain started to rethink the whole thing as Nixon's words sunk into my head before I shook my head and stood up. "I will think about that later. First, help me get out of here without those guys knowing."He sighed before standing up to match my height. "Fine. Give me your hood and car key."I raised my eyebrows at him. "Why?""I'm going to wear your hood to disguise as you and drive your car away from here. They will follow me thinking it's you, that's when you come out and take my car with you," he explained."Oh, that's brilliant." I nodded as a smile spread across my face.Without wasting time, I took off my hood leaving me in the blue T-shirt I was wearing underneath. I handed it over to him as we exchange car keys."How long are you going to be gone?" He asked as he put on the hood."A week max. I just need some time to myself." I shrugged."Spending two years in London was not enough time to yourself?" he shook his head at me. "I know you are just trying to escape your parents, you don't have to lie to me."Why did I even bother lying to him when I knew he would catch on to my lies?"You know me well." I smiled."See you in a week and take care of my baby. I don't want to see a single scratch on her when you return," he warned as he walked out.Nixon was too overprotective of his cars. He treated them like they were his babies, most especially his Bentley. I was sure the car he told me to take was not his Bentley because he would never let anyone ride it even if he was dying.Moments later, he texted me telling me that the coast is clear for me to leave. I picked up the car key and made my way out of the building. A smirk formed on my face when I saw Nixon's Lamborghini parked outside.I got in and drove off. By the time the guys find out that they are tailing the wrong guy, I would be long gone.After driving for an hour, I stopped the car near the woods far away from the city. I climbed down from the car and walked into the woods, following a path clearing that led to a cabin located in the middle of the woods.I stepped inside the cabin and the memories of my brother and I hit me like a wave. The cabin was my brother's hideout but he became our private spot when he brought me here after I graduated from high school. My parents didn't know about it that's why I chose the place to hide.Everything in the cabin was in the same position my brother left it. When he left, I made sure not to move anything out of place. Everything in that cabin held precious memories of me and Daniel that I would dare throw away or forget.I sat down in front of our old music player and turned it on, knowing what was going to play. It was the same recording I had been listening to three years ago before I left for London. I lay on the couch in the room as my brother's voice filled the room."Dave, if you are listening to this, that means I've gone to a place far away from you. Last month, the doctor told me I had a month to live and no medication could help.Instead of fighting it, I chose to accept my fate and spend my last month with my baby brother. I know you must be mad at me for keeping from you till the last moment but I didn't want to spend the last month seeing my brother expecting me to die. I wanted to see you happy and doing things you love, that way I could die with a smile on my face."I just need a favor from you. I want you to look after Mom and Dad, don't let them miss me too much, okay? Make sure you fill whatever void I will be leaving in their heart. And one last thing, make sure you live happily without letting anyone dictate your future for you. Remember that, I love you so much and I will be watching over you from afar. I'm sorry, Dave. I'm really sorry."At the end of the recording, I was a sobbing mess. Why did they have to take him away from me? That was the question I kept asking but nobody was there to give me an answer.ARIA'S POV"So Nixon, huh?" I asked as Lena and I cooked dinner together."There's nothing between us." She glared at me."I never said there was," I smirked. "But I can tell he likes you.""I know that, but the company has a rule so it's never going to happen between us." She filled her plate with spaghetti and meatballs before taking it out of the kitchen.I did the same and joined her at the dining table. "What if there was no such rule? Or what if you guys met under different circumstances? Would you have considered it?""Yeah, I might." She shrugged, putting her spaghetti-filled fork in her mouth."So you like him." I beamed. "Yeah, a bit." She pinched the edge of her finger to show me how small a bit she was talking about."Lena?" I raised my eyebrows at her.She dropped her fork on the plate. "Okay, fine. I like him, but the company has its rules so I'm never going to act on my feelings. I won't risk my career over a man and besides, getting rid of whatever feelings I have for
DAVE'S POVAdrenaline pumped in my vein as I dashed through the woods, letting the dirt under my shoes fly behind me. The music playing from my headphone gave me the drive to continue jogging for more than thirty minutes before I stopped at the edge of the waterfall at the end of the woods.My chest heaved up and down as I stared at the water pouring down, making me remember the times that my brother and I spent together. FOUR YEARS AGO"Dave, come on," Daniel shouted as he ran ahead of him with the wind blowing his shoulder-length raven hair behind him.I picked up my pace to catch up with him but he was too fast. He stopped at the edge of the with his back turned to me while I caught up with him, squatting beside him. His amber eyes looked at me with a smile on his face and his breathing regulated while I was still struggling to catch my breath."How are you not out of breath?" I raised my eyebrows at him."Because I'm not a weakling like you," he spat.Rolling my eyes at him, I st
DAVE'S POVThe beeping monitor and my Dad's raged breathing were all that could be heard in the hospital room as I sat on the chair in front of the bed staring at him. My mother sat beside him, holding his hand with her head resting on it fast asleep. I remembered the last time I was in the position, it was when my brother dropped me off at my penthouse after our little vacation. A few hours later, I got a call from my dad that my brother was in the hospital. It was when I got there that I found out that my brother was dying from Liver cancer and it has already developed beyond control before he found out.It came as I surprise to me that I didn't notice that he was dying after spending the whole month with me. I only understood why he did that through the video, but that didn't stop me from getting mad at him. He passed away in the hospital the following day after saying his last words to me, "I'm sorry." I remembered that moment like it was better which was why I got more scared w
ARIA'S POVThe company was in disarray at the news of the President collapsing but the Assistant managing director managed to calm everyone down and assured us that the President was fine.Everyone went back to work but we could hardly concentrate because Lena and Nixon who went with the ambulance that took the President were not back to give us any news of his condition.I hadn't gotten the chance to meet the President but according to Summer, he was a very nice person but strict at the same time which explained why everyone was sad because of what happened to him.The paper I was sketching on was long forgotten as I kept staring at the door, waiting for Celestine to come back with some sort of information concerning the President. Everyone else was either listening to music or sleeping at their desk because none of our brains were settled to continue working on our project.As the door opened, everyone shot up their desk and approached Celestine who walked in and closed the door beh
ARIA'S POVThat night, I was up way past my bedtime talking to Savannah about how I was adapting to my workplace and things that I have occurred in the few days I'd been here. We got off the call by one in the morning when I told her that I had to go to work early the next morning. "Ari, wake up. We are going to be late," I heard Lena's voice in my sleep before the quilt got yanked off my body. "Five more minutes." I groaned as I curled on the bed."Do you know what time is it? It's 6:40." She yelled and I shot up the bed with wide eyes."Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I climbed down the bed and rushed into the bathroom. "That is because I wasn't expecting you to still be sleeping by this time," she shouted after me. "Hurry up and meet me in the living room, we have to stop by the hospital before going to work." "Okay." I stood in front of the bathroom mirror to brush my teeth. It was all Savannah's fault that I was getting late for work. If only she hadn't kept me awake til
DAVE'S POVWhen Nixon broke the news of my taking over the company to my parents, they were over the moon. My dad was all smiles that day and the doctor was surprised to see my father's health improving faster than usual. My Mom concluded that it was the good news that fastened his healing process. Dad joined in by saying if he knew collapsing in the conference was all it would take to make me join the company he would have done it a long time ago. Before we left the hospital that night, he instructed Nixon to put me through everything I needed to know about the company. They planned to officially make me the president of the company when my dad recovers fully.At first, I wasn't happy about my decision to join the company, but seeing how delighted my parents were made it all worth it. Since my brother died, I had never seen my parent that happy which made me satisfied that I had granted my brother the favor he asked of me. That night, Nixon spent the night in my penthouse, teachin
ARIA'S POVMy mother had always warned me that my hot temper and running mouth would get me in trouble one day, but I never expected that day to come so soon. How would I have expected that the simpled dressed guy who bumped into me and broke my phone would turn out to be Dave Mendez, the new president of the company I worked in? What kind of evil spirit was following me? If only I had been a little patient, my job in Styles won't be hanging on a thin thread. When we left the hospital that day, I kept on begging Lena to talk to Nixon to convince Dave not to fire me. Since they were best friends, there was a high chance he would listen to me. Lena disregarded my begging and told me to face the consequences of my reckless actions. Before we left the house that morning, I went down on my knees to pray, asking God to save me from getting fired. My heart thudded in my chest as Lena's car approached Stlye's building. We got out of the car only for me to hear a familiar voice calling Lena.
DAVE'S POV"Are you sure?" I asked with a smirk on my face."Yes." She nodded.Standing from my chair, I walked to the front of the desk where she was kneeling and perched on the edge. "Stand up," I ordered and she complied. "You said you would do anything, right?" She nodded with her head down and her hand held tightly together in front of her. It was funny as she was sweating under the air conditioning in the office but I couldn't bring myself to laugh at the moment. "Okay then. From now henceforth, I want you to get me coffee every morning. Not just any coffee, I want it from Brendan's cafe before eight in my office."She glanced up at me with shock written all over her face. "Coffee?" she asked and I nodded. "Just Coffee?""Why? You can't do it?" I raised my eyebrows at her. "Of course, I can." She smiled. "All I need to do is get you coffee every morning and that's it?" "Not really. But for now, I just need coffee. If I need anything else later, I'll let you know." I smirked