DAVE'S POV
The 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 when I received that call from Nixon. I thought history was about to repeat itself.After Nixon explained what happened to me, I couldn't help but feel guilty for my dad's condition. My dad was getting older and needed to take a break from the company but because of me he couldn't and his company was on the verge of being taken away from him.Before my brother died, my father had left the company for him to handle but he had to step back in when I refused to take over after my brother left. Because of that decision, I almost lost my father to the cold hands of death. The situation made me rethink everything because I didn't think I could handle losing another important person in my life.The door opened and Nixon walked in without the suit jacket he had on that morning. He and Lena went back to the company to put things in order after they found out that my dad was doing fine."How is he doing?" He came to stand beside me."He has been like this for six hours, but the doctor said he's fine and would probably wake up tomorrow.""That's good news at least." He placed his hand on my shoulder. "Can we talk outside for a moment? I don't want to disturb them." He pointed at my parent."Sure." I stood up and we walked out of the room together. I took my seat on the chair outside and asked, "What is it?""Have you made your decision yet?" He rested on the wall opposite me with his arms folded."What decision?" I raised my eyebrows at him."To take over the company," he replied. "I know you are beating yourself up for what happened to your father and you know that the only way to rectify this is to agree to manage the company for your dad."I sighed in defeat because I knew he was right. I had to make amends if I didn't want to end up losing my father. "But I don't know anything about the company. I don't even know the first thing about becoming a president of a company.""That's why your father is still around to guide you. You also have me by your side. Let it always be at the back of your mind that you are not alone, Dave." He moved closer to me and placed his hands on my shoulder."What if I don't do well? What if I don't meet the standard that my Dad and Daniel have made?""Dave, you need to stop thinking like that. You and your brother are different people and you shine in different dimensions." He sat next to me. "Do you remember when you helped me pick the designs that should be launched and they ended up becoming a big hit? That shows that you have a great fashion sense which is exactly what a Fashion Company needs. Remember when you told me what to say to convince people to invest in our company's project and they did without questioning which shows how good you are at negotiating."It was when I left the country to escape my parents that Nixon was forced to assist them run the company. Throughout those times, he would call me countless times for help, and somehow my suggestions and ideas always turn out to be good."You're right though." I smiled at the memory."So what do you say, Dave? Will you do it? For me, for your Dad, for Daniel." He gave me a pleading look.Letting all his words sink into my head and remembering the favour Daniel asked of me to look after Mom and Dad, I replied, "Yes.""Yes!" Nixon fist-bumped the air.My brother had done a lot for me, so it shouldn't be that hard to do one favour for him."Trust me, you are not going to regret your decision. You will enjoy working in styles and the best part, is we get to see each other every day." He grinned from ear to ear."That's the worst part of everything," I countered and he punched me on the shoulder."I can't wait to give your parent the good news when your dad wakes up. They will be over the moon.""And I can't wait to finally let the world know that I'm Dave Mendez and also study everything about the company including those stupid rules and regulations," I said with sarcasm dripping off my tone."At least sound a little bit happy about it." He gave me a bored look."Of course, I'm so happy that I can't even contain it." I stretched my lips in a fake smile."You are an idiot." He shook his head at me. "Anyways, while you are at it with the rules and regulations, why don't you dispose of the rule of employees not being allowed to date each other?""Why should I do that?" I raised my eyebrows at him."So I can get a chance with Lena." He shrugged."I'm not even president yet and you are already trying to use me to get yourself a girlfriend.""My best friend is going to be the Company's new president, what's wrong with wanting to get a little advantage?""You're sick." I stood up and walked back into my Dad's room."Dave, Dave, " he called but I ignored him.It had been a while since I'd seen Nixon chasing after a girl. Maybe I should help him out with it.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
ARIA'S POVUsing all the self-control in me, I managed to get into the elevator before I jumped and squealed, hugging the new phone to my chest. When the elevator stopped on my floor, I hopped to Lena's office and barged inside without knocking. "Look who got a nice phone," I announced as I waltz inside holding the phone packed up as my partner. A clearing of the throat made me stop and I looked back to see Nixon staring at me with a raised eyebrow while Lena was busy laughing at my expense. My face was red with embarrassment that I wish I could just disappear. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were busy. I'll come back later." I turned to leave but Lena's voice stopped me."I'm not that busy," she said when she stopped laughing. "So what did Dave say? You were saying something about a new phone." Turning back to them with a smile on my face, I raised the phone pack for them to see. "He got me a new phone." "Really? Dave got you a new phone?" Nixon stared at me shocked. "Yes." I mo
ARIA'S POV The rest of the week ran by quickly with me serving coffee to Dave as promised every morning. That weekend the President was discharged from the hospital and they were planning a company party for the next weekend to officially announce Dave as the President.Sunday was a free day, so I took that opportunity to video chat with my brother with my new iPhone. The rest of the family joined the video chat and I seized that opportunity to boast about my new phone. I explained how I got it to them, leaving out the part of me serving coffee to Dave every morning. They didn't need to know that.That beautiful Monday morning, I rushed to work because my team was running behind with the project that we were supposed to submit that Monday. Other teams turned in their projects as expected, so Lena gave us the grace of two more days. After delivering Dave's coffee as usual, I joined my teammate as we strived to complete the project before the deadline. We didn't even get to eat lunch
ARIA'S POVWith a scowl on my face, I walked into my team's room, mumbling to myself. I sat on my seat and tossed the flash drive on my desk, cussing at Dave in my head."What got you all worked up?" Summer whispered as she leaned closer to me.Before I could reply, Celestine's voice boomed in the entire office. "That's enough talking, Aria and Summer, get to work. We began working on our project and I made a mental note to start with the design Dave gave me once I was done. Like the last time, our team didn't go for lunch as we were planning to finish and submit the project that day.It was an hour before our working hours were over when Celestine collected all the designs and saved them in her flashdrive before submitting them to Lena. Not long after Celestine came back, the door opened again, drawing everyone's attention. Lena peeped in with a sheepish smile on her face. "Can I talk to Aria for a minute?" "Sure," Celestine nodded at me.I stood up and walked toward the door wher