Chapter 9: A CEO's Life

Scott opened the door to his penthouse with a smile so wide that he feared it would rip his face apart. He wasn’t surprised that he had fun with Florence, but he wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was.

Since the first time he laid eyes on her - after she bumped into him, in fact - there was something about her that he couldn’t quite put a finger on, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to take her out of his mind.

And it was exactly what happened. He kept finding excuses to be at the university, in hopes that he’d bump into her again, but it never happened. He was constantly being mobbed by people and Florence was never in sight.

He thought she’d be at least curious to see him again, but apparently, he was mistaken. So, after days of going to NYU and being unsuccessful, he took the initiative to wait for her outside of work to ask her out.

It was a good thing that she had been working after hours that day, so the campus was not as crowded as it normally is. The shock on her face made his heart skip a beat. How could she be so beautiful and cute at the same time?

Her beauty wasn’t the only thing that caught his attention, even though her big brown eyes and long black hair were hard for him to ignore.

But her sassiness and her innocence were a combo he really enjoyed. She didn’t try to flatter him constantly like everyone around him normally did, although he could tell when she wasn’t sure how to act with him in certain situations.

He never really was the type of man to engage in a serious relationship for a long period, but it wasn’t always his fault. He wasn’t a womanizer like many people assumed. In fact, most women always wanted him because of his money.

Either that or they would run away at the first sign of hardships they didn’t know how to face. Being a CEO wasn’t easy, and even though it had a lot of good sides to it - money, luxury and comfort - it also brought a lot of threats, countless meetings, and not much time to enjoy life. So they would constantly complain about being left out and would break up with Scott before he could try to fix things.

He took off his blazer and loosened his tie, opening the fridge to grab some ice. He poured himself a glass of whisky and took a sip while staring at the view of New York’s lively night, the beautiful lights invading his apartment.

Florence’s eyes were still printed in his mind when his phone started buzzing in his pocket. He reached for it and saw his grandfather’s name on the screen. Scott took a deep breath before answering it.

“Hey, old man,” he joked, aware of how much Noah hated when he called him that.

“You brat,” he heard the man scolding on the other side. “I've told you to stop calling me that. I’m old, but you don’t need to remind me every time I call you.”

Scott laughed and sat down on his couch, leaning his head in it and closing his eyes. It felt so good to be home.

“How have you been, grandpa?” he asked softly.

“Hmm, that’s more like it,” Noah said. “I’m good. Calling to see how my grandson is since I only get news of him through his assistants. You should be ashamed.”

“Sorry, grandpa. Things have been a bit chaotic lately,” Scott replied, knowing his answer wasn’t a lie, but wasn’t also the entire truth. He had busy days in the past week, but mostly because he kept adding things to his agenda just to have a chance to meet Florence again.

“Hasn’t it always been the case?” Noah murmured.

“That's not why you called me though, is it? To ask me how I’ve been?”

Scott knew him like the back of his hand, and even though Noah loved him with every part of his being, Scott could sense when he wanted something more. And that was definitely one of those cases.

He heard Noah scoffing on the other side, but he didn’t say anything for a few seconds.

“What is it this time, grandpa? You don’t need to pretend with me,” Scott encouraged him.

“Fine. You know damn well why I’m calling you. I’ve told you several times that it is time to hand the company over to someone. You’ve been the CEO for a while now and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Scott knew that speech by heart now.

“You need to marry soon and give the Lee family some heirs, otherwise I’m afraid the company might fall in the wrong hands.”

“This is really outdated, grandpa. I don’t need a wife and a son to inherit your company,” Scott repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. But he knew this argument would never work with his grandfather. No matter how easygoing the man was, he still had some old traditions he believed in that were hard to leave behind.

“Yeah, well, I’m an old man like you said. And I would like to keep it between family. And… Well, I’d like it to be you, if you know what I mean.”

It was the first time that Noah had mentioned it, even though being really enigmatic about it, but Scott knew what he was implying.

The second and only option other than Scott was his cousin Eric. He wasn’t a bad person. The ugly and bad side of his family was actually his wife, Pearl.

Scott hated the woman and knew well enough how cunning and smart she was. If Lee Pharmaceuticals ever fell in Eric's hands, she was definitely going to be the one running it. Eric had no idea of how to lead a company, and she could be very manipulative, especially with her husband.

The legacy of the family would be ruined if they ever got to take over. Scott was sure that Pearl would merge the company with her family’s - a very rich and dirty one - and Lee’s family name would be in the sewage as fast as a lightning bolt.

He assumed that Noah knew about it, that’s why the man was being so insistent on having Scott marry someone as soon as possible.

But marriage wasn’t something Scott believed in, no matter how hard he tried. And even though the image of someone came to his mind as soon as the word marriage was mentioned, he still didn’t want to accept it.

For that reason, Scott told his grandfather he’d think about it - like he always did when that topic was brought up - and said goodnight, hanging up the phone and taking a deep breath, trying to take Florence’s face out of his mind.