74 - MANDATORY MEETING

KYLE’S POV

I waited a few heart beats after Aria had walked into the company, I counted my breaths and even took several deep breaths but I absolutely had no reason to be nervous, but I knew was nervousness and somehow I felt unease because of it. But then when I stepped out of the car the air became immediately charged with a special kind of tension that felt unreal, my mind now preoccupied with thoughts of the board meeting and what lay ahead.

“Hey handsome” someone greeted and standing there, radiant and confident as ever, was Dahlia Roskov.

"Dahlia," I managed to say, my voice tinged with surprise and unease.

"Kyle," she replied with a smile that could disarm anyone, dressed impeccably in a sleek black pantsuit that accentuated her slender figure. Her hair was styled in loose waves cascading over her shoulders, framing a face that held a hint of mischief carefully hidden behind those radiant eyes.

“What are you doing here?” I asked her and she chuckled.


“What kind of question is that? I’m here to see you silly, I knew you’d be getting in around this time”

She stepped closer while I thought of ways to step away from her and go about my very unmerry way “I gotta go”

Immediately she grabbed my arm and latched unto me “Oh don’t be silly Kyle, let’s grab coffee and a bite, we have a lot to catch up on especially about yesterday” her eyes narrowed at me and I looked strangely back at her.

“Don’t you have to be at work, I mean I know you’re in charge but I’m sure there’s still shit you have to do”

“Oh come on” she waved it off with an awkward chuckle “It can wait because when I woke up this morning, I’ve been thinking about you and what could have been if you hadn’t run off, so I thought why not?”

My patience was running out, I needed to go in and meet Aria, I didn’t want her to step into that meeting without me.

“Why not what?” I responded to Dahlia and she shrugged playfully.

“Why not we get to know each other better, we could be the power couple Kyle, we run the corporate world together. You know I met your father the other day and he was ecstatic about the idea of us getting together”

“My father?” I paused, sudden wheels running through my mind. “You met my father?” she nodded in response.

“Oh shit!” I cursed silently, running my hands through my hair. This whole thing wasn’t an accident, the blog post and even Dahlia suddenly showing up last night and here this morning, nothing was a bloody accident an my father was behind it all.

“I need to go” I said firmly and pulling my arm away from her cunning hold. Stepping away from her and quickening my pace toward the entrance of the building. The clock was ticking, and every second counted now. I knew deep down in my soul that my father was seated in that board meeting. I heard Dahlia behind me, her heels clicking on the pavement.

“Where are you going?”

I didn't respond, focusing all my energy on reaching the boardroom where Aria was waiting. The corridors seemed longer than usual, our matching footsteps magnified in the quiet of the morning and echoing through the walls. I could feel Dahlia's presence behind me like a shadow, persistent and unwelcome. Why was she still following me?
Finally, we reached the doors of the boardroom and with a surge of relief, I pushed open the heavy oak doors stepping inside and leaving Dahlia standing in the hallway.

“She’s not going anywhere” I said immediately without even any knowledge of the context of whatever was going on prior to before I barged in, my eyes jamming with that of my father who pierced his eyes into me with anger festering in them. I looked round the room and my eyebrows arched in confusion, who were these people? Mrs. Blackhorn I could recognize but the rest? I had no clue but I could care less about that at the moment.

“You’re going to run your company to the ground with your baseless scandals, and don’t forget you’re not completely on your own yet” my father said to me after we had exchanged a few words, his voice was thick in a way that conveyed hidden anger and I could only detect it from years of practice, years of gauging his emotions and judging if they were suitable to approach. After all these years and I could still tell everytime.

Just then, I turned to Aria and grabbed her hand ready to lead her out of this place but she pulled back from me and it left me confuses “Aria?”

Then she looked from me to my father and she said “I quit”

The room fell silent but her eyes stayed locked with my father before pulling them away and smiling at me “I’ll save you the trouble of typing out my termination letter with my resignation letter instead. I think my time with this company had to come to an end one way or the other and now I could be free to go out as much as I like with Mr. Kyle without interfering with the company’s reputation”

I stood speechless gaping at her, oh I underrated her so bad. Her words brought a certain feeling to my chest that I could liken to the consistency of jello. I smiled at her and she returned my smile while she took my hands that were outstretched out to her. I should kiss her, I should definitely kiss, I could feel the invisible forces pulling me towards her to take her in my hands and just ravish her right there and then and I wouldn’t care if it was unprofessional at all. But just then, moving we even had a chance to step out, I heard my father’s voice and the cunningness in his tone was unmistaken.

“I guess you’ve met Dahlia Roskov, you have an important meeting with her and it is mandatory” and immediately, the door swung open revealing Dahlia who had been waiting behind the door