Imperfect Love : The CEO's Secret Affair

A strange businessman with a briefcase stepped into the dimly lit room of a funeral shop. The chimes at the entrance sensed his arrival, and he was welcomed by the thick scent of lilies and burning candles. Behind the polished desk was the owner of the funeral shop itself, a young man wearing a dark coat who looked like he was in his thirties.

No one in that shop called him by his proper name...

They called him "Grimm."

Grimm was in his chair, his hand resting on his desk. He wears a serious and unreadable expression while waiting for the man to settle. His silver eyes were evident despite the dim light; they looked as if they could pierce through anyone who dared to look at them.

"Tell me," Grimm's voice was deep but calm. "What brings you to my humble shop?"

The man with the briefcase smirked, his fingers brushing the edge of the chair as he stood beside them. "It's time," he said. "You see, the business here is running just fine. But the number of customers is increasing. You've been assigned to this business for as long as I can remember. But you can't run it alone with just a few staff. Maybe looking for someone to help you is a good idea for the business. A fresh face for the parlor, someone who can be your apprentice."

Grimm's fingers lightly tapped his desk, creating a faint rhythmic sound. He's taking the man's suggestion seriously but, of course, with reservations. "I'd rather like to call it waiting than looking." Grimm replied dryly, "I'm merely considering this idea because our operation is expanding. But looking for that someone is not easy. I have my standards, of course..."

The man with the briefcase smiled. "How long can you wait for that someone?"

Grimm's serious gaze met the other man with a knowing look. "I don't know," he replied. "But I will know if that's the person I am waiting for."

The man with the briefcase took a step forward. His lips curled into a smile that was visible despite the room's dimness. "Well, as long as you do the searching, then any method is fine by me." The strange man's expression changes from relaxed to a more serious one. "But again, finding someone who fits that role won't be easy. Maybe consider someone who can handle them, who can handle me, who can handle death."

"Don't worry that someone might already understand death's real business," Grimm replied. "Someone who isn't afraid to step forward and face Death himself..."

The strange visitor walked towards the window, staring into the night where the flickering lights of the streets failed to penetrate the inky darkness surrounding the building.

"Well, I guess I must entrust this matter to your hands." He muttered to Grimm but also to himself. "But I'm certain that you'll find that person. I have no doubt."

Grimm smiled, gleaming with something far more profound than anyone could comprehend.

"I will. And when I do, this shop will be complete."

-----

Author's note:

This story was the original plot line of my previously published novel here at w*****d, "The Peculiar Tenants of Unit 13th". As you noticed, I removed the story to give way for this one. I just saw this old concept written in one of my notebooks of ideas last week while cleaning up some pile of documents from my file box. And for some reason, this story is calling me, telling me to "write me"

So I did.

This story was originally written in Filipino (tagalog, unfinished) but when I started writing it for some reason, I decided to write it in English. Maybe to give myself a little bit of a challenge (but I regret later that decision wahahha! Because you see, English is not my forte, and yet, here I am 🤣)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this one.

By the way, too much effort I inserted on this one (grammar wise) like employing Grammarly for my sentence construction and clarity and sometimes employing g****e translate to translate the tagalog text from the original novel...)

So I hope you appreciate this...

Thanks a lot!

-Ate Yoshi-