002: Ayla Lawrence (II)

Thud.

A faint sigh left her blush lips as she brought her face down burying it in her palms. Her thumbs slowly worked around her temples.

'What have I gotten myself into?' 

The question resonated in her mind as her temper began to build up slowly. To say that she was angry at her own self would be an understatement. She was beyond enraged by the decision she had come to make. 

But did she even have any other choice? 

No. She did not. 

She pulled her face back to look up at the sky. It was a clear night. There weren't many clouds marring the midnight blue sky that night. One could easily make out the stars dazzling in the distance, dancing to the beat of the cold autumn air. 

Throwing her head back, she drew in a sharp breath as the events of the past few days came rushing to her mind. 

----------------

One week ago. 

"Dad?" Ayla stepped inside her father's study only to find his face buried among a number of files. 

"Is everything alright?" She couldn't help but worry about him. This was most likely the first time she was getting to see him so anxious about something related to work. He always had a laid back attitude when it comes to getting it all done. Everything seemed to be always under his control. 

But from the past few days she could clearly see that it wasn't the case. Something had been troubling him, and all she wanted was to help him out. 

"Yes, yes, my child." The old man looked up at her and gave her a small smile. "Everything is alright." 

Ayla could only shake her head. It wasn't hard for her to see through his lies. Though at the same time she began to wonder what was so worrying that he chose to lie to her. It wasn't something he would do unless he knew that the truth would eventually hurt her in one way or another. 

"Seriously, Dad?" She walked over to his study table, shaking her head. "You do realize that lying to me is of no use?" She leaned over the study table to sneak a glance at the files in order to figure out what was wrong. 

But before her eyes could even land on them, they were smacked shut before her face. 

"How many times do I have to tell you that all of this doesn't concern you?" Her sneakiness only earned him a glare from the old man. "What goes on around in the company has nothing to do with you! Don't get me to repeat this again." A warning followed his stare before his expressions turned mellow. 

"I know, I know. It's just that I want to be of some help to you." She exhaled out a sigh before slumping back into the chair. "Why didn't you force me to study business?" 

It was something she was proud of. Never had he forced her to do anything that she didn't like. This included the field she chose to study. 

Her passion was in helping out others. Hence, she chose to study medicine. At least that way she would be able to help them out in one way or another. The thought alone made her happy. 

At the same time, she would question her choice time and time again. Being an only child wasn't easy. It came with a lot of responsibilities. Or so she was told. 

"Don't think too much about it." Her thoughts were interrupted by her father's stern tone. "It's just a small hiccup. Nothing I can't handle on my own." He reminded her. 

"Are you sure?" She couldn't help but worry about it even after being reassured. 

"I am. Don't you have faith in your own father?" A low complaining groan left the old man's pursed lips. 

"You know that I didn't mean it like that." Ayla shook her head hurriedly before jumping on her feet. She walked around the desk and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him from the behind. "I was only worried about you. I don't like it when you stress yourself out too much." She tightened her hold around his neck before. Placing a soft kiss on the side of his head. 

"I know." He gave her hands a light pat. "There's no way I am going against either your orders or my doctor's." He added only to earn a glare in return.

How could she forget the last time he ended up falling sick all because of some business deal. He took it on himself to figure out everything that went wrong just so he could salvage the situation. This only resulted in him falling unconscious on the day of the meeting itself. 

The thought alone of having to see his pale body lying in a hospital bed scared her. She didn't want to lose him already. He was her only family. 

"You better behave." She gave his shoulders one last squeeze before taking a step back. "I came to check up on you because a little birdy told me you skipped your meal." She decided to come to the point. It was the first thing she had to listen to after coming back home. 

"Just because you are working from home today it doesn't mean that you get to skip your lunch." She added, shaking her head in disbelief. "You promised that you'll be taking care of yourself. Is this how you stay true to your words?" 

Her words seemed to have hit a nerve as his expressions turned sour. "I know. I didn't mean to. I just got caught up in these files. I am so sorry." He gave her an apologetic look, hoping for her to forgive me one more time. 

On the other hand, Ayla found herself to be stuck in a tight spot. She couldn't get angry at him too much even though she wanted to express how hurt she was because of his disregard towards his own health. At the same time, she didn't want to go ahead with another 'it's okay' because she knew he was going to do this all over again. 

Realizing the fact that he had indeed messed up this time, he tried to placate the silent lady who was glaring at him. 

"How about this? You go and freshen up while I get them to prepare the table for us and we can have our meal together. Sounds good enough for you?" He scratched the back of his head while giving her a hopeful look. 

Sigh… Ayla shook her head helplessly before giving into his suggestion. 

"Fine!" She turned around to walk out of the room, not forgetting to give him one last warning on her way out. "This better be the last time, Dad." 

Thud!