After taking several sips of his coffee dad leaned back on the couch.
"You know, it feels good to sit like this with you." He said.
"I've been getting that a lot lately, from Nathan." I smiled.
"Well, I just wish Alice could have been here too. But she's a whole nother person."
"She just prefers something different. Something more... fun, I guess."
"She takes after Leticia." He said sipping his coffee. "You take after me."
"But a year ago I was like her too." I said holding the warm cup close to my body. "You didn't like it."
"Yeah... but your choice of teaching wasn't as humiliating as hers. You are more sensible."
"Well, I am older." I shrugged.
"Yeah..." Raphael sighed. "That's why I want you to work and get enough experience. Because you'll be the heiress of our companies. This is the headquarters, if you can manage this you can manage all our 12 companies in Duran."
I nodded. "I'm trying my best everyday."
"Yeah, no pressure." He smiled. "I'm not planning to retire anytime soon. You have enough time. And stay close to your cousin, he knows his way around Roseburg Advertisements."
"I will." I nodded. I’m very sure that if Francis was my father’s son, eldest or youngest, he would inherit this company. I’m only getting this opportunity because of my last name.
"Do you know what keeps our company on top of every other company in this country?"
"We deliver excellent service..."
"We do but that's only part of our success. The real reason for our success lies behind our family." Raphael told me. "People will only trust you if you are responsible and a public figure. They trust you when they see your ability to keep your family together and happy. If you can fulfill the most difficult task which you don't even get paid for so well, how much more something they'll pay you for?"
I nodded. "I get it."
"That's why I try my best to keep my family together."
"But it hasn't been much of a success..." The words slip out of mouth before I can stop them.
He sighed. "Yeah..."
"I'm sorry, dad. I shouldn't have said that."
"It's reality." He shrugged. "But... as long as we look like one big happy family, we're winning. There’s food on our table, a roof over our head and enough money to pay our taxes."
He smiled. This was not a good thing, in fact, it was a sad reality.
"I know that when I give your mom the news that I've sealed this deal, she'll want to throw a party." He laughed, clearly deviating from the topic.
"I feel like mom is always looking for reasons to throw parties." I laughed too, a clear message that I've agreed to sweep it all under the mat. The thing with my dad and I, we just had a different type of connection. We could understand each other by just looking at each other. A whole message could be passed between us.
"Well, according to her, she is a house wife, so parties add excitement to her life."
"Really?"
"I told you Alice takes after your mom."
"I see..." I said grinning.
I looked towards the door and saw Nathan speaking to Penny.
"Dad I really need a proper door." I told him with a sulking face.
"What's wrong with the door?" He asked looking towards the door.
"No privacy."
"All doors except mine should be transparent. It supports the companies policy about transparency and honesty. This way the workers will have nothing to hide and will work when they are supposed to."
"But dad this really sucks. It feels so..."
"If the managers feel watched they'll perform extra well. People in higher positions always seem to slack off."
I laugh. "Not me though."
"Gen, if I give you a wooden door, everyone else will want one too. That's bad."
"I understand." I said giving him my best smile.
"I think Nathan is coming here." Raphael said getting up. "I'll leave now."
I got up too.
"You coming back to the mansion?" He asked placing his empty cup on my desk and fixing his tie and suit jacket.
"No, I'll go back home."
"You mean back to your apartment."
"Yeah..."
"They say home is where the heart is, in actual fact, home is where family is. Which is at the mansion."
I grinned. "You have a point."
"I'll see you then." Raphael told me. "Keep safe."
"I will. Same to you, dad." I smiled at him as he kissed my forehead and left my office.
I watched him talk to Nathan for a while and then leave together. For some reason I felt relieved that Nathan didn’t come in but left instead.
When they left Penny came into the office and closed the door behind her. She came in as if she was about to gossip.
"What?" I asked her, frowning.
"Look here." She showed me her phone.
There was a picture of me making my way into the court house. Someone posted it online and wrote a caption.
I rolled my eyes. "What's it say?"
"'Raphael Roseburg's daughter spotted going into the courthouse trying not to be seen.'" She read. "What were you doing there?"
"People have nothing better to do." I said going to sit behind my desk and opening my laptop.
"Well the country seems interested... cause it's trending."
"Now they'll come up with their own versions of why I was there." I said shaking my head.
“Well, it’s like spotting the president’s daughter sneaking into a courthouse, wouldn’t you be curious why she’s there?”
I frowned, looking at her for a second before I shook my head. “No.”
"What were you doing there anyway?" She asked me leaning on the chair. “That was today, you’re wearing the same thing.”
"It's a long story."
She continued to stare at me, like a child waiting for something.
"What?" I asked her.
"I have all day." She smiled. "Literally."
"I don't. I have work to do, Penny."
“Why were you sneaking?” She asked me. She sounded so relaxed and conversational.
“I wasn’t. Can you please let me work now?”
She raised one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows. "Sure..."
As soon as she left, my phone chimed.
Trending: Roseburg’s daughter sneaking into courthouse
I stared at the picture of me in my brown furry coat with the hood over my head and black shades. I looked dodgy as hell, like a celebrity in a busy street trying not to be recognized. I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I quickly swiped right, dismissing the notification.
The piercing sound of my alarm clock jerked me awake. Trying to fall asleep was like starting a war in my head; with thoughts of Yoké fighting off every bit of sleep, with questions I didn’t know the answers to. Is he okay? Was he able to sleep? Or is he struggling like me, maybe spending the whole night wondering when I’d show up to take him away from that awful place… But as usual, sleep always conquers.Although I set my alarm clock for two hours earlier than I usually wake up, I was full of energy and wide awake as soon as I heard it ring. I turned on the radio, wishing that I could turn the volume much higher than it already could go. I felt so excited! I would be seeing Yoké today!I jumped into the shower, spending more time than I would on a regular day. I made sure to take a lot more time doing my make up and hair too.I’ve watched hundreds of romantic movies of when the girl and the guy
I took the lift straight up to the last floor. It took me a long while to get to the 40th floor because the lift stopped at almost all the floors. The workers kept coming in and out. I didn’t care one bit that I was not returning their fake smiles. Even the long drive back to the office wasn’t long enough to calm me down. I was so disappointed that it made me upset.When I got to the 40th floor I was the only one left in the lift. The whole 40th floor was my dad’s and his alone: his huge office, waiting area, secretary’s desk closest to his office and also his two body guards. One of the body guards was standing by the lift and the other standing outside his office door. I don’t even know why he brings his body guards in here, there is a security guard on each floor. I remember having to beg my father to not have two big guys follow me around. After weeks of begging him, he finally allowed me to only have one body guard and he be my
I woke up around 7 on that Sunday morning. I made sure my phone was on so that I didn't miss any calls from Steven. After an hour of lying in bed and checking my phone a thousand times, I finally decided to do a breathing exercise just to try and relax. I felt like I was about to get a panic attack. While doing the exercises, I felt better but as soon as I finished, I found myself anticipating the result of the case again. What if? What if we lose? What will I do if we lose?Although it was still early, I decided to go and take a shower just to keep my mind distracted on something else other than Yoké. When I was about to step into the shower I heard a knock on the front door. I heard Rosalie open the door. I hope that it isn't my father. When I came to the door, she was standing there with a bouquet of roses in her hand. Pink roses."Good morning ma'am." She greeted, holding the flowers towards me.I frowned moving the flowers to one side, looking for a note. There was. The flowers we
“I took in account that this is the accused’s first felony and hereby decide that he can be let out on bail. But if the accused is to commit another felony within 5 years, his punishment will be tight.” She banged her gavel. “This case is closed.”I almost screamed with excitement. I even hugged Finn! He didn’t hug me back, obviously. I didn’t care. I jumped out of my seat and struggled out of the bench. I ran towards Steven and hugged him too.“Oh my God!” I said placing my hands on my head, my mouth in an ‘o’. I still couldn’t believe this.“We did it.” Steven was smiling at me. He didn’t look excited, just wore a professional smile.“Oh my God…” I said. It had still not completely registered. It all just felt like a dream and I was afraid I would wake up anytime and have to face the odd rea
Yoké was asking me for his child. It then occurred to me that he didn’t know anything, not what happened. I had to tell him everything. It is his right to know and here he is demanding an answer.I instinctively looked around as I realized that we were in public. The officers with nothing better to do at the gate were already watching us. Dad had warned me about the public, about protecting our company and not giving people reason to doubt our assurity. What worse reason than to be here in front of a prison with an ex-convict demanding for the child that was taken away from him? A child he now wanted to meet.“Yoké, we can’t talk here.” I told him. “Let’s go to my apartment.”“I don’t want to go anywhere with you, I want to know where my child is.” His voice firm and his face still with that frown.“I know, but right now we are in publ
Yoké frowned as if he was trying to figure me out.“Why aren’t you telling me where my Risa is?” He asked me. “Who is she with?”A tear rolled down my eye. I quickly wiped it away, took a deep breath in and held my breath. “She’s gone, Yoké.”“What do you mean she’s gone? Gone to where?”“Our Risa is dead-" I couldn’t control myself anymore, I let the river I had been holding back all these months finally flow. I began to cry. “She was born still.” His facial expression didn’t change, he just continued to look at me with that frown.“What are you saying?” He asked me shaking his head like I was saying something that he couldn’t believe. “Yoké she didn’t cry. She died in my stomach. I didn’t even get a chance to hold her in my arms.” I told him. “I didn’t even see what color were her eyes…” Yoké’s mouth fell and it stayed that way for a while before he shook his head. “No. That’s not true.”I clapped my hand over my mouth as I almost cried out loud. I felt so heart broken, the whole
There were dark marks all over his back and arms. I came to sit next to him on the couch to have a better look but he began fixing his sweater. He pulled his hoody back on and sat with his arms on his thighs and his head in his hands.“Who did this to you?” I asked him.“They would have killed me if the officers didn’t walk in on time. They told me that that was going to be my last day on earth.” Yoké said. “But I’m fine.”“Do you remember their faces?”He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter-”“Yes it does, Yoké.” I told him. “I’ll report each one of them for doing this to you and make sure they never set foot outside those walls ever again. You could have died.”“Living… dead, why do you care now?” He shrugged.&n
“Yoké how did you get here?” I asked him suddenly feeling a bunch of emotions rushing in. “Why did you let me go Yoké? Do you know how it felt living without you?”I began crying.He reached out and wiped my tears but didn’t say anything.“The only reason I decided to move on was because I had her. I was gonna have a little you around me, that’s the only hope I was hanging on to but-”“Shh…” Yoké interrupted. “Come here…”I laid on his chest, he covered me with the blanket and put his arms around me. He was still warmer than normal. I wiped my tears and closed my eyes for a while. Tranquility, that’s what I felt. How did I survive more than a year away from him? How did I survive it? I hugged him tighter and tighter as I realized how much I’ve been missing him.