Dates for Days
Thursday, September 6, 2017, 12:45 pm
Hato Enterprise
….
'They're for you!'
"Me?" Amia said.
She was genuinely confused about who would even think of sending her flowers, let alone sending them directly to her office. The high-quality parchment of the red envelope felt weighty in her hands. She was almost afraid to open it. She looked up at Sylas standing tense next to her but his face remained unreadable. Sara seemed to sense her hesitancy and took the envelope back.
"If you don't open it, I will!" The pink-haired woman said with a smile.
Amia held her breath as Sara opened the envelope with a quick flourish and her eyes scanned over the invitation. It only took thirty seconds before she screamed.
"Oh my god!"
"Wh-what?" Amia stammered and went to take the envelope back but Sara skipped away.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!"
"Sara!"
Amia tried to catch her friend but the woman was much too excited to have whatever juicy bit of information she was holding onto. She skipped around the low table in the center of the room, a giant smile on her face.
"You are such a sly girl! How come you didn't tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"This is so romantic! I think I'm going to burst!"
"Sara." Sylas said sternly when he finally unfroze from the door and walked over to his desk.
The sharpness of his tone made the excited woman stop running and give up the letter. Amia held it to her chest as she tried to catch her breath.
"You are such a party pooper." She said with a frown as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Amia looked back down at the card and opened it. The penmanship was elegant and concise, something she had never accomplished despite her tutor's constant criticism of her messy handwriting.
Please do me the honor of joining me for coffee this afternoon. I will be waiting for you in the lobby.
-G. Sabaku
Amia felt her jaw drop as she reread the short message several times as though what it contained would change with each pass-through. Sara took her usual seat on Sylas’ desk and clapped her hands excitedly.
"Can you believe it! George Sabaku is asking you out on a date!" She squealed. "He's the most eligible bachelor around!"
Sylas scoffed and Sara smiled up at him and patted his arm reassuringly.
"After you of course!" She winked. "He's in the lobby waiting for you. The harpies are going to be so mad!"
"He's there now? I-I-I can't go!" Amia said as she realized that she and Sylas needed to pick Ira up from the airport.
"What do you mean you can't go? Of course, you can go! You have to!" Sara urged. "You can't just stand him up!"
"But-"
"When was the last time you had a date? Seven, eight months ago? You have to get back out there dating! What better way than with this guy?"
"Sara-"
"It's just coffee, not a marriage contract."
"But-"
"But what?" Sara said exasperatedly and narrowed her eyes as Amia bit her lower lip.
"We need to pick Ira up from the airport Sara." Sylas interjected tersely. Sara just laughed and waved away the prior obligation.
"You can do that on your own! You can't hold Amia hostage!"
"We have other priorities that don't involve going on childish dates in the middle of the day."
"Whatever, you don't understand how sweet it is!" Sara gushed. "I wish a guy like George would come and sweep me off my feet! From the pictures I've seen, he looks pretty handsome. You think he's handsome right Ami?"
"W-well yeah but-" Amia replied.
"See that settles it!" The pink-haired woman shouted in triumph. "Don't worry about Sylas over here, he can handle getting Ira on his own. You go have fun on your super sweet spontaneous coffee date!"
Amia glanced up at the clock before she looked at Sylas who, despite his efforts to appear ambivalent, was exuding a rather dark aura. He was in such a good mood earlier, but now he seemed...angry. Was it something she said?
"Sylas-" the nervous woman started.
"Go." Sylas said flatly as he began shoving his laptop into his briefcase. "You wouldn't want to keep Sabaku waiting."
Amia frowned and grabbed her purse off of her desk. She did not appreciate his dismissive attitude in the slightest. She had already kept George waiting for too long anyway. With one last look at a smiling Sara holding two thumbs up, she opened the office door.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"
…..
Thursday, September 6, 2017, 1:30 pm
DayBreak Coffee
….
The coffee shop George had taken her to was quaint in a quirky kind of way. The tables were all intimately set to accommodate only one or two people at a time and the restaurant itself was relatively quiet. There were only two or three people typing away on their laptops, not paying them any attention when they walked in which was a plus. She already felt like she was on the verge of a panic attack. She and George had only exchanged a handful of words on their way here and now the fact that they had nothing to talk about was laid bare before them.
"I am happy that you agreed to meet with me on such short notice. I do apologize for the inconvenience."
Amia looked up from the spot on the table that she had been staring intently at ever since they had arrived and was met with those intense green eyes again. Outside of a formal setting, he was even more intimidating to be around.
"It's no problem!" Amia squeaked, her voice a little shaky, and mentally cursed her nervousness.
George didn't appear to mind though. He nodded his head stiffly and silence fell between the two of them once more. Now that she was in such close proximity to him she could definitively say that he was handsome. His fiery red hair was certainly a sight to behold and a small part of her wondered if it was naturally that shade. The silence that hung between them was awkward and heavy. What does one say on a coffee date? Was this even a date? She bit her bottom lip and racked her brain for something to say.
"Um..." She began and will her voice to remain steady. "Thank you for the roses Mr. Sabaku. They are beautiful."
"Hm." He said with another stiff nod. "When I saw them I imagined that you would like them."
"So, um, not to sound rude or anything but...um..."
Amia trailed off on her train of thought, allowing her unfocused question to hang awkwardly in the air between them. She felt a familiar blush of embarrassment seep through her cheeks and looked down at the spot on the table she had previously been staring at.
"You want to know why I have asked you to meet with me." George said bluntly and Amia nodded slowly, still unwilling to look him in the eye.
"It is only natural to get to know the head of the company I plan to work with in the future." He continued calmly. "Arlo informed me that you would be available today."
"My father?" Amia asked with a furrowed brow as she looked up at George who nodded.
"Yes. I got his permission to meet with you."
Amia stared at the man across from her as though he had grown a third head. Her father would surely have a few words to say about George and she wasn't quite sure they would be positive statements. Although, her father had to respect the younger man in some fashion since he had allowed George to meet with her. Her father was always conscious of the Hato image and how they carried themselves since their private lives could easily be made public. It wouldn't do to be the one that put a stain on the pristine image that her father and the countless Hato before him had cultivated. Because of the pedestal that her father had placed her on, she did not have much experience with suitors like other daughters of powerful men. No one was ever good enough for her father...that is until George.
"Hey, so, one Café Americano. No cream. No sugar." A cheery voice announced and placed a small white mug in front of George. "Annnnd one Ginger tea with honey, wait- Amia?!"
Amia's head snapped up at the mention of her name and she stared wide-eyed at Ellie. The brunette looked equally surprised to see her but was grinning from ear to ear as she looked back and forth between her and George.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"Hi, Ellie!" Amia greeted, grateful to see a familiar face and for anything to lessen how tense she felt. "What are you doing here?"
"I work here now too!" Ellie laughed. "The gym is closed for renovations so I'm working here in the meantime! Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"
"Oh, this is Mr. Sabaku!" Amia said and her cheeks flushed. Where were her manners? She should have introduced him right away. George smoothly stood up and held out his hand. "Mr. Sabaku, this is my best friend Ellie."
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Nice to meet you too!"
Amia had to hold back her laughter when Ellie looked as though she were about to burst. When George let go of her hand, the brunette quickly took her leave of the pair but she shot Amia a look that said that she had some serious explaining to do. She took a sip of the warm ginger tea she had ordered and found that the liquid helped to calm her nerves.
"You do not like coffee?" George asked, although his question came out as more of a statement of fact.
"I don't mind it." Amia replied softly, hoping she hadn't offended him with her drink choice. "I just prefer tea."
George nodded and raised his own mug to his lips. Briefly, instead of George sitting before her she saw Sylas with her lavender mug held captive in his hand as he looked over the morning report. Amia blinked at the image, her mouth parted slightly. Why was she thinking of him at a time like this? George cleared his throat and the sound of his voice broke the illusion.
"S-sorry Mr. Sabaku." Amia squeaked, blushing with embarrassment at being caught staring and his lips twitched slightly.
"George." He said. "Call me George."
….
Thursday, September 6, 2017, 5:15 pm
East Manhattan Complex
…..
Sylas drummed his fingers impatiently on his arm as he waited for Ira to finish wrapping things up with the dark-haired realtor. The relator was much too peppy in Sylas’ opinion and a bit too eager to assist them but she came with the best credentials in the city. Since it looked as though their stay in New York would be much longer than anticipated, it only made sense that they looked for more permanent dwellings than hotel rooms. Their parents were still settling their estate in Dallas while he and Ira were tasked with finding somewhere to live in the city.
His parents should be the ones undertaking this task but Sylas secretly suspected that it was just a ploy to get him and Ira away from the house so that they could do God knows what without the fear of being walked in on. Sylas shuddered as he recalled an incident in the kitchen he had walked in on just prior to their arrival in New York. Needless to say, he'd gotten a first-hand look at how he and Ira were created. His parents had no qualms about scarring him for the umpteenth time. No one got in the way when they actually found time to be with one another. His father was scary when he was deprived of his wife. Felix Uri was not the most affectionate person but when it came to Maria it was best to look the other way. Sylas ran his fingers through his hair and tried to erase the image of his parents from his mind. He would ensure that Ira got somewhere with enough space so that incidents like that wouldn't happen again.
"What do you think Sylas?" Ira asked, his voice echoing off of the pretentiously high ceiling.
Sylas looked around at what was probably the seventh penthouse they had visited that day and found that he liked it just as much as the last one. Which of course meant he had no opinion whatsoever. Every place was the same with minimal variation. Cavernous rooms, open floor plan, floor-to-ceiling windows- what he liked didn't matter that much anyway since he would hardly be home to enjoy it. To express an opinion, whether positive or negative, was nothing more than an exercise in futility.
His frown deepened as he realized just how depressing his thoughts were. Usually, he wouldn't be in this much of a sour mood. Whenever he got to spend any modicum of time with his brother outside the family business he was much more agreeable. However, he'd been feeling discomfort in the pit of his stomach all afternoon...
"Sylas," Ira called again and the younger Uri rolled his eyes.
"It's fine Ira." He answered blandly and Ira humphed but returned to talking to the realtor.
"We'll take this unit and the one directly below it." He said and the woman squealed with joy.
"Forward the contracts to the address on my card and I will look them over."
"Thank you, Mr. Uri!" She said when she finally regained her composure. "I will speak to the owners and see if they will come down on the price since you are interested in purchasing two units."
"There is no need." Ira said as he looked at the woman curiously. "We will give them full asking in cash."
At that statement, the woman's jaw dropped and she was left standing speechless in the middle of the room. Sylas smirked as he watched the woman try to comprehend what was just said. No doubt already envisioning what she would do with the sizeable commission she was going to make from this deal.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you." Ira announced as he walked out of the penthouse.
"Come, little brother. I'm starving."
….
Thursday, September 6, 2017, 6:00 pm
Apostle's Pasta
….
Amia didn't come back! EEEEEEEEEEEEEE See you tomorrow!-Sara
Sylas glared at the new message on his phone and flipped it over on the table so he wouldn't have to look at it any longer. It didn't matter what that damn woman did with her time. If she wanted to piss it away with the handsome George Sabaku of all people she could be his guest. She could do whatever the hell she wanted. If she wanted to go out on a hundred coffee dates with the redhead she could very well do that. He didn't care. If George wanted to waste his money on temporary trinkets like flowers, he should. He wouldn't stop him. He didn't care. If she wanted to kiss him...no, that thought only made his blood pressure spike.
"Want to tell me what's on your mind?" Ira said, interjecting himself into Sylas' thoughts.
"Nothing." Sylas replied as he aimlessly pushed some of his pasta around with his fork.
"Nothing usually means something when it comes to you." The elder countered and Sylas scoffed. "How are things going with your lovely new partner?"
An image of Amia biting her lower lip when she was lost in thought popped up and Sylas stabbed at his food. She was probably biting her lip right now in front of George and the man would likely find it cute. Everything that damn woman did was cute. It was irritating. Ira chuckled at his brooding disposition.
"I was just wondering since we will have a lot of work to do together soon. I just wanted to get some insight into who she is." Ira said, pausing briefly to take a sip of the red wine in front of him. "Although I do know one thing about her. She has a rather nice ass wouldn't you say?"
Sylas pushed his plate away at the reference Ira was making to when they had caught Amia pilfering through his drawers. While he knew very well that Ira's statement was true, he did not appreciate the observation from his brother. In fact, the idea of any man looking at her in that way didn't sit well with him. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared across the table at the older man who only swirled his wine lazily in his glass.
"I'm only saying what I know since you won't tell me anything." Ira teased.
"What are you trying to get at Ira?" Sylas growled.
"Nothing dear little brother but now you're talking to me so I guess I got what I wanted."
Sylas rolled his eyes at his brother's cheesy remark and sighed.
"She is….stubborn."
"Oh?" Ira said skeptically.
Sylas nodded as he watched the condensation of his water roll down the side of the glass and collect on the coaster underneath. Amia certainly didn't appear to be an obstinate person to the casual observer. However, Sylas had quickly learned that she was bullheaded in her own right even when it was to her detriment. He felt the corners of his mouth twitch upward as he recalled her keeping a straight face through all of their Tuesday morning meetings. No one was the wiser to the fact that she was beyond hungover from the previous night's activities. Even he would have thought she was fine if she didn't have to take a break every forty-five minutes. Sylas smirked at the memory but quickly soured again when he remembered who that stubborn woman was with.
"She is also naive and much too generous." Sylas added but frowned at his own words.
While it was true that she was both of those things it didn't quite fit. She was capable of doing her job and although she didn't perform in the same manner that he did, she was still able to get things down at the end of the day. She was...competent. Sylas nodded to himself with satisfaction at the term. It wasn't one that he was used to using when thinking of someone, let alone someone as gentle as the Hato heir, but in a short period of time she had proven that she was capable of many unexpected things.
"She is...competent." Sylas said finally and Ira leaned back into the booth with a smile.
"That's high praise coming from you. It's nice to know that she possesses more than just a nice bum." Ira mused as he drank from his glass. "Even if she didn't, I'm glad to have something appealing to look at. Did Uncle ever tell you why Uri are ass men?"
"You are a fucking pervert Ira." Sylas said as he glared daggers at his older brother who was unfazed by his own impropriety.
"I love you too little brother."
…..
Thursday, September 6, 2017, 6:00 pm
Hato Compound
….
Amia blankly stared up at the ceiling. She had seen this ceiling nearly every morning for as long as she could remember. She could count the almost imperceptible hairline cracks, of which there were five, and had dreamed on more than one occasion what it would be like to stare at another ceiling. To wake up next to someone else and lie in bed together, staring at a ceiling they called their own and just talk. For years she had imagined that that person would be Noah but that was nothing but a dream.
The reality of waking up next to someone as effervescent as Noah meant that he was either never there when she awoke or he was too tired to do anything but snore. She never had to heart to say anything though. He had so many responsibilities and so did she. She tried to be content with the way things were but day by day her dream eroded away. One day she had woken up staring at a ceiling that she could no longer call theirs, an empty bed, and a heart that no longer held love. Respect and admiration but no love. She wasn't quite sure when the love she had once felt so strongly had fizzled out of the equation but it had. As she stared up at her current ceiling she tried to imagine waking up next to George but found the exercise frustrating. His red hair kept turning black.
"Amia!" Aviva shouted as she barged into her older sister's room, thoroughly ending the peace and quiet. "I'm so done with cram school! I'm running away and joining a circus if Ezra makes me go again."
Amia lazily turned her head toward her sister and sent her a small smile. The girl had untucked her white uniform shirt from her skirt and allowed it to flow open to show off an ironic t-shirt from some band Amia didn't know. Her long wavy, brown hair was up in a ponytail but a few errant strands still stubbornly escaped. Aviva threw herself onto Amia's bed and buried her face in the pillows.
"If you don't go to cram school, how will you do well on your entrance exams to get into a good university?" Amia teased and lightly tickled the back of Aviva's neck. She giggled, popped her face up from the pillows, and rolled onto her back so she could no longer be tickled.
"What if I don't want to attend a 'good' university." Aviva huffed and although her tone was light Amia could tell that this thought had been tumbling around in her sister's head for a while.
It didn't seem like Aviva wanted to broach the topic further, so she allowed the statement to hang between them. When Aviva wanted to talk seriously about her life decisions, she would. Silence fell over the sisters as they stared at the ceiling above, lost in their thoughts. As always though, Aviva was the first to break the silence.
"So I heard you had a date today!" Aviva grinned mischievously to the ceiling above them.
"George Sabaku no less!"
"How did you already hear about that already?" Amia pouted and covered her eyes with her arm. She had only just left the man a few hours ago!
"One of my friends saw you out walking around town with him." Aviva explained as she fished her phone out of her skirt pocket. "She took a picture and sent it to me."
Amia held her hand out of the phone and Aviva plopped it into her open palm. On the screen was a picture of her and George outside the coffee shop they had visited. It was an innocuous photo of course but it was still embarrassing. Amia handed Aviva back her phone and rolled over onto her stomach.
"You just had a date with a hot guy why do you look so down? Did he dump you already?" Aviva asked and Amia shook her head.
"No," she began, her voice slightly muffled by her bedding. "He...he wants to go out again...tomorrow night."
"Then what's the problem? Is he gross?"
"No."
"Is he mean?"
"No."
"Then what?"
Amia felt her voice catch in her throat as she tried to respond. There was literally nothing wrong with George. He was polite, well-spoken, and genuinely seemed interested in what she had to say but something was off. Maybe it was the way he kept checking his phone every few minutes or how he had to step away twice to take rather urgent-sounding phone calls. It all had echoes of what she had gone through before with Noah. Yet again she knew she was being selfish and unfair but she couldn't help it. She just wasn't comfortable being placed on the back burner.
"I'm just not comfortable." She said finally, peeking out from her pillows to look at Aviva who was staring her down incredulously.
"Well then just take a friend." Aviva suggested and Amia narrowed her eyes.
"You can't take a friend on a date Aviva."
"Yes, you can! It's called a 'double date'. If you do that you should feel more comfortable because you will have a friend there to back you up."
"What do you know about double dating? You're not even allowed to date yet." Amia said suspiciously and Aviva jumped off of the bed. The younger Hato glanced at her phone and edged backward toward the door as innocently as possible.
"Oh, would you look at the time! I've gotta go...um...study yea study!"
Aviva scurried from the room quicker than Amia could further question her, slamming the door on her way out. Amia sighed and contemplated what her sister had said. A double date didn't sound like a bad idea. She doubted that George would be opposed to it and he may even feel more comfortable in a more casual setting. Since she wasn't looking for anything too serious at the moment anyway, a double might actually help.
After sending George a quick text to see if it would be okay to turn their dinner into a double date and getting an affirmative, she now had to figure out who to ask to accompany her. Unfortunately, she had found out this afternoon that Ellie would be working at the coffee shop. Iris always worked in her family's flower shop on Fridays since that was one of their busiest days. That left only one person to ask for assistance...Sara. Amia bit her bottom lip as she pressed her thumb to Sara's contact information. Sara was one of the prettiest people she knew but would she even be able to find a date on such short notice? There was only one way to find out. Amia bit her lip and began typing out her plea for help.
….
Friday, September 7, 2017, 5:29 am
Hato Enterprise
….
"Good morning!"
Sylas blinked and looked down at his watch and up at the scene before him. Then back down to his watch. It was five thirty in the morning...who did he piss off to have to deal with this? This just so happened to be a secretary who appeared to possess way more energy than usual. She had a bunch of papers stacked up neatly on his desk and a hot cup of coffee in her outstretched hands. He looked at the woman suspiciously as he placed his briefcase on his desk and took the coffee.
"All of your documents for the next few days have been organized in order of importance and department!" She said cheerily.
"Hn."
He casually flipped through the papers on his desk and found they had been meticulously assembled. There were even multicolored sticky notes to indicate where his signature was needed and summaries of what each document contained. When did she find the time to do this? Satisfied that everything he'd need to go through for the day was there he sat down in his chair and opened the inbox of this email.
"All inquiries for meetings and negotiations have been responded to and marked down on the calendar!" Sara grinned and he leaned back in his chair.
Something told him that she was angling for something. Did she want a raise? They already paid her handsomely but he wouldn't be opposed to paying her more if it wasn't unreasonable. Did she want time off? The woman had never taken time off for anything in the three years they had worked together.
"Sara-"
"All of the monthly interdepartmental reports arrived late yesterday afternoon and they have all been archived accordingly on your computer."
"Sara-"
"You have a very light meeting schedule today too. Your last meeting for the day starts at twelve and shouldn't last more than an hour. That means that your afternoon and evening will be free!"
"Sara-"
"You are always so busy. Going here and there. Sometimes you need a break-"
"Sara!" He said, raising his voice slightly. The overly excited woman was not going to stop rambling otherwise. "What do you want?"
She pushed a lock of errant pink hair behind her ear and looked sheepishly down at the floor. She mumbled something incomprehensible and Sylas frowned and stood up from his chair.
"I can't hear you." He sighed.
The woman before him took a deep breath before looking up at him with determined green eyes and her hands clenched at her sides. He would have thought she was ready to fight if an uncharacteristic pink blush wasn't quickly staining her cheeks.
"Will you go on a date with me?" She shouted and clapped her hands over her mouth once the words had escaped.
"What?" Sylas asked incredulously, completely taken aback by her request.
"Tonight!" Sara squeaked from behind her hands.
"I don't think-"
"Will you go on a date with me...please?" Sara asked again, this time not as loudly as before.
Right then Sylas noticed that the door to the office was still open and standing in the doorway was a rather shocked Hato. Her white eyes darted quickly between himself and Sara, quite perplexed by what she had walked in on. He felt an unknown tension in his chest relax as he saw her but then recalled Sara's text that Amia had not returned to the office after her...date. The unfamiliar feelings that had been brewing from yesterday returned in full force. He did not appreciate anyone making him feel this way, least of all her. He turned his attention back to Sara who was looking at him expectantly.
"Okay.”