…

Monday, September 10, 2017, 12:45pm

Hato Enterprise

...

"Security should be tight. No one without a press pass should be allowed in. That includes business contacts."

"No need to worry from our part. The dissolving of our Dallas office isn't complete yet so most of our contacts are unaware of this merger."

"What is legal doing about your contracts?"

"Ira has been working with them to get approvals for Hato employees to work our legacy accounts. You?"

"Already done."

Amia furiously scribbled notes as she tried to keep up with her father and Felix Uri going back and forth over last-minute details for the press conference. The men were fast. When they arrived in the large ballroom, they wasted little time over pleasantries and got straight to business. Their secretaries also had difficulty keeping up with their dialogue and action items. Amia would have felt bad for the brand-new secretary her father had acquired if she wasn't so preoccupied with keeping her own sanity.

She wouldn't speak at the press conference, but her duty was to remain front and center at her father's side. She was the future head of their organization and, as Ezra had said, she would need to embody that role even if it was silent. She glanced to her right at Ira who was unfazed by their fathers' discussion. He was taking in everything with a scrutinizing eye but relaxed shoulders. He was utterly at home in this environment. A big press conference was just another day for him. Like Sylas, he always seemed to remain calm and collected when they were in public.

At the thought of Sylas, her mind began to drift off to memories from the weekend. She wondered what they even were now. There was an undeniable physical connection between them. As much as she hated to admit it-she may even like him as a person. Rough edges and all. He was great with her sister. Ezra found him to be a decent colleague if not a little rude. She enjoyed spending time with him in their little hotel room just getting to know him. The rest of the world and their responsibilities to it didn't exist…

"Amia."

Amia snapped back to attention at the sound of her father calling her. The disapproving look he gave her was fleeting but it sent the message loud and clear. Pay attention or else. She swallowed thickly.

"Yes Father?" she asked.

"Go stand on the stage by the left podium. Ira to the right one. I want to block out positions."

"Yes Father."

Quickly she made her way up the steps to the spot her father indicated. Ira followed much slower, unfazed by her father's commands. The echo of her steps felt louder in her ears as she drew closer. She looked out at the spacious room and wondered how many people were actually going to show up. Did they really need this much room for a press conference?

"Switch places with Ira."

"I think they're fine Arlo." Felix grumbled but her father simply shook his head.

"Switch."

Amia stiffly did as she was told. Stepping forward when asked. Backing up as directed. Shoulders back, chin up. Eyes to a spot in the back of the room. It was all a bit much but she did it without complaint. Hopefully, the repetition would allow her muscles to remember exactly what to do when the time came.

"We have a meeting we need to get to Arlo, wrap things up with your precious heir and let's go."

"As my heir she has to be perfect. I won't have her looking disheveled in front of those cameras."

"Then get her a media trainer. If she doesn't know how to stand there and not look like an idiot she's hopeless."

Amia winced at Felix's sharp dig. Hopeless…what a way to describe her…

"I'll help her." Ira said and Amia stared at him in shock.

Help her? Didn't he have a million better things to do? A quick glance at her father and Felix let her know they felt the same way she did. Ira's efforts and time were better placed elsewhere.

"N-no, it's fine. I'm fine." she stammered. "I can practice what to do on my own! Besides you just got back into the office-"

"Nonsense. I have time whereas our fathers do not."

"Ira-" Felix started but the timer from his secretary's tablet rang out and echoed around the room.

Their time here was up. Amia gulped as her father looked her up and down-scanning for imperfections that only he could see.

"I'll leave you to it." he said finally and took his leave of the room.

Felix rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath, before following her father out of the room with the secretaries scurrying behind him. Amia let out a long breath through her nose, grateful that her father was gone for the moment. Still, she felt guilty. Ira shouldn't have to babysit her through something as simple as this right?

"You...you don't have to do this you know." she said and Ira simply shrugged in response.

"Stand up straight and let me get a good look at you."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Amia complied. Chin up, shoulders back, eyes at a point on the wall. Ira walked around her in a wide arc to take in every angle. His dark gaze was critical but not as menacing as her father's. When he had made a complete circle around her, he stopped and tapped a finger to his chin.

"You two are so different."

"Us...two?" she asked, perplexed by his odd statement.

"Typically, the children of powerful parents take two routes. They either completely reject everything their parents stand for or..." He said with a wave of his hand in her direction. "They try to become exactly what their parents want. Unfortunately, you are the latter and that route never works out well in the end."

Amia bit her bottom lip as he spoke, suddenly finding her loafers to be the most exciting thing in the room. She could hear Ira let out a short chuckle but she didn't dare to look at him.

"No need to be embarrassed. Now, set aside everything Arlo told you. Let's figure out what will work best for you. Now look at the back of the room."

She turned as instructed and focused her gaze on the steel double doors at the front of the room.

"Now close your eyes and pretend that I'm not here." he said, his voice even and warm. "Now imagine that there is one person watching you. Someone you don't care about impressing. Someone who has seen you during your most embarrassing moments. Family or friend, it doesn't matter."

She closed her eyes even though it felt odd, fully trusting Ira off of his confidence alone. At first she imagined Aviva or Ezra but her heart rate picked up. She didn't want to mess up and let her family down. Aviva looked up to her and the pitying look Ezra would give her made her heart hurt. She then thought of Iris and Ellie. A warm feeling spread through her chest but it was fleeting. They were like family and once again she didn't want to disappoint her family.

"When you have that person in your mind, open your eyes-" Ira continued but was cut off by the sound of the heavy steel doors being pushed open.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Amia's eyes flew open at the sound of the familiar, smooth voice to find it's owner glaring at them on stage. Sylas stood with his hands in his pockets and a frown on his face, clearly displeased with the sight before him.

"Aw Sylas have you missed me that much?"

"Ira."

The man in question rolled his eyes before placing a heavy hand on Amia's shoulder. She felt herself being shaken slightly as she jostled her around.

"Don't worry little brother. I won't hurt your...'colleague.' We are simply working on her confidence."

Amia immediately felt a blush rush to her cheeks at Ira's statement.

"Confidence?" Sylas scoffed. "She's fine just the way she is."

Her eyes widened with disbelief at his statement. She had been called many things today, 'Hopeless' making the top of the list. Hearing a positive word, even one such as 'fine' made the tips of her fingers tingle. She discreetly clenched her fists behind her back to make it stop.

"Fine?" Ira mused as he looked back at her again. This time he smirked. "Hmmm, I think you're right."

…

Friday, September 24, 2017, 5:45pm

Hato Enterprise

...

Amia sighed as she stared at the computer screen in front of her. She had been sitting there working for so long that the text was starting to make her eyes cross. She put down her pen and rubbed her eyes feebly to wake herself up. The last two weeks had been so jam-packed with things to do that now that the dust had settled a bit, things were rather dull. She looked over at the empty desk across the room and sighed again. Sylas had decided to leave not too long ago after he had sent Sara home for the day. He had asked Amia if she wanted to join him for dinner but she had to reject his request. As much as she wanted to spend more time with Sylas she knew that she shouldn’t. Dinner would not be just dinner.

Sylas had looked a bit disappointed by her rejection and a small part of her was too. They had been getting along all week but hadn't gotten to have time alone with each other. She was usually either shadowing Ira or Sara was in the room. Amia couldn't wait for the reshuffling of offices to finish so the woman would finally have somewhere else to sit that wasn't on Sylas’ desk. Although, Amia had a growing suspicion that she liked that particular perch.

Sara was her friend, an excellent friend by all measures, but sometimes Amia had to resist the urge to push her off that desk. Ever since their double date, Sara was becoming increasingly bold with her interactions with Sylas. If she kept this up, she was going to reach harpie-level territory and even Sylas was starting to become uncomfortably wary of her brazen behavior. Amia smirked as she ran a hand through her hair. It served him right to get her hopes up like that. Guilt washed over her at the thought. Her friend didn’t deserve to be strung along like this. She shouldn’t be engaging with Sylas like this. If her father knew about this he would surely stop at nothing short of disowning her…

Next to her, her phone began to vibrate. She picked it up and immediately felt her mouth go dry. She and George had not spoken to each other since their date last week. It wasn't for a lack of trying though. Every time she called him, it went to voicemail and the same on her end when he called. It had turned into a rather elaborate and frustrating game of phone tag. In a way, she was grateful since she wasn't quite sure what to say to him. Her father's words to not disappoint him reiterated themselves every time she saw that she had missed his call and it filled her heart with a sense of dread. Deciding it was best to just answer, she accepted the call and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hello." She said and she could almost hear the smile in his voice on the other end.

"Good evening Amia." George said. "You are rather difficult to get ahold of."

"Sorry, this week has been very hectic."

"No need to apologize. I do not have much time to talk but-" he started but was cut off by someone else requesting his attention.

Amia twirled her pen between her fingers as she waited for him to return to the conversation. She ran her fingers over the increasingly familiar gold lettering on the pen. She wondered how long it would take for Sylas to demand his pen be returned.

"Amia?" George called, snatching her attention away from the pen. Amia blushed even though she was alone.

"Y-yes?"

"I was calling to ask if you were free tomorrow afternoon?"

"George...I-I I don't know..." Amia said, her voice trailing off at the end.

This is an advantageous match for you.

"I brought back some loose tea from a shop near the home office I think you would enjoy."

Better than we could have hoped for.

"George, I-"

"I will not take no for an answer."

'Do not disappoint me.'

…..

Friday, September 24, 2017, 6:27 pm

Ichiraku Ramen

...

"Sylas over here!"

Sylas felt his eye twitch as Noah waved him over to the nearly empty bartop. He wasn't quite sure why the blonde needed to signal his location. He was the brightest thing in the room and came equipped with bodyguards. One would have to be blind not to spot him. Sylas slid into the stool on Noah's left and raised an eyebrow at the number of empty ramen bowls on his right side. Noah noticed the look and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"I got a bit carried away." He said and Sylas snorted. "Don't judge me bastard!"

"I'm just wondering where you put it all." Sylas replied and Noah stuck out his tongue.

Sylas rolled his eyes at the blonde's childish antics but ordered himself a bowl of miso ramen.

"How are you settling back into life in the city that never sleeps? I know how much you hated it here before." Noah asked as he shoveled an obscene amount of ramen into his mouth.

Sylas rested his chin on his hand and thought about the statement. He had really disliked living in New York previously. The circles they ran in were small. The number of people he felt comfortable around was even smaller. He had always felt like he was walking in his brother's shadow. Everyone had expected him to be just as charming, just as naturally talented. When he didn't live up to those lofty expectations, he could see the disappointment in their eyes. They wanted an Ira 2.0, the Uri heir and prodigy but all they had received was Sylas, the Uri spare.

He had resented his brother for a long time growing up, but they only had each other once they had moved away. Ira made it a point to always be around when their father wasn't. He attended every soccer match, countless cello recitals, and never missed an award ceremony. Eventually, that resentment wore away to respect which might have been a mistake. Since he no longer had his guard up, Ira took great joy in being an embarrassing older brother.

Returning to New York didn't feel so stifling all these years later. Enough time had passed that many people now treated him like his own person instead of Ira's bratty little brother. That, coupled with the fact that a certain Hato sat across from him every day, made this city a much more bearable place than before. He enjoyed Noah's company tonight but he would have much rather be spending time with Amia. Maybe the three of them could spend time together at some point. He had no doubt that Amia would get a kick out of Noah's idiocy.

"It's not so bad." Sylas said finally and Noah smiled.

"I knew you'd come around eventually!"

"One large miso ramen!" A jolly man from behind the counter announced and placed the steaming bowl of noodles before him.

"Thanks." Sylas said as he accepted the bowl and reached for his chopsticks. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Noah gaping at him. "What?"

"Who the hell is teaching you manners bastard?" Noah demanded and Sylas rolled his eyes, not dignifying the blonde's antics with a response. That only sent him further into a tizzy.

"Who are you and what have you done with Sylas?!"

"Shut up idiot. You're being too loud. "Sylas glared and Noah dramatically gave a sigh of relief.

"There we go. That's the Sylas I know."

Sylas ignored the theatrics and reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket. He pulled out a dark gray envelope and slid it across the bar to Noah. The blonde looked at him curiously before opening the envelope. Sylas busied himself with his ramen while Noah read over the contents.

"The Uri are merging with the Hato?" Noah said finally as he set the envelope on the bar top. His usually bright mood slightly dampened.

"Father and Arlo think it's the best course of action for the future of the companies." Sylas explained and Noah nodded his head silently. "We are going to make a formal announcement in three weeks so hold on to that invitation."

"Why are you giving it to me so early then? You know I lose things!" Noah huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Just don't lose it."

"Fine, fine. I will put on my best suit and be your date. You could have asked more nicely though."

Sylas rolled his eyes and smacked Noah on the back of the head.

"Tch. I don't need a date dumbass."