Tuesday, October 21, 2017, 11:48 am
Hato Enterprise
...
"I want what is mine. You are mine."
Did she always bite her lip like that when lost in thought? If she kept doing that she would break the skin and the image of her bleeding for any reason was unsettling for him.
"Here's the data report from accounting and here's the one from marketing." Sara said, placing the respective documents in front of him.
Sylas raised the lavender mug to his mouth, the smooth and bitter taste of coffee slipping past his lips and down his throat. He could have bought his own mug by now. Thinking about it, he probably should have done so but coffee just tasted better in this one.
"Oh, and HR has some complaints that have recently been filed that you should probably look over." His assistant clicked her tongue with a shake of her pink head. "The harpies are at it again."
When the small woman stopped biting her lips he relaxed, enjoying how full and red they looked from her nervous habit. What had she been thinking so hard about? While it was always easy to guess her emotions by looking into her eyes, she tried her best to avoid eye contact with him. Was she angry with him for what he said? He had only spoken the truth.
"Ya know. I just don't know what is going on in those women's heads sometimes. They'd slit each other's throats just to sit next to you. Poor Sean is up to his ears in complaints."
She was his long before her father had decided to barter away to Sabaku. Couldn't she see that? How could she actually think that he didn't care about her? Sylas' grip tightened on the ceramic handle and his eyes narrowed. Did she really believe George could ever want her more than he did? What else could he possibly do to show her he cared?
"Earth to Sylas!" Sara whined and waved a hand in front of his face. "Are you even listening to me Sylas?"
Sylas ignored Sara's attempt to get his attention, instead keeping his eyes on the small woman who was now taking furtive peeks at him from behind her paperwork. When she realized he was watching her too she frowned and returned to her computer. A feeling of dissatisfaction settled in the pit of his stomach making him push away from his desk and get up. Moodily he shoved his wallet and phone into his pants pockets before throwing a light jacket on.
"Sylas?" Sara asked, concerned with his sudden change in demeanor and exit. "Where are you going?"
"Out."
….
Tuesday, October 21, 2017, 12:25pm
Miller Flower Shop
...
His feet had already taken him to the flower shop before he finished making his mind. Now that the warm summer weather was rapidly declining, flowers were no longer spilling into the street. The front panels had been reinstalled, making it look more reserved and less vibrant. All kinds of fall varieties were packed inside the shop and were well protected from the crisp fall wind. Sylas looked up at the bright purple sign of the Miller shop declaring that they were indeed open.
He really shouldn't be here but it wasn't like he had many options...or experience with these kinds of things. Steeling himself against his own self-doubt, he pushed open the door and was greeted with the soft sound of wind chimes above him. Behind the slightly cluttered counter was the blonde florist who had helped him previously. The tension in his chest lessened slightly. It would have been...unfortunate if she had not been there. He would have had to ask Ellie and that would mean Ezra would be privy to his intentions. Although he and Ezra were getting along as of late, he wanted to keep the man from knowing about his intentions toward Amia. As he approached the counter, Iris's pale blue eyes looked up from her notebook and brightened with instant recognition.
"Welcome back!" She chirped. Sylas nodded his head stiffly and awkwardly approached the counter.
Iris was a little too cheery for his tastes. His eyes caught the notebook she was writing in, mildly surprised to find that it was covered entirely in numbers that even he had difficulty comprehending. He hadn't pegged the blonde for being good at much more than flower arranging. Judging by her lack of mistakes, despite using a pen, he was wrong about that assumption.
"I thought I frightened you the last time you were here. I was sure you weren't going to come back!" Iris smiled and tapped her chin with her pen. "How did things go with your Amia? Did she like the camelias?"
Sylas' cheeks flushed as he recalled how surprised Amia had been when she found the flowers sitting on her desk the following morning. Her eyes immediately lit up and the woman had her head in the clouds the entire day. He wanted to see her like that again. Iris's smile widened despite his lack of verbal response to her line of questioning.
"I'll take that as a yes." She said proudly. "What can I do for you today? We just got some long-stemmed Chrysanthemums this morning!"
Sylas shook his head and her smile faltered slightly. What he needed from her wasn't anything he could buy from her family's small shop. He needed advice and this near stranger was the only person he felt remotely comfortable asking. He couldn't ask his mother; she would immediately launch into planning a wedding. He also couldn't ask Sara; he'd have to admit to the woman that he and Amia had something going on and telling his assistant was the equivalent of telling the entire world. No, Sara would be a terrible choice. That left him at the mercy of Iris Miller, tongue-tied and prideful. Clearing his throat, he awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
"What do women like?" He mumbled under his breath but Iris caught every word.
Her eyes widened and her mouth was agape as though in shock that someone like him would even have to ask that question. Quickly she shook her head to eliminate her initial shock and placed her ink pen behind her ear.
"It really depends on what kind of woman she is. Everyone is different." She said giddily as she flipped to a fresh page in her notebook. "This is so exciting! Tell me about your Amia."
Sylas furrowed his brow, unsure if he wanted to give this kind of intimate information to a near stranger. He had never voiced many of his thoughts of Amia aloud. Before he got the chance to say anything though, the back door to the shop swung with a loud bang and the last person he expected to see in the middle of the day stepped in.
"Hey Iris, there is no such thing as low-calorie pho-yo Sylas!" Noah shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Sylas. "What are you doing here?!"
Sylas shifted from one foot to the other. Noah being here immediately made him rethink asking Iris anything. She was sure to spill everything he said to Noah and he was not ready to tell his best friend that he was pursuing his ex.
"I could ask you the same thing." Sylas deflected as Noah placed a heavy plastic bag on the counter.
"Well...uh...yeah." Noah blushed; this time it was his turn to feel uncomfortable.
"You two...know each other?" Iris asked, blue eyes flitting back and forth between the two men that towered over her. "This is a small world. I'll grab some extra chairs."
Sylas wanted to stop Iris and tell her he could no longer stay but the woman had already flitted through a door marked 'Employees Only.'
"This is unfortunate." Sylas grumbled and Noah nodded his head in agreement.
"Hey bastard since you're here can I ask you a question?" The blonde man asked.
Sylas raised an eyebrow. What could Noah possibly want already? Shouldn't he be making an appearance somewhere important?
"Hn."
"Great!" Noah cheered and rested his arm on Sylas' shoulder. "Listen, I just recently found out that Iris and Amia are close friends."
Sylas felt a chill run down his spine at Noah's information. Iris's Amia was his Amia. New York City was way too fucking small.
"She doesn't know that Amia and I used to date. I want to clear it up on my own but I haven't really figured out a way to tell her yet and I don't think Amia will say anything." Noah continued in a low voice, oblivious to Sylas' reaction. "How would you start a conversation like that? Hey, I used to date your best friend but I think you're really cool. Wanna go on a date? No. No. That's dumb. What about-"
"Sorry to make you wait!" Iris called, kicking open the side door and emerging with three metal folding chairs tucked precariously under her arms. Noah immediately grabbed the chairs from her and set them up around the counter.
"It's no problem!" The blonde man reassured. "Sylas here was telling me why he was visiting."
Sylas glared at Noah for throwing him under the bus but said nothing as he sat. Iris nodded and started unpacking the bag of food Noah had brought earlier.
"Since you're friends, I guess you should know already right?" Iris said with a smile. "He's trying to woo someone. It's so sweet!"
Noah's eyes widened and he clapped Sylas on the back.
"You actually care about something more than your own reflection? I didn't think that was possible for a bastard like you."
"Hmmm, anyway, I was helping him before you showed up." Iris said as she popped open one of the pho containers and stirred the still-warm contents around with her chopsticks. "If you really want to win her over, you should be romantic!"
"Pfft like that's even possible." Noah snorted.
"Try to find out her likes and dislikes. Write love notes. Take her out on dates. Surprise her. Go for long walks on the beach. Take her to fancy restaurants. Say nice things-"
"Iris, this is Sylas Uri, the biggest asshole I have ever met. He's not going to do any of that."
While the statement from Noah was rather crude it was never the less accurate. None of what Iris suggested sounded like anything he was comfortable doing or could even do in public. Aside from that, he was not a grand public gestures kind of guy and he knew Amia wouldn't be receptive to that either. Iris was undeterred. She pushed her pho to the side and removed her pen from its resting place behind her ear. Quickly she began jotting down a list in her notebook. Sylas glanced at Noah who only shrugged his shoulders and shoveled his lunch into his mouth. After a few more minutes, Iris ripped the page from her notebook and folded it in half.
"This is a list of some suggestions of how to sweep any woman off her feet. I'm a love expert so this is guaranteed to work or I am not a true Miller." She said proudly. "The most important thing is to be genuine. No matter what you do, make sure you mean it!"
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Sylas accepted the note from Iris and folded it until it fit into his jacket pocket. He nodded slightly in thanks and stood up to leave; if he was gone from the office for too long Sara would start blowing up his phone.
"Leaving already bastard?" Noah asked and Sylas scoffed.
"See ya, idiot."
As he opened the door to leave the flower shop he heard Iris's pensive voice.
"Huh...Sylas Uri...why does that name sound so familiar?"
….
Wednesday, October 22, 2017, 12:07 pm
Hato Enterprise
...
Amia shifted the heavy stack of papers in her arm. She needed copies made for her meeting later in the afternoon but was already running late. Unfortunately, nearly every floor's copy room was packed and although she knew that she could always bully her way to the front that just wasn't her style. Everyone was working so hard, it wouldn't be fair to them to interrupt what they were doing. This floor was her last-ditch effort but already it appeared to be a dud. The line for the copier was spilling out the door and its occupants looked as though they wanted to declare mutiny. Curiously she made her way to the front and peeked her head into the crowded copy room. Inside was a young man frantically pressing buttons on the printer as it shrieked and groaned with error messages. All around him, his colleagues shook their heads. They grumbled that he was taking too long and putting everyone else behind schedule.
"What's going on here?" Amia asked softly but everyone still stiffened at the sound of her voice.
The young man's eyes widened with fear as though seeing her for the first time and it made her heart melt a little bit. He was definitely one of their new interns and probably thought he was in trouble for damaging company property. Luckily for him, she was much more patient than Ezra or her father and had an unfortunate amount of experience fixing her own mishaps with their printers. She knew precisely what those frantic beeps meant.
"I-I didn't mean to. I've been pressing buttons for almost half an hour but I just don't know what's wrong!" The young male intern said nervously, clutching a stack of printer paper to his chest. She placed her own pile of documents on top of the printer and shook her head.
"It's fine." Amia said patiently as she rolled up the sleeves of her shirt. "These things happen from time to time. I have been meaning to order newer models anyway."
The intern nodded furiously but she could tell that he felt guilty to inconvenience his boss' daughter in such a way. His anxious expression almost made her laugh as she recalled how terrified she'd been when she had started interning and learning the ropes of her family's business. It felt like she could never do anything right but eventually, she got the hang of it, with Ezra's assistance of course.
Amia opened the front of the printer and shifted through the multiple trays to find the source of the problem. Quickly she located some of the paper jammed between the gears and removed it. The machine blinked back to life and immediately resumed printing when she closed it. The newly minted intern let out a sigh of relief. Amia couldn't blame him. First days were rough.
"Paper jams happen pretty frequently but now you know what to do." She said reassuringly and the young man bowed deeply in gratitude.
Amia smiled at him, grabbed her thick file of papers off the top of the printer, and began to press buttons to make her own copies, but the intern reached out and grabbed her wrist.
"Wait! I can do it for you Ms. Hato." The man said, dropping her wrist like she'd burned him.
"Are you sure?" She said as his face turned bright red.
"It's the least I can do!"
"Um...alright." She replied and passed him the hefty stack she had been about to make copies of.
After telling him just how many copies she needed, she turned on her heel to make her way back up to her office. Unfortunately, her path was blocked by a certain Uri leaning against the copy room doorway. His arms were crossed with a smug smirk on his face.
"Enchanting interns this afternoon Amia?" He said smoothly as Amia brushed past him.
She had many other things she had to attend to today and none of them involved Sylas Uri. She had made a commitment to her father and a promise to George that she would honor. She had to get over Sylas to do that. The man in question had other plans in mind. He pushed off the door jam and followed a half-step behind her.
"What can I do for you Uri?" She asked as politely as she could.
"Uri? We are back to that game now?" He teased but she didn't respond to the jibe.
Instead, she kept walking to the elevator as quickly as possible without looking suspicious. She pressed the button and was grateful to find the elevator empty when it arrived. Well, almost empty. Sylas, of course, had to slide in beside her. She ignored him and reached out to press the button for the floor to her office but he placed a hand over the button.
"Have lunch with me." He said suddenly and Amia shook her head.
"I can't." She replied, pushing his hand out of the way to successfully press the button. "I have work to do."
"Have lunch with me."
"I'm not hungry."
Her treacherous stomach growling loudly did not corroborate that excuse. Sylas said nothing but his smugness radiated off of him in waves. Amia blushed as the grumbling finally ceased and the elevator doors opened to their respective floor.
"I really can't leave for lunch." She said softly as they exited the elevator and slowly walked down the hall. "I...I don't think it would be appropriate."
"Tch. I knew you would say that." He replied nonchalantly and opened the door to their shared office.
In the middle of the room, their low coffee table was heavily ladened with takeout boxes. Amia's stomach growled louder and her mouth watered as the intoxicating aroma filled her nose. There was far too much food to just be consumed by the two of them. Was someone else coming to join them? Sylas' hand slipped into hers, pulling her towards the odd amalgamation he had assembled.
"Sylas." She whispered. "What is all this? Will more people be coming to eat with us?"
His fingers curled tighter around hers as he sat on the low-lying couch and brought her down to sit beside him. Amia looked at the usually proud man next to her with wide eyes but he refused to return her gaze. If Amia didn't know any better, she would have thought he was actually embarrassed! A small fluttering began in the pit of her stomach and radiated out until her entire body felt like it was vibrating. The man beside her released her hand and grabbed a random box of food.
"Eat before it gets cold."
….
Thursday, October 23, 2017, 3:45 pm
Hato Enterprise
...
Sylas closed his phone with a satisfied smirk on his face. His lawyer, Kent Hines, had already finished negotiations with three of the Hato shareholders on their price and soon more of them would follow. Kent, while a pervert, was the most efficient man on the Uri legal team. If anyone could handle the legal end of the ousting of the Hato shareholders, it would be him. It was only a matter of time before everything was finished. Only a matter of time before he could turn the tables and keep the contract from being signed. He just had to be patient.
With that thought as comfort, Sylas shoved his left hand into his pocket and felt to make sure that Iris's crumpled note was still in his possession. Even if he was able to get the contract shredded he still had to win Amia over. So far one of Iris's suggestions had surpassed his expectations... maybe another one would too.
"So I believe that was your last big meeting for the day." Sara said cheerily as they entered the main lobby of the building. "Now you just have to sign a few-"
"Sara! Sara!" A petite blonde woman said breathlessly as she approached the Uri and his assistant. "You gotta see this!"
"What's going on Mitsuki?" Sara asked, concerned as the woman pulled her by her wrist towards the almost packed elevator. Sylas followed behind them at a more languid pace but his curiosity was peaked.
"It's the Hato! She rejected Kora and Mina's marketing idea. They're pissed!" The blonde woman said excitedly and smashed the button for the third floor. "Apparently they didn't get anyone from the Hato to work with them and she won't let them move forward without it!"
When the elevator reached the third floor, all of its occupants spilled out and migrated quickly towards the conference room where apparently all of the action was happening. Internally this irritated Sylas. The Uri employees had too much free reign and no sense of decorum as they crowded around the conference room's glass. He would have to speak with Ira about this behavior later but for now, he could only focus on the scene inside the glass room. Amia sat impassively with her arms crossed over her chest as Mina and Kora shouted back and forth across the table.
The women were not used to being told no so it was no wonder they were up in arms about whatever Amia's decision was. Several of his employees were vainly pressing their ears against the glass to hear whatever the women were saying but the room was soundproof. All they had to go by was Mina waving her arms frantically in the air and Kora's face turning purple. Amia didn't appear fazed by their antics at all. Instead, when they finally seemed to run out of steam, she only said one thing and closed her eyes. Both women jumped out of their seats and looked as though they might cry.
Amia paid no heed to the simpering women and gathered up her things. She smoothly opened the conference room door and ignored the tumbling pile of Uri employees that scurried to get out of her way. While no one knew the context of the conversation, they had never seen Kora or Mina knocked down a peg. None of them wanted to be next either.
"Whoa." Sara said with admiration ladened heavily in her voice. "Amia's pretty scary when she wants to be huh."
"Hn." Sylas grunted in agreement although scary was not the term he would use to describe the woman before him.
No. As her voluptuous backside stalked away from the nosy crowd that had gathered, all he could think about was how sexy she looked when she took control. He had once told Ira that he found her to be competent but now as he watched his own employees fall in line with her commands, he knew that he had grossly underestimated her abilities. She was not just competent. She was formidable.
….
Friday, October 24, 2017, 4:01pm
Hato Enterprise
...
Amia sighed as she rolled her shoulders and tried to relieve some of the stress that had built up during the day. She had finally slogged through all of the meetings that she needed to for the day and now all that awaited her was a hefty pile of paperwork to sift through. She picked up the first document and her eyes immediately crossed at the dry jargon it contained. Maybe she should finally consider getting an assistant like Ira and Sylas. Then she wouldn't have to read through all of this material alone. She groaned in frustration and pushed away from her desk to sit on the couch. If she were sitting in a more comfortable position, maybe she could concentrate. Once she settled into the couch, she knew instantly that this was no better than her desk but at least it was soft. With a yawn, she stretched out and settled into trying to make sense of the thick document in her hand...
When her eyes opened again, she hadn't even realized they had been closed. She blinked and craned her neck to look out the window, alarmed at how pitch black it was outside. Dammit! She had fallen asleep and was now even more behind in her work than before! As she jolted upright, something heavy fell off her body and into her lap.
"What the-," she said as she lifted the heavy black material.
She stretched it out with both hands and her confusion only intensified. She had never seen this coat in her life. What was it doing on top of her? The door to the office creaked open and she jumped.
"I see you're awake." Sylas said smoothly as he entered the office with her mug in one hand and a bunch of folders tucked under his arm.
Amia blushed at his statement and pulled her knees up to her chest. How long had she been asleep? Sylas crossed the room and set the items he was holding on the low coffee table in front of the couch. The couch sank slightly with the addition of his weight.
"What time is it?" Amia asked, picking up the boring papers she still needed to read from the floor.
"It's almost seven." He replied and reached for his coffee and the top file. "You slept right through the proposal meeting for the new head quarters."
"Wh-what?!" She gasped. "That's supposed to be in two weeks!"
Sylas shook his head and her heart sank. How could she have forgotten about a meeting and such an important one at that? She just had so much on her plate recently that she couldn't keep everything straight. She didn't even want to think about the wrath her father would incur if he found out that she had neglected her duties because she took a nap. He was probably already angry regardless of whatever excuse she might cook up. This was terrible! Right as she was starting to panic, a sharp rap to the top of her head brought her back to reality.
"I'm kidding Hato. Don't start hyperventilating." He said and held the file he had hit her with under her nose. "The last of the bids were emailed this afternoon. You should look over it."
Amia glared at him and pursed her lips in a tight line. She did not appreciate Sylas almost giving her a heart attack but took the folder from him anyway. The devilish man was unfazed by her weak glare; if anything, it only further served his own twisted sense of humor.
'Jerk.' Amia thought and opened the folder.
Quickly she flipped through the proposals for the facility that would house their newly merged company. The current location of Hato Enterprise was much too small to incorporate all of the functions necessary for the two previously independent companies. The signing had cemented their union legally but now it was time to finally move all of the Uri operations from Dallas back to New York permanently. That meant breaking ground on a new site and starting from scratch all over again. Despite the initial public backlash of their merger, there was buzz over the deluge of money that would soon flow into the city to accommodate the construction. Amia hoped the buzz would continue down a more positive track but the public approval was a fickle beast. When she reached the last proposal, she looked up to find Sylas staring at her intently.
"Well?" He asked.
"Well, what?"
"What do you think?"
"Wh-what do I think?" She stammered in disbelief. "My opinion doesn't matter on things like this. The shareholders handle this. They will choose the option they find the most appropriate for relocation."
While it was vital for her to attend the upcoming proposal meeting, it was more for show than anything. Big decisions like this were always left up to her father and shareholders. Now that the Uri were here she supposed that Felix and his team would now be included in the decision as well.
"Tch." Sylas grunted and flipped the papers in her lap back to the beginning. "Look through it again. Make an opinion."
Amia narrowed her eyes at his persistence and he stared her down. Why did he care so much about her opinion anyway? He was not the kind of person that took others' thoughts into consideration. He placed her coffee mug back on the table, not taking his eyes off her for a second.
"We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way Hato." He said, his voice slightly deeper now elicited an involuntary shiver. With anticipation? Anxiety? Lust? She wasn't quite sure but she knew that look in his eye. This was not going to end well.
"I should go. It's been a long day." She mumbled, trying to suppress a blush from coming to the surface.
As she moved to lower her knees from her chest, he grabbed her right ankle and dragged her leg over to his lap. Amia squeaked in surprise and tried to squirm away from him but to no avail.
"You have chosen the hard way Hato." He said, his onyx eyes growing impossibly darker. "I'll let you go when you do as I've requested. If you continue to defy me, I will only bring you closer."
Amia gulped. How in the world was she supposed to uphold her end of the bargain with George when Sylas looked at her like that? When each word that dripped from his mouth roused the embers she was trying to smother? She took a deep breath and tried to get a handle on the situation. He just wanted her opinion right? Begrudgingly, she reopened the folder and scanned all of the proposals again, each one a worse option than the last. When she closed the folder again, Sylas raised an eyebrow expectantly.
"They're all terrible." She said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Hm?" He grumbled skeptically and Amia huffed, shuffling the papers and pulling out one of the worst offenders.
"Look at this one. It calls for entirely separate buildings. That's unnecessary and will only be redundant with many of the things we do. It won't allow for smooth communication between us."
Sylas took the paper from her hand, eyes scanning through the bullet points, and nodded in agreement. Feeling a bit more confident, she pulled out three more proposals that all ran pretty identical to each other.
"These are all calling for us to be in the same building but on separate floors. I know how your employees are. They will take working on lower floors to the Hato as an insult."
"Would the Hato be willing to work on the lower floors?"
"No." Amia said, absolutely certain that if asked they would do so but it would be like a slap in the face.
Sylas sighed and took the folder from her possession. With an air of mild frustration, he tossed it on the coffee table.
"Since you can poke holes in every other idea, perhaps you could develop a better idea."
"Pfft!" Amia snorted, lying back on the couch and staring at the above ceiling. "Like the shareholders would ever approve of anything I put forward."
"Hn." Sylas said as his fingers slowly detached from her ankle. "I'm sure you can convince the Shareholder."
"Shareholders." She corrected. "Convincing one of whatever idea I might come up with is pointless. Plus my father would never agree to anything I said and-"
"Amia." Sylas interrupted. "One day this will all be yours. From the tile to the doorknobs. This merge forces both the Hato and Uri to build from scratch. I think that you could come up with something that would suit everyone."
Amia felt her heart clench at his words. Sylas just didn't understand. None of this would be hers. Not anymore. Whenever her father and George decided to go public with their engagement she was to relinquish all of her claims to the Hato and step aside for Aviva to ascend to the position of heiress. Aviva would be the best head that the Hato ever had, this Amia was sure of, but that didn't mean she wasn't hurt. All her life she had tried to gain her father's approval, for him to finally see her as worthy of her birthright. She wanted to be seen as trustworthy enough to uphold the family name and continue their legacy. Unfortunately, all she could do to add value to their name at this point was to marry George. It was not the satisfying path she had imagined her life would go but it was the one she was heading down. At this point, she wasn't even sure why she even still tried to do anything around the office since nothing she was doing right now mattered much anyway.
"It is not my place to make these kinds of decisions." She said finally. "None of this will be mine."
The couch shifted and her legs slipped off of his lap. Soon, instead of the blank ceiling above, all she could see was Sylas' dark eyes hovering above her and his body entrapping her own.
"You are a woman who cares about everything from paper jams to employee representation. There is no one better to decide how this new office should be created."
"Sylas-"
"This, everything, is yours."
Amia stared back at his unwavering eyes and for a fleeting moment, she allowed herself to believe him. That one day she would be the head of the Hato Corporation and not just the silent wife of a wealthy businessman. She knew that she was only fooling herself but tonight, only for tonight, she would believe it to be true. She placed a hand on Sylas' chest and reluctantly pushed him away so that she could sit upright.
"Okay. I'll see what I can come up with."