Chapter Four
It’s a Test…a Trial
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Monday, August 30, 2017, 6:01 am
Hato Enterprise
…..
Amia stood there, dumbstruck by his entitlement and lack of decency for another person's things. What was he even doing there in the first place? He placed the file he had been holding on the desk as he took a sip from his...wait...that wasn't his mug! She recognized that half-obscured lavender and white pattern anywhere! That lavender mug had been an office-warming gift from Ellie and Iris when she finally took her place at the company. How dare he!
"Are you going to keep staring or are you going to explain to me what it is you do?" He said blandly.
"W-why would I tell you that? What are you doing here in my office?" Amia questioned, trying desperately to keep her anger in check as he continued drinking from her mug.
"It's more specifically known as our office."
"Wha- I don't understand?"
"Welcome to work Hato."
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Monday, August 30, 2017, 6:15 am
Hato Enterprise
…..
'Breathe, just breathe.' Amia thought to herself although it wasn't helping in the slightest.
She had thought that she would be able to find solace in the ladies' room but it was already overwrought with occupants. There was even a line and there had never ever been a line previously. So instead of a stall, she broke into Ezra's unsurprisingly spared office. Ezra Hato. Nephew of the CEO turned 'fixer' and a prodigy in all respects of the word. When her father needed something done, Ezra was his mouthpiece. Stoic perfectionism is what he was known for but to her he was simply Ezra.
She slumped into one of his plush gray chairs and busied herself with one of the many books on the shelf. All of which were boring and dry but it was better than being locked in a room with Sylas Uri. She didn't have to wait long for her cousin to arrive and he didn't seem surprised to see her holed up in his office either.
"So I see that you've met your new partner." Ezra said as he placed his briefcase on his desk and removed his suit jacket. Amia felt her cheeks burn at the word 'partner' but pushed her embarrassment aside.
"What is going on?" She asked as evenly as she could without sounding petulant. "I thought that the Uris didn't want to merge. Why does he have to be in my office?"
Ezra walked around to the front of his desk and leaned against it. He crossed his arms over his chest and let out a long breath.
"To answer your first question, it appears as if Mr. Uri and Uncle were able to come to some sort of...understanding," he explained. "I'm not sure what it entails exactly but for all intents and purposes, we are merging. Now to why you are sharing an office with Felix's son, that is temporary."
Amia felt her body begin to relax at that news. She was on the verge of having an anxiety attack just seeing him rifling through her things. How long would he be imposing? A day, a week? She could handle a week.
"Don't get excited just yet. Until we get things restructured with the staff and the other floors renovated, you two will be working together on all of the loose ends that Ira Uri and I can't get to. Your assignments will start next week." Ezra tempered, already sensing her spirits uplifting.
"Loose ends?" She stammered, her face losing its color.
"On our end, you are the heir apparent for the Hato corporation and this is supposed to be seen as growth that will take us into a new age. The shareholders will feel more comfortable is we feed them that narrative. With you having a hand in matters, it will ease the transition for you to take over in a few years."
Amia sank further in her cousin's chair although it no longer felt so plush and safe. She absolutely hated being the center of attention. Her success was expected. Her failure was almost all but assured. The cloud of being the 'Failed Heiress' loomed over her head-pushing aside thoughts of the devil in her office. Ezra uncrossed his arms and sighed.
"I know it's unfair to spring this on you suddenly but honestly it's past time that Uncle began to put your face out there and let others see your skills. And, if everything goes well, he will formally declare you his heiress. Think of this as a test."
Amia nodded absently. The confidence her cousin had in her was immense. Not even her father thought this highly of her abilities. Ezra seemed able to read her mind and his grey eyes softened.
"Amia, you can do this. I know you can."
….
Monday, August 30, 2017, 8:05 am
Hato Enterprise
…..
This is a test
Amia placed a hand over her heart as though it would calm its erratic beating. All she had to do was just act normal. She could treat him like a stranger, he pretty much was anyway. She pushed open the door to her-their- office which was still a scene of decimation but now full of cardboard boxes. Her new partner looked up from the box he was rummaging through for a second before returning to what he was doing.
"Nice of you to finally return." He said monotonously.
"I just had to-" Amia began to explain but stopped midsentence. She shouldn't have to justify her whereabouts to him. He didn't seem bothered by her sudden silence either since he wasn't listening anyway.
This is a test
Amia stood up a little straighter and looked around listlessly at the piles of her folders on the floor. Her office was more than sufficient to house both of them so that wouldn't be too much of an issue. If she was going to coexist with him, all she needed to do was treat him like any other person. She picked up her used lavender mug off of the desk and felt her blood pressure spike at the coffee ring in the bottom of the cup. She cut a quick glare at the man who was paying her no attention at all.
If her father really was thinking of finally naming her heiress, she was sure to end up dealing with many other people far worse than Sylas Uri. As such, if she could handle him she could handle anything. With that small comfort, she placed the mug back down and went to reorganize her files.
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Tuesday, August 31, 2017, 4:58 am
Hato Enterprise
….
"I can do this!" Amia said firmly to her reflection in the elevator doors.
If Ezra believed in her, the least she could do was try her best to live up to his expectations. The woman on the shiny silver surface stared back and while her stance was confident, she wavered. Every self-help book and friendly word of advice dictated that one should 'fake it til they made it.' Problem was, she had a hard time faking it. It just wasn't something she was used to doing. The doors to the elevator opened and she straightened her back and headed down the hallway with her head high. No matter how embarrassed she was she couldn't let it affect her job performance, not when all signs steered towards her father finally accepting her as his heiress.
"Just breathe." She whispered under her breath as she placed a hand on the cold doorknob.
She opened the door to their office expecting to find it empty but the Uri was already there directing two delivery men where to place what she assumed was his desk. To her irritation, her lavender mug was once again at his lips. She glanced down at her watch. It was five a.m.! What was he doing here and how had he managed to get movers here this early? She shook her head and placed her purse on top of a stack of boxes as the men placed the desk where he wanted. He handed the two men a wad of cash and waved them out of the room.
"Good Morning, Mr. Uri." She greeted tightly and one of his eyebrows quirked slightly upward in curiosity.
"So formal this morning?" He asked, mild amusement laced through his bland tone. "Mr. Uri is my father."
Amia ignored his remark as she removed her black blazer and settled into her desk's new location which faced his. She didn't like the fact that she had to see his ridiculously chiseled face every time she looked up but it couldn't be helped. Any other configuration of the room just looked strange. She awakened her desktop screen and immediately went to check her email. There were a few new things in her inbox but not nothing that needed her immediate attention.
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She opened the first email. It was just a formal invitation for a representative of their corporation to attend the grand opening of one of their newest branch facilities. It was oriented towards a younger generation. Filled with all of the uniqueness that older businesspeople thought their younger counterparts wanted. This was easy.
Immediately she thought of sending Aviva to the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The teen's bubbly personality was always a hit for the media to write puff pieces about. As she began to craft the plan in her mind, she hesitated. If this was a test from her father, he would probably wish for both her and Sylas to attend the event. Suddenly this innocuous email didn't appear so easy any longer. She shook her head and moved on to the following email which made her heart sink. It was yet another blow-off. Amia frustratedly pushed her bangs off her forehead and let her shoulders slump. Why did this keep happening? She opened a message response window and got ready to type her reply.
"What are you doing?" A deep voice behind her growled and she jumped in surprise.
She swung around in her chair to see Sylas staring intently over her shoulder at the email on her screen. His breath tickled the back of her neck and the smell of his aftershave enveloped her senses. She felt her face heat up. Did he have no concept of privacy? He reached over her shoulder and exited out of the response screen.
"What are you doing?" Amia gasped as she tried to take the mouse away.
"You shouldn't respond immediately to something like that. They are just trying to see if they can get more money."
"You don't know that."
Amia glared at the pale hand holding her mouse hostage. She would have to touch him to get it back and that was not an option.
"Don't reply. Don't send another email." Sylas said flatly before taking a sip of coffee.
"If I do that we could lose out on a potential deal." Amia grumbled under her breath.
"You won't." He replied confidently even though she hadn't asked for his opinion. "Your terms are in fact generous. Too generous."
Amia glared at his back as he finally set her mouse free and walked back over to his side of the office. When he turned around, she quickly busied herself with other matters. If she could just stay busy enough she wouldn't have to look at him and that arrogant smirk. She reopened the reply window for the email and set her fingers on the keyboard. This deal could bring in a lot of money for the company. What did he know anyway? She moved to begin typing but the words wouldn't come out. What if what he was saying was true? Doubt creeping into the back of her mind, she bit her bottom lip and exited the email.
By the end of the day, there was a new email from Sarutobi outlining that they had reconsidered the terms and desired to set up a meeting. She had to fight to keep her jaw from falling open in shock.
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Wednesday, September 1, 2017, 4:25 am
Hato Enterprise
…..
By the middle of the week, Sylas had realized two things. The first being that the eldest Hato daughter had no sense of duplicity. The woman was much too honest for her own good. She wore all her feelings on her sleeve, which he wasn't used to anyone doing. At times he wondered how it was even possible for one human to display so many emotions within one day and not implode. It was amusing and led him down the path to his second discovery. Amia Hato was just too easy to fuck with.
The woman was so open it was incredibly easy to get a rise out of that childish provocation couldn't be helped. He took immense appreciation as her face turned red with fists clenched at her side or the way she would skirt past him in the halls to avoid brushing up against one another. Due to the latter behavior, he made it a point to get into her personal space anytime the door to the office was closed. He knew that he was being insensitive and that his behavior was beyond unprofessional but he couldn't help it. There was just something about that doe-eyed woman that made him want to push all of her buttons. He was the quintessential schoolyard bully that dipped their crushes' pigtails in paint when they weren't looking. He felt his lips twitch at the thought, a move that didn't go unnoticed by his companion.
"You look like the cat that swallowed the canary little brother." Ira smirked as he scrolled through something on his phone. "To what do we owe such a good mood this morning?"
"Hn." Sylas grunted.
"My your vocabulary has improved."
When the elevator dinged and the doors opened the Uri brothers made their way swiftly down the hall. The office was mostly deserted. Only a few stragglers from the previous night were milling about like zombies. Sylas always found it strange that people had such trouble getting up in the morning. He himself was always up and moving before sunrise. He took a sip of coffee from his mug and grimaced at the bitter brew. Whatever swill they were using in the coffee maker that morning was awful. He felt his mood dampen slightly at the prospect of having to throw it away.
"How are things coming along with your new partner?" Ira asked as they rounded the last corner before they arrived at the office.
"I haven't killed her yet if that's what you mean." Sylas replied blandly. Ira chuckled.
"You have never played well with others."
Sylas rolled his eyes and opened his office door. He expected to find it empty but was greeted instead with his new partner bent over and rummaging through his desk. A rather lovely view of her shapely ass on full display in the emerald green pencil skirt she was wearing. She let out a frustrated sigh as she shut the bottom drawer and stood up. Her arms crossed under her chest as her brow furrowed with a pout on her lips. She was..dare he say it...cute.
Ira cleared his throat awkwardly and the snooping woman nearly jumped out of her skin at being caught red-handed. Sylas smirked as he took in the sight, thoroughly enjoying the blush that spread like wildfire across her face.
"I-I-I-" she stammered.
"Looking for something?" He asked as he raised his mug to his lips.
Her pale eyes narrowed at the action and he couldn't help but smirk. He knew exactly what she was looking for. When she said nothing, he walked into the office and sat at his desk. He took an extra large gulp from the lavender mug solely to prove a point.
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Thursday, September 2, 2017, 3:13 pm
Hato Enterprise
….
Sylas felt his hands clench as he heard her sigh for the one-millionth time. How many times was she going to try to sigh today? She didn't even realize that she was doing it and the sound was beginning to get on his nerves. He looked up from the mountain of paperwork he was sorting to see just what was causing her distress. She was looking at something on her computer, compulsively twisting her dark hair around her finger with a brow creased deep in thought. Her plump pink lips pursed together tightly in a tight line for a moment before she sighed again. She seemed to sense him staring and looked away from her screen to him.
"What?" She asked worriedly and touched a small hand to her cheek. "Do I have something on my face?"
"You're being annoying." He said bluntly causing his partner to frown and return to her work.
Satisfied with her new state of silence, Sylas returned to his own cross analyzation of his family's information on the Hato business dealings and the concrete details from the Hatos themselves. He found himself working quite efficiently until the phone rang. Amia flinched in surprise but picked up quickly.
He watched as the small woman tried to politely get a word in edgewise with the caller but to no avail. He could hear the loud, forceful baritone of the person on the other end dominating the conversation in an attempt to bully their way into getting what they wanted. He didn't appreciate how her shoulders slumped slightly as she took the beratement. That itself was worse than her sighing. Tossing the paper he had onto his desk, he crossed the room to her desk in only a few short strides. She squeaked when he snatched the phone away and pressed it to his own ear.
"And another thing! How can you guys expect us to continue doing business with you when we are getting the short end of the stick. You all are worse crooks than those damn Uri. I don't care what it takes, put me through to Arlo. I don't need some pencil pusher telling me that we are in noncompliance-" the angry voice roared on the other end. Sylas could almost envision the likely overweight man's face turning red as he worked himself into a tizzy.
"Are you done?" Sylas said evenly and the person sputtered, surely taken aback since they expected a more feminine voice. Amia looked up at him with wide eyes and scrambled out of her to retake possession of her phone. He sidestepped her and walked away. She followed him around the office, clutching the back of his shirt in her attempt to keep up with his pace.
"Who the hell is this?" The man demanded.
"One of those aforementioned 'damn Uri'."
The sound of the man choking on his own words made a smirk play at his lips. Amia swooped in front of him and stood on her toes in a weak attempt at stopping the phone call. Sylas grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. She struggled against his hold but it was no use.
"U-U-Uri?!" He sputtered out finally.
"Yes." Sylas confirmed as he glanced at the familiar caller id. Ayato Industries. "Need I remind you that Ayato Industries has a partnership currently pending with us? It would be a shame to know that we would have to deny you such a lucrative deal on the grounds of you being unreliable. I'm sure the Hato would be willing to vouch for you one way or the other on that."
At the mention of just how much he had to lose, the man immediately began uttering his profuse apologies and shallow sincerities. The man went on like that for a full ten minutes, even going as far as to take back his initial refusal to acknowledge his breach of contract. Sylas rolled his eyes at how pathetic the man sounded groveling because of a slight he believed to have inflicted. He set the phone to mute and looked down at the Hato woman who had stopped her struggling.
"Why did you allow him to insult you?" He asked, genuinely curious as to why someone of her status would submit themselves to the feeble ramblings of someone beneath them.
"Not everything requires a fight. I had it under control." She replied matter-of-factly and tried to jump for the phone.
Sylas had not anticipated that and lost his footing. Since he was still holding her wrist she came crashing down on top of him when he fell backward. He sucked in a sharp breath when she accidentally headbutted him in a failed attempt to get up. Despite the pain, he enjoyed the feel of her soft body against his. It almost made up for the annoying sighing fit from earlier. Almost.
Amia attempted to use her free hand to rub the top of her head but he changed their positions around before she could. She winced as the air knocked out her lungs and he smirked. Seeing her disoriented was arousing. On the phone, the man called out 'hello' repeatedly since they had been silent for so long. Sylas groaned and climbed off of the stunned Hato.
He unmuted the phone and continued the one-sided phone call. Ultimately, he agreed to meet with the Hato lawyers on Friday and was too eager to get off the phone. When the line went dead, he finally returned to a frowning Amia and returned her phone. She pressed the device close to her chest as though that would prevent him from taking it again.
"Tell your lawyers they should clear out time to meet that guy on Friday." Sylas informed her before leaving her standing dumbstruck in the middle of the office.
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Thursday, September 2, 2017, 7:34 pm
1045 Wilmington Way: Iris and Ellie's residence
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"So what do you think of this one?" Sara asked as she stepped out of Iris's bathroom wearing yet another stunning outfit.
Amia peeked out from behind the bag of ice on her forehead and gave the woman a once-over. She wore a strapless red cocktail dress that hugged her slim curves in all the right places and stopped just above her knees. She looked great, just as she had in every other outfit she had shown them, but Amia felt it revealed too much. Especially since this was supposed to be a business dinner with her boss. She didn't know what HR Department allowed this but she kept her opinions to herself. It wasn't like she was the most fashion-forward of them. Her head hurt too much to put that much thought into it anyway. She threw Sara a lazy thumbs-up of approval.
"It looks fine Sara." Iris groaned although she wasn't even looking at her friend. She was much more preoccupied with the celebrity gossip on her phone.
Sara placed her hands on her hips and huffed.
"C'mon guys! This is really important." She pouted.
"If this is for business just wear whatever you usually wear to work." Ellie said as she walked into Iris's room with four empty wine glasses in one hand and a bottle of sauvignon blanc in the other. Amia weakly nodded her head as she accepted one of the empty glasses. "Is this not a business meeting?"
"It is and it isn't." Sara said dodgily. "I've been out all week apartment hunting. I don't want to look sloppy when he sees me again."
Amia couldn't relate to Sara's need to impress her boss. It was highly probable that Sara's boss didn't care that much about what she wore. Unless he was one of those slimy businessmen that liked to cheat on their wives with their secretaries. She had encountered more of those kinds of men than she cared to admit. The raven-haired woman sat up and poured herself a glass of wine when Ellie had finished getting her own. This was precisely what she needed. All she had to do was get through the end of the week and she could decompress far away from the Uri. Her head hurt like hell just from being in the same room as him for a week. It wasn't that he wasn't a good partner but everything he did got under her skin.
"It either it is or it isn't. It can't be both." Iris huffed as she continued to scroll through her phone. "Unless you're trying to screw him."
The entire room went silent as Iris's offhanded statement sunk in. Amia stopped mid-sip. Ellie slowly put the wine bottle down and Iris sprang upright immediately.
"Oh my god you are!" Iris squealed and Sara's cheeks turned the same color as her hair.
"I don't think that's a good idea Sara." Ellie said hesitantly but Sara just waved her off.
"Iris is just being ridiculous. It's not like that."
"That's not what your face says!" Iris accused.
"Well, it's what I mean damn it!"
"Sara, if you aren't trying to get into his pants then you should wear something else. That dress is a bit much." Ellie mused and the woman in question deflated a bit. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at herself in Iris's floor-length mirror.
"Do you think so?" she asked.
"That's a "baby making" dress not a "dinner with my boss" dress." Iris snickered but Sara did not appreciate her input.
"Whatever whatever! I'm going to change!" She fumed and marched into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
Iris grumbled about people being too grumpy but gladly settled back into her celebrity gossip. Amia put the bag of ice back on her forehead and laid down. Ellie poked her in her side with her foot and she scooted over.
"Long day?" Ellie asked as she sat down. Amia let out a deep breath through her nose. "Care to share?"
"It's nothing really." Amia said softly. "It's just my...new, um, coworker. He's...bothersome."
"Well be bothersome right back." Ellie shrugged as she took a sip of her wine.
"I can't do that!" Amia replied.
"El is right." Iris interjected. "In love, its best to fight fire with fire."
"No one said anything about 'love' Iris!"
"Well, it was implied!"
"Where?"
Amia allowed her friends bickering to wash over her as she processed their advice. It all sounded well and good but the youngest Uri was like an obelisk. He appeared unmoveable, impenetrable. What could she possibly do that would unnerve him?
"Fight fire with fire..."