RYLAN
"I want this report completed by the end of the day." I slammed the poor excuse of a report on the desk and glared at the man who kept standing there like a stupid. It has been only a week since he had joined and my patience was running thin.
"Do you understand?" He flinched at my hard tone.
"Yes, Mr. Parker." Just then the door to my cabin opened and my Dad walked in followed by our lawyer. If I were to go by my Dad's expression, it was something concerning. I shifted my gaze back to my personal assistant still standing in front of me.
"Leave!" He quickly grabbed hold of the file and scurried out of the cabin.
"Dad?" Both him and Mr. Davis took the seats opposite me.
"Rylan, Mr. Davis is here to show you your grandfather's will." It wasn't something I was expecting. Granddad passed away about a month ago and his will hadn't been brought up since. I leaned back in my seat and loosened the tie around my neck.
"I am busy right now, Dad. Can't it wait?" He sighed before glancing at Mr. Davis who had quite a serious expression.
"I am afraid, not." My right eye twitched as I mentally clawed at all the possible conditions the will might put forth. I nodded and looked at Mr. Davis to proceed.
"Mr. Parker, your grandfather had mentioned in his will that you get to inherit Parker Realty provided you settle down." He stopped for a quick second to judge my reaction before continuing. "You are required to get married."
I stared back unblinking at the expectant faces of the two men seated in front of me. "I am not in the mood for some jokes right now!"
I looked between both of them who maintained their serious stances. Granddad would often advise me on how I should settle down, start a family and to think that he put this condition in his will wasn't too absurd but my mind was in denial.
It was Dad who exhaled.
"He isn't joking. Your Grandfather wrote in his will that he wishes to see you settle down with a decent girl of your choice and provide a family to Ava." Clearly, I still hadn't grasped the seriousness of the situation considering I wasn't feeling the helplessness that I should drown in at this revelation.
I was still searching for words when Mr. Davis spoke further. "If not fulfilled, after your father, it goes to the Anderson's." My head shot up in a microsecond almost giving me a snapped neck.
"Anderson's? Our rival?" Our lawyer warily nodded before I slammed a fist on the table, making him flinch in his place. I was out of my seat and walking towards the window, absolutely clueless as to who in their right mind would do that.
"Was he in need of some kind of medical help and we had overlooked it?" I asked.
"Rylan!" Dad sounded offended.
"That would explain this will because this is clearly the most ridiculous fucking thing I have ever heard in my life." While Dad looked exhausted, Davis looked scared. Scared of whom? Me? The only scary thing there was that will.
"Grandad actually wrote this?" Was I hoping that I would be offered a totally different answer, something like they had planned some April Fool's prank though it was mid September? Probably.
"He did." Mr. Davis awkwardly shifted in his seat and the urge to toss him out of the cabin was too strong.
"I don't get it, Dad. Why do I have to marry? Ava has a family. She has me, she has you and Stacey. This is her family." I reasoned but the shake of his head told me that he was anything but convinced.
"The little girl needs a mother in her life." I shut my eyes for a brief second in annoyance. This single statement had always felt like a blow to all the efforts I had put in for Ava over the years.
"She doesn't! I am the only parent she needs in her life." Even as I said it my confidence faltered a bit. I had gone out of the way to be the best parent to Ava yet a weak voice lingered in the back of my mind which claimed otherwise.
Dad slightly tilted his head to the side while staring straight at me. "You know it yourself." He sounded confident like he had heard my earlier thoughts.
"I am serious, Son. I know how much you have tried to always be there for Ava but like every other child, she needs a mother. That's a void in her life. I can see it, most probably your Grandfather did too."
I pressed my fingers against my forehead and leaned back in my seat. Even if Dad was right, I wasn't prepared for a wife. I hadn't given relationships and dating a single thought after her. And here we were talking marriage. "I need time to think about it."
When I raised my head they still were sitting in front of me with grim expressions like there was something else I was yet to learn about. The thought alone was dreadful.
Mr. Davis drummed his fingers on the desk before letting it out. "You have one year before you settle down." I could feel an approaching headache and undoubtedly it was going to stay for a while now.
"There's a deadline." My voice came out icy. Dad hesitantly nodded and I honestly wanted to bang my head against the wall but settled for a humorless chuckle. I was anything but amused.
"And what else? Does he need me to impregnate my wife with a dozen kids? Would he like that?" One might consider it aggressive sarcasm but honestly, I was skeptical. At this point I wasn't putting anything past him to put it in his will.
"No such thing mentioned." Mr. Davis shrinked a little under my glare while Dad cast a worried glance at me, probably thinking that I was losing it. Well I wasn't too far from it either.
"I'll leave you to it." Both of them were on their feet and in the next moment out of my cabin, leaving me in turmoil.
RYLAN I discarded the coat and leaned back against the couch. There had been a lot of work pressure since the last few days and topping that was Granddad's will that had me stressed. I had been pushing it for some months now. "Daddy?" I opened my eyes to look at my daughter who stood there with a cup of coffee, Stacey close behind her. "Yes, sweetie." I smiled at her. "I brought you coffee." She carefully brought the cup forward, her eyes trained on them like splitting a moment of attention would spill the drink. "You did? That's so sweet!" Taking the cup from her hand I placed it on the table beside me. "Come here." I picked her up and sat her on my lap. "I'll put her to sleep." I told Stacey. "No, it's okay, son. I'll wait." Ava put her head on my chest and played with the shirt button. Stacey had been staying with our family for as long as I could remember. She had always been there for me, treated me like her own. If I trusted any person with Ava m
RYLAN This wasn't how I had imagined the day to turn out. This day was supposed to be enjoyable for Ava. Instead she shed tears. I was one second away from getting the hell out of this place but stopped when Ava nodded to a milkshake. That brought me back to the thoughts of a feisty little waitress. Elena. I was intrigued the moment she stepped in and shielded Ava. Why would she do it? Out of pure goodwill? Or was it how she planned on earning Ava's complete trust for some reason? That would justify Ava's undue attachment to her. It's difficult to believe that in today's world people would lift a finger for someone else unless it's serving some ulterior motives of their own. Could be depressing, seeing things from my perspective but I deemed it advisable. That's how things work in the real world, one works their way up the ladder and stays on top of their business. My thoughts were interrupted when I saw her walking up to us. "A chocolate milks
ELENA "Mom!" I called after closing the door behind me. I had moved back in the day Dad was back from the hospital. I wanted to be there for him. Well the other half of the reason was that it actually helped with minimizing the expenses. "In here." I followed her voice to the kitchen. She stood behind the counter making dinner for Dad. I went straight for a hug. She patted my shoulder, returning the hug. "Well, you are happy! What is it?" I loosened my hold around her. "I got the job at the Knight's." Her face broke in a grin once the news settled in. "You got the job! Well done, honey!" She gushed. "I never doubted my daughter for a second! I knew you would get it." Dad's eyes shone with pride and that one sight alone could compensate for all of my hard work. "I know, Dad. You always believe in me." I sat down beside him. Putting my head on his shoulder, I heaved a sigh of relief. Dad placed his hand on mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I need
ELENA "Elena. Here me out." The way my name rolled off his tongue did something stupid to my stomach. Did I just relish the sound of my name from the mouth of the person who had offered me a marriage contract? Yeah, I was worried for myself. I sat back down and tilted my head to the side, waiting for him to get on with it. "You would get a job here and I'll offer you thrice your current salary. You won't have to work two jobs. We need to be married for only a year. After that we can go our separate ways." I replayed his words in my mind. Yep. He did miss the part where he explained what he would get out of it. "What's in it for you?" He seemed to be reflecting on his answer, stroking his chin in the process. "My grandfather's will. I need to get married by the end of this year or I'll lose the business to someone." The first thought that came to me was that this 'granddaddy' must have been demented while alive. Mom always thought that we should
ELENA "You're late." Rylan declared as soon as I got into the passenger seat of his shiny black Maserati. The inside of the car smelled of musk and rich leather. I tsked, annoyed at him and it had been only a couple of seconds in his vicinity. It was what, five minutes past the stipulated time? "Can you shut up? I don't wanna hear your voice right now." He did shut up but sat there staring ahead. Weren't we getting late like a minute ago? Being in such a closed space with him was enough of a punishment. "Can you drive already?" I watched Rylan cock his head to the side and assess me with one silent gaze before he leaned towards me till he was completely in my space. I squeaked, the spice and musk in his cologne making me feel a little dazed. The coffee and hazel eyes turned into something relatively darker, an indecipherable look passing through them. His overwhelming proximity had screwed with my head because my gaze dropped to his lips for a quick second.
ELENA "You have a beautiful room, Ava!" She looked up at me, a toothy grin splitting her face. It was all shades of pink put together. Pink was probably Ava's favorite color. Explained her obsession with strawberry milkshakes. The bed was in the middle of the room, almost filled with plushies. My eyes fell on a drawing, presumably the one Ava was at before she got distracted. "Do you like butterflies?" I asked picking up the sketchbook. "Yes. They're so pretty!" I smiled at her. My eyes were still lingering on the partly coloured wings of the butterfly when Ava blurted the question out of the blue. "Are you Daddy's girlfriend?" My hand stilled on the sketchbook before I put it down. "Who told you that?" I casually asked. "I heard Daddy telling Stacey that you're his girlfriend." She replied, unhesitant. Did she snoop in on our conversation? I sighed. "Well, that's true." "Are you going to marry him?" Ava fired the question just as soon. I l
ELENA "Girl, I still can't believe you bagged that God-like man." Liv's eyes sparkled with excitement as she loudly whispered to me. I chuckled. Me neither! "Such a cliché! The hotshot billionaire falls in love with the beautiful little waitress." I resisted the urge to scoff at her dreamy expression. Love! Right! She couldn't have been farther away from the truth! A week back, Liv wasn't this ecstatic about the whole affair when I first broke it to her. First on the list was suspicion. Can't blame her! You just don't one day out of a sudden announce your boyfriend to your best friend. They know from the very first eye contact. So this abrupt relationship was a bit much for her to stomach. It took a whole lot of convincing and when we were finally past that phase, she felt betrayed. She said that I had curbed her rights as my best friend and it was an absolute breach of best friend policy. Yep, she could be a bit dramatic. It made me feel even worse about lyi
ELENA I was going through my mail when the phone rang. "Elena speaking, how may I—" A familiar voice interrupted. "My cabin. Now." And there was a beep indicating that he had hung up. I blinked while still processing it. Did no one ever think of teaching him some manners? "Sure!" I answered the line which was, well, dead. I took the elevator to his floor and was very soon in front of his cabin. The CEO'S cabin was on a completely different floor, just the one above mine. He grunted a 'Come in' on knocking. Except his gaze wasn't trained on his laptop screen unlike usual. It was on me. "How may I help you, Mr. Parker?" Rylan's eyes twitched for an imperceptible moment, what I had picked up from our interactions, was a sign that he wasn't pleased about something. "It's Rylan for you." "I'm afraid you're my boss here." "And that's why you do as I say." He stated, too calmly, as if raising his voice was beneath him. "You're infuriating!"