The next month with me trying to figure out the basics of my job at my father's company. It would be no exaggeration to say that it was one of the worst months of my life. Living with them in the same house—since I was not allowed to move out—was already a struggle and that struggle had increased exponentially this past month. Dad hardly paid any attention to me in the office. Sometimes, I wondered whether it was because he was ashamed of me and did not want more employees to know I was associated with him in any way, but that ignorance was like a blessing to me.

It was always better to stay out of his way rather than be in his way.

Though, the same could not be said about Lahaina and Juliea. They left no stone unturned to create problems for me and not a day passed by without them asserting their authority on me. Given my job as an assistant to Laci, one of the managers of the firm, my position in the company was negligible. On the other hand, Juliea and Lahaina's were partners in the company and even though with their much higher position, they could exercise dominance over the employees, their behavior with me just because of our personal differences was not justified.

I saw Lahaina, accompanied by Laci, walk towards my desk and I leaned back in my chair awkwardly, trying to hide my face behind the computer screen I was working on. A person cannot curse you if they cannot see you.

"Make sure everything goes well. We can't afford to mess anything up," Lahaina instructed Laci as they walked towards her office.

"Everyone is working very hard, Ms Marshall. I assure you there won't be any problem. You have entrusted me with this meeting and I will make sure everything is nothing but perfect," Laci said with an assuring smile.

They had stopped outside Laci's office to talk and I tried my best to not do anything that would bring Lahaina's attention to me. It was true that everyone at the office was working like their life depended on it but I had no idea why.

It was going to be lunchtime very soon and usually, there was a decline of concentration in work, at this time, in anticipation of the following break and food, but today it was not the case. I was hoping to ask Laci about the surprising change as soon as I came to the office, but Laci had not been in her cabin since morning.

"Of course, you will ensure it, Laci. You wouldn't want to end up like George, now would you?" Lahaina threatened and the smile on Laci's face disappeared.

"Also," Lahaina eyed me. I could feel her eyes on me, but I pretended to not notice. "Make sure your assistant stays out of the way. She has a habit of always ruining good moments by her presence alone."

"I will, Ms Lahaina," the confidence from earlier in her voice was gone.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Laci go inside her cabin while Lahaina turned to me. I kept my head down and my eyes attached to the screen as she walked with slow, calculating steps towards me, like a model on a ramp in a fashion show. Her heels were higher than my confidence level and a part of me—one that had once hoped we could be like real sisters—wanted to applaud her for walking in them with such grace.

The intercom on my desk that connected me to Laci's office buzzed. Instantly, I got up from my chair to head to her cabin when Lahaina stepped in front of me.

"Since Laci would be supervising the meetings now, dad asked me to tell you how much he would like to snap your neck if you don't work your best for the next couple of months."

"What's in the next couple of months?" I asked.

"Just focus on your work. That's all that's needed from you," she said rolling her eyes, then with a sudden smile added, "or maybe don't focus on it much. I'd love to see what dad does to you when you don't."

Lahaina walked away as if proud of the words that had just spilt out of her mouth. I sighed and made my way to Laci's office. She was sitting behind a desk covered in files. I clearly remembered I had, very neatly, arranged her desk this morning. There was a scowl on her face as she pulled one file after the other, trying to look for something.

"What's going on?" I asked, moving forward to pick a file that had fallen off her desk.

"Was there a file that came from Mr Marshall's office this morning? Where did you put it? I can't find it," she said, still struggling with the files.

I moved a few documents from the desk and the file was below them, exactly where I had placed it. I gave it to her and saw relief flood her face.

"Thanks, Caro. My head is a mess," Laci said, grabbing a highlighter and starting to run it over the words printed on the paper. "You know they already fired George. Now it's going to be me."

George was a colleague who was promoted only a few months ago for his excellence in work and now he was fired? What for?

"What did he do?"

"I don't know but they asked me to take over and I'm pretty sure nothing I do would please them." Laci, like most of the employees, hated her boss.

"Take over what?"

That question made her stop painting the pages blue and look up at me. "You don't know?"

"Know what?" I asked. Considering my family distributed information to everyone except me, it should not come as a surprise that I was not aware of whatever she was talking about.

"Woodwords Corporations is seriously considering working with us on the latest project. I'm in charge of managing everything now and also ensuring that we do our utmost best in convincing them to work with us," Laci explained and I stood at my spot dumbfounded. A month ago I had not even seen the man and now, somehow, he was everywhere in my life.

"You've heard of Aaron Woodwords, right?" she asked, focusing back on the file in her hand.

"Uh-huh," I agreed. Heard? If only I had just heard of him.

"Great. Then you'll know we need to present pure perfection to him for him to agree to work with us. Take this," she passed me the file that she was done highlighting.

I took it and flipped through the document. It contained the details about the things that were yet to be prepared.

"How long do we have?" I asked for a deadline to avoid any delays.

"George already did most of the work. I've highlighted everything that needs to be done. Mr Woodwords will be here in a few hours." Laci declared.

All this in a few hours? Well, Laci was right when she said she was going to get fired soon, but she had been wrong about one thing. She was not the only one who was going to lose her job. I had my neck at stake as well.

Without any further ado, I went out of her cabin and started with the first thing mentioned on the file.

Three hours later when I was still preparing the conference room for the meeting ahead, I heard the voices from outside and instantly knew the man everyone had been waiting for, had finally graced them with his presence.

With a final look around the room and making sure everything was in place, I walked out of the door. And there he was, Aaron Woodwords, dressed in a formal business suit, walking out of the elevator like he owned the place. Two men in black suits followed him as he made his way towards the conference room.

I had intended to walk out of his way but failed to act upon it when his green eyes fell on me. As he walked, his eyes did not waver and rested on my face. I was aware dad and Lahaina had gone to receive him at the entrance of the building and they would not be very pleased to find me anywhere around Mr Woodwords, but there was nothing else I could do as he walked towards me.

"It's good to see you again, Caroline," he said, my name rolling over his tongue like a soft caress.

"Mr Woodwords," I said in acknowledgement. Pointing, rather awkwardly, at the conference door behind me, I was ready to escort him inside but he had other plans.

"I thought you weren't into business, Caroline. What changed?" his face held absolutely no expression but the slight annoyance in his voice was clear.

I cleared my throat to answer him with a lie because the truth was that I was definitely not into business and working with my father was not something I would have accepted if there was any other choice. Mr Woodwords was waiting patiently for an answer when I saw the elevator doors open and my father stepped out.

All of a sudden the lie I had prepared in my head evaporated like steam and the voice in my head screamed at me to run away as fast as I could. Yet, all I did was stand there.

The employees that had collected around the office area before Mr Woodwords appeared, had scattered away to their respective cubicles and cabins following Laci's orders. She had requested everyone to be on their best behavior and work as efficiently as they could. After my father's very clear orders about things being perfect, they all knew a single mistake would cost them their job. Hence, the empty corridors around the conference room.

Dad's eyes scanned the area as soon as he walked out of the elevator. Spotting Mr Woodwords, he started to walk towards him until he noticed me and his steps slowed. A very visible frown appeared on his face. It was not a very good sign. In fact, it was a sign of impending doom for me.

"Apologies for making you wait, Mr Woodwords. I could not have ignored your father's call. He needed some information about the new project we will be working together on. There is nothing to worry about as it has been taken care of and Lahaina is assisting him with the same." Dad looked proud when he spoke of Lahaina.

"You sound quite confident that we'll be working on this project together, James. Be very sure that my father will not be influencing my decision on this matter," Mr Woodwords gave him a hard glare.

Dad gave out a nervous laugh and it made me wonder once again, was he scared of Mr Woodwords?

"I'm confident we will succeed in persuading you to accept this collaboration," he said, the confidence returning in his voice.

"This way," dad gave me a look and I took it as my cue to open the conference room door for them to step in.

"Go ahead," Mr Woodwords said to the two men standing behind him.

As ordered, the men walked inside the meeting room and my father, after another word from Mr Woodwords, followed suit. I waited with the door held open for the green-eyed man to do the same but when he did take a step forward, it was not to walk inside the room.

The edge of his palm brushed my hand as he clutched the door handle above my hold and closed it, pulling me with the door. I removed my hand from the handle instantly and took a step back. The last thing I saw before the doors closed was my father glaring at me with eyes that were ready to pop out of their sockets to fall on the floor. It would not be very wise to be found in a compromising position with the man he was trying to sign a deal with. The man in question certainly did not seem to have any care about it.

"You didn't answer my question, Caroline," he said, taking a step back himself and giving me the much-needed space to think.

What was the question again? I rummaged through the thoughts in my head like a hungry racoon searching for food in a dumpster. I had just started to remember the gist of the question when he made the process easier by repeating it.

"You declined my job offer by saying you were not into business. What changed?" he asked, his voice was soft and the underlying annoyance in his voice was missing this time around.

"Yeah, I'm- I'm not. I'm still not into business," I told him and he raised his brows because my current position at my father's company contradicted my words. "Dad offered me to work with him so that I'd get to know how things work here. I thought of giving it a try. Till I find another job, that is." I nodded my head with every sentence, trying to convince myself of the lie more than I was trying to convince him.

"Your dad doesn't seem to like you very much," he said so casually that it took me a while to register his words. Was it that obvious?

"You're mistaken, Mr Woodwords. That is not the case," was all I could say without letting my voice betray me.

He gave a nod, his eyes not leaving my face, "I'll see you around then, Caroline."

"Depends on what you decide about the deal, Mr Woodwords," I said, trying to diffuse the tension that had appeared with his last statement about my dad. If he decided to not collaborate with the company, there would be no reason for him to visit the office and see me around—as he puts it.

"We'll see to that," a smile appeared on his face with that statement. He turned around, giving me a last look, before walking through the doors inside the conference room.

I watched the door close behind him and realized I was smiling as well. Shaking my head, I made my way back to Laci's office for further orders.

It was around quarter past nine when I completed all my tasks and reported to Laci. The meeting had gone well and, according to Laci, dad was looking forward to signing the deal with Mr Woodwords tomorrow. Lahaina had returned to the office a few hours earlier and she looked exceptionally happy for some reason.

I was worried about my father's temper all throughout the day but he had not said a word to me yet. It did not mean I was spared. He rarely spoke to me at work, it was home where I had to actually deal with him.

Since everything had gone well, Laci and I finished up the remaining work and headed for home. After drowning myself in work for the most part of the day, it felt relaxing to walk on the street with cold winter wind fanning my face. I took a deep breath, filled my lungs with the air, and strolled on the street. Sometimes it felt better to just walk and not be stuffed inside a vehicle.

I kept walking until my legs begged me to call for a cab. Taking out my cell phone from my bag, I had only opened the application when a car stopped by me.

"Hey, gorgeous!" The man exclaimed as he winded down the window of his shiny black sports car.

My first instinct was to step away thinking it to be a random creep but one look at his face and I instantly recognized him. "Dylan?" I asked.

It had been more than a decade since I last saw him and he was no longer the teenager I remembered him as. His face had gone through a lot of changes and I wanted to be sure it was certainly him and I was not making any mistakes.

"You remember?" He asked, opening the car door and stepping out with a grin. That stupid Dylan grin. I saw his hazel eyes shining under the streetlight above and instantly knew it was him.

"Of course I do. How can I ever forget you!" I cried out of happiness and literally threw myself at him, hugging him tightly.

Dylan hugged me back the same, then: "Oh God! Back off, you'll break my bones!"

I broke the hug and hit his arm with all my strength, "like I could!" I said. His response was a hearty laugh.

Dylan was my cousin from my mother's side and the one person with whom I had spent most of my childhood with. When mom was still here, we used to visit uncle William, Dylan's father, almost twice every year. The whole of our summer break was spent at their farm. It was one of the best memories I had.

"Why are you walking at this time of the night? It's very late," Dylan said with concern.

"There was a lot of work at the office," I told him, then pushed him aside and got inside his luxurious car.

"Hey, you brat. Don't spoil it," he said and chuckled when I paid no attention to the warning.

There was a time when all uncle William and Dylan had was a little farm in the countryside where we both had spent our childhood. He still had that farm, but now he also had a private security company that Dylan had built from scratch. There was very little I knew about it since dad had forbidden mom and me to stay in touch with them the instant Dylan had started building his empire, but if I go by what the tabloids said, he was a hot topic and not someone to be messed with.

I glanced at him as he took his place at the driver's seat and laughed internally at the 'not to be messed with' part. For all I remember, this guy was a genius at almost everything and a total crackhead when he was not being his genius self.

"Would you like to share the joke?" he said, twisting the car keys and pulling the car to the road.

"I'm just happy to meet you again, brother," I said. I had always wanted a sibling and my bond with Dylan was as close as one.

"That's bull. You were laughing at me. I want to know why?"

I audibly gasped at that, "still reading minds, Dylan?"

"I read people, Caroline, not their minds. I've told you this before. You need to work on your memory." Ah, freaking people out by reading every action and behavior of theirs and the ultimate need to piss them off for no apparent reason. Classic Dylan.

"Where is your car?" he asked as we turned to the right at an intersection close to my house. Being the owner of a security company, it was no surprise that he knew my address.

"I crashed one of dad's cars so I'm not allowed to use them now," I sighed.

He glanced at me for a brief moment to make sure he had heard me correctly then cursed under his breath at my father. He never liked him even as a child. Maybe because of his 'reading people' ability.

He drove in silence for a while then almost as a whisper spoke, "I tried to search for her."

I looked over at him. For a second, I wasn't sure who he was talking about. There was so much to catch up on. We had lost so many years in between my last visit to his farm before being forced to cut up all ties with him and now. He should feel like a stranger with all the time lost in between, but his family was the safest part of my childhood, and now even with the changes in his physical appearance and the social status and the expensive car, he felt like the same annoying Dylan he was all those years ago.

I looked away when I realized who he was talking about.

"You did?" The last time I met him, mom was still with us. I had no idea if dad had told everyone that my mother had died or just ran away and I did not know which one of it Dylan had heard, but the fact that he had tried to search for her even when we were not in touch, even when we had broken all contact without an explanation, was something I was very grateful for.

"I couldn't find her," he said, stopping the car outside my house and turning to look at me. If he failed to find her, no one could.

"I was told she left you and your father. That doesn't sound like her. What happened to her?" he asked, his eyes boring into mine like they could read my soul.

I had never been able to share that dreadful night with anyone except Nadia. It hurt to remember and it scared me of what would happen if I told him about it. Dad could hurt him, he had threatened to do that once before only to be stopped by my mother's assurance of never being in contact with him. I didn't want him to go after Dylan. I had just met him again and I could not afford to lose another person I love.

"I don't know. Will you be staying in New York for long?" I asked changing the subject because he would pick up on my lie within a blink.

"Just two days," he said.

It was a relief that he wasn't pressing me to dive into the more depressing topics. He hadn't yet demanded a reason for the broken contact. He hadn't told me why he was back all of a sudden. I was trying not to think what I was going to tell my dad if he saw me talking to Dylan once again. It didn't matter. He won't be here for long.

"Would you like to have coffee with your favorite cousin tomorrow morning before you fly back to California?" I asked with a bright smile. He didn't return the smile.

"I surely will," he nodded.

"Harper's cafe. At 8," I told him as I got out of the car. I intentionally missed the address, he can find it on his own.

"Wanna come in?" I offered, knowing well how much he hated my dad. He would never step inside.

"Just go away," he said, the smile returning on his face. I waved to him as I walked towards my house and he returned my wave with an expression that was a pretense for being happy with my leave.

As I entered my house, I noticed dad was talking to someone—a man almost in his late 50s. There was a certain familiarity in his face that I failed to recognize. They appeared to be talking about something important and I tried to walk away without my presence being known. But when has it ever worked?

The old man stood up and shook hands with my dad. The smile on both their faces was genuine and they embraced each other like old friends.

"My son will never go against me, James. If I ask him to do something, he will." The man said and my dad beamed at the statement.

"I'm happy to hear that, Ethan. Lahaina would be elated," said my father. The smile seemed to be plastered on his face.

The man turned to leave and, noticing me, gave a confused look to dad. Having no option left, he had to introduce me.

"This is my other daughter, Caroline."

"Lovely to meet you, young lady," the man said, giving me a bright smile.

"Caroline, this is Ethan Woodwords, a very dear friend of mine," said my father.

- Analia