Steve's POV

She took to me to an office I believed belonged to my uncle. There was a sort of division, an inner and outer office. She used the outer while my uncle used the inner.

"You must have guessed I'm your supervisor." Her voice had some sort of authority.

"Yes, I figured"

"Good, we'll be sharing this little office. Get ready for lots of work." She raised her eyebrows to be sure I was listening.

"Okay ma'am," I nodded.

"No, Steve, you can just call me Vanessa." She flashed the brightest smile I had seen my whole life.

"Okay, Vanessa."

"Oh, also, there's a board of director's meeting this afternoon. Your uncle said you should be a part of it. It's concerning who will be the next chief director."

"Okay," I replied and she left the office, leaving me all alone.

My uncle wasn't joking when he said I really was going to be the next chief director. I thought as I dusted my table.

The board meeting was held by 2:00pm. Vanessa was the acting chief director. I should have known. My uncle didn't trust anyone like he trusted her or maybe he trusted me more. I couldn't contribute so much in the meeting, Vanessa had full control and she commanded with authority. I liked how the directors responded to her every word. It was worth emulating and I was glad someone like her was my supervisor.

Time flew by, I didn't even get to know due to the series of work and meetings I was involved in. Trust me when I say Vanessa was a workaholic. She made me work late nights, overnight and made me attend more meetings than a regular intern would. I never really got the chance to think of myself or home or even my friends that I had abandoned. Once in a while I hung out with Eva and Andrew, Liam was never ready to go out with us. I was getting happy when I realized it was just a week left to the end of my three months internship. It was at that time the unexpected happened.

We were at the closing hour and for the first time in forever I was done with all I had to do for the day. I was packing my table and files together when Vanessa came into the office abruptly. She was sweating profusely as though she had been running but her breathing was normal. Her look made me confused.

Worried, I asked her, "What's wrong Vanessa? Your looks seem like you've been running, but your breathing says otherwise."
I moved towards her to help her sit.

"It's your uncle," she jerked out of my grip.

"My uncle?" I looked into her eye searching for more detail.

"He had an heart attack. They said the stroke might be affecting his whole body." She spoke slowly watching how I accepted every word.

I sunk into the seat behind me.

"Don't give up now. It's not the time for that. Get up and let's go to the hospital," she said lifting me up from the seat.

I looked at her and the expression on her face, she needed those words more than I did. Her hands were wet as she pulled me up and sweat was still all over her face. I braced myself up and together we went to the hospital.

My uncle wasn't in a good shape. Machines held him on every part of his body. He seemed like he was in serious pains. I found it hard to stand the sight of him.
We met Antonia in the hospital, I felt sorry for her, her husband looked lifeless.

After an hour I left the hospital. I went home, ready to prepare for the worst. My cousins came back home late at night too. They had gone to see their father before coming home. We all lost the vibe to eat dinner and just went straight to bed.

A week later, the last day of my internship, my uncle died. It didn't hit us as a surprise. We expected it but that didn't stop the tears from flowing and the house from mourning. For the first time in three months, I called my parents.

"Hey dad," The voice I heard was so faint I didn't think it was mine.

"Yes son, good to hear your voice." I heard my dad's voice through the phone. "Now that you have your phone back, when are you coming home?"
Of course, dad would have thought my getting my phone back meant work over.

"I'm not coming home dad. Your brother is dead." I dropped the bomb.

"The cancer killed him," my dad sounded defeated. "Have you told Bryan?"

"I don't think I can. Please help me pass the message across." My voice sounded so worn out I wondered if it was stress or my uncle's death that was the cause.

"Alright son. Your mother and I will come to California tomorrow." My dad said and cut the call.

True to his words, early the next morning he arrived with my mum. We all gathered in my uncle's house ready to plan for his burial. That didn't take much time, we conducted his burial in two days.

The burial ceremony reminded me of Susan. My uncle's burial was the second I attended that year. The atmosphere drained me and the situations surrounding made me weak and vulnerable. My most trusted friends, who I had betrayed, couldn't come. I had only two people to lean on the whole time, Eva and Vanessa, but even Eva was most times away that made me to be with Vanessa more.

Amidst the mourning and grieving, there was this strength Vanessa had. The company didn't go down but instead it was as strong as always. Even in her weakness she was able to put things together. I admired her strength. I sticked close to her and she held me the way through It was then we started to become close.

All the while, Antonia was putting up a show all over. Eva left the house after her dad died, the only reason she still lived there was out of respect for her dad. Liam, on his part was ready to fight everything against Antonia. Andrew was solidly behind his brother. My parents were also around to back up my cousins. I was there as well to take over my uncle's business but Antonia didn't seem to want that, so I wasn't worried.

A week after the burial, my parents went back to Texas. They had an urgent business to attend to. It was at that time Antonia turned on me. She sent me out of the house, told me to find someplace else to live. I wasn't ready to fight with her based on the fact I had come for the real estate company not the house. Moreso, I wasn't ready to live with someone of her personality.

An unexpected person took me in. She said she had a free space in her back house. It was Vanessa. I moved into her house.

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