🌹R O S E  III🌹

🌹CHAPTER TWENTY - EIGHT🌹

My office. It looks exactly how I remember it have been and even after more than a year it looks the same from my memory. Walking inside to see that every single object is where I left it. Even the papers that I had on my desk which I still had to sort through.

I look over to Alexander who walks beside me with wonder. "How did you do this?" I ask him. Surprised that he along with my mom were able to keep my office the same after all this time that has passed. I would've thought that my mom would've started to clean up my office as she likes to clean things and she likes to keep things neat and clean and one must admit that my office isn't the cleanest place on earth.

However, when I do look around I notice that it has been dusted and vacuumed and I'm sure my mom was in control over that. "I wanted things to be the same when you'd come back. As if none of it had even happened in the first place" He tells me.

I smile up at him. Neither one of us say it out loud but we are thinking the same thing, that day when we got shot. I sigh as I hold his hand in mine. I then let go of his hand as I walk towards the desk. My fingers trace the wood of the desk as I walk behind it and then sit down in my chair.

Everything feels perfect when I'm in this chair, like I've been awake this whole time and none of this ever took place. I smile to myself as I sit here. It's strange being here after so long but I feel at home. This office means a lot to me as does the company too.

This was the company that I built from the ground up, I was able to build it from scratch and I'm rather proud of it. I pick up the papers that are on my desk. "I've already taken care of these deals for you" Alexander tells me and I look down at the papers.

I suppose I have no use for those anymore. I gather them up and then I put them into a drawer and later I will throw them out into the recycling bin. "I don't know what I can do now, I don't know where the company is" I speak. Feeling like a helpless child right now.

This is my own company and I don't know the first thing about it. Before, nothing that took place here went past me but now I don't know a thing and it makes me feel horrible, like this isn't even my company at all but it is and I know that this is where I belong.

Perhaps I put far too high expectations about this, coming back here and none of them have been met with the things that I've seen, except for the part where everything looks the same which I do like about this. "That is all right, I'm here to help you get through this" He tells me.

He takes a chair and brings it over to this side of the desk where he puts it down next to mine and sits down. Alexander takes my hand and holds it tight. "I know this is going to be hard at first but everything is hard first. I assume you though I was hard to handle when you were my secretary" He says and I giggle at the memory of that.

"You assume? You were hard to handle, that is just a fact" I tell him with raised eyebrows at him. He shakes his head and I give him an eye. "I would've said it is a fact..." He trails off but I still stare at him with the same look. "You fired me" I tell him.

Reminding him about it and perhaps remaining me about those times when I just wanted to have a company on my own. Looking back I notice how far I've actually come, I did build a company and as far as I know I think it's still at the top with his company as it are now the same ones.

"It was a test" He tells me and I furrow my eyebrows at him in confusion. I have not a clue what he is talking about now. "A test?" I ask him. His eyes widen as he realizes that he must have slipped something out which I'm sure he did not want to and I raise an eyebrow.

Now he has to tell me what he was talking about because I want to know why he did fire me. I can't remember ever knowing why he did that. I did not even make the mistake in the first place so none of it was even my fault. "I may or may not have wanted to see if you would be able to withstand it" He tells me but his words don't make a lot of sense to me.

This brings me even further into confusion and he understands the look on my face. "I knew of you plan to wanting to start a business and the world of business is a cruel one. Especially for a woman and I wanted to see if you were up to the challenge but you passed the test and did some damaged... to my pride" He says.

I giggle as I remember how I got back at him, brings back happy memories and those memories are ones that I want to keep in my mind and I'm glad I have them because after I woke up, some things are hard to place. It seems that I don't have every memory that I should have but it should come with time, I'm sure of that.

"I wanted you to be ready for anything" He finally admits. I know that what he did meant well but it would've been nice to have known that before it had happened. "I never truly did fire you" He tells me and I smile at him. I lightly shake my head.

"All right, what should we do first?" I ask him and he chuckles as I think we both want to get out of that conversation because it can be a rather long one and we are busy working. "Well, I think we should start by calling your secretary. Stay here, I'll go get her" He tells me.

Before I could even utter a single word he stands up and leaves my office. Soon he returns with someone beside him, someone that I already know. "Ms. Scott?" I ask her as I stand up. She looks different yet the same. She has cut her hair and dyed the ends purple.

"It's actually Mrs. Ryder now, Ms. Ace" She tells me and I notice that she is wearing a wedding ring. "Congratulations" I say. I did not even know that she had a boyfriend but I suppose she got him after I went into the coma and she got married too.

"Thank you" She tells me. I thought that she quit but I suppose she got her job back. "Mrs. Ryder has been the most help in the company and I hired her again to be your secretary and she can tell you everything that you need to know as she knows all that goes on when I am not here nor your mother" Alexander tells me and I smile to her.

I don't think I would be able to trust anyone but her with the company knowledge. "Thank you" I say to her with a soft smile on my face. "Now, we need to show her what we have been working on" Alexander says to Mrs. Ryder. It feels strange to think that she is now married since it happened when I was in a coma, I think.

"Of course" She says and she gestures me to sit by my desk and I walk over there and sit down once more. I smile to myself as the two of them start to explain to me what has been going on for the past year and two months and I listen closely to everything that they say.

.•🌹•..•🌹•..•🌹•.

"I know this day has been rather stressful for you, but I do hope it was what you wanted it to" Alexander says to me as we are driving home from the company. He is right, it has been a long and stressful day. I felt like I was a bit like someone that needed to be taught everything about this company.

Making me further believe that it doesn't feel like my company anymore. "It was different but I'm sure I will get the hang of this sooner or later" I say but I don't feel like I will. Everything may look the same but the deals that have been made are not the ones that I did.

I don't even know the companies that the deals are about and I don't know the people that they made deals with. "You will get the hang of this and when you do it would be like you never even left at all" He tells me, assuring me that it will be all right.

Perhaps he saw that I was sort of doubting this but while his words do make me feel better, there is still this doubt inside my mind that I just can't shake away from me and I think it's not going away any time soon. I smile up at him. I do appreciate that he tries.

We are all trying but I thought that I would be able to get back into life as it was before but I only now realize that I can't. The life that I knew is not the same life that is happening now and perhaps I should stop being in the past and start to move forward.

We arrive home and together we walk through the door. We eat dinner and then when we head into the bedroom, I see my computer and I pick it up. In the hour that I had this morning to write I wrote a couple of pages and I smile when I open my computer to look at it.

I take a deep breath before I get myself comfortable and then I start writing. Soon my novel will be finished and I can't wait for that to happen. "I see that you're having fun" Alexander says and I giggle as I stop writing and look at him. "Yeah, the only problem is that after the day that I've had, I'm feeling a bit tired" I tell him.

"Then you should go to bed soon, it's not good for you to stay awake too long. Besides, we have to go to the office tomorrow" He tells me and I smile at him. "But, what about your company, don't you need to go there, you haven't gone for so long?" I ask him.

For the last two months he hasn't gone to his office at all, and I wonder if he still works there or not. He chuckles as he sits on the bed and looks at me. "I have everything handled there" He only says but I feel like there is more to the story than that, but I don't dwell on it.

He doesn't want to talk about it as his office is a sore subject because that was the place where we got shot. He gets on the bed and under the covers beside me. "Wow, that is a long novel" He tells me. I giggle. "Well, not really but I think for you. When was the last time you read a book?" I ask him, joking of course and we share a laugh at it.