~Asher POV~

Character Art: Asher Reyes

"Hi, I'm Gianu Cross, the new CEO, what's your name?", he smiled as my heart started racing.

What the hell! Akio's son! I just knocked down the new CEO of the company but on a real, he had such a nice smile, he was cute and his smile was so warm and uplifting.

"I'm Asher Reyes sir", I say to him, taking a deep breath.

"Well Asher Reyes, you're fired!", he says pushing me away as he darted outside.

.......

What the fuck just happened? I'm fired? This must be some kind of horrible dream... right? The onlookers from the record label watch me in shock as we all try to digest what just happened. Gianu Cross huh? This King Douche is the new CEO of the Diamond Star Record Company. 

"Asher", said Martin as he rushed to me.

"Martin", I say.

"I'll talk to Human Resource, he can't just fire you like that", said Martin.

"Apparently, he could", I sigh.

"Head home for the day, expect a call from HR later, I'll talk to them on your behalf", said Martin.

Martin was was in charge of production, he and I were called the company's dream team, he was a good guy.  

I head back to my car as I plan the rest of my day in my head, this mood calls for ice cream, tears, and a romance movie..... and I did just that. 

~"Jack, Jack, come back", said Rose as I burst out in tears, wiping my eyes with my ice cream-stained hands as my phone started ringing. 

"Hello", I say wiping up my tears.

"Asher? Why are you crying? Are you watching Titanic again? What happened?", yelled Alex.

"I spilled hot coffee on my boss today and got fired", I say sniffing. 

"Oh my god! You got fired? I'm so sorry", said Alex.

"HR called me today and scheduled a meeting in 2 weeks, 2 fucking weeks, management logic is so fucked up when it comes to their employees", I say.

"What are you gonna do for the next 2 weeks", asked Alex.

"Today really got me thinking, thinking about what I want to do for the rest of my life, I'm 28 and I barely lived, today when I got fired it got me thinking about what I've accomplished and what I've done, I haven't done anything, the most adventurous thing I've done is moved from Canada to the United States to work at Diamond Star Records, I haven't even been site seeing, it's always been work and home then more work, even on my day off I still have to work on my songwriting, I have never truly gotten a break, that's why I did something spontaneous today", I say as I took a deep breath. 

"What did you do?", asked Alex. 

"With the money I've been saving, I bought a ticket to the Bahamas, my flight leaves tomorrow at 10 AM", I say.

"Oh my god, are you serious?", he asked. 

"I am", I say excitedly. 

"I'd come with you but, work tomorrow", sighed Alex.

Alex Rogers, age 29, Neptune's University's professor, teaches Biology. His fiance's name is Victor, they've been together for 10 years now. 

"I'm so excited", I say.

"As you should be, you deserve a break, promise you'll call me every day?", asked Alex.

"Yes I most definitely will", I say. 

.....

1:00 PM, 13th June 2020, The Great Sand's hotel -Bahamas. 

"Asher Reyes, checking in", I say to the concierge as she smiled.

"Asher Reyes, you've booked the Presidential suite for 12 days", she says as she hands me the key card. 

"Correct", I say excitedly. 

The hotel gave me an eyegasm, it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  

I rush to my room as I pack my things and hurry down to the pool to take in the incredible view, I take a deep breath as the ocean breeze hit my face, the strong winds felt like it was going to lift me up into the air and take me with it, blowing wherever the wind took me. I smile as I take it all in, this was by far one of the best decisions I've ever made. 

I look around but there was no one in sight, come to think of it, I haven't seen anyone since my arrival here, I wonder why that is? No use trying to figure it out, I have this whole place to myself. I smile as my phone chimed, it was a text from Martin, he sent me a link with a crying face emoji. I click on the link as my jaw dropped. 

~Billboard news~ "Michael Groben drops surprise single "Shades of Grey" and it's taking over the charts, currently at #1 on iTunes, Michael Grofen earns his first #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, Shades of Grey is set to hit #1 next week, the song was written by Diamond Star songwriter Asher Reyes. 

My body started shaking, I can't believe this, my song hit #1, this is unreal! I called Alex crying that day, I was so happy, at that moment I felt like I accomplished everything I ever wanted, deep down I badly wanted to write a number 1 hit. What was even more amazing was that Michael recorded the song immediately and released it at midnight. I take a deep breath with tears streaming down my face, I was so happy, I was so happy but that happiness didn't last very long.

......

To be continued in Chapter 3: