You Need Me

Chapter 2

The room turned into complete silent after Viola left.

"Is she okay?" asked Ian, breaking the silence.

"I think so. She is just nervous around you." answered George calmly with a smile.

"Is that so...?" Ian felt uneasy but continued to ask further.

"George, do you think... Viola is actually against this idea?"

"About marrying Leon?" asked George bluntly. Ian nodded.

George stopped eating and pondered for a while. He looked at Leon who didn't seem to be much affected by the ongoing conversation. George let out a long sigh.

"I don't know. After what happened the other day, she doesn't really speak much. She was really close to her mother... and Walter."

Leon noticed a hint of anger when George mentioned Walter's name but continued to stay quiet about the matter.

This whole marriage thing was his father's idea. It was just a week ago when his father suddenly proposed his "wonderful idea" to him. And George, who was still busy unpacking his stuff in his rented room, was even more surprised when Ian told him that his son had agreed to meet him and Viola. He had wanted to refuse but after some thinking, he decided to consider it.

George was not the type to meddle in his daughter's romantic relationship but after seeing how Walter hurt Viola in the worst possible way, he felt he needed to guard his daughter better now. He did not know what kind of man Leon was and he wanted to judge the man before agreeing to anything. In appearance, Leon was equally as good looking as Walter. A tall man of average built, Leon had deep brown eyes and dark hair like his father. Basically, he was a younger version of Ian. George observed further. He looked smart wearing a perfectly ironed white shirt tucked inside his dark blue pants but looked casual with his top button of the shirt left undone. The father and son, though resembled each other in their physical appearance, their personalities were nowhere similar. Ian was a reckless, easy going man in his youth while his son looked like a careful young man with few words.

Leon was aware that George was studying him but chose to ignore the inquiring gaze. He had no interest in joining the talk. Leon continued to eat slowly, much slower than usual. As he quietly savored his meal, he tried to recall the day his father told him about the "good news".

***

A week ago

"Listen, Leon! Guess who I just met?" cried Ian, barging into his son's office without knocking, as usual.

"Mr. Oliver!" Tom, Leon's assistant who was relaying the daily report to Leon when Ian came in, gave the Chairman of Uni Infinitus a quick nod upon seeing him. Being familiar with his superior's way of doing things, he excused himself to leave the room.

"What is it?" Leon asked without looking up, still reading the report.

"I met George!! My old friend, George!!" cried Ian again.

"George, who?" asked Leon again while signing some papers, uninterested in whoever his father met.

"Your future father in-law!" said Ian happily. Now this should get his son's attention, he thought.

"I don't have time for your jokes. Please leave."

Ian frowned. Unhappy, he wasted no time to call Tom back in, took the documents from Leon's hand, shoved them to Tom and asked him to leave the room.

"Give me your attention!" Ian demanded.

Scratching his dark eyebrow, Leon paused for a while before giving up. "Fine. What now, Dad?" He knew his father would keep pestering him until he heard him out.

Ian grinned in victory. He led his son to the sofas and sat himself comfortably. Leon took a seat across him, crossing his legs, ready to hear his father's tear-jerking drama.

Suddenly, a look of horror crossed Leon's face.

"Wait, aren't you supposed to be meeting the governor in Mir now? Why are you back here?" Leon inquired, remembering his father's departure a few days ago.

"The governor is less important than George so..." His father muttered, almost inaudible.

Leon was horrified. "Dad!! You know how important that meeting is!"

"I know! We... we can just arrange another meeting with him." Ian defended himself, fully aware how unconvincing he sounded, "Or... you know, maybe we can just forget about the islands altogether." added Ian.

Forget about it? Leon could not believe his father. He was furious. The Mir Project they had been working on for almost 6 months abandoned just like that?

***

Mir, a harbor city famous for its beautiful blue sea, was the capital of the country of Mir Islands. Due to its recent economic decline, there had been rumors that the government had been considering putting some of its uninhabited islands on sale since last year.

Uni Infinitus was interested in acquiring these islands and had been following its developments since the rumors first circulated. Alas, while the rumor was not a false one, it was also not a very accurate one. Apparently, only Mir Islands citizens had the right to purchase these islands. Uni Infinitus did not give up and since then had been constantly in talks with Mir Islands officials, paving its way to acquire the right legally.

Certainly, Ian's company was not the only foreign entity who had an eye on these islands. Many wealthy individuals and large companies competed with each other to gain access to them. After all the long-hour talks and countless correspondences, 2 weeks ago, Leon finally received the good news that the governor of Mir had agreed to discuss the matter further. The only request the governor made was that he would only talk with Ian Oliver and no one else. That was the only chance and his father screwed it up.

Leon glared angrily at his father.

"But you see, the good news is that I found you a wife!" Ian tried to lighten up the mood.

"You disregard all our efforts for the project and you still have the mood to talk about marriage now?" Ian wanted to argue back but was scared of his son's death stare. "I'm sorry." was all that came out from his mouth. Disappointed, Leon stood up and walked away, trying to clear his mind.

After a few moments of silence, Leon finally asked, "Who is this friend of yours?"

Ian looked up with hopeful eyes.

"George was my friend back in the university. I haven't seen him after he migrated to Mir since graduation! We sort of bumped into each the other day..."

Leon cut his father's nostalgia, promptly asked, "Did you say he migrated to Mir? He is a Mir?"

"Well, yeah, I suppose. He is a Mir through naturalization." answered Ian plainly.

An idea passed through Leon's head. He took his seat back and calmly spoke.

"Now I'm interested in your friend. Tell me more about him."