ABOVE & BEYOND : IF WE ARE MEANT TO BE

CHAPTER 9

ERYX

"Duaa I'm sorry. Wait!" She didn't. She slammed the door of her car shut and drove away. I huffed, pushing back the hair from my forehead with my fingers. I didn't think she would get this mad.

-------------------------------------------

I couldn't afford being late today. Grandpa is back in town and today is pretty much the day my life is gonna be decided. And today is on brownie's hand. I'm not feeling anything considering how important today is. Deep down I always knew I had to carry the family business. I never saw it as pressure. The only fear is what if I can't carry on the legacy the way my grandpa and dad are doing. I also know it really well that if I start something of my own, I'll have my family's support but I'm not a selfish bastard.

I don't know why, but I decided to put on something formal today. I put on a white shirt and black slacks. After rolling the sleeves, I combed my hair back. 

---------------------------------------------

Before today started, I wanted to talk to Duaa first but did not get the chance as grandpa called both of us in his office. It was like the first day again. Me and grandpa are waiting for Duaa to come in, but the only difference is this time I know who she is. Minutes later there was a knock on the door and I knew it's her. Entering the office, she greeted my grandpa with the sweetest smile ever, but couldn't even bother to look at me. It bothered me kinda.

She was wearing a black and white suit today. Normally she goes for lip gloss but today it was red lipstick. Dark shade of red. Damnn. I couldn't take my eyes off of her lips but our eyes met for 0.3 seconds.

"So, I think you both know why you are here." We both nodded. I took a few glances at her but she just wouldn't look at me. "So Eryx, let's start with you." Then she looked at me. "What have you learned in these three days?" "I learned about the processings. Like who is in charge of what and how their works are done. And who controls all of it." I said the last line while looking at Duaa. "so nothing in particular I see." I shook my head slightly.

"Duaa dear, what do you think of him?" Not gonna lie, my ego was a bit hurt. Duaa turned towards me. Is she gonna say everything that happened yesterday? She definitely doesn't want me as a CEO. I was more nervous about her answer to be honest.

"He is an intelligent guy." wait what? This is not what I had expected her to say. "His mind works pretty fast when it comes to business but..." The small smile from my lips dropped "but right now he doesn't have the capacity to be the CEO of a company." Ouch. She said it with no filter. Definitely not giving a shit about my surname. Damnn..Is she always this brutally honest?

I looked at my grandpa who was swirling the chair he was seated on. He slightly chuckled. I don't know what kind of reaction I was expecting but not definitely this one.

"Do you know why I gave the responsibility of observing you to Duaa, Eryx?" I frowned slightly "because she is the manager..?" "well, not entirely." What else could be the reason?  "It's because.." we both looked at her "it's because I knew if I had given the responsibility to someone else they would be talking in your favour. They would try to win your heart thinking that you are the next CEO." Thinking. So I'm definitely not the CEO.

Grandpa got up and walked towards the glass wall of his office. "Well..after hearing both of your parts I believe we can all agree that Eryx isn't ready to be the CEO." He said without turning towards us. He sounded completely normal. Not disappointed or anything. I wasn't feeling anything in particular as well.

He turned around this time, hands in his pockets, a mischievous smile always playing on his lips. That's not a good sign. He is planning something. "Two months." what? "This is the amount of time I'm giving you. You either make yourself capable of this company or you're out of the family business for good." wait, what? "And don't expect any inheritance." what the...I wanted to say something but didn't know what and also because Duaa was here. No matter how much I know her, she's still an outsider for me and always will be. I don't know why grandpa trusts her so much. I could never.