In The Eye Of The Beholder

Chapter Two: Final Wishes

As they entered the large conference room a small, pixie-like girl approached them "Mr. Dellario and Miss Dellario, please come with me and I will take you to your seats. My name is Iris and I will assist you with whatever you need during this time." As they started to walk away Alysia hung back, she wasn't family after all, she was still staff.

The room was packed with people so Alysia found herself shuffling silently along the back wall until she was well mixed into the crowd of people. She recognized most of the people in the room, personal and business employees, but also a group of people at the head of the table with Stephen and Sophia she had never met before.

As the room began to buzz with a low chatter and everyone waited for the reading to begin Alysia's head started to spiral with questions; What was going to happen to her now? How was she possibly going to keep making payments to her Aunt? She was so close to tasting freedom, only one month and a half longer until Amara was eighteen then Alysia's debt would be paid and she'd be free to leave, never looking back. Now she was once again struck paralyzed by the worry of how she was going to acquire the money, even making as much as she did the constant payments demanded of her hadn't allowed her to save much. 

Alysia was so consumed with falling down her rabbit hole that she failed to notice the chatter in the room hush to complete silence, it was the tension filling the air that had her glancing around and towards the front at the new trio of people arriving, the head chair was pulled out causing Alysia to follow that hand up to the face of a man that had her breath catching on her throat.

The man was tall, even once he was seated he seemed to tower over everyone with simply his presence, his broad shoulders filled out the black suit that seemed to have been sewn right onto his perfect body, his sharp jaw flexed as his cool gray eyes stopped surveying the table and met hers directly, a trance forcing her not to break contact as his tanned fingers worked their way through his thick black hair.

He was beautiful, like some kind of dark and vengeful angel. Alysia felt the pain radiating from him across the room and it forced her formally repressed tears back to her eyes. She could she the look in his, like a trapped, hurt beast stalking back and forth in its cage waiting to be let out and devour those who had caused his suffering. 

Alysia shook herself physically dropping her gaze to the floor "What is wrong with me?!" she thought to herself "I do not swoon over men I don't even know and I  don't have the time for  things like the drama of a crush." She was right, she had a lot more to think about than some man's soft pillow lips and how they looked sitting amongst his rugged five o'clock shadow. 

"Snap out of it!" She hissed softly to herself, earning a few looks from the people close enough to hear her.

"Let's begin." Alysia didn't have to look up to know who was speaking and her hands grasped the wall behind her for support. His voice had seeped into her pores and melted her bones with just two words. He looked, felt, and sounded so familiar to her, as if she could walk right into his arms and there would be nothing weird about it. She was fairly certain she needed to get some sleep and that the lack of it was causing her to lose her mind.

"As many of you are aware I am Damien Dellario, I'm here to see to the final wishes of my elder brother, Evan Dellario. His tragic and untimely death has left a hole in many ways that cannot be filled but I am here to try and do my best to help you all find peace and get back to normalcy as best as I can during my time here." His voice wasn't loud and with a husk to it you could almost say he was speaking as though he was only addressing the people closest to him , though Athena was sure no one was straining to hear him as his authoritative voice carried over the crowd. "Evan will never be forgotten and we know many of you are shrouded in the grief of this moment," Alysia's eyes finally strayed from the floor to stare at Stephen and Sophia as they grasped hands together "we will try to make this as easy and clear for people as possible." 

He gestured to the two men he had entered the room with, one was a shorter man though his stacked muscles seemed to compensate what he lacked in height, his dark hair was long and styled away from his face in a low bun, a few hairs escaping into dark eyes. "This is my cousin, Giovanni Dellario, he will be taking over and handling all businesses once run so efficiently in our west coast offices. He knows this is a hard time for the staff and especially those who worked closest with Evan but he's willing to take the time to get to know you and the key roles you play at the companies." Giovanni gave a solemn smile and a slight nod to the crowd of people.

The second man was much taller than the first though still shorter than Damien, their dark tanned skin, black hair, and sharp features were incredibly similar even though Alysia still found Damien to be the most attractive man she had ever seen "This is my younger brother, Marcos Dellario, he will be staying on with Giovanni until everything at the companies are settled. If one of you who are staying on should find yourself having a personal or professional issue with one and you feel you cannot take it to them please feel comfortable to report it to the other with no fear." 

Damien continued on explaining to company employees that there would be a mass email sent out for department meeting dates and personal file reviews and they slowly filed out of the room, leaving personal staff and the family.  He introduced a woman named Tera Holden, who was going to contact staff regarding their job status, like whether or not they still had one, and their assignments if kept on.

Alysia lingered as the staff began to leave the family alone for the actual reading, her eyes sweeping over the children to commit them to her memory, they were going with their Uncle and it would be a better life for them. Even though she would be out of a job, penniless, and heartbroken from never seeing them again, she was happy that they would land on their feet after losing the only parent who cared for them. She knew there were some who would never recover from such a loss of support.

Feeling like she could no longer loiter as the number of people in the room was shrinking she took one last look, begging her eyes not to stray to the magnetic gray eyes to their left, and turned to leave.

"Oh my!" Alysia couldn't help but exclaim as she turned and was met face to face with the bubbly face of Iris, the attendant who had shown the children to the table. Her hand clutched at her chest as her heart beat a tattoo against it. 

"I apologize for the startle Miss. Rivera! Your presence has been requested at the table for the final reading" a smile stayed on her bright face the entire time she spoke and as she stepped to the side she turned and held her arm out back towards the table. "Shall we?" She smiled.