Roses and Flames (ongoing)

2. Tyler

"Why did you have to go there?" Annoyed, I asked my sister Mila, who was partly drunk and called me to pick her up.

Getting in the car, she said, "It's cool there, not only those posh bars you drink at are cool. Explore Ty!"

Starting the ignition, I complained, "Well, yeah I did explore and knocked over some troubled woman and spilt my drink on my shoes. They are the ones I use for important meetings, Mila."

"You've enough money to buy a new one or just get them cleaned."

I sighed and we didn't speak until we reached her place when she asked "You coming in?"

"Nah, have to review some documents before tomorrow's general stockholders meeting. You'll be there right?"

"Oh gosh! It's tomorrow? I forgot about that. Is it necessary for me should be there, It's already been decided that you are going to take over. I would rather go run a marathon all day long than sit there and hear business talks."

I smiled wickedly and said, "Ask Grandpa."

She rolled her eyes "You're an asshole." She knew Grandpa wouldn't agree to that. He had said that every family member should be present at the event.

"Why is everyone calling me an asshole?" I rolled my eyes remembering the earlier incident where that woman called me the same, not once but twice. I was already tired preparing for tomorrow's meeting and Mila was nowhere to be found in the bar so I was texting her.

"Because you are" she sang stepping out of the car.

"Don’t call me to pick you up from now on!" I told her looking through the window.

Turning to face me she said with a grin, "Don’t worry, I'll find someone next time."

I laughed at her starting the car again, "You? That'd be hard" I teased.

She rolled her eyes walking up to her door as I sped up my car to mine. I stayed a few blocks away from hers.

Reaching home, I loosened my tie and sat down on the couch resting my head on the back. Finally the takeover and merging of my premium car brand, Athena Motors. Well, I named it the same as Grandpa's since I knew one day I would be inheriting it, and that the day is tomorrow. I remember the day Grandpa asked me to do something on my own to prove myself. I chose cars, maybe because I can say it is my comfort place. I drive whenever I feel low, angry, or any overwhelming emotions. The speed is addictive. It clears my mind.

Standing up from the couch, I went to my bathroom. Getting in the shower, I twisted the knob, spraying out the hot water. Slowly soothing my body from the tensed muscles to soothing my mind.

The next couple of hours after the shower, I reviewed the documents of the new organizational chart and the employee-review documents from Athena Motors. Many employees thought they would be unemployed by the merger, but they were transferred to Athena Group’s other branches as Athena Motors had only a few branches. Stifling a yawn, I checked the time. 12:38 a.m. Thinking I should get enough sleep to function properly tomorrow, I made my way to my bedroom.

________

Walking into Grandpa's office, I saw Mila and him talking.

"Good morning, grandpa." I greeted him and Mila with a nod.

He smiled at me as I took a seat next to him, "Tyler, a very good morning. We were waiting for you. Any idea about Louis and Regina?"

Louis Anderson and Regina Anderson were my parents. Dad never wanted to take over the company. He's a renowned artist. Mom was a volunteer mostly for charity. I guess Grandpa's business mind came straight to me. Whereas Mila got that artistic gene. She's an aspiring professional photographer.

"Yeah, they will be here on time," I responded to him.

Mila glanced at her wristwatch and asked impatient as she was, "Shall we go to the conference hall then? They can join us there."

We nodded in agreement and walked towards the hall.

As the meeting was about to start, Mom and Dad came and I greeted them with a nod as I was already on my seat. Glancing at the board members and others seated in the hall, some looked happy, some neutral and some grim. Straightening my posture, they started the meeting which went for an hour or so, including my short speech.

No sooner had the meeting come to an end, than I walked into the elevator with others to my new office on the top floor. I was positioned as the CEO while Grandpa remained as the chairman.

Entering the office room, Mom stood up from the couch she was sitting on and came to me, "Congratulations, dear!" she said, hugging me and Dad came beside me and patted my shoulder in pride congratulating me.

"Congrats Ty!" Mila said from behind, smiling.

"So, we'll be off then," Mom said, "See you at the party."

"All the best, Tyler," Dad said before all of them got out of the office.
I ran my eyes through the office as I sat in my chair. All organized and minimalistic yet spacious, in pastels, floor-to-ceiling windows on one side. As I checked the drawers if they had moved all of my things here, a voice came from my side.

"Congratulations, Mr Anderson," she said, it was Lisa, my assistant.

Passing me her iPad she said, "This is your schedule today. It's gonna be a long day."

I checked my schedule. I've had a meeting with the department heads here and a video conference with other branch heads. We have other branches within the country and in some other countries too. But the headquarters is in London, where I am now. Later in the evening, Grandpa is hosting a party to welcome me. Indeed it’s a long day. I just want to get over this without any trouble.

Giving the iPad back to her, I told her to remind me of the time for the department heads meeting before I started replying to the congratulatory messages. Connecting with people was something beneficial in the long run, you could get help in need. Don’t get me wrong as a people pleaser, I just act too nice with them. I checked on others often, but there are still some people who are hard to crack, like Mr. Russel. The old man still thinks of me as a kid and is not so mature to be in my post.

After a while, Lisa came in to inform me it was almost time for the meeting and I made my way to the meeting room.

Entering the room, I nodded at their greeting and settled on my seat. I gazed at everyone just to find a brown not-so-familiar, but familiar pair of eyes. Eyes that stared at me in utter disbelief.