Deeper Healing

42| Haven

Nikolai Coleman

I dragged my chair backwards before plopping onto it with a heavy sigh.

Being this exhausted in the morning wasn't usual no matter how much I overworked myself, but with the recent events keeping me up at night, it was inevitable.

Someone was sabotaging her purposefully and they weren't stopping. If anything, things were getting more tangled and complicated with every discovery and every clue we thought we'd picked on rather led to another Pandora's box with unanswered questions.

She was stressed out and reaching a breaking point despite how hopeful she tried to sound. I could see and feel her breakdown with every new messed-up discovery and it was messing up with my brain. 

It hurt seeing her go back to square one when she'd fought so hard to reclaim her positive energy.

The only good thing happening this morning was the board reaching a decision on the COO promotion and according to a trusted source of mine I'd enquired with, Alex had gotten the promotion. We all just awaited the official announcement as the board room slowly filled up.

I quietly sat there in the meantime, buried in my thoughts and thinking of some sort of strategies to help Leilani out, especially at work. I couldn't let her lose her job. She loved that job more than anything and if anything, her company was lucky to have her. They couldn't dismiss her so unfairly.

My eyes glazed over the boardroom as the chatter eventually died down and I noticed Alex walk in with Dad and his secretary.

He looked sharp and pumped for the announcement. Being Alex, he always looked good, but there was something extra about today. Even though we weren't on speaking terms and neither of us was putting in any effort, I was happy for him. He deserved the promotion and all the peaks it came with.

Alex sat directly across from me, giving me a fleeting look before he instantly moved his eyes back to Dad who took his seat as the chair of the meeting.

Silence prevailed as he gave some opening remarks and a procedural address before going straight into the big announcement everyone was waiting for.

As I wished and expected, Alex's name was called out and the entire boardroom erupted into enthusiastic applause before everyone eventually stood for a standing ovation and Dad shook Alex's hand and pulled him in for a hug.

I'd never seen either of them smile so brightly and genuinely, a perfect depiction of what their relationship truly was like. I could see Alex try to blink away the tears in his eyes as everyone continued clapping, his entire face turning red.

I chuckled lightly at the rare sight.

Corny asshole.

The guy next to him I recognised from finance followed right after Dad in congratulating Alex and then the lady next to him and so on.

I couldn't just stand there without congratulating him so I walked right round behind Dad's chair to Alex's side, waiting my turn to get his attention.

He must have felt me standing there next to him, waiting to be disappointed if he didn't acknowledge my presence. Pretty much to my surprise, he did turn to me with an awkward look before stretching his hand towards me.

I ignored his hand, falling in for a brief hug instead, my arms wrapping around him. "Well done, Alex."

For the first few seconds, he just stood there without any reaction, but once I almost pulled away, I felt his hands lightly close in around my back.

Despite all the issues and drama, I wouldn't be where I was without him. I knew that deep down, he cared about me as much as I cared about him.

We let go of each other before stretching the awkwardness and he shifted his attention back to our co-workers sharing his joy.