Sweet Surrender (Book 2)

Status: Waiting For A Miracle

"You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world, but you do have some say in who hurts you."
-

The Fault In Our Stars

Tyler

"Can I just send my gift and maybe extend my congratulations online?" I sigh in frustration. I'm still trying to convince my cousin Jacob to just get a proxy for me as his best man for his wedding in three weeks.

"Come on man. I rarely ask you for a favor. Ashley would love to meet you as well. You said you would be here on my engagement party. You didn't show up. So you owe me this." Okay. I've been trying to avoid any circumstance that would make me go back to Corona. I love the place. But looking back to what I've gone through for the past years trying to forget a girl, going back there would ruin all the effort.

"I don't know man. I'm kinda caught up with work and..." Reasons. reasons. Reasons.

"Does this still have anything to do with Stacey?" Jacob sounds irritated. I don't want to disappoint him but I don't think I can go back without me getting affected. That is the main reason why I left Corona without letting any of my friends know. Except for Tony.

"Of course not. It's just work related reasons." Okay. Call me anything. But man! I've suffered enough. I almost lost my chance with my family's business when I failed to save our branch in Tokyo due to bankruptcy. I'm just too lucky dad gave me another chance to manage a branch here in Singapore. I learned to love this place. I met a lot of people, especially women. Lots of women.

"Fine. Just order up a ticket online. You can stay here for lets say a couple of days and go home. No one will know you're here. It's a small wedding in a private hotel." I know I shouldn't agree to this, but I can't hide forever.

"Okay. Just a couple of days and I'll go home."

I went online to book a ticket. I lay back on my bed, contemplating if I should do this or not. But I know it's too late. I already gave my word to my cousin. I can't possibly ditch him just because of my stupid reasons. Damn Stacey. Why can't I forget her?

I can still imagine the look on her eyes when I sang her favorite song on our post-graduation party. Shame on me, that's already years ago. I thought I would have the balls to talk to her that night. To apologize for being such a d*ck. But I didn't. I chickened out. Two days after, I flew to Tokyo asking dad if he would entrust that branch to me. But the moment I stepped into the office, I knew I was in deep trouble. I blew it. To make the long story short, dad sent me to Singapore to train and eventually manage this branch.

I am too caught up with my thoughts and didn't notice my phone ringing. I grab it and check who's calling. Dad.

'Dad.' Why is he calling me? He never calls me on my mobile.

'I need your help.' Dad sounds exhausted. Something's wrong.

'Why? What happened? Are you in Corona right now?' Mom and dad travels from one branch to another every month to check on everything. I know he's currently in Corona to supervise the training of new managers starting next week to be spread out to some of our branches that needs manpower.

'Yeah. I'm here in Corona. I need to go to our branch in Tokyo. Something's not right there. The profit's going down again.'

'I can go there if you want.' Dad is travelling every month. Now that I'm here in Singapore, I seldom see him. Only on the holidays. I miss them both. They are the only family that I got. No siblings. Just my parents.

'No. I can do it. That's my next stop anyway. But I need someone to supervise the training here in Corona. Julius is filing a leave so I can't find anybody who can fill me in.' Oh God. No.

'Dad. You know I can't leave Singapore.' I can leave Singapore, alright. No problem with that. But I can't stay at Corona for more than a week. Big chance of me and Stacey bumping into each other. I already have my mind set to stay there for three days max, now there's a bad chance for me to stay there for three whole months. Training is rigid and long.

'Yes you can. That branch has been stable for years now, thanks to you. I need you here Ty. Just three months.' I know its three months. They are just about to start the training next week. Great!

'Dad. How about Tony? Yes. Tony can definitely supervise, no doubt about that...' How can I plead to his better nature? This is not good.

'Son, I need you here. I can't trust Tony to do this. With the wedding and all. And we owe him a vacation. Your cousin's been working hard for the Corona branch.' I exhale loudly. I bet Tony knows about this change.

'Okay dad. When do you need me there?' This is not happening.

'Can you fly tomorrow? I can leave for Tokyo once you're here.' Tomorrow? This is insane.

'Okay. Tomorrow then. I'll be there dad.' I don't like this idea, but here I am. agreeing to this crazy plan. Of all the places, why Corona?

'Thank you son. Maybe you and I can spend some time with beer once you get here. Your mom will be here today so you will see her before we leave for Tokyo.' Dad sounds pleased.

I know he is happy with my improvement through the years. I haven't been much of a help to the business in the first few years when I started, but now, I can say I have a great contribution to the family business. We've grown for the past fifteen years. Evergreen Shipping started small when I was still young. Tony's parents and my parents invested in this container shipping business and it grew fast. Now we have branched across the globe and my family is very proud of it. I am very proud of it.