Burning Touch

Chapter 32

Izzy's life had gone from happy and at her pace to hectic and rushed. She was still happy because she was doing what she loved but the time she used to spend with the people in her life had been cut back drastically and she would have noticed it if she had time for herself but the time she had was to catch up on sleep before she was back in the studio.

The team was on a month tour around the UK with a musician and it was coming to an end. While everyone was getting ready to head back home the following day, Izzy couldn't wait to get back into her own bed. Almost a month had passed since Mia left and Izzy doubted if she would have noticed it if she was in Leicester. She saw Andre once before she left for the tour and since then they've only spoken once or twice on the phone and he kept reminding her about the opening night for AFTech and she set a reminder so it wouldn't skip her mind.

While Izzy was busy with the final show in Manchester, Andre was being hounded by the planner whom he'd already told to take care of everything but she wouldn't have it.

"You have to make a decision Mr. Leon." The event planner said. "The opening night is two nights away."

Andre looked up from his MacBook and almost glared.
"I told you to take care of it."

"No. You told me to take my question to Mr. Zahn."

"That's better."

"The only problem is Mr. Zahn has barely said anything to anyone since I took this job."

Andre sighed.
She was right. Fred hadn't been much of himself for almost a month now. When Mia left, she took a part of Fred and Andre hated seeing him that way. Fred had been in a similar situation when that gold-digging whore left him for someone else only now, he was much worse and Andre knew why.

Andre was having symptoms of what Fred was going through. Izzy was away and regardless of that; she had been distant lately. He understood that she was really busy with her dance and everything but he also knew Laurieann's dancers were allowed to take time off. So, from his point of view, Izzy's career in dance seemed to be more important than their relationship. She cared about her career more. He's not saying that's a crime because he was the same with his work. But he just wished she could find a balance between her career and her personal life.

"Alright, what is it?" He asked the planner.

"Need you to decide who is giving the speech."

Andre sighed.
"As you already mentioned, Fred is out of it and would be for a while, so I'll do it." He said, "Is that all?"

"Yes." She said as she scribbled and walked away.

Andre turned his seat away from his desk so he was facing the view behind him. Since they had finished with the interior, Andre had begun going in to get everything settled before the new employees resumed work the Monday after the opening night. He had Vincent send in two efficient employees from each department in their head office down to Leicester to begin on Monday with the new employees so they can show them the ropes of how things are done. Hopefully, within a month, they would have gotten the hang of things to do it without the help of AFTech's experienced employees.

Fred walked into André's office and as he took one of the seats in front of his desk, he let out a groan. André swiveled his seat around to face Fred.

"Well, you look like shit." Andre said.

Fred glared at him.

"Another late night?" Andre asked.

"She didn't pick up again."

"Dude, you need to let this go. She doesn't want to be found." Andre said.

"You could ask Josie." Fred said.

"If she wouldn't tell you, she wouldn't tell me."

Fred groaned painfully.
"Is wouldn't say anything either," Fred said. "She said setting us up to get her to tell me was the only thing she could do. But telling me herself would mean betraying Mi..." Fred stopped.

He couldn't even say her name without flinching or squeezing his eyes shut in grief. Andre hated seeing him this way but there was little he could do seeing as Fred kept to himself when things got personal. Andre was looking forward to resuming Monday morning because Fred would be at his best then. They just needed to get through the opening night on Saturday.

André was looking forward to seeing Izzy when she returned on Friday, tomorrow. He was glad she was back before the opening night because it was a big deal for Free and himself. Two former unemployed college boys were opening their first branch in the UK. He was looking forward to it. This was a huge milestone for them and if no one knew, Fred did.

"Something about a code." Fred said.

Andre noticed the topic was making his mood worse so he changed it.
"Are you ready for Saturday night?"

Fred sighed.
"I've got the whole of tomorrow to get my head right." He said. "I'll be on my A-game."

"Good. Because you're giving a speech." Andre knew that would be enough to motivate him.

"Let's just wait for Saturday before you decide that."

"I trust you." Andre said.

Silence filled the office while Andre picked up his reading from where he left off. They had a new proposal from people with innovative ideas and this one Andre hasn't been able to put down.

"Something new?" Fred asked.

Andre looked up and smiled.

Their work was something they both enjoyed and to read people's ideas about a new tech was something they both loved. Giving them the resources was the easy part.

"Can't put this one down."

Fred smiled.
"That's all the yes we need."

"Looks like we have our first tech to get started on." Andre said as he put that proposal on the right side of his desk, the first one which he had put with the pile on the left.

This was a journey to another new beginning.