Carter stood troubled by his large window frame, gazing at the quietness of his city. It had been a month since the night he spoke to the lady who was throwing an emotional pity party at the hospital garden. He had only walked a slight distance when he heard the siren of an ambulance blasting towards the area he had just left. From where he stood he could see that the lady had slumped and the hospital aid he had seen around the corner, and other paramedics were trying to revive her. He had left while trying to wave away the guilt that he had begun to sense. Why he couldn't stop thinking about her and the scenario was what he couldn't wrap his head around.
Over the last month,he had kept reassuring himself that he wasn't the cause of her breakdown that night,he made sure to boldly affirm to himself that it was the stupidity of her emotions that caused her predicament and not him. He just aired his point of view which to the best of his knowledge,was the most accurate theology as regards the matter of love. After all,his pained filled life was a product of a love his parents claimed to be true - they had taken the decision to be together forsaking all odds despite the fact that they were of the same genotype and when they found out he had a sickly gene after giving birth to him, they still chose their stupid true love abandoning him to fate and his grand mother who had taken care of him since then - so if anyone needed to feel guilty,it should be her. But no matter how he tried, those large swollen eyes always found a way to creep into the corridors of his thoughts.
By now, it was almost daybreak because he had woken up earlier to speak with some of his employees by three o'clock in the morning as regards a game changing proposal his company had to make later in the day. He clapped twice to turn of the lights in his bedroom, the proposal meeting wasn't until twelve noon,he needed to get some sleep.
******
Ava sat behind her desk at her office deeply buried in her work. She had been chosen to represent her company at a meeting with investors by twelve noon against Candice's wish. Although Candice had made the presentation the monday after Ava left the hospital, they was a grey area in the proposal and since Ava was the one who put the data together,she was called upon by the board of trustees to defend her work which she did excellently well and as a result, she was asked by the board to do more research and personally present the proposal to the investors when the time came which greatly angered Candice.
Candice had so badly wanted to be the one to make the presentation because she was aware that Mr.R the company's CEO was going to be present and if the presentation went well,it could have been a chance for her to get herself into the CEO'S good books. Only for Ava to take such a life changing opportunity from her and because of that she determined to make work more miserable for Ava.
"Why haven't you turned in the reviews I asked for yet" Candice asked as she walked briskly into Ava's office.
"I'm sorry ma'am, the proposal for the foreign investors had taken a hold of my time since yesterday night. Once we're done with the presentation today, I'd round it up and turn it in" Ava said as she looked up from her laptop to acknowledge the presence of her boss.
"I won't take that! Just because you were asked by the board to handle a proposal I should have handled has made you think you can outrightly disrespect me right?" Candice thundered.
"But ma..." Ava was saying in her defense before they were distracted by the secretary.
"Excuse me" the secretary said interrupting their conversation "the stakeholders are here already and the presentation starts in ten minutes" she said quickly exiting the office not wanting to be caught in whatever web Candice was trapping Ava in.
"This conversation is not over, and infact you would be duely punished" Candice said as she stormed out.
Ava let out a sigh of relief as Candice left. She was about to be standing in front of Captains of industries and most importantly the most talked about and feared Mr.R. She couldn't let anything not even the treats of Candice disrupt her trail of thoughts.
*****
The board room was literally an embodiment of suits. The meeting had started and Ava sat at the lobby waiting to be called upon to make her presentation. Tension was already beginning to well in the inside of her as she prayed silently that she would be able to pull this off without any flops.
"You can come in" Mr. R's personal assistant called out to her as she started towards the board room with determination.
Ava was done with the presentation when the CEO was called upon by one of the investors to give a concluding speech.
Carter stood up confidently as he began to approach the podium where Ava stood. He had recognized those big eyes the moment she stepped in to begin the presentation and was greatly troubled in his spirit. After taunting his thoughts for a month she had the guts to show up here of all places. But he maintained his countenance through out her presentation and totally forgot about his troubled feelings because she had hit the nail on the head. With a presentation such as this,he was sure the investors would be signing the contract any moment from the end of that meeting. "Who would have thought that someone given to the stupidity of love could have such intelligence" he thought as he got to where she was standing.
The shock on Ava's face was very obvious, one would have thought that she collided with a Lion in a split second. She knew that something about the CEO had felt familiar but she couldn't place it till she sighted his black walking stick as he approached her. "Oh no" she gasped as her body gave way "don't tell me I'm fainting again" she panicked briefly before slipping into darkness. She had met with "The Ryan Carter Ross" without even knowing.