Chapter 12

• ARIA'S POV
• The company was in disarray at the news of the President collapsing but the Assistant managing director managed to calm everyone down and assured us that the President was fine.
• Everyone went back to work but we could hardly concentrate because Lena and Nixon who went with the ambulance that took the President were not back to give us any news of his condition.
• I hadn't gotten the chance to meet the President but according to Summer, he was a very nice person but strict at the same time which explained why everyone was sad because of what happened to him.
• The paper I was sketching on was long forgotten as I kept staring at the door, waiting for Celestine to come back with some sort of information concerning the President. Everyone else was either listening to music or sleeping at their desk because none of our brains were settled to continue working on our project.
• As the door opened, everyone shot up their desk and approached Celestine who walked in and closed the door behind her.
• "Did you hear any news?" Caleb, a guy on the team asked.
• "Lena and Nixon returned a while ago, and they said he's fine."
• We all let out a sigh of relief and went back to our desks. With curiosity about what happened clawing inside of me, I decided to go and see Lena to find out.
• "I need to go to the restroom," I said to no one in particular as I exited the room.
• Instead of going to the restroom which was down the hall, I went up to Lena's office and knocked on the door.
• "Who is it?" she asked.
• "It's Aria."
• "Come in."
• I pushed the door open and stepped in, closing the door behind me. As I moved closer to Lena, she raised her eyebrows at me and said, "You want to ask about what happened, right?"
• "Yes." I sat in front of her desk. "So what happened at the meeting?"
• "Well, the President's son refused to take over the company, and the shareholders decided that the president was too old to continue handling the company himself and should step down so that they would elect a new President," she started.
• "Do they have the right to do that?" I raised my eyebrows at her.
• "They are the company's shareholders, so they have a right to the company in a way." She shrugged. "The President got agitated when he began to argue with them and collapsed due to his high blood pressure."
• "Poor man." I sighed. "I heard he's better now."
• "Yes, but he was still unconscious when we left."
• "Okay, I should go back now." I stood up from the chair. "I can't be caught slacking off on my second day."
• "You are close to the Head Designer and the managing director, you shouldn't be scared of anyone except the president." She smiled and I returned the smile before exiting her office.
• I went back to our team's room and sat at my desk. The first I did was chuck the piece of paper I'd been working on inside the waste bin. I took out a new sheet and began to work on my new design. I was able to complete the first design before we got off work late that evening and I made a mental note to show it to Celeste the following day.
• As I exited the team's room, I caught Lena stepping out of her office with her bag in her hand. I approached her and we walked into the elevator together. The elevator stopped on our floor and it opened to reveal Nixon who had his suit jacket hanging on his left shoulder, leaving him in his white inner shirt.
• We stepped into the elevator and Lena stood right beside him. "Are you going home yet?"
• "No." He shook his head. "I have to check on the president and I also need to talk to Dave."
• "I think I should stop by at the hospital too." Lena nodded.
• Nixon placed her hand on her shoulder, staring at her with deep concern in his eyes. "No. I can see the tiredness in your eyes, you need to go home and get some rest. You can always check on the President tomorrow."
• "But..." She started but he placed his finger on his lips to shut her up.
• "Listen to me for once, please." His blue eyes bored into hers and they held each other stares for a while.
• It was so obvious that those two were into each other, if not for the company's stupid rule that was keeping them apart.
• The elevator stopped on the first floor with a ding which made the two of them cut eye contact. Lena cleared her throat before she replied, "Okay, I'll visit him tomorrow. Send my greetings to Mrs. Mendez and please talk some sense into your best friend's head."
• "I'll try but let's hope he listens to me. Dave can be very stubborn." He shook his head as we got out of the elevator.
• We walked in silence into the parking lot and Nixon watched us get into Lena's car and drove away. I so much wanted to tease Lena about what happened between her and Nixon in the elevator but I decided not to because I knew she was still worried about the President's well-being.
• When we arrived at the apartment, I went to my room to take a shower and put on some comfortable clothes before going into the kitchen to prepare dinner.
• Lena was still in her room doing God knows what while I took care of our meal for the evening. A few minutes into my cooking, soft footsteps approached the kitchen followed by Lena's voice. I couldn't pick out what she was saying because she was still at a distance.
• She walked into the kitchen with her phone in her ear and she sat on the counter, so I was able to hear her side of the conversation.
• "Really?" She asked as she covered her mouth with her hand in surprise. "That's good news." She grinned from ear to ear. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." She hung up.
• "What happened?" I asked as I turned my back to her to check on what I was cooking.
• "Looks like we will have a new President soon."