Chapter 13

• ARIA'S POV
• That night, I was up way past my bedtime talking to Savannah about how I was adapting to my workplace and things that had occurred in the few days I'd been here. We got off the call by one in the morning when I told her that I had to go to work early the next morning.
• "Ari, wake up. We are going to be late," I heard Lena's voice in my sleep before the quilt got yanked off my body.
• "Five more minutes." I groaned as I curled on the bed.
• "Do you know what time is it? It's 6:40." She yelled and I shot up the bed with wide eyes.
• "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I climbed down the bed and rushed into the bathroom.
• "That is because I wasn't expecting you to still be sleeping by this time," she shouted after me. "Hurry up and meet me in the living room, we have to stop by the hospital before going to work."
• "Okay." I stood in front of the bathroom mirror to brush my teeth.
• It was all Savannah's fault that I was getting late for work. If only she hadn't kept me awake till one in the morning, I wouldn't have overslept. Spending just five minutes in the bathroom, I rushed out and spent extra time looking for what to wear before I later decided on some black pants and a Royal blue shirt. I dressed up as fast as I could before shoving my things into my bag. I went out to the living room to see Lena taking her plate to the kitchen.
• A plate of waffles and a cup of syrup was waiting for me on the dining table. I checked the watch on my wrist to see that it was already 7:30 before I sat down and shoved my breakfast down my throat.
• Lena walked out of the kitchen and picked up her bag with the brown envelope sitting beside it. "Meet me in the car in two minutes," she said as she walked out.
• Finishing my breakfast, I took the plate to the sink and ran out to join Lena inside her car. "I'm sorry for delaying you."
• "What time did you sleep last night?" she asked as she turned on the ignition of the car.
• "Past one."
• She glanced at me with a shocked expression before turning back to the road as she drove. "And what were you doing till that time?"
• "I was talking to Savannah."
• "Your best friend who was seeing your brother behind your back and got pregnant, Savannah?" She raised her eyebrows at me.
• "Yes."
• "You didn't say anything about her since you told me she was pregnant."
• "That's because we were not on talking terms since I found out the truth about her and my brother."
• "But you are now on talking terms again."
• "Yeah, my mom talked some sense into me and we sorted things out before I left," I replied.
• "That's good." She nodded. "So how far along is she and how is she coping with your brother?"
• "She is 7 months gone and living with my brother in my parent's house, but according to her, they will be moving out after the baby is born. My brother is responsible now, the baby kind of transformed him." I smiled.
• "Your parents must have expected that result that's why they forced him to take responsibility for Savannah and her baby."
• "Yeah, I was the only one who was angry about everything. I was mad at Savannah for getting pregnant and hindering all the plans she had for her future."
• "Being pregnant doesn't put a stop to your future goals. After the baby is born, she can always go back to school and chase her dreams. It might be a bit difficult when you are with a child but if she's determined, she can do it." She glanced at me with a smile on her face before turning back to the road.
• "I hope so."
• Lena's phone rang in her bag and she answered using the Airpods in her ear, "Hello." She went silent as she listened to the caller. "Really? Okay, I'm on my way." She hung up.
• "What happened?" I asked.
• "The President is awake." She beamed as she pressed down on the accelerator.
• A smile spread on my face. "That's fantastic."
• She stopped by a flower shop and picked up a pot of Lavender which she said the President loves. We drove to the State Hospital and parked the car in the parking lot before going in. I walked closely behind Lena as she strode in, going toward the elevator.
• As we got inside the lift, she pressed the button on the top floor and we waited as the lift went up with just the two of us inside. The elevator stopped on the first floor with a ding and without waiting for a second more, Lena strode out of the lift, making her way to a place which I assumed was the President's room.
• I wasn't able to look around as I was trying to catch up with Lena. She stopped in front of a door and pushed it open.
• "Lena." A woman who was sitting next to the President's bed beamed as her eyes landed on Lena.
• "Good morning, Mrs. Mendez." Lena smiled as she placed the pot of Lavender on the table in the room. "This is a get-well-soon gift, " she said to the president who lying on the bed in a hospital gown.
• "Thank you, dear." He smiled at her.
• Mrs. Mendez turned to me with a curious look in her eyes. "Who is she?"
• "She's the new designer on team 4 and she was also my junior in school," Lene replied. "She offered to come with me to see how the president is doing," she continued while I plastered a smile on my face.
• "Oh, okay." Mrs. Mendez nodded before smiling at her. "Thank you, dear."
• "It's nothing, ma'am." I shook my head.
• Nixon moved closer to Lena and whispered to her, but loud enough for me to hear, "Do you have the papers with you? The President wants to review them before we proceed with them."
• "Yeah, it's in my car. I'll go get it." Lena turned to walk out but I stopped her.
• "Let me get it for you," I offered.
• It was going to be awkward for me to stay in that room without Lena, so I rather go down to the parking lot to get the papers.
• Lena gave me a confused look before replying, "Okay." She handed me the car keys and I smiled back at her before walking out.
• I took a few steps away from the door when I heard my phone ping in my bag and I fished it out to see a message from Savannah. As I was about to open the message, I bumped into someone, making my phone fall from my hand.
• "Noo," I shrieked as my phone landed with the screen facing the ground. I bent down to pick it up to see the screen with multiple cracks on it.
• It was then I looked up to see the person I bumped into. "What did hell is wrong with you? My phone is broken because of you."
• "That wouldn't have happened if you watched where you were going," the dark-haired guy in front of me replied with no sign of remorse on his face.
• "After breaking my phone, you have the guts to shift the blame on me. So shameless." I scoffed. "What are you going to do about my broken phone?"
• "Even though it wasn't my fault, I would have offered to replace it if you weren't so rude about it." He shoved his hands into his pocket.
• I was about to open my mouth to reply when the room door opened and Lena interfered, "Aria, what's going on?" She approached us.
• Turning to her with a frustrated look on my face, I replied, "This asshole broke my phone and still had the guts to blame me for it."
• "Will you shut up?" she whispered as she tugged me closer to her.
• Nixon appeared from behind her and went to stand by that asshole's side. "Don't worry, I will make sure Dave replaces your phone." He tugged him toward the room.
• "Dave? As in Dave Mendez, the President's son?" I asked Lena and she nodded, making my eyes widen in horror.
• My eyes followed him as he turned the doorknob before stopping and glancing at me. I cowered behind Lena, hoping that the ground would open up and swallow me. He turned away and walked into the hospital room.
• I'm so getting fired.