The Watch

Who Am I?

"Her name is Aria Usoro."

Before I met that woman, I'd already gone through a lot. When I was fifteen, my parents and I went on a hiking trip. I was the only one to return. No one could tell me where they'd gone and for a time, I was a murder suspect. I'd moved away from that godforsaken state when I was eighteen. Kentucky wasn't a place I thought I'd ever go, but that's where I ended up. Also the next in line for my father's robotics company. A company I never knew existed.

College wasn't any better. I was behind on all the information I needed to know about technology, robots, and artificial intelligence. It was all new to me and everyone in my class knew it. I asked too many questions. I stayed behind way too much. Everyone always saw me exiting the professor's office at the beginning of class. I was a lost cause. Was.

At the age of 27, I was able to claim the title of being the official CEO of AI Robotics. I guess it's something I should be proud of. I have thousands of people working under me--some smarter than me and some just as smart as me--and some who need to study more than I did. As the CEO of the company, I plan to make sure everyone hired has the same intelligence as the men before them. Smarter. Better. Ready for more technological advances.

"Mr. Young, there's a meeting in three. Denver's going to be there."

"Really? I thought she was busy this time of year."

"Everyone did, but she said it was time she came to visit for once."

"Christmas is just around the corner and we need to be ready for anything. Refunds will not be given out. The last time I decided that, people returned everything broken."

"Warranties?"

"Better than nothin'. Have Shayne meet me in the conference room."

"Yes, sir."

I picked up the folders on my desk and exited my office after my secretary. He nodded his head at me and we parted ways. The conference room was on the third floor, so I had the choice to fool my step tracker or use the stairs. I didn't feel like walking down three flights of stairs. I nearly died the last time I tried that.

"You're taking the stairs today, Mr. Young?" Tina asked. "I was going to catch up on my fitness, too."

Crap. Thanks to me, everyone in my company had step trackers. It became a competition to see who took the most steps in a month. At the end of each month, we took off our watches and compared notes. The loser had to be the errand runner for a week and the winner got to gloat about it. It was fun when it began, but I was getting a little unhealthy. I wasn't going to win if I kept asking someone else to cheat for me.

"I guess we can do that together," I said. "You headed to the meeting?"

"Yes, sir. If we run, we can get there before Edward."

Now that's a challenge I can look forward to. Edward was always the first to every meeting we've had. I don't know how he does it. He's based on the eighth floor, so we had a two floor head start. Does he run and beat us to the fifth floor before we even make it to the doors? I'll never know. I wouldn't be surprised if he did what I did sometimes and took the elevator and made someone else run for him.

We both burst into the stairwell and took off. Tina nearly beat me to the third floor, but I was a hair faster. She bent over like she was actually out of breath and laughed. I laughed with her and quickly walked to the conference room. Just in time, too. Edward was just coming out of the stairwell. I leaned against the doorframe and grinned.

"You're a little slow today, aren't you?" I teased. "Shawn came by?"

"Mhm. Lunch was...filling." Edward winked.