Memories of Tomorrow

55 - Oliver Taylor

The weeks following my accident and temporary break, different problems have cropped up within the company. Stock prices understandably went down. Schedules of various projects were disrupted. Delays could mean penalty payments. A number of clients expressed concerns. I had to personally speak with some of them. Surprisingly, the stock prices stabilized and went up again after two weeks. Charles noted that there seems to be willing buyers at those prices. He even showed me a screenshot of the exchange. After that lone price asking for hundreds of thousands of stocks, the next price is surprisingly low. I told Charles to investigate it later. It's a good thing for now, but it could be an underlying attempt to take over. Though, of course, I remain the largest shareholder of the company. I paused, remembering my marriage to Lee. Well, we share everything now. I smiled at the thought.

For now, she's still working as my assistant, together with Charles. She stays with me at the office, though I've been working overtime for a number of days, trying to systematically settle the issues, one by one. Whenever she poses a question about the different projects, I try to provide her with as much information as I can. Her look of frustration when she can't follow the logic in some cases is adorable, it takes my stress away. We mostly sleep in the breakroom during that time, just cuddling, too tired to do anything else.

The project development team received Alex West's revised proposal on the last week of that month and it has been reviewed at various levels. Given the current situation of the company, it's imperative to start a new collaboration. He even sent a representative for inquiries and address further concerns. This caused me trouble with Lee. I told her to take a break for a few days. I'm almost done with resolving the issues within the management. She's been overworked, trying to accompany me through it all. On Tuesday, however, she came to bring me dinner at the office. The representative from Queens is a woman, probably single, and has obviously been flirting with me during our discussion. I focused mainly on the concerns Charles and I discussed earlier as we were reviewing the financial reports we requested from them.

Lee walked into the office as the woman jumped on me. Well, not literally. She threw her arms around my neck. Though I pushed her, albeit gently since she's still a woman and I was quite surprised by her action, Lee understandably misunderstood the situation.

The woman was surprised to see Lee as well. I guess it dawned on her that I'm in fact in a relationship. She apologized to both Lee and me, expressing that she was not aware of my relations. Of course, she wouldn't. It's a private matter. Lee stood her ground. I'm glad how she can display her toughness at times, but I knew for a fact that she's very angry inside. That demeanor, glare and sharp tongue are enough to tell me I'm in trouble. I can almost see her gears turning, figuring out how to ensure something like this won't happen again.

"Charles will be present in my future meetings, especially if there's a woman present." I volunteered the suggestion. She exhaled after hearing it, while the other woman gets more embarrassed. She grabbed all her files and hurriedly wrapped up the main points we've talked about. She apologized again to Lee as she walked towards and out the door.

"Come out. Let's eat outside." She stated, somewhat resigned.

When I followed, I didn't see Charles outside. He must have gone home already. Lee took out the food she brought and laid them on Charles' table.

"Eat. You must be hungry." She sat on Charles' office chair while I took the visitor's chair.

"How about you? Have you eaten?"

"I lost my appetite."

"Lee..." I sighed. How do I even explain what happened?

"I'll get Charles to get the footage of my office. You can see it for yourself. It was just the timing. We were having a business discussion and near the end... it was what you saw. I pushed her away immediately."