Knight & Day

Choose Your Fighter

-Tyson-

I peered through the large bay window behind my desk in thought. The last few days felt like a whirlwind. I couldn't remember a time I felt so stressed. Scratch that, I did. The last time I'd felt this way, I was in my senior year at Columbia and my father had dropped the bomb that I had no choice in the matter of where I'd be starting my career. He never even gave me the chance to consider doing anything else but coming to work for the family business. It was like he'd had my whole life planned out before me and I was just supposed to nod and agree. All the dreams I had of pursuing anything else were immediately dashed to the side and dismissed as child's play. Nothing else mattered more than continuing what my father, his father and his father's father had spent generations building for the Day legacy. Part of me knew it would likely mean the same for my son if I ended up having one, which I did want some day... I think.

It was why I worked so hard though. I had to succeed at this. I had spent most of my adult life thus far working towards this goal. Sacrificing any and every contradicting or unparalleled whim for the sake of making sure what my family had built would continue to grow and thrive. And over time, I'd come to appreciate having the opportunity do so. But it was times like this, when it felt like I had no actual control of my decisions, I regretted going along with it all. I still hadn't yet wrapped my mind around having to marry someone I didn't know and didn't choose for myself. It just didn't feel right. I had always hoped I could choose my own wife and dictate what our life together would be like. I never figured my parents would take such a liberty.

But I suppose that was my own fault. I had missed my opportunity to establish my own path and now lacked the footing to divert from the one they were determined to lay out for me. I hoped that my determination to dedicate myself to the company and bringing in more opportunities for success would at least be a distraction but honestly, I knew better. This arranged marriage was going to happen no matter what I did. All I could do now was hope they'd pick someone I, at the least, was physically attracted to. Someone who could bear me children that I could carry on the family tradition of imposing my will on. This was what I had to look forward to, nothing more and nothing less.

I smoothed the lapels of my suit jacket and straightened my tie before returning to a seated position at my desk. Doing my best to distract myself from how I felt inside, I once again threw myself into my work. I sent some emails, looked over some figures from potential buyers and suppliers, and even saved Rose the trouble of setting my schedule for the next week. But nothing was working. In the back of my head, that nagging feeling of not being in control made me anxious. And being anxious made me angry. And being angry made me irritable and yearning for relief. I needed some way to release it all but how could I? Sonya was officially cut off and finally seemed to find the common sense to refrain from stalking me on social media. Calling her for a mid-day quickie was out, and not because I didn't think she'd be up for it, but it wouldn't be worth the headache of cutting ties again afterwards. My favorite good time had run off and gotten married so that was a done deal, and I'd been so busy lately, I hadn't even bothered putting in work elsewhere to have anyone on reserve for times like this. I was left without options. What was a man to do?

And then I remembered... she'd started today. She'd been in this office for hours now and I hadn't so much as heard a peep from her.

That would change.

-Phoenix-

This had to be a dream. Everything about this job just felt too good to be real or true. I rode to work today in a goddamn Tesla, I had been given not only my own laptop, but a brand new iPhone—for work, of course—and I had just had lunch at one of the most expensive restaurants in town... for free! Damien had almost literally rolled out the red carpet for me from the moment I left the house this morning and I was beyond grateful. The job alone was enough with how much it was paying, but all these damn perks were making me feel like I'd hit the jackpot.