Reason To Stay

Chapter Fourteen

"Hey, beautiful," Pierce called, his voice ragged.

Zoe paused, her finger on the bell of the gate that leads to the Smith's house. She rolled her eyes, recognizing the voice, her back still turned to him. She turned to face him, plastering a fake smile on her face. Pierce stood with his back hunched, sweat glistening his skin, and his hands resting on his knee as he tried to steady his breathing.

"You have been running." She stated, taking in his track suit and the black tank top he paired with a black sneakers.

He stood straight, and placed his right thumb on the bio-metric device beside the gate. The device scanned his thumb then the gate opened. Zoe rolled her eyes mentally at the gesture. "Show off" She mumbled under her breath and steadied her school bag on her shoulder.

He faced her, motioning for her to come in. "I'm trying to make a decision but I have a lot swirling in my head. Running helps me think straight." He said, as they walked into the house, side by side.

"That must be one hell of a decision." She commented dryly, well not like she cared. She turned her gaze to him and noticed the scowl walking unto his feature. "Except you take off running even when you are trying to decide on what to have for dinner." She laughed. Why she was trying to wipe the frown off his face was beyond her.

Pierce smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. She watched his head bow and his shoulder slouched as he put both hands in the pocket of his track suit, with his lips tugged down.

"Just do it." She said after a while, running her fingers through the flowers along the path of the house.

He jerked his head up, holding her gaze. "What?"

"Just do it." She repeated. "Forget the what ifs, what will people say and just do whatever the fuck that makes you happy." She shrugged.

"It's not as easy as you make it out to be." He admitted.

"Why complicate life?" She countered, still holding his gaze as they walked. "If you want something, ask for it. If you miss someone, fucking tell them. If you want to do something, just fucking do it. Forget about the voices of the market, forget about them not accepting you. Not everyone will like you anyway, so if they are going to hate you why don't it be for something that you love?" That had been the motto she lived by.

Pierce held her gaze for a while before breaking eye contact. He stared at her fingers that were running through the flowers as he pondered on her words. She plucked a flower bringing it up to her nose, inhaling the scent."My mom will kill you if she sees you plucking the flower." He said with a smile. Zoe looked at him, mouth opened and dumped the flower on the floor, stepping on it. "Well... Its a good thing I didn't pluck anything then." She said, mirroring his smile.

He took in a deep breath . "My father and Ayomide Majek used to be best of friends." Pierce said, looking ahead and Zoe turned her gaze to him, shocked at his revelation.She would never have imagined in a million years Xan being friends with anyone, much less Ayomide. They just seemed so incompatible.

"One time when I was seven years old, my father took me to Ayomide's bank. He used to run this small investment bank before he built his empire. I asked him what his job entails and he said he helps his client raise money, provide financial assistance as well as financial advises to them. He was so passionate about his job that I found myself sharing in his passion. So I told him that one day I'm going to be an investment banker like him and when that day comes, I want to work for him, even if its just for a little while." He paused opening the door to the house, motioning for Zoe to walk in first. Unlike the previous days where Zoe was entranced by the beauty of the house, she payed it no attention, with her focus on Pierce. "I worked my ass off in school. I now have a Bachelor's degree in finance as well as a masters degree in business administration but he has become my father's arch nemesis. What will people say if I decide to work for him?" He stole a glance at her.