Betrothed

Chapter 14

"I met Audrey four years ago."

Both Sean and Kaycee were sitting up straight, leaning against the bed frame. Sean was staring at a distance while Kaycee was staring at Sean.

"She was working as a the head of the accounts department then. I had just joined the company under pressure. My dad had been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy for a year then and he managed the company well for the first year. But he couldn't walk after that year and there was no one to take after the company. I had clearly told my parents that I wanted to be an architect and they never stopped me. But I couldn't watch my father's company go down before me."

Sean paused, clearly hesitating to continue.

He clenched and unclenched his hands twice, looking at every corner of the room but at her.

Kaycee didn't want to pressurize him but she also wanted to know.

"Then, what happened?" She pressed lightly.

Sean released a shaky breath.

"No one knows this. So, I'm.... I'm..."

Seeing Sean stutter, the facade of a cold strong businessman fading away, Kaycee's heart jumped and broke at the same time.

Men are always expected to be strong and unwavering. But people forget that they're humans. They feel emotions too. They can get sad too. They can get their heartbroken too. Women always have been more open with their emotions. They know what they're feeling and they act like that.

But how often have you seen a man showcasing different emotions?

Her thoughts and Sean's situation hit so close to Kaycee's heart and childhood, that without thinking, she placed her hand in Sean's clenched fist. She wanted to comfort him.

She couldn't be there for him when he was suffering but she can here for Sean.

She might not have known for long but sometimes, just sometimes, a little gesture changes a lot in someone's life.

Sean slowly turned to look at her when her hand wrapped around his and held it.

He gained his confidence again.

"I told my parents I would take care of the company. I couldn't watch them run around again and again trying to fix deals and make up for the continuous losses."

"I was in my third year at college but I dropped out and inherited the company. B-but I didn't know anything about business. I was struggling. But I didn't tell my parents anything about the deals I couldn't manage to confirm and the clients I disappointed. I locked myself up everytime I failed to do something. This went on for six months and I just managed to dig myself into a deeper hole of despair."

Sean paused and looked at Kaycee to see if she was still listening.

She was.

So he started again.

"Audrey saw my state. She didn't tell me anything straight to my face but whenever she would come to my office with a problem, she would quietly explain it in simple terms. She started helping me with the other stuff too, not related to the finance. First proposals, then marketing, then deals, then profits and slowly I started understanding more about business. She didn't teach me anything about accounts though, I never liked maths."

_

"Call Audrey, I need to speak to about something."

"Yes, sir."

Sean put the offers he had received from 4 companies on his table and waited for Audrey to tell him what they meant.