A month later~
Nothing much happened during this time. It was all the same; Aiden having frequent nightmares and visiting Adina's grave every once in a while, concentrating on his work and just not giving a shit about anything else; Ian trying and failing again and again to get close to Aiden, to make him open up his heart, to mend him.
One fine afternoon when Aiden was busy on a phonecall Noah knocked at his office doors. When he didn't get a reply he peeked in and saw Aiden facing the window with phone in one hand and the other one in his pant's pocket. He fake coughed to get his attention and Aiden signalled him to come inside with his hand while he continued talking and went to sit on his chair. Noah stood in place waiting for him to finish his phone call.
"Yes, yes. Of course. Don't worry we'll surely be there." A pause later he continued,"Alright then Joe. see you there." He finally hung up the call and looked up," Yes Noah?"
"Sorry to disturb you sir but as you instructed me about Ms. Davies I've kept a close eye on her work. She is remarkable at what she does. I've already showed you the files and projects she worked on and to be honest I was impressed. This is her latest project, you can review it." He handed him a file while Aiden scanned trough the pages.
"Hmm.. she has potential. Do one thing, send her to my cabin. I want to have a word with her", Aiden said putting down the file and pressing a button on his telephone with one hand while Noah left with an affirmative response.
A voice from the other side of the telephone said,"Sir?"
"Mr. Smith, in my office. Now." And the line disconnected. In a minute he heard a knock and granted permission to enter. "I want you to set up a desk in your cabin."
"Y-Yes?" His secretary's voice faltered while his eyes grew wide. He wasn't sure how to response and just gaped at his boss.
"Do you have a problem Mr. Smith?" Aiden plainly asked.
"Ye- I mean no sir. I will arrange a desk asap. Anything else?"
"No. Thank you. That will do for now", Aiden said, dismissing him. Aiden then again picked up the file and hummed in appreciation. A few minutes later another knock was heard and he gave the permission to enter while still reading the file.
"You called me sir?" Marlee asked while standing in front of Aiden across the desk.
"Ms. Davies, yes, yes". He then called his secratary to come to his office. When both were finally standing in front of him, he said,"Ms. Davies, pack your stuff and move to his cabin. Tomorrow onwards you'll be working directly under me. Mr. Smith will let you know about all the ongoing work. Keep up this pace and you'll soon be handling meetings and get practical experience in this field. Am I clear?"
Marlee was a little shocked but smiled and said," Ah! yes sir and thank you."
"You both may leave now." But as soon as Marlee was about to step out of his office, Aiden said something which made her flustered and turn back. "Good work Ms. Davies. I'm glad you listened to me."
Saying a quick thank you she left his office and followed Mr. Smith whose cabin was just besides Aiden. "Ms. Davies?" Aiden's secratary asked.
"Ah! Just Marlee is fine. Can I know your name?"
"I'm Jason."
"Nice to meet you Jason."
"Likewise", giving a smile he continued,"Now you can go back to your previous desk and pack your stuff and keep them here. Everything you need here will be ready by tomorrow morning and anyways office hours will be over soon."
"Alright then. I'll be back in a while", Marlee said with a smile and went from there.
After office hours at Marlee's home~
She entered her home humming a cheerful tone and bouncing. She kicked off her shoes and announced," Mom, Dad, I'm home."
Her father, who was sitting in the living room with his laptop said similing at her,"Welcome home sweetheart. What's got my princess so happy?"
She plopped down beside him on the sofa and put her head on his lap and said with a huge grin on her face,"I kind of got promoted. I'll work directly under Aid- oops, I mean Mr. Simmons."
"That's great sweetie though I should warn you to behave and not upset him, okay?" He caressed her hair lovingly and she just nodded with a smile.
Just then someone came out of the kitchen and said,"Stop with it Joe. Let my daughter be happy and enjoy her life." Marlee stood up and went to give her mom a tight hug who smiled and ruffled her hair.
"But I was just- ah nevermind. I can never win when it comes to you ladies", Joe said and picked up his laptop from where he had kept it at the table.
"Never", both Marlee and her mother said and giggled making Joe heave a sigh but nevertheless smile. "Ok young lady now go freshen up and come down fast. We have to pick Sierra from her hotel and then go for some shopping."
At the mention of that name Marlee smiled in excitement and said, "Oh my God! Sierra is in town? Why did I not know about it?"
"She came for some work and for tomorrow's function of course."
She nodded in understanding then asked,"But why stay in a hotel?"
"Don't worrry, she'll be coming home with us."
She smiled and sped towards the stairs saying,"Be right back." Her mother smiled and went to get changed herself.
After sometime, they picked up Sierra on the way and went for shopping as the day after tomorrow was Marlee's parents' 25th anniversary party. They came back home then the family had dinner accompanied with light conversations and then all retired to their own rooms for the night. Though Sierra could've taken any guest room but Marlee insisted on staying in her room which she couldn't refuse.
They sat on bed after changing into their nightwears and putting on face masks. Marlee asked while checking her nails of left hand that she had just finished painting, "So, how's life? Anything exciting at all?"
Sierra painted her toe nails while replying,"Well... I'm mostly busy with office work so nothing much ever happens, though...." She pouted then erased off the nailpolish then started again.
Marlee looked at her, thinking she'll continue but when she didn't, she said annoyed,"What though? please complete your sentence missy."
Sierra looked up and said,"Oh yeah, sorry. So well ... a few weeks back I went to this bar after work and .. uh.. I got a little carried away with my drinks... mind you I was very stressed that day. So yeah, I got a little tipsy and some guys tried to touch me inappropriately but I was concious enough to resist them but I was weak so I obviously couldn't."
"WHAT THE! Those jearks! How dare they touch you! And how could YOU be so careless! You are supposed to be the responsibile one remember! They didn't do anything to you, did they? I swear-"
Sierra cut her off and said,"Calm down she-hulk. Nothing happened. If you would just be considerate enough to listen to the rest of the story without interrupting me."
"Oh sorry! Continue."
"So as I was saying, they tried to to take me out of that place while I kept struggling but before they could reach the back door a guy appeared out of thin Air to be honest...."
"Air-... How drunk were you girl? I thought you could hold your liquor well."
"I was just a bit tipsy and you know how good my memory is even when I'm drunk. He really appeared out of nowhere believe me."
"Uh.. okay.. so then? what happened?"
"Well firstly he tried to politely tell them to knock off and when they didn't heed him, the first thing he did was rescue me and then beat up those guys. I thanked him after that and he offered to drop me off to where I live and I accepted because my gut feeling said so and also he seemed to be a gentle and polite man. In the car we had some light conversations and I thanked him again for dropping me off then we parted our ways. To be honest, I really liked that guy. He was.. a good man.. and you don't really find good men anymore."
"I second that but what was his name? Who was he?"
"Well .. I never got to know his name. Our conversation started with those jerks and then well I forgot to ask his name."
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?" Marlee threw her hands up in exasperation then continued,"You didn't even bother to ask the name of your knight in shining armour? What kind of damsel in distress are you?"
"Uh.. well.. sorry. I do regret not asking." Sierra pouted and looked down.
Marlee felt pity for her sister and said,"Don't worry, if it is written in your fates, you'll meet him again", she crossed her fingers," hopefully super soon." Sierra giggled and nodded."Anyways how did he look? Tell me about his looks", she asked sitting up straight with curious little sparkling eyes.
"Um.. he was hot and handsome and well built with perfect body proportions. Broad shoulders and chest and thin wait and when he fought I could see him muscles flexing through his shirt. He had those mesmerizing amber eyes which drew me to him. He had black hair and grew a mullet too. he was.... just... amazing. I really wanna meet him again."
Marlee thought she knew someone like that but dismissed the thought immediately because many people could fit that description. She wiggled her eyebrows and commented,"Oouuuhhh~... looks like someone got a crush." She smirked at her and winked.
Sierra blushed and said,"Shut up. I'm sleepy now. Good night." She took off her face mask, laid down on her side of the bed and covered herself with blanket.
Marlee laughed at her actions. "Nice tactics but you won't be able to save yourself from me sweetheart. Good night." She laughed again, took off her mask, turned off the lights and laid beside Sierra.
Next morning at the office~
As soon as she reached her desired floor, the receptionist called out her name and said,"You are Ms. Davies, right?"
"Just Marlee, please", she replied with a small smile.
"Oh ok Marlee. Boss has called you in his office first thing in the morning."
""Uh... has he now?" She groaned making the receptionist chuckle. "Well then I better go see why he called me. Thanks." She waved her bye and went to Aiden's office.
She knocked twice before entering. She bowed a little in respect saying,"Good Morning Sir. you called me?"
"Oh yes Ms. Davies. I want you to study these projects for me and make a report to submit to the board in a week." He handed her two files while she nodded. "And second thing, you can take a half day tomorrow."
"Huh?" She looked at him in confusion.
"Its your parents' anniversary tomorrow, isn't it?"
"Oh uh.. yes.. umm.. Thank You sir."
"Nevermind. You can go start working." She gave him a big smile before leaving which he didn't notice as he was busy in some other work.
She plopped on her chair and smiled widely, biting her lips. It made her fuzzy as to how considerate Aiden was. She thought,'His partner would be so lucky. He's such a nice person.' With that thought she started working.
Next day~ (Before the party~)
Sierra and Marlee were getting ready on the latter's room for the party when Sierra asked,"Hey Lee, you didn't say anything about your work. Things are good there or..? you can tell me if there's any problem."
Marlee strapped her shoes saying,"Its pretty nice working there and my boss... Aiden is a good person. A little hot headed but a very nice guy."
"Well that's the first time I heard something nice about Aiden Simmons except for how good of a businessman he is. I'm looking forward to meet him and his brother tonight."
"Yeah", Marlee said a little distracted because the last two days that she had been working in close proximity with Aiden she can't help but sense the pain and sadness in his aura which most people percieve to be rude and cold. "Let's get going now. Mom dad must be waiting."
"Yes. let's go", Sierra said and they both went to join Marlee's parents' and greet the guests.
Sometime later when Marlee and Sierra were standing side by side with drinks in hand and criticising a girl's dress they heard someone call them. "Ms. Davies, you look wonderful this evening." Both of them turned around to face Ian.
"YOU?"
"YOU? The drunk girl" ,Ian said making Marlee surprised.
"So you were the hot and handsome man who saved my sister", Marlee said then her eyes widened and she slapped a hand on her lips. "Sorry", she mumbled while looking at both of them.
Ian laughed it off while Sierra blushed and glared at Marlee. "Well yeah, it was me", Ian said casually with a smile.
"And I'm really thankful about that", Sierra blushed.
"Uh.. I'll go get myself a refill while you two talk and thank you for the compliment earlier Mr. Simmons. You look quite handsome yourself.
"Just Ian is fine and thank you."
"Then you can call me Marlee or Lee, whatever is fine with you."
"Marlee it is then", Ian smiled and nodded while Marlre excuses herself from there.
She did indeed get a refill and greeted and talked to some guests but she suddenly came to a halt as her eyes fell on the man sitting at the bar alone and just drinking away with no care about the world. She stood there admiring his side profile like that for a few minutes but then got interrupted by Sierra who showed up at her side and asked,"Who is he?"
She looked at her then back at him, replying,"My boss. Aiden Simmons." After a long pause she said,"Is it just me or does he look like he is in pain to you too?"
"Um.. well.. There was something Ian said to me while we were in the car about his brother."
This got Marlee's attention. She turned to her and questioned,"What? What did he say?"
"Something like his brother is so broken that he can't fix himself and is neither letting others try. I thought it was very pitiful but we didn't continue the topic."
Marlee looked at Aiden with sad eyes but before she could say anything Ian appeared beside them,"Oh here you are! Well Sierra if you don't mind me asking would you like to honour me with a dance?"
Sierra blushed profusely and said,"Sure. Just give me a minute. I've to check if the caterers have started the dinner. Wait here. I'll be back."
"Sure." Ian smiled then turned to Marlee,"What's going on?"
"Oh .. I just-" she glanced in Aiden's direction but didn't say anything
Ian followed her gaze and saw his brother. he sighed, looked back at Marlee and said,"He doesn't fancy coming to parties. Don't mind him."
"Huh.. No, no, its not that. Well.. its that I was thinking about how lonely he might feel sometimes."
"He's used to it now. Don't worry. He likes to be alone now."
After a long pause Marlee commented,"No."
"What?" The reaction startled Ian. "What do you mean no?"
"He doesn't like to be alone. He thinks he can fix whatever is going on in his head but he needs help. He needs someone. He pushes away people because he's hurt badly. He needs comfort and someone's support to fix whatever it is. I know there are people who liks to be alone, I've even met some but he... he isn't that kind of person. He really really needs someone and I've decided I'm going to help him." Her voice had determination and empathy laced on it. She said everything while directly looking at Aiden who was unaware of the stare.
"What? NO! You- you are just making these stuff up. And let me warn you Marlee, back off before you get hurt. You shouldn't pry in things that aren't meant for you", Ian said sternly, totally taken aback by her words.
"I won't and it's ok if I get hurt, I just want to help him. He needs it", she said and went away.
"Fuck! Shit! No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!! This can't be happening. It's too dangerous. Oh my God!! What do I do now!?" Ian panicked.
"Oh here you are! Shall we dance then?" Sierra asked with a shy smile. Ian managed to put up a smile and guided her to the dance floor while thinking what he should do now to stop Marlee from whatever she was planning to do. He was aware that it was too dangerous for her to get involved in Aiden's business and he didn't want anything to happen to her just because she was naive enough to not listen to the twin brother of the person she thought she could help.