Park's P.O.V
My last meeting dragged on and on with no end in sight. My mind had already shifted to Carryl and everything else turned to noise. I wanted nothing more than to go back home and burry my face in his neck and me in him.
"Mr Park?" One of the board members called out to gain my attention.Everyone was staring at me.
"Yes?"
"Who will be in charge of the Paris branch. You said you would personally select the members you thought best to spearhead this new branch."
She was right I had said that. I already had a candidate in mind and I was sure they knew exactly who it was. This was what they did. Politic while trying to upend me from my own Company. While the board members were essential to the company, their presence more often than not irritated me. A large majority had no idea about the inner workings of the company and for the most part did not care about anything other their monthly dividend.The few that understood what we were doing were the main ass sores. They did not care about the money, they were more interested in power, my power.
"Like I said before, everything in Paris is going according to plan, even better actually because we are two months a head of schedule. Once all the details are finalised I will let you know. Right now that information is strictly confidential so I hope you understand and trust that, I have your best interest at heart."
A murmur rippled across the room as several discussions blossomed among the board members.They wanted to object but they were also bound by contract. A contract that gave me Vito on all company business. I only informed them on the issues that were relevant to them, a fact that annoyed some of them immensely.Well, tough luck.
"I understand your concern but I assure you that all is well. Since we have completed the agenda for today's meeting I would like to adjorn the meeting. Any further concerns will be addressed at the next meeting."
I did not give then time to object, standing up and taking long strides towards the door. Business could wait, my baby is more important. I took the elevator directly to the basement parking lot not wanting to be cornered by overly inquisitive board members in my office.
I found my people absent upon arriving home. Eli had informed that her meeting would be running slightly late but Carryl should have been home. I did not want to call him and sound like a nagging partner, dragging him back home from wherever he was, appealed to me more. He was always around when I got home so his absence meant he must have had something else to do. He was a collage student and as such was likely doing something with his friends. I set my timer for an hour. I gave him one hour after which I would definitely send somebody to hunt him down. I took a long bath before settling down to finish my work while waiting for them to come back.
I sent the driver out when the my alarm went off. Carryl was not picking my calls and there was no way I was going to let him be. Eli arrived three hours later. She came to our home office after taking a bath looking positively scrumptious in my oversized silk shirt. She walked up to me and settled on my laps, her sweetly exotic scent teasing my senses.
"Where is Carryl?" She asked pecking me in my cheeks. She let her soft lips linger on my check for a few minutes before pulling away. I continued to hold on to her needing to feel her close, not realising how much I had missed her.
" No idea. He wasn't here when I got back. I tried calling him but he did pick up."
"But it's almost ten. Aren't you worried?"
"He is a twenty four year old babe ,he can take care of himself.I am sure he went out with friends, he will be back soon."
She looked at me shocked by my response. I chuckled fondly. The woman knew me too well.
" I also sent the driver to pick him up, you know, just in case he forgot the way home." He finished with a lame excuse because Eli knew what control freak he was.
She went to her desk and opened her laptop.She had a merger coming up and I knew how stressful that could be based on experience. We fell Into a comfortable silence each of us working. We remained engrossed in our work until the landline rang. It was Carryl's driver.
"Hello sir, I couldn't find him anywhere his roommate is also not in their room and his car is still in the parking lot"
"He must have gone out with his friends. It's almost midnight so just wait until he comes back and bring him home."
My phone was upstairs charging and so was Eli's. We made a habit of not picking up calls late atnight, a healthy habit which was a huge inconvenience right now.
"Babe try calling him, I think he's out partying but try his phone just in case he is still sober."
"Let the boy have fun Park. He is only twenty four staying out is basically thier job description. He will ran away if we smoother him too much. When he comes back we will have to remind him about communication."
Knowing Eli by reminder she meant punishment. It was always the same in whatever context, she hated repeating herself. I wanted to go get him myself as I had done several times in the past but held myself back. Eli was right we had a lifetime together there was no need to scare him away.
My baby was still not home come morning. His driver had also not seen him. I let out a steam of profanities as i soaked in the freezing water, even in his absence his body still plagued my dreams. He was meant to be here so I could ravage him for teasing me in my dreams. I arrived at the office ignoring any greeting sent my way. I was not in the mood for morning pleasantries. My assistant was in front of my desk before I sat down.
" Good morning sir. Here is your coffee and your schedule for the day. I have arranged the documents that require your attention according to their urgency. Red means now" She paused not continuing until I looked at her.
"Alright. Red means now. Is there anything else?"
"Your first meeting will be in the digital conference room it's a four way call with the heads of construction in Paris, Sweden, South Korea and China."
She looked like she wanted to say something else but thought better of it, closing the door behind as she left me to the mountain of documents in the red basket. I took a sip of my Black coffee sighing in pleasure as the hot liquid burned it's way down my throat. I despised repetitive mundane tasks like this but running a company was anything but exciting. I started signing off on documents, my eyes wondering back to my phone ever so often waiting for his call. He had failed to come home several times but at the very least I always knew where he was and that he was safe. I don't know what it was but something felt off about his silence. Irregardless of his reasons I was going to install a traking app on his phone as soon as I lay my hands on him.
My phone finally rang at around noon, and I couldn't stifle the disappointment as unknown caller ID was displayed.I picked up the call my worry spiking l. This was my personal line only a handful of people had it and with Carryl's silence this meant something was wrong.
"Yes? " I said curtly into the phone.
"Hello this is Sam,Carryl's roommate."
The annoyance and worry that had terrorised me all morning gave way to anxiety that began to slowly drown me alive.
"I tried calling you last night. Where is Carryl is everything okay?
"No...", my heart fell to the floor as my blood ran cold. "Carryl is okay physically but his father has just passed."
A flood of relief washed over me followed by trickles of guilt. Carryl had never talked about his father or his past really. I knew how burdening and complicated the past could be so I never pried.
"Where is he,let me talk to him."
"He is on his way back home, a friend of ours is driving him. I just thought you would want to know or maybe come with us. We will be leaving in an hour."
"Where are you right now."
I was already at the door closing my office.My heart was aching for my baby. He may not have been fond of his father enough to talk about him or maybe he never got the chance. Either way he must be going through hell, losing a parent could not be easy.
'Eli!"I called out as soon as she picked my call
"I've heard I am on my way." She sounded out of breath. The same could be said about me. Hold on in baby we are coming