I am an early bird. No matter how late I sleep, I wake up at five in the morning. London looks peaceful through my living room at this time of the morning.
I started my day with a cup of green tea accompanied by the melody of Edvard Grieg 's 'Morning Mood' and now I'm ready to set out for cycling. I realized I am not a gym person. Early in my 20s, I had hired a personal trainer, whom I had to dump immediately after two sessions. Gym felt too rigid so I never went back again.
After that I tried Pilates and yoga too but I wasn't a great fan of both. I finally settled for cycling and it has been part of my daily routine for almost eight years now. I've come to enjoy cycling over time and except for when I am away on my business trips, I go out on a ride around the neighbourhood almost every morning.
There's a lush green park few miles away from my place which is usually bustling with human activities at all times. But at this time of the day, only few old men and birds can be found there.
The daffodils and magnolias are in full bloom, enveloping entire park in pleasant fragrance. Spring is indeed the best time of the year.
While cycling around the park is not allowed during the day, early morning rides are an exception and so I make a lap around the beautiful area on my back home.
It's six a.m. and I am finally back at home. After all these years, I have come to realise that cycling early in the morning makes my days more bearable. The fresh morning breeze, chirping of birds, and the lack of people on the roads while cycling energises me and lightens my mood.
I take a quick shower while listening to my early morning playlist and head to my mini library. There is a small reading room connected to my master bedroom that has all sorts of books, many of which I have never read.
My secretary Leah is an avid reader herself and takes great pleasure in purchasing books. So, although I never asked her to, Leah takes the liberty of taking my card every two month and purchases dozens of new books in different genres and adds them to my shelf.
And while I was initially thankful for her service, it has now become a trouble for me. While both Leah and I love reading books, our choices of books vary vastly with only Harry Potter holding us together.
While Leah enjoys reading romance novels with charming princes and dominant daddies, I prefer crime thrillers and financial books. I asked Leah to stop buying me romance novels however, she insists reading romance novels can be very helpful for me. In Leah's words, " Reading romance novels are a must for human character development. They help us to learn so much about human emotions and are great stress busters."
Leah totally ignored my request and continues to buy me new books every two month now Taheref Mafi's ' Shatter Me' series and several other romance novels are lying on a side of my shelf.
If anyone else had dared to ignore me, I would have fired them immediately. But Leah has been with me from the moment I stepped into Montague Enterprises as its CEO and over the years, we have developed quite a close bond.
Leah Smith is a year older than me and is a pretty blonde who stands at a height of 155 cm with a model's body. She never makes any mistake when it comes to her job and is wise in ways I can never be. Leah is almost like the elder sister I never had and sincerely cares for me. I too care for her and she knows it by now. But she never crosses her professional line.
Even when she cares for me, she perfectly maintains the professionalism between a boss and her secretary. No wonder it took me months to make her call me by name when I suggested she should address me professionally only in front of others.
I look around my library and pick up 'Traitors Gate' by Jeffrey Archer which was Leah brought in few days ago. " When will you read the romance novels that has been covered in dust for so long Aveline? Can you please try reading them too? I just don't understand what joy do you derive from reading about gruesome murders" , is what Leah had said while stacking the new books in the shelves.
She has been practically begging me to try reading the "Shatter Me" series for months now. " Just try reading it and you will surely love it" is what she had said when she bought the entire series last year.
I did consider reading it few months ago but then decided against it and read 'Simply Lies' by David Baldacci instead.
After reading few pages of my new book, I head to my kitchen to prepare my breakfast. Cooking is one of those activities that makes me forget all the troubles at work and so I never hired any chef.
I enjoy cooking my own breakfast and usually have my lunches in our restaurant near the office is there isn't any meeting scheduled for lunch. I don't get chance to have dinners at home much often too and so hiring chef turned out to be a financially wise decision too.
Today, I am in mood for some bacon, frittata and bread with honey. Breakfast is incomplete without cappuccino so I brew a cup for me immediately and savor my breakfast while going through my schedule for the day and I, for sure am not liking how it's looking...