I smile at the receptionist on my way to the elevator and thank the lord for it being empty. Pushing the button, I wait for my floor to arrive. 'Rendezvous' is merely a five-minute walk, so I prefer to have a nice evening walk rather than take my car. The quite makes my thoughts wander back to the café. I certainly avoid any human interaction than required but to my surprise I did not completely hate it back there.
It's not like I don't talk to women, I do but I don't necessarily enjoy it all the time. Honestly, I barely enjoy it. It's not that I hate them, I'm just not much of a social person. I can't bring myself to forcefully indulge in a conversation; only if it happens naturally.
So, it was quite unusual of me to spend a whole 15 minutes with a stranger and not wanting to leave. Well, who would? She was fucking beautiful. I almost didn't feel the stinging coffee when I caught sight of her.
Tall, around 5.7 ft if compared to my 6ft height. Caramel hair tied in a perfect up-do with bangs sliding down the side of her face like a curtain. With deep brown eyes, she had me completely blank for a moment.
I barely managed to walk away and clean myself up, only to find her head in her hands at my table. To say my heart didn't skip a beat would be a lie. I gathered all my confidence and started talking to her and half way through, unexpectedly I felt very comfortable.
I don't know about her though, by the way she was fidgeting I highly doubt she was comfortable. It almost felt like she wanted to leave but when she smiled it didn't feel forced at all. She is intriguing, if I was anyone but me, I would've asked her out. Sadly, I'm not my brothers and I do not act on impulse, I can't bring myself to.
How can I though? I barely knew anything about her except her name. Well, it doesn't fucking matter anymore because it's done and we are probably never seeing each other again.
I can't believe I'm overthinking about a small interaction in my very long day. Usually, I don't even remember who I talked to. I'm so out of character today, I absolutely hate it.
I briskly step out the elevator and walk over to the very end of the corridor to my elder brother's cabin. I knock twice and open the door without his reply, he called for me so he should be expecting me anyway.
My step flatters as I watch my brother in his chair and dad sitting opposite of him. I catch Silas' attention and my dad follows his line of vision. Gripping my jacket, I take a few hesitant steps ahead. What is dad doing here? He doesn't usually come to any of our cabins, rather he calls us to his.
"Hey. You called for me?" I ask Silas. His purses his lips and glances at dad.
"I did. I knew if Silas called, you'll be here in no time." Dad said leaning himself back on his chair.
I frown, "Dad, you know I'll come in no time if you called as well."
He shrugs and states sternly, "Really? Is that why you missed the team meeting this morning?"
I wince internally without giving it away on my face. So, this is what's it about. "I did not think I was needed today."
He narrows his eyes, "You will own a part of this company soon and you think you aren't needed to attend strategic meetings?"
I sigh, "I didn't mean it like that, dad. I mean Silas was there so I decided to sit this one out. I'm sorry."
He sighs and looks back at Silas before saying, "It's okay to sometimes take breaks but you need to be vocal about it Jace. Taking impulsive decisions is not what people expect from a leader."
I nod in understanding, "I understand. I'll keep that in mind."
He gives me a satisfied smile, "Well, there's something else I have to talk about to both of you. Later this month, we have an inaugural event of a national charity and a lot of top investors from up North are attending. It is a great opportunity to network for our upcoming marketing strategies, so I want all of your attendance."
Both me and Silas give each other a glance guessing what his next words are going to be, "We need to make sure we move faster than our competitors."
We know exactly who he is talking about and they are not a lot as he insists on saying. It's just them, the Davis family. Competitors is an understatement, we are rivals and not frenemies, we are actually at each other's throat kind of rivals. Honestly, us siblings didn't really ever get into the hating spirit that my dad has always had for as long as I can remember. We have competition in the market but the Davis vs Romano is something that is way deeper than it appears to be.
"Yes dad, we'll be there." Silas assures him.
Dad gets up from his seat and Silas follows after him, "And yes before I forget. Make sure Cayden is present as well. That boy needs to be disciplined before he goes completely insane." I wince and this time totally out loud, "Also, Silas I know what happened last night and let me tell you, if it doesn't get cleared up till tomorrow morning, I'll directly deal with that boy and you both will not interfere."
Silas nods confidently and dad storms out of the cabin. "What the fuck was he talking about? What did Cayden do now?"
He rolls his eyes dramatically and leans against his desk, "He wrecked someone's very expensive car last night."
I bring my hand to my head and groan, "What was that idiot thinking?"
To put in simple terms, Cayden is a wild child. Not by choice though, he gets trapped into the most random shit and always accidently. Being the youngest of the family does that to you sometimes. You don't really think before you act as you always have someone to solve your problems, and here comes me and Silas.
Silas is the complete opposite; I have never seen him do anything wrong. Not in his adult life at least. He is always prepared, has a plan, is ready against anything that comes his way. Again, being the oldest in a sibling trio does that to you I suppose.
But I'm pretty sure he is absolutely done with cleaning up after Cayden. Since high school, Cayden have had some slip ups. Initially, it just felt insignificant but since he joined college, the last three years have escalated a lot.
I bite my lip and step forward, "Did you talk to him? Is damage control done? Is there a case? And is he on the news again?"
"No, I did not talk to him. Yes, I did damage control and took care of the case. And yes, he is very much on the news." He says clenching his jaw.
"If you didn't talk to him, how did you do all that?" I question.
"Through Sadie." His assistant. He picks up his phone and dials his number before passing it to me. "You should talk to him first. Because if I talk to him first, I'll probably murder him."
He picks up at the second as if expecting the call. I immediately put it on speaker. "Hello, look Silas I can explain. I swear it is not what it looks like. I actually have a valid reason this time. Hello…. Silas? How haven't you cursed the shit out of me yet?"
"Because, it's not him it's me." I say casually.
"Oh, why are you calling me from his number? Does that mean he is with you?" He asks.
"Yes, I'm here you dipshit." Silas says angrily, "Now, explain before I lose my patience."
"Okay, yeah!" He replies in a hurry. "So, basically the guy who we are talking about here is a total douchebag. For months he has been harassing these girls from my class and one of them was my friend's girlfriend. And last week he practically attacked her when she had a late study session and was walking off campus. We tried to get her to complaint but she was scared to stand against such an influential person. So, to get back at him we took the other road .."
Silas snatches the phone out of my hand, "That was your solution, really? Are you not influential, Cayden? You have already been plastered over the media so much, more than anyone from our family. People recognize you more than they ever recognized me or Jace and let me tell you, they know you for all the wrong reasons!"
"I know and I get it now but it was very in the heat of the moment. And she was scared Silas, I couldn't force her to do anything she didn't want to." He says softly.
Silas rubs a hand over his face, "You cannot act on impulse, Cayden. We've already talked about this. Anyway, now you will let me take care of this and will do no further damage. You hear me?"
"Yes. I promise and I'm sorry." He replies immediately.
I jump in to take advantage of the situation, "To make up for this, you are attending a charity event at the end of the month."
I hear the dread in his voice when he agrees, "Yeah, okay."
Silas smirks and gives me appreciative smile. Cayden hates these things, not the glamour or grandeur but the people. He says his vibe don't match with any of those and I bet they ever will. He isn't cut to be entertained by 40-year-olds discussing world affairs.
But that's the thing, he doesn't have to, we have Silas for that. All three of us are very different but somehow always find ourselves relying on each other. It's rare to find all three of us are together at such events but I guess we will have to be for this one.