ADRIAN
"The new design launch is ready sir". A team leader proceeds with his weekly briefings while I make my way to the elevator.
"Send it to the management team before it reaches my desk". I get in the elevator and door closes behind. While we ascend the last floor, my mind brushes over memories of Rylee.
The past nights had been dreadful. Faced with looking up the ceiling for long hours and tossing around the bed. The guestroom was quite the view but it couldn't relinquish the odd feeling of rejection I felt. It's been weeks since Rylee and I had a smooth conversation but tonight was different; cold.
Being away from Rylee's scent next to me was starting to sink in. I couldn't bear to admit that I was longing for her. We've already been past this a thousand times.
"What is it?" I frown in disappointment as my secretary knocks on the door. "Well…you said to place a reminder for your family gathering." She manages to squabble out before I speak.
"Move some things around, find a way to reschedule it." I rub my hands between my temples while she nods. Mrs. Millan had always been a secretary of my father's for as long as I could recall. She had a defined yet swift approach to situations and always somehow managed to keep up a smile in the most outrageous of situation.
"Se Sorridi viene meglio". She would often repeat her witty saying whenever my brother and I visited the office with a stern look on our faces throughout our teenage years.
With the recent changes and advancements at the company, I was not about to compound my problems with feminine energy. My mind trails off to the stacks of paperwork on my work table, summits and business deals to close.
Especially a top merger I've managed to keep secret from Rylee for so long. An inevitable closure that could break her but now wasn't the time for sentiments.
"Don't forget tonight's family dinner." A text from my brother resurfaces on my phone for the third time.
"I know that. Enough with the reminder!." I type hurriedly before my phone rings.
"What is it this time?" I frown.
"O come on Adrian, haven't heard your voice in a while." Leo's voices echoes from the phone.
"Did Mom put you to this? Cause if so, you can forget about me showing up to..."
"She didn't alright. Stop being so grumpy!." He cuts in
"Don't forget to bring Rylee along okay? You do not want what happened the last time to repeat itself you know."
"You don't have to remind me." My grin tightens.
"Talk later". I cut the call abruptly to attend to other urgent matters.
With the recent escapades and the new brand launch ongoing, I already had so much on my plate. Alongside my marriage hanging by a thread, a seamless family dinner wasn't going to do much good. I'd have to ask Rylee to come along. A big ask at this terrible timing.
But apparently all efforts to remove myself from this dinner has been ruined with Leo's constant texting. The company's stock market value has been on a promising lead with him overseeing the new building construction in Berlin.
Flying home for a family meet cute wasn't particularly his cup of tea but with mother's emotional blackmail, there wasn't much resisting left. I tuck my phone into my pocket and head to the boardroom for the next scheduled agenda.
***
The conference meeting with several team leaders compounded with the pile of work on my neck has me stirring towards an aggressive side. Saying I was tensed was an understatement. But I sure did a damn good job at keeping it cool as much as I could.
"Any last engagements scheduled?" I raise a brow at my personal assistant.
"No sir." She made a quick mental note to understand.
"Very well then. Home it is." I mumbled within myself and grab my keys.
I sigh while I quickly scroll through my messages. A brief instinct suggests I text Rylee but I ignore and head out the door.
A young CEO at the age of thirty seemed to be going well for me. Until I found myself entangled with this woman. It had been months since we properly looked each other in the eye. Or the sex… Not that I could think about it with the weight of things on my shoulder.
I loved her but there were pressing matters to attend to. Her constant nagging and distance wouldn't have allowed me the opportunity so I simply put it off. I decide to keep mute. Hoping that the earlier this hurdle blows away, the sooner I could get back to a normal life.
***
I had just gotten back from the office. On September 12th – I recall a strangely odd sensation as I walked into the house. My spread out files on my study table hadn't been rearranged to the section Rylee had always preferred. She had a knack for arranging things but not today. I drop the keys on the table and walk up the stairs but to my surprise, the bedroom was empty. Everything was exactly in place except her presence was missing. I tap on my phone screen to send a text or maybe a call through but I halt. The past few weeks has been a real tussle with our inability to see eye-to eye so I just refocus my attention somewhere else.
After about an hour, I hear the squeak sound of the door. Rylee walks in looking rather pale.
"Where have you been?"
A weary feeling of concerns fuels within but I try to sound as calmly put together as I can.
"Went out for some fresh air." She replies halfway into the living room. I am tempted to prude more but I do not. Worried I might cause another quarrel tonight which I had no intention of being a part of. My eyes follow the paper hanging loosely on her left hand until she walks up to the room.
Perhaps I should have put that phone call through.
***
My brisk walk into the house screams a tense mood but I keep calm and head for the shower. My mind, a bit reluctant to ask Rylee to the dinner. The cold water rushes over my head, cooling the heated tension locked within me. I suddenly miss her sneaking into the showers with me. Her soft hands, massaging places only she had sole power to. I'd watch her nails buried into my skin while I moaned her name.
I stall for the longest possible time but eventually give in to the urge.
I step out of the bathroom. My messy hair hanging down my brows, a towel around my waist. Finally, I muster the courage to knock on what used to be our bedroom door. Then wait a few seconds before she opens up.
"I'm heading over for a family dinner and was wondering if you'd want to come along." I manage to blurt out before she could cut me short.
Her lazy expressions gives me the answer I need to know.
"I'm a bit tired tonight…" She manages to whisper
It wasn't about her gloomy expression. Her lack of interest had me realizing my mistake for asking her that. I head back swiftly to my room and get ready for tonight. Not like I had ever made efforts to drive the conversation throughout the years. We were getting a divorce-that was final. A lot had transpired between us over the months but I wasn't about showing that to the number of people sited at tonight's table gathering. They would find out eventually but not now.
At least not yet.
"You hardly come to check on your mother" My father's raspy voice with a bit of welcome fills the room while he pats my shoulder.
"Oh cut him some slack. "My mom's eyes caution him while she dragged me towards the dinner table. She had always held a fondness in her eyes over the years like I was the same six year old child who brought her flowers every night until she got better.
"And Rylee?" She questions with a stern look. Her way of trying to squeeze out information like a detective. "She's a little under the weather." I say while I grab a comfortable sit. Sometimes her concern tilts towards the high expectations she had always set for herself. It makes me wonder if Rylee ever felt pressured by her.
"Always late to a family meet…" Leo's voice intercepts the quiet room. He looked sturdy as ever. Deep brown eyes, broad shoulders .His bright smile complementing his tall physique. Some would rather say he was the feminine brother. "Welcome home, Brother." I return a smug smile. It's been a little over a year since we met in person but regular phone conversations held us in close proximity. I would never admit it but he was my closest person especially since the incident. "Not a proper welcome from an older brother" He feigns annoyance while he grabs a seat.
"Could say the same…" I frown. He always had a way of picking trouble and I was in no mood for it. We continue dinner for the next hour. Going off about business and conversations with Leo's blabbering about his travels. Since I didn't have much person life I wanted to share.
"Back without someone…" my mother groans as she takes a sip of her wine. It had been no secret she always wanted to have grandbabies loitering around the house. Her constant sly impressions always gave in. Leo's long time relationship had been long over which she had suspected but he wasn't about to give into her whims tonight.
The chattering continues until my mind is blurred out from the present, immersed in my thoughts of breaking the news to them. "Is something wrong Adrian?" My Dad questions, his eyes showing an emotion I would have never imagined. I dare say – concern. A vulnerability we've never shared until now.
"Trouble in paradise?" Leo teases with his usual witty contempt. "Perhaps he would have been much lucky with Lucy if he hadn't been so shameless". I thought.
"Maybe you should have gotten married to someone else…" Mom pouts after a couple more gulps of wine from her emptied glass. She knew well enough why we did. We had to. My fist tightens on the table but I withdraw. A bit of rage fuels inside of me, partly because she might be right despite her drunken state. I cannot lie that the thought hadn't come across my mind plenty times. Especially because of the issues we've been facing as of late.
The conversation can be put on hold for now.
By the time I got home, exhaustion had already crawled up my sleeves. I close the door behind me and head to my room. A part of me wanted to check on Rylee but I figured it best not to. Not with the way things have unfolded lately. And we needed to stay far away from each other as much as we could. I drag my feet upstairs and collapse on the bed. My loosened tie threatens to slip off my hand, my suit on the other end. I find a comfortable position before sleep tries to weigh me down.
I had barely been thirty minutes into dozing off before my phone rings. An unexpected call jolts me from my sleep.
"Long time no see... Adrian."
Se Sorridi viene meglio- Italian word "If you smile, the better."