-Haruka POV-
Summer has passed, and fall has arrived. It's in mid-October now, and it's getting a bit colder. There's two main events going to happen today. The first one is the board meeting, where the chairman will surely announce his retirement today. The second one is the vaccine trial test that Levi will be taking today. To be honest, I'm more worried about the latter.
"Haaa." I sighed while waiting for the elevator.
"Why are you sighing like that early in the morning?" A voice suddenly spoke behind me.
"Waa! Bikkuri shita! (That startled me!)" I spoke in Japanese because I was surprised.
"Hahaha. I was right. You always speak in Japanese when you're shocked or fed up." Levi said it while laughing. Luckily, there's no one around right now.
"Don't just show up out of nowhere like that." I said that to him with a glare.
"Haha, I'm sorry. You didn't come to the office first, so I was wondering if something might happen to you." Levi looked directly into my eyes as he spoke.
"You said that, but you didn't even text or call me." I mumbled to myself and then got into the elevator as soon as it arrived, and the same goes for Levi. There's only us in the elevator right now.
"I did call you. I called and texted you many times already, but you didn't answer." Levi said that as soon as the elevator closed. But wait, he did call me? I took out my phone from my pocket to check. He's right. He did call me a few times.
"Do you believe me now?" Levi said it while rolling his eyes. Geez.
"I'm sorry, okay. I didn't notice you called. I was in a rush after all." I said that to him with a gentle voice, trying to persuade him actually.
"Well, since nothing happened, I forgive you. But why did you come in later than usual today?" He asked me while looking at me.
"What do you think? Thanks to this one guy for giving my number to his best friend. I ended up sleeping at 2 in the morning last night and overslept." I replied to him with a glare.
"Seriously, that stupid four eyes." He said it with a sigh, pinching his head.
"She even texted me many times after the call. That's the reason why I turned my phone on silent." I said that as if I'm actually complaining to him like a child.
"Hah. She kept nagging me to give her your number, saying that she wanted to ask something about the vaccine, but I didn't expect her to call you for that long. I should have known that because she's a crazy scientist after all. I'm really sorry, okay?" He said that with a regretful tone.
"No, that's okay. I was the one who agreed to help her anyway. So that doesn't mat…" I couldn't finish my words as the elevator suddenly stopped.
"What happened?" I asked in panic.
"I guess the elevator broke down." Levi said that calmly. How could he be so calm?
"What? Then call for a rescue." I told him that firmly. Actually, I was a bit scared. I have never been stuck in an elevator before. Luckily, I'm not alone, and Levi is with me.
"Ahem. Maybe we shouldn't. We can just wait for it to work again. Well, it's only the two of us here right now. We're alone in here, and you've been holding my arm this whole time. So, can I touch you right now?" He asked me, and at that time, I realized that I'd been holding on to his arm. I must have grabbed his hand because I was scared earlier.
I let go of his arm and distanced myself from him. This stupid body of mine, why would you do that every time you are with him? I could see him smirking with the help of the emergency light.
"Haha. Don't worry. But don't you think we should just wait? We can spend more time alone here together." He said that, still with his smirk. This stupid jerk.
"Are you crazy? The longer we stay, the stuffier the air will be. And you have to attend the board meeting this morning." I grumbled and then pushed the emergency alarm button. After that, I called the elevator emergency number. I should have done that earlier, rather than arguing with this stupid jerk. After I did everything that must be done, I kept silent, ignoring the fact that Levi is here with me too.
"Haru-chan, are you mad at me?" After 5 minutes of silence between us, Levi spoke, and he dared to call me Haru-chan here.
"We're at work, you shouldn't call me that." I said that with an annoyed voice.
"Alright, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Mr. Auclair. Won't you talk with me now?" He said that with a sad voice. Tch.
"Then stop playing around. You have a meeting this morning." I said that firmly.
"It's just a meeting about my grandfather's retirement anyway. My presence is not that important since I'm done with the company already. I contributed enough." He said that with an uninterested voice and as if he'd already confirmed that.
"Mr. Ackerman, I know I asked you many times already, but are you really serious about not becoming an heir?" I already knew the answer, but my mouth wanted to say it out loud this time.
"And I know I told you many times also. I'm serious about that. I'm going to focus on what I want to do when I leave the company." Levi replied. Focus on what he wants to do. It must be painting.
"Then who would be the next heir?" I asked him abruptly. Right. I didn't ask before, but now that I think about that, he's the most suitable person. No one could be but him.
"Who knows. Let's just see who my father's going to choose. Maybe Lauren or maybe Lucas. He's getting better and better anyway." He said that while making a pose like he's thinking.
"You know your father wouldn't let them happen." I said that to him. Right. Knowing his father, he won't let anyone other than his child inherit the company.
"Then Louis should be the one. I don't care anymore. Even my grandfather knew I'm not interested in being an heir." Levi said that, and it shocked me. His grandfather knew? But it seems like he wanted Levi to be the next heir too.
"You didn't expect that, did you? Have you ever thought how Lauren could be the managing director at Ackerman Fashion at her young age?" Levi asked me. Right. The moment I learnt Lauren's position two years ago, I was shocked. She's still young, but she's already the managing director.
"I guess you could say so." I answered him.
"My grandfather loved my mother dearly. He loves her even more than his own son. Of course, he loves her as a daughter, not more than that. Well, my mother did change him in a good way. My mother once said to me that my grandfather used to be a very selfish person, where all he thought was how to expand his company, and I guess you can see his old self in my father. All of his children got married not because of the love, but he arranged the marriage for the sake of the company, and as the condition, he promised not to interfere with how his children manage his grandchildren. That was until my mother came into the family and changed him." Levi said it in a low voice. This is hard to believe. It never crossed my mind that the gentle and kindhearted chairman used to be a selfish person.
"You found that hard to believe, right? My grandfather favours me the most, not because I'm the eldest grandson, but because of my mother. I'm not sure what my late mother said about me, but I'm certain she's the reason. The moment when my father was about to send me abroad, my grandfather apologised to me because he couldn't do anything about that. He did promise not to interfere after all. But he promised me one thing, which was that he would let me do anything I wanted and he would support me as much as he could. At that time, I realised that only my grandfather could be trusted. And that time also I told him, 'other than you and grandma, do not let anyone manage mom's business until I come back.' Because of that, my grandmother managed the company as per my request, which of course my father wouldn't know about. Then, seven years ago, I became the CEO of Ackerman Fashion and the managing director of the main branch. Then, 5 years ago, I told my grandfather to let Lauren be the managing director of Ackerman Fashion, and I'm the CEO of Ackerman Travel & Entertainment now. That's it. Well, I guess that's a bit of a long story just to tell how Lauren ended up as the managing director, haha." He said it while laughing. He may think that's funny, but not for me. That's personal stuff, but he's sharing that with me. In my eyes, he's actually just looking for someone to talk to.
"But you won't be able to manage your mother's business if you leave the company." I said that out of nowhere. I don't know why, but I just said that. It's just, I feel like it's unfair because he's been working very hard for the company.
"Don't worry. Lauren is the one who's managing the business. Lauren was inspired by my mother's works, that's why she furthered her study in fashion design. And that's the reason why I chose her. I trust her enough. Besides, my mother told me to do what I want, and I guess it's art after all." He said that with a smile. That smile of his looks very sincere. Now, that made me think that maybe leaving the company would be best for him.
"Ah, looks like our rescue is here." Levi said that, and then the elevator door opened.
"Director, Mr. Auclair, are you both okay?" As soon as we got out of the elevator, the employee asked.
"We're both okay. What's the problem with the elevator?" Levi asked.
"It seems there's some problem in the control system, and we're fixing it right now. You may need to use the other elevator for now, sir." One of the staff answered, and Levi just nodded.
"Alright. Thank you for rescuing us. Let's go, Mr. Auclair." Levi said that, and then we used another elevator to get to the meeting room.
-Meeting Room-
"Sorry, we're late. We were stuck in the elevator." Levi said that as soon as we entered the meeting room.
"That's okay. I heard about that, so don't worry. I'm glad that nothing happened to you both." The Chairman responded.
"Thank you. So, let's start the meeting now, shall we?" Levi said that as if he's the one who's controlling the meeting. But that's the truth. The meeting started after Levi said that.
//SKIP//
After 3 hours and 30 minutes, the meeting is now done on the company's management, financial, operational performance, and strategic direction discussion, but that didn't conclude today's meeting yet. After all, the primary reason for today's meeting is...
"So, I believe some of you already heard about this, but today is my last meeting as the chairman. Well, my wife and I are going to retire from managing the company. We're getting old, you see, haha." The chairman said it while laughing. But I didn't expect his wife to retire also.
"So, starting next week, the new chairman will be my eldest son, Karl Ackerman. My eldest grandson, Levi Ackerman, will serve as vice chairman. Levi is no longer the CEO of Ackerman Travel & Entertainment, and as per his suggestion, I agree to make general manager Lucas Miller the managing director of Ackerman Travel & Entertainment." The chairman said that, and that is what I expected. But if the chairman's wife retired too, who's going to manage the gallery?
"Oh, since my wife is also retiring, the next CEO of the Ackerman Museum and Art Gallery will be Levi Ackerman."
TO BE CONTINUED!!!