That day everything, I owned, believed or was best owned with, was snatched away mercilessly. I felt devastated in thousand different ways, as God decided to take away my biggest support.
His love for his family, and the community as a whole reflected in his acts of kindness. I did not even get a chance to hug him one last time. I did not even get to say goodbye.
And the next thing I knew was, I suddenly got pressured with a lot of responsibilities.
My mother was inconsolable, and Richmond Corp desperately needed a leader. The moment I joined office; a lot of mysteries started unfolding. It's been seven months since, and still my heart yelped in pain whenever I remembered him.
Suddenly a knock at my cabin door distracted me from my thoughts. It was Mark.
"Hello Boss, hope I am not interrupting."
"Mark. Come on in."
"That conference room was no less than a war zone today. Quite a close call. Ben Murial was ready to attack with his claws out." Mark gushed as he took a seat across from me.
"Absolutely. Thanks to Ms. Carter. She saved the day." I muttered dodging eye contact. Her mention alone raced my pulses.
"Emma, right? She was amazing. I was blown away by the level of her research. I haven't seen such attention to detail and poise in a long time. She sure looks like a potential asset to the firm." Mark ranted nonstop praises at the girl who had already shaken my world and caused me sleepless nights.
Listening her name from Mark, in such high virtue and admiration, poked my instincts on a different level.
"You look floored by her skills. That's impressive." I cleared my throat; my jaw was stiff. Finally, I let out a deep breath, gulping the lump in my throat.
"No doubts I am. You rarely get to see such excellent combination of beauty and brains. I think we should consider getting her onboard, think about it." He suggested.
"I will. Do we have an update on the Norway Project?" I had to change the topic before the volcano of emotions stirring inside me exploded in his face.
"Yes. I had emailed you the progress report earlier..."
Mark began providing updates, and honestly, I was only physically present in that room listening to him, but mentally and emotionally, I was with Emma.
Mark was right.
Emma Carter. She was like fire in that room.3
If until now I reminisced her beauty and grace, today she stumped me by her intelligence and professionalism. She was brilliant and her detailed approach and perseverance saved the day for all of us. Destiny was sure playing a strange game. The universe conspired to make her find her way to
me.
This was the second time I saw her after Cosica. The first time was months ago, on a rainy night.
***
Four months ago - NYC
"Erica, I am here already. How much longer for you to make it?" I was irked at her being fashionably late every single time.
"Relax baby, I am just ten minutes away. The weather is bad and I don't know why do you like this tacky coffee house anyway. Such a Hussle reaching there." She blabbered in a pompous tone.
"Just be here. Please." I controlled every nerve in my body to be patient with her. She nagged me to death.
She wasn't my girlfriend, but I was kind of seeing her since over a month now, for which I had my own reasons. I had to keep up with her.
It was a drizzly night and soon after rain started pouring in heavily, the cafe on the other hand was warm and peaceful. Not many people were present at that time. That's when suddenly a drenched girl rushed inside, panting and gasping for air. She was soaked from the rain and seemed to have had a nice run to get inside the cafe.
When my eyes scanned her from toe to head, I was shocked beyond imagination, as that girl was none other than Emma. I was speechless, I couldn't believe my eyes.
It really was her; looking at her alone made my heart skip a beat. I saw her on a random night in my own hometown and in one of my most favorite places.
If this was not God's little play, then what was it?
I had longed to find her but with recent events in my life, it just could not happen.
I am sure she didn't notice me; I could see water drops on her extremely beautiful face making their way down to her sleek neck. Her dress hugged her body exposing her very much perfect shape; however, the innocence in her eyes could melt a stone. She looked so naive yet so desirable at the same time.
She was completely oblivious of the affect she had on people around her. Many waiters were silently admiring her beauty. When I saw them having eyes for her, I felt enraged. I felt a need to protect her from their wandering eyes.
I had a strong urge to go meet her, talk to her and ask her why she ran away that night. I stood up, but as soon as I managed to muster the courage to walk in her direction, I saw Erica walk in while Emma paid for her coffee and walked out. Erica jumped to give me a hug, and I reluctantly hugged her as I saw Emma disappear in the rainy night.
Reality hit me hard and I realized that I was in no position to follow Emma anymore, I must control myself and let her go. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and decided I will never go looking for her again.
Even though my gut hated me for my decision and after knowing that she
