"Boss here's your lunch and these are the last week's progress report of Milan Industry, which are not different from the previous ones."

At Nayla's voice, my eyes vaguely flickered toward the cup of coffee, the vegetable salad from my favorite spot, and the file she placed beside it on the table, on it my gaze halted with a little frown. Then, after a second, my gaze again moved toward the file I was reading, and mumbled, "Okay, I'll look into it."

"Um...Boss, I wanted to talk about something?"

"Hm."

Pausing my current work, I looked straight at Nayla and urged her to speak.

"Regarding Xit Company's CEO, Ben's been handling his calls until I took over his work, I realized he has stretched this a little too far."

Still registering and trying to remember who she was talking about, I raised my eyes questioningly toward her, "Huh...who's that?"

Plainly, she stated, "Robert Smith, you met him at Salvadge's party."

Hearing the familiar name, I responded, "Oh, I entirely forgot about him."

While I was still recalling what exactly I told my assistants about that man a few months ago, Nayla explained further, making me aware of the situation with him. How after about one month his proposal was ready and for about the past two and a half months, Ben has been trailing him over calls, not giving him a single date as well as not confirming the cancellation. As we were busy, his existence was completely ignored until he started calling again.

I remember, I told them to cancel his offer on time, but they didn't, "Ben was enjoying himself, wasn't he." Noticing that there was no anger in my voice, she smiled a little and nodded.

"You guys should have reminded me earlier, it's not good that you have to waste your time on this," In between all the work, they have to handle that man too, I couldn't help but feel a little guilty. But Nayla was right, this matter has been extended far more than what I would have liked —for about for months. I have no personal relationship with him and we are connected by this business world, where most of the things continue based on mutual regard, one can only play as long as it doesn't cross the line of irreverence. Everything should remain within the limits of professionalism, I have understood long ago that with big names, comes heavy responsibilities, and it is my obligation to maintains the integrity of that name.

Xit Company was once among the leading ones of the time years ago when it was under the true heir William Brown. Under the leadership of new executives, the company has faced downfall since but the old-man Williams is still respected, and therefore Xit Company has survived for so long even after facing losses after losses in the projects and ruining their reputation. I don't respect their company or Robert Smith, I don't bother with the respect of William Brown. Although, the first man to reprimand me would be Nicholas Salvage, because of the good friendship between his father and old-man William.

Nonetheless, I can disregard everything, it's easy for me as I have never considered them in the first place.

Still, it was me, who in the first place mingled the personal intentions with my professional ones, nothing of this would have extended this long, if...I didn't start it at the party.

"Um...Nayla gives me a moment, I tell you in a while what to do with him."

My face must have made visible my internal conflict, as hearing my words, Nayla paused and stared at me skeptically, before asking hesitantly, "Boss, can I ask, what did he do?"

I paused hearing her words, and finally uttered, "He did nothing. Everyone has the right to do what they think is right, no matter good or bad, for themselves."

I moved my eyes away from her and leaned against the chair. Realizing that I was not in the further mood to say or listen further, Nayla left the office room.

I truly need a moment with my thoughts.

[Disclaimer: This work is only published on watt/pad under profile: itsrujihere. The complete rights of the work: Allea belongs under this profile and Ruji. If you're reading [Allea] on some platform other than watt/pad(Unless I, Ruji, say so) then, I'm pretty sure they are stealing my work (i.e, a site that starts with novel), please don't support the thief.]

Come to think of it, I can't deny that the tiniest part of my heart still doesn't want to see him, how his sight irks my eyes and reminds me of the nights my mother woke up crying in her sleep because she couldn't bear the pain this man left her in. I can't deny— he reminds me that how much a part of me that existed was alike him, how I was so similar to him. If my mother was there, she would have cried seeing me do those things the way she did at his betrayal.

Something that I loath to recall, then what fun was I expecting after the things his existence reminds, so, why did I give him a chance to contact me?

Before I could drown further in my thoughts, my iPhone started ringing, seeing the familiar number, I halted a little before picking up the call, it was Jackson's number which he uses when he's here. After Kai's birthday, for the past half month, his health has returned to its normality and he spends days learning video games from Kai, lazing around the mansion the whole day, or go out to eat in the famous hotels for their famed dishes. But whatever he does, he rarely calls during office hours.

"Yeah?"

"Now, you don't even know the basics of attending someone's call."

Instead of responding, I sighed silently to pull my mind out of the depth it submerged into seconds ago, and moved my focus toward Jackson's words, while also pulling the salad toward me to eat it. Registering his previous words, I responded, "I meet you every morning and evening in the mansion, so just tell me why you called?"

I can notice a little hesitancy in the way he halted in responding because until now I would have already heard some harsh word from him.

"I accepted Nicholas's dinner invitation, this Sunday."

As soon as I heard the reason he called me, I recalled the meeting day Mr. Nicholas Salvadge asked me about Jackson, and how he was a little sad that Jackson couldn't make it to his retirement party. Maybe that's why he called Jackson for the dinner, but Jackson has no reason to particularly call me and tell me about this unless without asking me he agreed on my behalf and his guilty-conscious made him hurriedly call me to inform.

I'm usually not free on Saturdays, because on this day including the office work I accumulate all the work of the past week and also get over the work of the coming days, to have an idea of everything. Even on Sunday I'm used to doing work, but this also the day I could relax a little, "I have one day to enjoy as an off-day, and you have decided to waste it too."

"So what?" Was his careless response after hearing that I didn't react much.

Reacting is useless if he has already agreed, but thinking of the day he agreed to go. If my work didn't finish and I also had to exclude time for dinner, then Kai won't be happy after knowing that we won't have our soccer match, "On Sundays, you know Kai hates when I don't play-" Wait, Jackson already knows this, and he could have told me about the dinner when I reach the mansion. Oh, it hit me now, he agreed on my behalf isn't the reason he called me, but because he, "You didn't promise Kai will also go, did you?"

"Ahm, That annoying man pushed me for it, he wants to meet Kai and all that bullshit."

"When did you start following others' demands?" My voice turned a little sharp.

"I didn't. Now that he knows because of you that I'll stay longer, he has asked for compensation for not meeting him past years. Damn that useless Salvadge."

Nicholas Salvage must have pushed him a little too hard for this, otherwise, I know Jackson would have not agreed to this. Although he has no problem with Kai's socializing the business people, yet he has never questioned my decision. For past years, Mr. Salvadge has called me and asked me to bring Kai a lot of times whenever he invites me to dinners but I have declined each time. Well, first, these dinners are a quite personal invitation, it's no hidden fact that Mr. Salvadge arranges a dinner night every six months in his mansion for his close friends that mainly include his family and rarely he ever includes people from business society.

"Jackson, I have never accepted Mr. Salvadge's dinner invitations."

"You know, blame yourself for this, why did you tell him I was back?"

Here we go again with Jackson's habit of pushing the blame on me again. I don't know I can't help but think no matter how much Jackson is pushed, he will have directly declined on Mr. Salvadge's face. He hates these types of gatherings more than me, and no one can convince him otherwise unless there's a reason for him to go. With this, a quite bizarre thought came to my mind and I asked dubiously, "Jackson, did you accepted the invitation because of food?"

The other side went completely silent, and then I heard him mumbling, this was enough for me to know that my bizarre guess was right.

There's still one thing nagging me, "But Kai, what will he do at such adult-thing?"

"Eat food and come back."

I didn't say anything at his nonchalant words. So, he spoke again, this time I could hear the convincing edge in his tone, "Maybe it's good for his socializing, I remember you annoying me about that."

"Yes, but with the people of his age."

"He needs to meet these kinds of people too," Jackson was quick with his reply.

"Is he old enough?" I asked the words I responded to him every time to divert this topic, Kai's not old enough. Although my voice was clear, I know he could hear suppressed apprehension in it.

"As per him, at least he's not a kid anymore," Jackon's voice turned a little serious when without waiting for my answer he proceeded to ask, "He has to start somewhere."

Hearing his words, I vaguely responded, "Yeah."

"You did when you were sixteen."

I agree with him, Kai has to start somewhere, and maybe I'm just resisting his steps because of my own overthinking, "Yeah, well the circumstances are not the same, I want him to have his own time with things."

"...Let him decide, I'll ask him when he comes home."

I agreed to Jackson's world, and a moment of silence fell between us.

To lessen the mood, with a teasing tone, I started again, "Now that you have already given your word, will my refusal matter?"

"Refusal, brat, what's that?"

I know he just called me to inform me, not to hear my opinion. He'll never back away from his words, and I'll not like it if Jackosn has to, just because of my indulgence, but that doesn't mean he's the elder-one in our family so, he can do anything he wants. Therefore, with one last line, "Well, then prepare yourself to be called Uncle," I hung up the call.

He hates when we call him uncle, he thinks that just makes him appear aged than being called old-man. So, whenever both Kai and I truly have to irritate him, we call him uncle, and I'm sure in front of all those people he won't be able to reprimand us.

Taking a deep breath, and not letting my thoughts and Jackson's untimely call and words distract my concentration, I pushed everything in the back of my mind and resumed reading the file.