Always next to you

Chapter Fifty-Six

NICOLE

Three days passed like a breeze thanks to the work we had to do. Our game was ready for beta testing, but there was an issue with the optimization. After countless meetings and strategies, Halo and I had to find a solution.

We quietly worked together till we found a way out of it. It had been at least six months since I transformed myself into a coding machine. Oliver's work was done as the designer so he assisted Mia in supporting.

They brought us food, drinks and water to keep us active but I mostly didn't care. Halo and I worked for two days straight with no sleep and that means no Aiden. Work was a good distraction for me, but today everything changed.

After two days of ignoring my feelings, I began to feel so much anxiety because I was going to see my father tomorrow. He asked me to come after three days before he had to make his decision.

It was obvious my mother would never let me see him because she still blames me for what happened. Yet, thinking about the situation enraged me. He was my father and nobody told me he was alive.

Halo was currently testing my progress with the new optimization with Aiden while I zoned out on how to sneak out. The beta testing event was tomorrow and if things failed right now, we were screwed.

"Nicole! Your calculation worked!" Halo exclaimed.

His voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I found myself in the midst of people rejoicing over something I did. I forced a smile on my face even though I could barely feel the excitement.

In my plot to sneak away, I caught Aiden's gaze. He was looking at me with so much pride that my body froze for a second. What was he thinking when he stared at me that way?

"I get why Aiden insisted on hiring you now," Jonas said.

Other programmers said a few words of praise for me, but I couldn't look away from Aiden. My head has been a mess, and we haven't slept side by side since the night he held me while I cried.

Yet, it bothers me that he never once asked what was going on. Was he waiting for me to come tell him first or did he not care at all?

"I guess we're finally ready for tomorrow then," I said, keeping my eyes on him.

"Good Job everyone," Aiden said, getting up. "You can all go home, sleep in your own beds and clean up for tomorrow,"

"You have to give us a bonus boss!" someone said.

"Fine, two weeks paid leave for everyone on the project," he replied.

"Thank you!"

"Don't change your mind later!"

"I'm finally going home!"

Everyone left the office until it was us, friends. Our game beta testing wasn't the only thing happening tomorrow. The shareholders' meeting at Stark Industries was happening, too.

I did my research on why people would oppose it and it turns out there hasn't been a shareholders' meeting of this scale since Aiden's mother died. We all made it to today and tomorrow, Jessi would be leaving to handle things.

"Would you like me to come with you?" Jonas asked. "I could go in place of my mother,"

"No, this is something I have to do for myself," Jessi said. "All this time I've been running away but this time I will win,"

Jessi has been working with us for the full five days. She was more skilled than I was and it was sad that I was making her leave for my selfish desires. I wanted to learn more things from her.