The Other CEO

Chapter 3

I was sitting on a park bench in the middle of the day when I heard footsteps approaching me from behind. Without looking, I already knew who it would be.

"Hey, babe."

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I instantly felt comforted. I looked up and smiled at Hugh.

Hugh was more than my best friend; he was family as well. Hugh sat down beside me and held my hand. He knew that it calmed me whenever I felt sad or had a crappy day.

I met Hugh Lawson when we were in high school. I didn't have many friends back then but he had stood out from everybody that I knew. He sat beside me in English class during my first year in high school. Back then, I didn't know him since he has just transferred into our school but he turned in my direction and commented on how my eye color looked pretty.

My eye color was a bit different from the others—it turned grey when it was bright and you could see a tinge of blue specs in my irises. The blue color usually appeared whenever there was low lighting.

However, his comment was random and was totally not needed during that time. I remembered feeling my cheeks redden in embarrassment as no guy had ever made a bold move on me like that.

At that time, I thought he was flirting with me so I managed to blurt out a laugh thinking how crazy he was for complimenting a girl like me.

He arched an eyebrow at me. "Girl, what are you even laughing at?"

What he said made me suddenly stop my laughter. I realized he wasn't into me. He was... gay.

He was pretty good-looking with jet black hair and bright green eyes. A girl would actually be attracted to him based on looks—and as long as he would not open his mouth, as that would reveal the fact that he preferred guys over girls. Such a bummer!

I stifled a giggle as I introduced myself, "Hi, I'm Olivia."

He beamed at me enthusiastically. "I'm Hugh. You're a weird one. I like you."

"Uh, thanks?"

He laughed at my reaction, and after that little incident, we started talking like we had known each other for a long time. I guess I was his first friend and we just got stuck together after that. He was really easy to get along with. Especially after my parents were gone, Hugh was there for me and at that moment I knew he would stay by my side for a really long time. I was really thankful for that.

I didn't know that I was still staring blankly ahead, smiling to myself as I reminisced how I came to meet Hugh. He waved a hand in front of my face and I snapped my attention back to him.

I smiled a little sheepishly. "Sorry, I was just..."

"It's okay. I knew you'd need this." He handed me a cup of hot coffee. I didn't even notice he brought back one. I took it into my hands and felt its warmth. I then carefully took a sip of the hot steaming beverage. We sat together drawing in the silence. It was comfortable until Hugh spoke. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," I whispered quietly as I looked down and stared at the cup that I was holding.

Today was Wilson Alexander's funeral. The ceremony happened just this morning and I came home not feeling the need to be cramped up in my apartment so I decided to take a walk around the area. I needed some air to think. I ended up sitting on this park bench which was just around the corner of our apartment.

That raw feeling of sadness I felt was still there, eating me up alive.

He was gone.

Forever.

As he was a respected person in the business world, it was expected that his funeral was really packed with people who were his friends, business partners, and people who had admired this man. Wilson's family didn't show up as I expected—he never wanted them to know about his situation—but a few relatives that knew attended his funeral.

His lawyer, George Brent, also attended the service. He came and introduced himself to me after the ceremony. Mr. Brent was a bit plump and I was guessing that he was around in his late forties. He had a mustache and his dark brown hair was already balding from the center.

He wanted a scheduled meeting with me tomorrow to discuss Wilson Alexander's will. I agreed to meet him in the office tomorrow morning at eight o'clock.

Seeing as Wilson left his empire without an heir, it bummed me that I had to get back to work immediately. Let's just hope that he had left a plan or the company would be in total chaos.

I suddenly felt warm and when I looked beside me, Hugh had his arm around me in a tight embrace. I leaned onto his chest to find comfort and we just stayed like that for a while.

After the long deafening silence, Hugh suddenly spoke. "It's getting dark, Vee. Should we go home? I know you're exhausted from today."

I still wasn't ready to go home but my stomach rumbled, signifying that I was hungry. I also had enough, crying myself dry. It was time to face the reality that Wilson was finally at peace with himself.

"Yeah, okay." I stood up and hugged my black sweater tighter as I felt the cold crept up my spine. "I'm craving some pasta."

"Pasta it is."

I managed to smile at Hugh when he immediately agreed to cook me pasta.

We got home and Hugh started cooking while I just sat on a stool and stared at him as he ran around the kitchen wearing a cute pink apron.

After a while, he finally served a hot plate of carbonara with bacon bits in front of me. My mood improved when the sweet smell of pasta wafted my nostrils. I picked up a fork and twisted the pasta onto my utensil.

It tasted heavenly!

"Hugh, you're amazing! If you weren't gay, I would have married you in a heartbeat." I then fed myself another forkful of pasta. It was that good.

"Right. You only tell me that when you're stuffing your face with what I prepared you," he deadpanned.

"But it's sooo good," I moaned.

"Jesus, stop moaning like you're having sex."

I choked and found it really hard to breathe. Hugh laughed uproariously. He knew that I wasn't comfortable talking about intercourse. I couldn't even say the word 'sex' without stifling a laugh—and I hadn't even experienced kissing a guy!

"Here, have some water," he said as he offered me a glass. He was chuckling as I gulped down the cold liquid. I glared at him while he kept smiling like an innocent idiot.

"I swear I'll rip that smile off your face if you keep killing me like this."

He rolled his green eyes at me. "Stop exaggerating things, Vee."

"I'm not." My voice was stern as I tried to keep a straight face on.

"You love me and you wouldn't do such thing," he said in a confident tone.

"You're right but wait 'til you fall asleep at night," I smirked as I read fear in his expression. I then started to laugh at his reaction. "You should have seen your face."

He stuck his tongue out to me. "Whatever, I don't have time for this little banter." He sauntered off to his room. I knew he wasn't mad. He just wanted to have a dramatic exit.

After a minute, he yelled, "Goodnight!"

I shook my head and smiled to myself. I started picking up the dishes when I finished eating. I put it in the sink then started to wash them. As I was scrubbing the grease off a plate, I was again left alone to drown in my own thoughts. My mind couldn't help but drift back to Wilson and how tomorrow would be so different without him.