"But Maia, why would you rather hang out with Zach?" I ask her in exasperation. Gosh, why does everyone like him better?!
You know why Emma. He's more fun.
I roll my eyes at myself. Geez, I've been doing that a lot lately.
"He's more easy going, I don't know, he's cool." Ouch. I'm cool too. And Zach is just as... well he's... ok, so I'm more stubborn, but.... ugh. I see her roll her eyes, I've been bugging her about that question since yesterday and I can tell she's annoyed. Hey, I can't help but want to know why! Everyone likes Zach better...
"Fine. But he's been really busy with work lately." And so will I be. I gulp.
She rolls her eyes at me, again, as she gets in my car. There's nowhere else I can leave her, since I'm starting my first official day at work, on a Wednesday. Will just couldn't wait until it was more convenient. Then again, deep down I knew I couldn't just turn this down, and I've had this information for a week.
Ugh.
I tried to dress smartly in one of my gray trousers, navy blazer and printed top. I need to look smart, professional, mature. Not like a fresh out of college fish.
Although I probably seem a little that way since I have to bring Maia to work. It's like a weird bring your kid to work day. Why did I agree to this?!
Even though I'm starting the grasp the fact that I'm now the sole CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, (oh geez), I know today's gonna suck. It's pretty much going to be a training/here's how it works day, and it's weird, being the boss of hundreds of employees, of people older and more experienced, more educated, of my friends. They all know me and my family, they are all going to be nice, right?
Geez, I feel like a freshmen on the first day of high school.
Neither Maia nor I have brought up the art class, and I don't want to get caught between Marie and Maia, but I also don't want this to be the most punishable, miserable summer for her. I don't think either of us could take that.
When I pull in to the small Remlor parking lot, I start to tremble. Why do I always have to think about what could go wrong? Why not focus on the good things, like I'm going to do what makes my dad proud or my new salary is roughly 10 million dollars.
I can't even fathom that, I can't breathe.
"Ok, ground rules." I say as we're right outside the glass doors. I didn't ever anticipate that my first day of CEO at Remlor would include a 13 year old moody kid, so I figured I need to set some rules.
"You're going to stay in my office", my office, "and not go wandering around, because there's a lot of restricted areas, labs, it's a big place and I need to know where you are." She rolls her eyes at me and I try to ignore it.
"Also, please, please, please don't...." I struggle to find the right words.
"Embarrass you?" She mutters. I sigh and pull my hair back. It's hot and I'm struggling to say the right things
"No, well, sort of. No, I just need everyone to see me as a professional, not as James Rembrandt's kid, not as Zach's girlfriend, not as the newbie, not as the teen wife or anything like that. I want this to work." I say, trying to emphasize my point. I seriously can't stress that enough, this is a big title change, and maybe Im not ready for it, but it's necessary. And I want it.
"Do I make myself clear?" I say softly.
"Yes. And you're not a teen wife. Not anymore." I give her a small smile.
"Thanks"
"On one condition." I raise my eyebrows at her. What could she possibly want? It's not like I've deprived her of anything.
"What's that?" I ask, really curious.
"That you go on a date with Zach, just you two." I furrow my eyebrows. What?
The confusion is obvious on my face, so she rolls her eyes and explains.
"I know you have to drag me everywhere, even to work, and I know you don't like it, so I think you should have at least one night with Zach. I can see this has all been stressful, and I can stay home one time. I'll be fine. I'm not a kid anymore." She says sincerely. I suppress the urge to narrow my eyes because I'm not sure if she's just saying that or she really wants to be nice. I'm hoping for the latter, because that means I'm progressing with her. Although if it's not a genuine gesture, what's her motive?
Ok, Emma, she's not a mass murderer, she's a 13 year old girl.
"Well see." I say with a smile that she returns. Score! We walk in to the main room where Margaret is just beaming as always. I take a deep breath, here we go.
"Emma! Oh, I'm so happy for you." She says, about to give me a hug, but stops herself short a little.
"What's wrong?" I frown. Since when does she care about personal space?
"Well, you're my boss now, wouldn't hugging you be inappropriate for work?" She ponders. I roll my eyes. This is so not starting.
"Don't be silly! I'm still me, just now on the payroll. Come here." I laugh. She gives me a hug.
"Here's your new badge and a visitor pass for.." she looks at Maia. Oh, right, nobody knows her.
"Oh, this is Mai...Mave. Mave, my, uh, cousin. She's staying with me for the summer." She started giving me the death glare when I realized she wants to be called "Mave" now. Hey, I remembered, eventually.
"Oh, hi dear. Nice to meet you. Oh and Emma?" She asks as I put the lanyard around my neck and look at the temporary badge. I'm gonna need my picture taken to get the official ID.
"Yeah?" I say, suddenly extremely nervous. My heart is pounding but I try to keep my cool in front of everyone. They're gonna see whether I can do this, and I want to show them I can. I wonder if Zach felt this immense pressure, maybe that's part of the reason why he's happier at EcoTech. Did I make the right decision? I shudder and try to push away the thought.
"Ok?" She asks. I nod.
"I just wanted to hand you your schedule, phone calls, took the liberty of getting you coffee, a list of possible assistants you might want to hire. and... Will wants to see you in your office." She says carefully and slowly so that I get it. I smile, she's on my side, but I don't need babying.
"Thank you Margaret." I say while getting the multitude of things and walk off, checking to make sure Maia is with me. She's silent the whole elevator ride to my office. My new office.
Geez, I've been here so many times but now it's mine. I've seen it when my father was here, Zach's father, Zach, Will... now me. Will I outlive their legacy here?
I wish I was alone, just because it's an emotional moment for me. Being here. It would be different if it was any other company, but it's not.
"Emma is there a vending machine around here?" I blink back into the real world and glance at her.
"In the lounge." I say.
"Can I go get something then come back?" I purse my lips.. I don't know. I don't really want to worry about too many things today.
"I'll be fine, gosh, I'm not a baby." She's right, I'm being paranoid. Margaret wouldn't let her out of the building anyway, if that's what she really wants to do.
"Ok. Do you need money?" I ask. She shakes her head then walks off. Well, now I'm alone. I organize my calls and schedule on my overly large desk. Who really needs this big of an office? I get up and open the dark curtains to let light in. The giant floor to ceiling windows behind my desk let immense light in, while giving me a view of the beach and the city.
While occasionally taking sips of my coffee I get set on imputing my information on my company macbook. I hear a knock on the door, and go to open it. Maia wouldn't knock, it's probably Will.
"Hi, Miss Rembrandt, CEO." He says, smiling. I awkwardly nod. He's more excited than I am. I guess the nerves are eating away at my excitement. I really need to calm down, that coffee was probably decaf.
"Just wanted to give you an intro to the dos and don'ts of CEOing." He sits on the extra chair in front of my desk and I sit in my chair, feeling slightly backwards.
"Shoot." I say, trying to sound authoritative. I pull out a notepad to take notes.
For about twenty minutes he tells me about our investors, associations, funding, what I do, how I should act around them, and that he and I will be working together for most things, seeing as he's the CFO. I gulp as he talks. Although I already know most of it, it feels more real now. More, important.
"Don't worry, I made a study guide for you and this book illustrates it all." He hands me two sources and I almost exhale in relief, though I'm slightly annoyed I need that. Then again, I didn't start this company, I need to catch up to it.
"Thank you." I say.
"You'll do great. You just need to get settled in. Oh, and you need to take your picture today at ten thirty and see to getting an assistant." He notes before exiting the office. I assure him I'll do that, and sink into the sofa. Gosh, I have a lot to do. Not to mention watching Maia. Hm, where is she I haven't seen her. Maia!
She better still be in the lounge. I decide to make a quick run over there to check. It's three floors down, and the elevator takes a long time. I peek in the lounge and she's sitting at one of the tables reading a book. A book? I didn't even know she liked to read. There goes another layer. She probably didn't want me to see. I slip out so as not to be seen and walk back into my office, and encounter another surprise.
"Zach! Oh, what are you doing here?" I practically squeal as I hug him. I feel his smile in my hair and lean to kiss him on the lips. OK, maybe not really appropriate for work, but that's the beauty of having your own office. And being your own boss.
"I thought I'd stop by on your first day." He smiles.
"Aw, thank you." I don't even realize I'm biting my lip until he gently tugs at my bottom lip, releasing it, then traces the outline of my lips with his touch. I blush.
"Don't be nervous." he whispers, and I don't know if he's talking about his touch or the job. He leans his forehead against mine and instinctively I close my eyes. I can't help it, being nervous. But it's not about Zach, he's made it perfectly clear he's ok with my being CEO and he supports me. I'm scared I'm going to let everyone down, that I'm not the amazing Emma Rembrandt, the last Rembrandt that could run the coompany. Oh, geez.
"I can't help it if I am." I whisper back. He leans back a little to look at me, then cups my chin to tilt my face up a little.
"Yes, you can. I know you'll be fine, better than fine. You're smart, charming-"
"No, I am not." I scoff in disbelief. I walk over to my desk to finish something.
"Maybe not in the way that you think. But you are.You have to believe you belong here Emmaline, because you do." He says as he follows me and stands so the desk is in between us. I nod, not wanting to risk talking because of the lump in my throat.
"This is just a quick stop, I'm going to have to get back to work baby." He says a little sad. I nod again. I understand. Besides, that's probably going to be me: busy with work. And Maia.
"I'll see you later? I'll take you and Mave somewhere." He comes around the desk and kisses my forehead.
"We don't have to go anywhere." I say quickly. Honestly, I don't care where we go, as long as I'm with Zach.
"I know, but I like taking you out to places." He smiles
"Even though once the press is going to have a free for all if we do go out?" I say carefully. The news of my position as CEO is going to get out soon, we have to tell our investors, affiliators, etc. The press are gonna eat this up and try to connect it back to the arranged marriage.
"Nothing can spoil time with you, not even them." He says mildly disgusted. I give him a small smile.
"Ok, see you later then, honey." He gives me another kiss, presses his forehead against mine one more time then leaves. I smile, we're slowly getting back to normal, even with all these changes. Right?
I take a deep breath, then get on to the list of tasks at hand. I call Margaret and ask her to bring Maia back here. I'm going to need to hire an assistant.
About five minutes later, Maia walks back in and plops herself on the couch, book gone. Without tearing my eyes away from my computer, I say, "Your best friend was just here." I try to hide the humor and annoyance in that.
"Zach?" She says, a little upbeat. I snort.
"Yes, Zach, We're gonna go somewhere later."
"Just you?"
"No, all of us." I blink. I know she likes Zach better than me, but I can't imagine her liking going on dates with Zach and I. She must feel like a third wheel or something. Maia starts texting or surfing the web or whatever on her phone before I decide to give her a job. She looks bored anyway.
"Do you want to help me with something?" She looks up and raises her eyebrows.
"I guess." She mumbles. I pull out a crate of grant proposals.
"I need all of these sorted by project in these dividers. The project name will be at the top left corner. Sound ok?" The men that ran the company before me clearly did not have great organization skills. She nods, then I check the time. It's almost 10:30, and I need to get my picture taken, then I have meetings right after that. I start grabbing my laptop, files and phone, quickly explain to Maia where I'm going and not to do anything I would be annoyed to hear about, and am out the door. On the way to HR, I smooth my hair and try to look like a mature CEO. Ok.
Christina heads up to me and explains that Marcel will take my picture and get my new ID ready. I nod, and in ten minutes I have a brand new badge, company ID, and picked up my company credit card.
Now I'm quickly walking back up to the conference room to meet with WIll and the head researchers of every important section to discuss what we need to focus on and the progress they've made. After an hour, I feel like I'm more comfortable with the company now. Our biggest project right now is a non invasive cancer detection system, although it's going to be a long time before it can be set up for testing. What really scares me about the comapny though is the enormity of it, but I've realized it's mine now, mine to make a difference.
At the end, I have to decide where we're going to focus our funding. I have a pretty good idea, although I wish we could get money for every project.
"Just read carefully over the materials, and give me your decision tomorrow, alright? If you need help, I'm just a call away." Will says to me after the meeting.
"I'll be fine." I almost snap. I didn't mean to sound snappy, and I know he means well, but he's talking to me like he would a child. He's been telling me for a week that I'm mature enough to do this job, then why is he treating me like the younger sibling? No, I'm the boss now, that's what he wanted. I can handle this, I don't need sympathy, that's all I've gotten since my dad died. And I don't report to him, he reports to me. He handles the some finances. Ultimately, I'm the final authority. I need him to respect that for it to work.
I'm in several meetings throughout the day, and by the time it's four I'm back in my office. The grant proposals are sorted and she's passed out on the couch. I feel bad, she must be so bored. I wouldn't want to live my summer like that. I've gotta get her into something fun. Maybe with out her mom knowing.
I gather my things, then softly wake Maia -Mave- up. I inform everyone I'm taking off, although most everyone is gone by now, and we walk back to the car, though she's still drowsy.
About half way home, I break the silence.
"I asked your mom a few days ago about the art class you wanted to go to." She looks horrified and narrows her eyes at me.
"I didn't ask you to do that." She snaps, and I wince.
"I know, but I hate to see you so bored all day and I know how much this means to you. I don't agree with your mom, I think you should have fun." She rolls her eyes and looks, well, furious. I try to keep calm since I am driving.
"So?" She mutters. I take a deep breath.
"I'm going to sign you up for them anyway. Just don't tell your mom, but call her. She worries."
She gives me an awed look, opens her mouth to say something, closes it, then just looks out the window. I wonder what she's thinking about.
It's not until we're finally home that she says, "Ok. Thanks."
***
"You don't have to come over." I say through the phone while watching What Not to Wear in my pajamas and eating ice cream.
What, my first day of work was a lot, don't judge. And Maia's sleeping, I need a break.
"I was just about to get in my car." He says. I glance at the time. It's seven forty two.
"Yeah, but you clearly had a lot at work today, you're probably tired, you don't have to come over."
I hear him sigh on the other end. "I'll be over in five minutes." What!
"Zach!" I groan. That is exacly the opposite of what I said! There's silence and I realize he hung up before I could protest. I roll my eyes.
Sure enough, in five minutes he walked in wearing just a t shirt and jeans. Meanwhile, my hair's in a messy bun, my makeup removed, in soft, opposite of sexy pajamas.
"Hi beautiful." He says as he plops on the couch next to me. And then he says that to cv me! I roll my eyes at him, but I can't stay annoyed at him. My smile breaks through and he puts his arm around me, and I lean into his chest. It's sweet that he cares.
"Hi. I told you you didn't have to come over." I grumble.
"I know, but I could sense something was wrong." He says softly.
"Nothing is wrong."
"Are you sure?" He asks softly. I sigh.
"I'm sure, Zach. Today was just a big day, that's all. And I don't want you to be tired tomorrow. You should get some sleep." I stroke his hair. He smiles.
"Ok. Want me to sleep over?" He asks mischievously. I laugh. As much as I want him to though, I don't think he can.
"No, Zach." I say, a little more serious now. He blinks at me and leans back a bit.
"Are you mad at me?" I purse my lips.
"No, not mad."
"But you don't want me to sleep over? Like we've done before?" He inquires. I sigh.
"No, Maia's in the other room." I mutter.
"We're not going to do anything." He rations. I stand up and grab my ice cream bowl.
"Yeah, we're not doing anything." I snap. I didn't mean to pick a fight, I'm just still a little upset about before. And not so much because he doesn't want to have sex with me, it's more that he won't tell me why. He's not being honest,and I thought we told each other everything.
I walk in the kitchen and set my bowl in the sink. I'll wash it tomorrow. I feel hi footsteps behind me, but I don't turn around. Not until I turn back towards the living room and Zach is right in front of me, blocking my path. I flush.
"I thought that was settled Emma." I look anywhere but at him.
"Emma." He demands. I look at him.
"It's not 'settled'. Why won't you be honest with me. Why won't you tell me why you won't have sex with me?"
"Emma, what does this have to do with me sleeping over?" He asks, changing the subject. Again.
"If you sleep over, it will just remind me how much I want to be with you, but you don't feel the same way." I murmur. He sighs and steps closer.
"Emma, you have to believe me. I do want to be with you in that way, just not now."
"Why." He stays quiet. I sigh. "You can't be honest with me? Do you tell Dr. Weatherly why?"
"Yes." I'm taken aback by his response. He can tell a stranger but not me? What is going on?
"Zach I feel like we're drifting apart and it scares me. Talk to me, please." I blurt. His eyes widen and his expression hardens. He readjusts his glasses and runs a hand through his hair.
"You're right, I have a big day tomorrow, I'm tired and I should get some rest." He says softly before turning around and heading towards the door.
"Zach." I call, utterly suprised. He turns around, looks at me and my stinging eyes, and goes to plant a kiss on my forehead, not saying a word. He walks back out the door, leaving me speechless.
Did he really just leave instead of talking to me? What does this mean? Is our relationship dying? No, it can't be. It can't. I just can't lose him, why won't he just talk to me. What's this big secret? I can't let it go, we need to get through this, we have to.
I'm glued to the same spot in the kitchen when I see Maia stand in the entrance.
"Are you ok?" She asks without any sarcasm or mockery. I shake my head. I'm most definitely not ok.
AN:
So so so so sorry for the late update! I think I'll update again tomorrow...