Nikolai had finally gotten some alone time with his son. He was eager to find out if he had made any progress at all since Valarie's last update. They settled on the balcony overlooking the beautiful expanse of the cityscape. Glass raised to mouth and the smooth burn of whiskey simultaneously slid down their throats.
"Son."
"Yes dad?"
"How are you coping with things at work?"
Dimitri's right eyebrow shifted up into a perfect arc.
"How am I... coping?" he questioned, placing much emphasis on the last word.
A small smile played across Nikolai's face.
"How do you like working at the office?" he corrected.
"It's pretty good. I don't have any complaints about the position I am in there."
"And what about Valarie?"
Dimitri paused. "What about her?"
Nikolai chuckled. "How are you getting along with her?"
He swallowed a lump in his throat as the last memory of her flickered back. The memory he had to erase completely like the event had never occurred.
"Good I guess. I'm still growing onto her but I no longer want to tear my skin out when I'm around her."
"Haha. Yes I know she can be a bit of a challenge sometimes but she is the best you can find in just about everything. What about your life outside of work? Is it still as exciting as before?"
"If you are asking if I still go playing around then no. I'm actually interested in someone at the moment."
"Is it the same girl that you brought to dinner the last time?"
"No dad. It isn't her."
"Oh why? What happened?" Nikolai questioned.
"She said some things about mom that I didn't like."
"What? What did she say about your mother?"
"Just stuff dad. Can we drop this now? I said I'm interested in someone."
The irritation was clear in his voice and Nikolai knew it was the right moment to go down a different part. "Sorry" he apologized and took another sip of whiskey.
"Oh dad I'm thinking of getting another assistant" Dimitri opted quickly for a change in topic.
His wise brows knitted. "To replace Valarie?"
"No not to replace her but to work with her rather. It's one of the new interns, Ashely. She is very fond of the company and I could use someone with the load of enthusiasm around me now. The launch of the next fashion line is nearing and she has the exact vibes I need now to ensure I walk the path of success. Besides that, she is daring, fun and have great ideas to offer."
Nikolai's hand raised up to scratch his chin. "Ohh. Valarie isn't fun enough?"
Dimitri's eyebrows knitted into confusion. "Um, no she isn't. She is a nun dad. Great worker but not fun at all."
"Wait, why did you even ask about Valarie?"
He hesitated. "I just wanted to make sure there was a balance between the fun and work. You can proceed."
Dimitri took another sip of his drink and about three more after that. The less he said, the better it would be to prevent the wrong things from coming out so he opted to keep his mouth occupied with other things.
***
Valarie walked into a voice filled room. Dimitri and Ashley sat abreast each other in deep conversation. Valarie crouched slightly and stepped further into the room. Both pairs of eyes turned to look at her and the talking subsided.
"Good morning" she greeted to which they responded.
She held out her hand that contained a coffee for Dimitri and proceeded to give it to him but Ashley stopped her.
"Oh there's no need for that. I already got him one" she informed. Her eyes pointed to a cup on the center table.
With eyebrows knitted into confusion, Valarie stared open mouthed at the cup and at Ashley. Dimitri noticed her expression and figured this would be the best time to update her on the little addition.
"Ashley is also my assistant now. You both will work together. Since you have more experience than her, you will handle the things outside the office and she'll stay here with me."
For some reason, the news felt like pins piercing her inner ear. The change shouldn't have bothered her but it did. Valarie swallowed a lump in her throat and forced a smile. Ashley jumped up from her seat.
"Isn't this great? I can't thank you enough for personally introducing me to him. It feels great working around the best man to ever exist. Don't you worry, I will take good care of him."
To fake a response would be too difficult and she didn't want to risk exposing what she really felt inside. She held onto her smile for a moment more, excused herself and left. Dimitri could see through her clearly. He know she wasn't pleased but he had to do what he did. Having her around the office especially after tasting the sweet essence of her lips was dangerous. He needed her to stay as far away as possible and this was the only way that he could have avoided frequent contact with her.
Valarie scolded herself and tried to pull her mind back to where it should have been. Why should she even care who Dimitri puts as his first call? After all, it was she who had chosen Ashley to be the next candidate so she should be happy that he took the step to make them even closer right?
With a loud, sound release of breath, she put her work mode back on and headed towards the design department to meet Kyle.
"Good morning sunshine, although you don't look so bright this morning." a familiar voice cleared the silence of the room.
A smile immediately spread across her face. "How many times do I have to tell you that I am not a sunshine Kyle? I am the queen of darkness."
"Not to me honey. I won't deny the fact that you can be a diva though. After that last match with the red queen, you deserve your title."
"Haha. So are you in need of a rejected cup of coffee?"
Kyle raised an eyebrow and stared at the cup in her hand. "Well it depends on who the rejecter is."
"Dimitri."
"Gurllll my eyes are closing. Give me that cup!"
He helped himself to a sip, sat her down on a chair and leaned forward eagerly awaiting the synopsis of the story.
"What?" Valarie questioned looking into his glowing eyes.
"What do you mean what? Spill it. What happened? What did the sexy thing do?"
Her frail fingers ran through her hair and she sighed. "Okay so you remember Ashley right? Well I introduced her to him and I guess he took a liking to her. So much so that he already made her his personal assistant and-"
"Wait are you telling me that he replaced you with her?"
"Well not exactly replace but to work with me though he split the work of the job in two. She gets to follow him around the office and I well got to swing it out here. I usually get him coffee but Ashley has proven to be very efficient. She'd already gotten him a cup so mine was pointless."
"Aww that little bitch already starting to steal my man....I mean your man."
"Kyle! What the hell! Haha nobody is stealing anybody's man. He isn't mine okay so don't get your labels wrong. Ashley deserves her place there. She is probably one of the biggest fans of the company and I'm sure she can also handle the work well. There is a brighter side to all this. I get to stay here with you more often."
Kyle blushed. "Awww. I know it used to hurt you whenever you stayed away from me. Well don't worry. You won't miss it there. Besides, you've got a lot of work to do since your designs are going up for the fashion show."
"What? Who said that my designs are going to be on display?"
"Val, haven't you seen the amount of pieces he had you make? There is no doubt that he loves them and I'm sure he's not going to just let you drain your resources into creating them and not have them shown to the world. They are amazing pieces."
Her cheeks flared red and she tried to suppress her smile.
"Wait is that a blush I see there?"
"Blush? Oh please. It's just the temperature."
"The temperature? Oh really?"
"Come one. We have work to do" she changed the topic.
Kyle shook his head and trailed behind her and they soon fell effortlessly into work.
Dimitri's mind drifted for a moment. He wondered if he was doing the right thing by giving Ashley such a position at that stage. Though the idea was to not make it look like he was stripping Valarie of her job, it was all in his hidden attention. He couldn't risk having another replay of his spontaneous play on her lips. He could still feel it and that was wrong. What was it that made her linger?
Whatever that it was, he didn't want to find out. The more time he spent away from her, the faster his feelings would fade and the less uneasy he would feel.
Ashley snapped him out of his thoughts with the tug of his tie. His blurred vision cleared into reality.
"Is everything okay?" Ashley questioned.
"Ah yes. Everything is fine. I was just thinking about the upcoming fashion show."
"What about it?"
"Which one of designers we are actually going to use for display. A lot of them create great work but we need the few who are spectacular. Let's go see what my father thinks."
Dimitri rose from his chair, fastened his jacket and started to head out the door when he noticed that Ashley was still in the same position. His eyebrows furrowed and he questioned what was wrong.
"Are you saying that we are going to meet your father now?"
"Umm...yes" he responded.
"Like 'The Osbourne'"
His eyebrows knitted further "...yes"
"Oh my god!" she squealed.
"What?" Dimitri questioned.
"Do you know how long I have been waiting to actually meet the man himself? I mean I've seen him in magazines, the newspaper, on television, the internet. I've even read his books and wore his clothes before but I never actually met him."
Dimitri cocked his head to one side and looked at her as if in confusion. "Haven't you met my father during the interview when you applied here to work?"
"No, he was not available at the time. I was screened through some of his head executives."
"Ohh I see. Well there is a first time for everything. Come on."
She followed behind him until they stepped into Nikolai's office. His wise eyes rose to meet the two and a smile slowly progressed across his face.
"Ahh son! What brought you here?"
"I'll like to introduce you to Ashley. The one we spoke about last night. She haven't met you yet in person since she was screened through the executive's board."
"Ashley, I'll like you to meet-"
"Nikolai Osbourne" she finished his sentence.
Nikolai's smile widened further. "I see that you are quite familiar with my name Ashley."
"Of course sir! Who wouldn't? The man who walked among the wolves of business at the starting age of sixteen. 'The Osbourne'. How could I not me aware?"
"Ahh I see we have a little fan here" Nikolai commented.
"Yes. Do you have any idea how long I have been waiting to be a part of your company? It's like a dream come through. Everything I do here will be of my greatest intensions so you don't have to worry."
"Well I'm sure that I can count on you Ashley to do your best. Please feel at home here. I see you have already met my son."
A broad smile played across her face. "Yes I have. He's amazing" she said glancing at Dimitri who stood from afar looking on at the two.
His lips shifted across his face as her compliment stroked his ego. "Let's not get side-tracked here" he deliberately changed the topic. Ashley cleared her throat and struggled to wipe the smile from her face. "Yes, we have business to discuss. Nikolai got the memo and resumed his position across the table in his chair and sat tall.
"What business do you two have with me at this time?" he questioned.
"It concerns the designers that will take the spotlight for the fashion show. Who are we going to choose to represent the head of the line?"
"All of our designers are excellent" Nikolai commented.
"Indeed they are but it will be crazy to put all of them on the front line. We have tp narrow it down a bit."
"Yes you are right. Who do you currently have in mind?"
"Hmm I was thinking Luciano for sure. He have been with us from since the beginning. Also I think Ivanka, for the same reason."
"I agree. There is no way that we aren't putting them on the line like every year. I've noticed one thing though. Every year we tend to pick the older designers to represent us. I was contemplating whether or not we should include some of the younger designers as the face of the line as well. I'll leave this one up to you though. You sift through your designers and if you find any one of the younger ones that are worthy to stand on the front line with the rest, then by all means put them up. The younger ones may have an eye for what keeps this generation going so think deeply about it."
"Ahh good idea. I will screen them all and only the best of the best will represent us that night."
"Good. Is there anything else that you are concern about?"
"No. Everything else is under control. We have a great team so I'm not worried about getting the work done."
"I am most elated to hear. That time is fast approaching and your mother couldn't be more excited haha. Make her proud."
"Awww" Ashley squealed while looking at him. Dimitri swallowed his smile and kept a straight face. He get his eyes on his father to avoid looking at Ashley.
"Well I think we better get back to work now. There is much to do. I'll check in with you again a little later."
"Okay son. You continue to do what you are doing. It was nice meeting you Ashley. I'm sure you'll be a great assistant to my son. You two carry on."
"It was a pleasure meeting you too Mr. Osbourne."
Dimitri again took the lead and Ashley followed behind. They returned to the office, still clear of Valarie. A feeling of uneasiness flickered across his being for a moment. It was strange not having her around him for just even a day but relief also danced on his chest. He didn't feel the need to control how he felt and how he reacted. Ashley somehow made the air free and he felt fairly comfortable around her. Maybe he also liked the fact that her lips had no end to the compliments she gave him. She made him feel like a king though he already knew he was great. Maybe the verbal admission was good for a change. People knew how good he was but wouldn't often tell it to his face. Ashley was a distraction he would make the best of.
"Is there anything that you would like me to help you with?" Ashley broke the silence.
Dimitri leaned against his desk, folded his arms and looked at her. "Hmmm there are many things that you can help me with...But for now, go check to see how the designs are coming along. Keep your eyes open for the younger ones that stand out. Since you are very fond of our company, I'll give you the honor of deciding whether or not we place a young designer on the front line as well as who that designer will be if you so desire."
Her jaw rested upon her chest. "What? Are you serious?"
"Are you suggesting that I cannot trust you with that Ashely?"
"Oh no, no not at all. You don't have to worry about it at all."
"Good then. Get to work."