~Chapter 27~
"I am no longer the CEO of ZAE Inc."
I gasped instinctively as my hand flew over to cover my mouth. I noticed Skye's eyes getting slightly moist but he wasn't letting any of his tears fall down his cheeks with the way he was furiously blinking them back.
"This scandal was all planned out and I'm very sure of that. They just took the advantage of you being seen with me and used it against me. Whoever did this, wasn't behind you at all but was in the hopes of finding a leeway to crash me down. To completely cripple me," he explained to me with his jaw clenching and unclenching in the process.
"When did you come up with all of these conclusions?" I asked him, still shook from the revelation.
"The day I was removed from my position unanimously," he answered, looking everywhere but at me. It was clear that he was avoiding looking in my direction like he was mortified or something because of his predicament.
That's when something dawned on me. Mr. Miller's words and how I'd asked Skye about the matter but he had entirely ignored my question. "Oh, Skye." I hugged him again, tightening my arms around his shoulders. He did the same by circling his arms around my waist and burying his head in my neck. Even though I was trying to pass him the comfort, we both needed this. It was soothing and I felt better just to be in his arms.
I rubbed his back and we stayed like that for minutes more than I could keep track of.
"I hate how that person is moving so ahead of us after making us almost powerless," he grumbled in my neck after a long silence enveloped us.
His voice sent vibrations throughout my body and I stiffened immediately. He must have felt it too because he pulled away sheepishly. "Almost… powerless?" I queried, trying to ignore those sparkling sensations over my neck.
"Yeah…" He paused for dramatic effects before continuing, "Because I am still the heir to my company." He smirked bitterly.
My eyes widened in realization and I smiled in relief at what he just uttered. Even if he was removed from his position, nobody could trample around with the fact that, position or not, he could still bring down the person wanting to destroy him. That very same thing bubbled up the hope within me.
We were both quiet after that, lost in our own thoughts about our unwanted and problematic situation. That's when something compelled me to tell him what I said next. Maybe it was his crestfallen expression or maybe I just felt like I could tell him anything.
"You know," I started, to lighten up the sour mood in the air. "Sometimes, I wonder that apart from our huge sizes, the reason why humans don't have wings is because we're already powerful. More so than we would want to admit it. I don't know what we would have done if we actually had wings and magic." I shrugged.
He looked impressed with the way his brows were raised and his lower lip jutted out. Crossing his arms across his chest and stretching out his legs in front of him, he tilted his head to the side. "And sometimes, I feel like how in fantasy movies, the characters start knowing about their powers when they feel intense emotions, likewise we humans discover our talents by feeling those intense emotions as well, especially sadness. Maybe… talent is our magic power?" he said with a soft smile.
A smile of my own edged its way onto my lips and I nodded. "So true, I agree." I felt like we were two people talking about the importance of our very existence. To anyone else, it might have sounded wacky but talking with Skye made everything seem so much brighter and less callous. A lot of people might think that he's weird for not actually being open but I know deep down that he has a lot of intelligent stuff going on in there.
"Uh-huh and in my case, it's anger. Raging anger. I just hope that this same intense emotion keeps me going and will help me find the reason and the perpetrator behind this. Until then, I won't sit still." It was like he was talking to himself and his brows were knitted together in tight calculation. "Jeez, that sounded dramatic, didn't it?" He laughed all of a sudden, embarrassed.
"I'm not complaining because it's adorable." I smirked and he just rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless. "But anyway, count me in. If they think they could just use a woman like they used me, they have another thing coming for them. Never mess with a woman, especially the one who has her anger all bottled up," I told him with a determined face.
Once realization hit me about how comically stern we were seeming and sounding, we stared at each other's faces and burst out into fits of sputtering laughter.
"For a second - f-for-" Before I could even complete my sentence, I began laughing again. If I could see my face right now, I'd have surely stopped cracking up like a maniac but I couldn't help myself.
"What?"
"Okay… okay…" I muttered, trying to calm myself down by lowering my arms every time I took deep breaths in. Skye gave me a laughing smile. "Okay… for a second… I thought that we were turning into some crackhead philosophers entering into a war zone," I spoke so quickly before going into another fit of giggles.
"You're finding this really hilarious, aren't you?" He asked, chuckling. I could see his eyes twinkling with amusement. For some reason, I felt like there was another emotion weaving through them as well. Was it adoration? Affection? I couldn't really tell.
"I guess." I smiled out of embarrassment once I came down from my rambunctious laughter high. "So…" I clapped my hands once and looked at him curiously. "I am in too, right?"
"Of course because I'd need a confidante for this mission," he replied gently.
"I don't know but I'm finding this really funny." I beamed, sprawling my upper body on the couch and folding my arms across my chest.
"What are you finding funny?" He questioned, raising his brows amusedly.
"One jobless helping the other."
Skye sniggered at that and clicked his fingers. "Right."
For some odd reason, after making a joke about it, I realized the weight of our situation. No matter how much we were letting it slide by, by joking about it, it still pricked me to know that I was fired and that I would have to soon find myself a place to work at.
I sat up straighter and I guess, even Skye must have noticed the change in my mood because he gave me a worried glance. Shouldn't have made a joke on it when I know I can't handle it. But… adrenaline's got no boundaries.
"Um… do you wanna go out?" I asked him nervously, all the fun drained out of my body. I must admit, that question was quite impulsive and I wasn't thinking before voicing it out loud. My heart lurched in my throat. "I mean only if you want to because I was thinking we're both like, stressed out and you might also need some fresh air," I quickly added.
"Valerie…" Skye smirked teasingly. "Are you asking me out on a date or something?"
I visibly blanched like I was caught red handed. My hands were getting clammy so I straightened my back even more, masking my face with a fake confidence. "Why, yes. If that's what you wanna think." I smirked back.
"That's what I wanna think." He gave me his signature intense look but there was an imperceptible blush coating his cheeks. Just one look from him and it would make my heart go into an overdrive.
I broke our eye contact shyly and patted his shoulder as if we were talking about the weather. "I'll go get ready." With that said, I sprinted toward my bedroom with a thumping heart. It might even make a headline someday, "A heart gone bonkers because even it couldn't deny the gorgeous looks of Skye Williams!"
Who was I kidding? A headline couldn't even be that long. Maybe… "A heart gone bonkers!" would work just fine.
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I stopped the car once I parked it cautiously in the lot. Skye had sneakily wanted to drive his car so that I'd reveal to him the location to kill the surprise element.
However, I had another thing going on in my head and let him think otherwise. The moment we had reached his car, I'd quickly snatched his keys to drive. I had expected some fight from him but he surprised me with just a frown.
We both got out of the car at the same time and before Skye could take another step forward, I stopped him with my arms. "Wait."
"What is it?" He seemed innocently cute with a small furrow between his brows.
"Do you like painting?"
His eyes widened as if coming here was a huge mistake. "No… honestly? I… hate painting," he mumbled the last part abashedly.
"Good," I chirped. It was actually a good thing because for what I had planned out, it was better to be bad at painting than being better at it.
"Was that a trick question?" He asked me confusedly.
"No, really." I chuckled, shaking my head. "You'll know why I asked you this question."
"Okay then…" He was still seeming wary with the way his head was tilted to the side in confusion and his nose slightly scrunched.
"Yep. So I just wanna tell you something before we go ahead." I grinned excitedly. "Okay so five or something years ago, I was literally stressed out with everything. All that college, internship stress and stuff so I was too overwhelmed with this city life even when I was quite used to it. I mean it's busy the whole time." I reminisced with a bittersweet smile.
"New York does that to a lot of newbies," Skye agreed, rolling his eyes.
"Exactly. Plus, my resume was rejected by ZAE Inc. because I had no real experience." Skye gave me a stumped look after hearing that. "It wasn't cool because it just added a lot into my already crushed hopes. Though a few weeks later, I was recruited at this small media company but not before this huge test they gave me, which apparently I had to pass." I made a grand gesture with my arms toward the parking lot.
"A test?"
"Yes. Like I didn't know such a thing even existed, let alone for an intern like me. I was asked to visit this exact place. 'Hayden's Art Studio' and God, was I banged by the time I reached here. I had a talk with Hayden, the guy who owns this art studio and I felt so refreshed. He showed me to his stress free room. Truth be said, I was feeling beyond rejuvenated and I passed my test too." I wiggled my brows, purposely leaving out the catch line. "Sorry, didn't expect for my explanation to get so detailed and boring."
"No, that's okay. I am actually glad to know your story. Especially how you've climbed up through the ladder." My smile sort of slipped from my face but I quickly covered it up. Maybe, I didn't actually climb up, after all. "You're still smart, job or not," Skye assured me, gently rubbing my shoulder. One simple touch of his and all my nerves settled down like a good dog.
"Yeah." I nodded my head with an earnest smile. "Now, come on."
"Wait. What was there in that stress free room again?" Skye threw the question at me, looking even more baffled than before.
"You'll see." I took his hand in mine and practically dragged him behind me because I was overly enthused for him to have the same experience as me too.