Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Nikolas
Present Day
Leyla Cooper was never going to give me a chance. Not nine years ago and not now. Even though I knew this deep in my soul, it didn’t stop me from going after a job at her company.
My blue Armani suit made me feel confident, even though my palms were sweating and my pulse was high.
Knowing I’d see Leyla in a few short hours had my nervous system in overdrive.
It was chem class all over again. Gone were the days when I tried to change who I was to fit in, but there was no way I was walking into Earth Organix on my first day wearing anything but my favorite suit. I needed every advantage.
When I saw the LinkedIn job listing for an R&D department head at the company she led, I didn’t hesitate to apply.
After the blowup at UCSD, I tried to explain what happened, but she shut me out completely.
After seeing her go to extreme, ridiculous lengths to avoid me for the rest of that year and our senior year, I finally gave up.
It was beyond me why she wouldn’t give me a chance to tell my side.
Having something unfinished for so many years festered in me.
I didn’t do well when I couldn’t finish something I’d started, and this had eaten away at me for years.
Even when I filled out the application, I knew I was risking rejection again. From Leyla’s actions it had been clear.
She and I were enemies.
Well, I was her enemy. I never felt it was mutual. We had just started building a friendship when everything went down, but she ignored or blocked any communication and would turn around and walk the other way whenever she saw me. I gave up trying.
It was easier to just ignore her the way she ignored me, and after graduation, I was sure I’d never see her again. Not for a lack of trying, though. My attempts to find her at her favorite surf spots during those first few years after graduation were unsuccessful.
It was stupid to apply because I knew the second Leyla saw my name, she would laugh hysterically and toss my resume away immediately. Yet I couldn’t help myself.
When I received Lucas Austin's email and subsequent video interview, I was shocked to learn I’d been hired.
I was surprised to see him leading this job hunt, given his role as CFO, but I believed God was answering my longtime prayer to bring her back into my life.
All I could hope for after all these years was that she had forgiven me.
While we were working together on that fateful project, my admiration had only grown.
Long before everything fell apart, I realized with absolute clarity that my feelings for Leyla had also grown in a way that surprised me.
She inspired me, challenged me, and pushed me out of my structured comfort zone.
She made me nervous in a completely different way, and I had been grateful just to be in her orbit.
While doing the four-count box breathing exercise that my counselor taught me, I straightened my tie and nodded in the mirror.
“Time to show her that I’m not a jerk after all.” I’d long given up on ever winning her over as someone she could love, but I’d settle for being her friend over her enemy any day.
Upon arriving at Earth Organix, the receptionist gave me an employee badge and directed me to the lab elevator. I had no idea whether Leyla or Lucas would greet me, so I sent up a quick prayer for favor and for my palms to stop sweating.
Spoiler alert. They did not.
I nodded at a few people who got into the elevator with me.
Keeping my eyes forward and avoiding eye contact, I made sure neither of them would try to initiate small talk.
Having a root canal would be less painful.
I snorted at my own joke, causing the two women on my left to look at me with concerned expressions, which I promptly ignored.
When the door to my floor opened, I stepped out and took a deep, fortifying breath, only to choke on it when I saw Leyla coming out of an office with a frown. Her hair seemed to be blown by unseen winds, making her look like she was in a photoshoot.
Was that music I heard in the background?
Unfortunately, the goal of making a great first impression was shattered as I tried to stop the coughing fit. Leyla and the woman walking next to her stopped talking, their attention now on me, my sweaty palms, and red face.
Way to go, Niko. Well, at least I looked good.
I saw the second recognition registered on her face. Her tight smile slid into a grimace, but not before something fiery flashed in her eyes.
I’d been privy to that look before. It was the same explosion of green when Leyla was frustrated at a problem she couldn’t solve or when she fought me on a point she disagreed with.
The last time I’d seen that flash of color was when she told me what a self-righteous jerk I was before completely walking out of my life.
I cleared my throat, grateful to finally breathe again.
She and I stared at one another in a battle of wills.
I wasn’t sure if it was some strange game of chicken to see who would look away first, but she’d lose this one.
There was no way I could tear my gaze from her beautiful face.
The face I’d only seen in photos over the last ten years.
Wow, she was so gorgeous. She was a stunning woman in college, but the one who stood in front of me today had only gotten more beautiful. Our locked gaze was broken when the woman standing next to her called her name. Three times. Leyla finally looked away to answer her.
A man I recognized as Lucas Austin, from our interview, rushed toward me, apologizing with a wide smile.
“Nikolas, I’m so sorry. Toddler tantrums required me to watch one more Bluey episode before I could leave the house this morning,” he said breathlessly, coming to a stop with his hand outstretched. “Sorry, that wasn’t exactly professional. Good morning, I’m Lucas Austin. Please call me Luke.”
Nodding, I discreetly wiped my palm on my pants, moved my briefcase to my left hand, and took his hand in a strong shake as my father had taught me. “No problem. I just got here. Nikolas Demir. Thank you for the opportunity.”
It took me going over my rehearsed words a few times to feel confident when the time came to say them, and I was proud that I’d delivered them effortlessly despite my embarrassing stare-down with Leyla.
When I glanced to my left, where she had disappeared, Luke followed my gaze. “Have you talked to her yet?” he asked sheepishly.
My head swung around to face him again. “E-excuse me?”
He jutted his chin toward where she had stood. “Leyla. Did you see her yet?”
A picture I’d seen on her social media profile a while ago came back to me.
Luke and a few other people were in the picture.
It was taken at the beach around a bonfire.
Leyla had her head back, laughing. I didn’t realize until then how much I’d missed hearing it, and also that he was obviously more than a colleague.
“Yes, I saw her in the office.” I really didn’t know what else to say. This was not part of my planned answers, and I tended to answer questions literally. It’s just how my mind worked. Right now, I had no idea what he was talking about.
Nodding, he put his hand out, gesturing to follow him.
I entered his office and took the seat across from his desk after closing his door.
As CFO, I’d expected it to be larger, but it did have a beautiful view of the city.
Everything about it was minimal but masculine.
Dark wood, clean lines, soft gray paint.
“Well, we’re excited to have you with us, Nikolas. Is that what you’d like us to call you? We’re pretty laid-back when it comes to titles and names,” he said with another warm smile.
I tried not to fidget in my seat, but meeting new people was not high on the list of things I enjoyed. Trying to seem more “laid-back,” as he called it, I answered, “My friends and family call me Niko.”
“So, not Nick, then?”
I sat in silence, trying to figure out how to answer another weird and personal question, until I realized Leyla must have mentioned that’s what people called me in school.
“No. Not anymore,” I answered curtly, not wanting to get into why I’d chosen that name.
“Oh, I…see,” Luke answered, his brows pulled together in confusion. I wasn’t sure if he expected more of an explanation, but I had none in this professional setting, so I said nothing. “Okay, then.”
He opened his laptop, most likely looking over my CV. “Niko. Is that Greek?”
Why was he obsessed with my name?
I reined in my growing unease, trying to appear friendly to my new millionaire boss.
I was in awe of his accomplishments at such a young age, and it was a privilege to be chosen for the job.
But that’s what I came here for. To work, to learn, and to be part of a team that cared about the environment as much as I did.
Everything they stood for aligned with my personal and professional beliefs.
He hadn’t asked these types of questions at the interview, so I was at a loss as to how to respond.
“Uh, yes. My parents and I are from Istanbul originally, but I was named after my maternal grandfather, who was from Athens.”
I was ready to be shown the lab and how it all worked, what was expected of me, and meet my team so I could get everything set up to begin working.
I leaned back in the leather chair and winced as it creaked, then crossed my ankle over my knee to try to look relaxed, but I was certain I just looked like a stiff cricket.
“That’s amazing. My wife is from Positano. Beautiful place. We go back and forth several times a year. Never been to Istanbul, though. I’ve heard Leyla say it’s on her bucket list.”
“What’s on my bucket list?” Her voice took me off guard, my body lunging forward to straighten in my seat, nearly launching off the chair.
Yup. Just keep on making that great first impression, man.
“Istanbul. You’ve said it several times over the years,” Luke said with a smirk. She side-eyed me, but we both knew there was no way to keep ignoring one another. We were adults after all.
She must’ve resigned herself to the same fact and turned slowly to face me. I stood up in a show of respect, but only got a scowl.
“Good morning, Ms. Cooper. Thank you for the opportunity to work with you.” I was going for professionalism and not familiarity.
“It’s Leyla, and I didn’t hire you, believe me,” she scoffed, “we won’t be working together.”
As I sat back heavily in the chair, Luke made a face I couldn’t read.
This was all very uncomfortable. I was already rethinking this career move.
But I wasn’t going to give up within the first hour of this new job.
Having watched my father navigate job after job, I promised myself to see this through.
“Nevertheless, I’m excited to be a part of the team. Earth Organix is exactly the kind of company I have wanted to work with for a long time.”
There. I can be nice even though she looked like she might wring my neck.
“Well, let’s get you started,” Luke said quickly. There was tension in the air that even I picked up on. “You’ve filled out all the paperwork with HR already. Appreciate you being so thorough, Niko. We’re usually running behind the new hires for a week to get them done. Right, Leyla?”
Narrowing her eyes at me, she answered, “Oh, Nick, sorry, I mean Niko, as you apparently go by now, is nothing if not thorough.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from answering what was an obvious reference to what happened back in college. It had taken me weeks of us working together to fully understand her sarcasm. It didn’t come naturally to me, but that was sarcasm at its best.
My mother always said I had a long fuse when it came to getting angry, but Leyla was pushing past unprofessional and bordering on rude.
“Yes, Leyla. I do pride myself on seeing things through to their completion. I don’t know any other way.
Following through is important to me. It keeps unexpected repercussions from happening.
” My voice was calm but firm, something that only seemed to make the fire in those emerald eyes flare again.
I loved it. I hated it.
But one thing was clear: Leyla had declared war, and I wasn’t going to be the one to back down this time.
I wanted this job. But I also wanted to prove myself to her. Maybe if I showed her that I was strong enough to fight for her attention, even if it meant going head-to-head with her at work, she would see me as a person of worth.
I was already calculating the various ways to achieve this goal. There would no doubt be a pie chart being made that night.