"Nice presentation."
"Hmm, thanks. You're a little late to witness my prowess Mr. Krueger."
I whispered softly next to Axel who came late to the meeting room because he is the most busy man from Metallon Corp. I thought that this morning Axel would not come to my office because we were going to lunch, but he seemed to want to surprise me by appearing in the meeting room in the middle of my presentation.
"So where are we going for lunch?"
"That's a long time Mr. Krueger, it's still three hours before lunch time. Are you sure you want to wait here until lunch time?"
"No, after this I have to go somewhere to get things done."
"Are you playing secret with me?" I whispered pretending to be annoyed.
Actually I don't mind if he wants to hide something from me. Still, it doesn't hurt me. But it feels pretty good to tease this handsome CEO next to me. He will look like a frenzy if I start showing signs of sulking in front of him.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to meet women. This is really important stuff I can't tell you Ivy."
"Ahem!"
Suddenly I heard a coughing sound, followed by everyone's gazes turning towards us. Good, me and Axel have distracted dad with the sound of our noisy whispers.
"Please pay attention to the front, Ms. Ivy, Mr. Krueger."
Axel and I looked at each other for a moment. This is really embarrassing. Caught red-handed by his own dad while whispering with a man in the meeting room. I then pretended that I was reading the copy of the document in front of me and made unimportant doodles. I saw Axel also pretending to be busy with his tablet and dad started to continue his boring speech.
"We'll continue later."
Vaguely I heard Axel whispering next to me while still paying attention to my dad who was explaining a curve of increasing turnover in our company. Hahaha, Axel is funny. Is he afraid of daddy? Maybe yes, and maybe not. There are too many possibilities that can happen around me that sometimes I feel afraid to do something.
Thirty minutes later my dad finally finished his very long speech and he got a standing ovation from everyone. I think part of the clapping was an expression of their happiness that this boring meeting was finally over.
After all, who wants to sit on the hot seat for a long time with an old man with a mustache who makes all the audience sleepy? Oops, I'm sorry dad. I don't mean to make fun of my dad, but the facts are like that. My dad was a man who was very impractical, even in speaking sometimes he had to go round and round before discussing the core issues which were actually very important.
"See you at lunch Ivy. Don't be late."
I smiled faintly seeing Axel who was slowly moving away towards the elevator. I reflexively made a movement tucking my dangling hair behind my ear. Don't know why I suddenly blushed when I saw Axel's smile. Hmm, he is a good and gentle man. No wonder he is often the subject of conversation among socialite women out there, minus me of course because I don't like gossip. Rather I avoided it.
"Ivy, come with me to my room."
"Yes, sir?" I asked confused.
"Come to my room. You understand?"
"Yes, sir."
Me and Anastasia reflexively glanced at each other. I tried to talk with my eyes on Anastasia whether I had made a mistake that made me have to face my dad's anger. But Anastasia couldn't give me any answer. She just shrugged nonchalantly while making a gesture with his chin for me to quickly follow my dad to his room.
"Okay. Go back to your room, Ana. Don't forget all the documents I need this afternoon. Put them all on my desk."
"I will prepare them. good luck."
I stared at Anastasia's back which was moving farther and farther away. Somehow I saw Anastasia seemed happy to see me who was about to be scolded by my dad. Yeah, although that's not necessarily true. But I always felt that Anastasia liked it when I got into trouble from my dad. Yeah, what an annoying secretary!
-00-
"I want to discuss serious matters with you. It's about your future, Ivy."
Huft! I'm always sick of it when my dad starts in this serious mode, especially when it comes to my future. Come on, what else is daddy going to do? Isn't it enough that these twenty-three years dad controlled me like a robot?
"What future, dad? What else do you want from me?" I asked languidly playing with my red nails lazily.
Suddenly I heard dad clear his throat loudly in front of me. That means he's asking me to look at him more seriously.
"I see you're pretty close to Axel Krueger."
"Yes, we are colleagues now," I replied nonchalantly.
Even though I'm more serious now looking at him, but my mood is still the same. Lazy!
"I want to set you up with him."
Hmm, so this is the gist of the talk. He want to arrange my love life too? great! I'm sick of all this. Even though I admit Axel is a good man, I don't feel like I have any feelings for him. Every time I'm around him, I just feel like a friend to him. My heart doesn't even beat as hard as my friends often say when someone is in love. So I guess I don't have any special feelings for Axel.
"Wouldn't that be too hasty?" I sighed frustrated.
I really can't imagine how my life will be after this if dad really realizes his intention to set me up with Axel. Oh my God, come on... let me breathe a little and enjoy my youth.
"Soon you will be twenty-four years old. That is the right age to get married. Axel is a good man and comes from a good family. He is the heir of a bona fide company. So you two are perfect for each other. You and Axel could put two companies together."
Company... again? Oh, I hate this talk. Actually I am his daughter or not? Why is everything dad does for me always related to the company. Even though I know his intentions must be good. Dad just doesn't want to see his daughter suffer or be let down by a man of unknown origin. But, I feel like I can't accept all of this.
"Dad, I want to feel love naturally."
For some reason my voice seemed to choke when I said that in front of my dad. From the beginning I was quite afraid of my dad. I'm afraid to disappoint him and afraid to hurt him if I refuse. But in the end I sacrificed my own life because I never said anything about my wishes.
"What do you mean by love naturally, Ivy? Axel is a proper and kind man. I have also said this to him a long time ago."
"Since when did you do that?"
No wonder Axel has been looking different lately. He seems to position himself as my lover. Sometimes Axel sends messages that aren't work related. Have I eaten? Am I getting enough rest? Hmm.. apparently there is a special reason why Axel did that.
"You don't need to know, but I've talked about this to Axel's parents too."
Hahh... so again I can't determine my own path in life? Lord! I feel like I want to scream right now. I want to tell dad that I'm depressed by all of this and want to be completely free to do something that was my will from the start.
"I'm sorry dad, can you give me a chance to get to know Axel better before we take a more serious step. Give me a month, after that it's up to you how you will manage my life. I am completely resigned to all of this." I said bitterly.
Hopefully dad will give me a chance and consider his decision to marry me to Axel too soon. But will it actually work? I am not sure. Sometimes dads can be so stubborn that it's almost impossible to bend them.
"Okay, you can date Axel for one month. We will postpone this wedding."
"Really? You allow me, dad?"
"You have the right to get to know your future husband more deeply."
What? So dad allowed it? God, can I scream right now? I want everyone to know that daddy just gave me a chance to live according to my will.
"Thank you dad. Thank you for giving me the opportunity."
Finally I couldn't hold myself any longer from hugging my dad. This happiness is so overwhelming, and it feels like I'm going to explode soon because my heart is being filled with invisible flowers and confetti. Oh, I have to tell this good news soon the man. He would immediately choke in disbelief if he knew that dad had given me a very rare opportunity.
Hmm, freedom... here I come!