Who does that bitch think she is? What made her think she was that valuable? What led her to believe she was a significant figure in Berkscorp? Several thoughts coursed through my mind as I watched her walk out of the office without offering any help regarding the press conference. I knew I wasn't ready for any of this. I wasn't even CEO material until my father enforced that destiny on me. I didn't want to let him down. As I lingered in these thoughts, I could feel my blood boiling aggressively as I watched her shut the door behind her. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. I didn't know how to let out the frustration of him trying to make me something I am not.
Several thoughts occupied my mind, each one making me even more aggressive. Then, in a fit of rage, I picked up the laptop my dad had left behind and threw it against the wall. Instantly realizing that laptop must have contained vital information, my eyes widened as I went on my knees to pick it up. I tried to put back the key that came off only to realize that I had damaged the screen too. The display had ink on one side. I rose to my feet, then gently placed the laptop on the desk where I stared at it for almost thirty minutes, sweating like I had been sentenced to death. All that rage I had been feeling a couple of minutes back now felt like it had been drained out of me. I calmly loosened my tie, then I got up from the chair. I swiftly looked to see if no one was coming, then I carried the laptop to fit it into my coat. I was about to step out when I hurried back to pick the broken key I left on the table. I quickly hurried down the junior clerk cabins only for me to bump into Madeline—one of the most annoying junior staff members I got to know in Berkscorp. I quickly got a hold of the laptop before it fell out but the key managed to fall out of my hand. I immediately looked down to the key which I realized she also did around the same time. I looked back up at her face then put on a weird smile.
"Are you okay?" She didn't hesitate to ask after noticing how restless I was.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Why did you ask?" I was still trying to maintain my composure because the laptop which I now had only two fingers on was about to fall out of my coat. I stretched out my left leg like I was posing for a modeling gig.
"You don't look good."
"Your father doesn't look good," I thought to myself.
She smiled softly then said, "Mr. Barney, if you need anything—anything at all, just let me know and I'll get it."
By anything, she meant anything I desired. She had been giving me that "fuck me" eyes ever since my return to Berkscorp. I could see how much she desired to sleep with me even though I was obviously not giving her any attention. Her obsession with me just continued to grow instead of fading.
"Thank you Madeline. I really appreciate ya," I replied. At this time, one of the two fingers I was using to hold the laptop under my coat was already trembling. "See you later, bye," I said before bolting out of her sight, into my office.
She must have thought I was weird, but who cares? I was the boss.
When I got into my office, I quickly let down the laptop on my desk before screaming in the most silent pitch ever. It was a pain of agony that if a portrait was made out of it, people would literally feel the pain I was feeling without hearing the sound. I angrily kicked the side of the desk before limping to sit on my chair. I rubbed my face with my palm twice then let out a breath.
"Fuck," I said.
I brought out my phone, then I scrolled through my contacts before stopping on a contact I hadn't called in years. I instantly dialed the number with the hope that the line should still be active. It rang for a while, then I heard a female voice answer the call. I heard the young woman's thin voice, whom I presumed to be around her early 30s or late 20s.
"Hello," the voice said, and without hesitation, asked, "who's this?"
"Hi, this is Asher. Please is Robin there?"
"Ohh, please give me a minute," the voice over the phone said. "Robin, you have a call from someone named Asher. Hurry up," I could hear her call to Robin whom happened to be a little further away.
I could hear Robin's footsteps approaching the phone as I patiently waited, after about twenty seconds, the phone was handed to him.
"Asher, you fucking son of Barney. It's been a long time mate," Robin greeted me over the phone warmly, sounding really excited and happy. We hadn't seen each other in eleven years, so that was how much we missed our friendship. We were roommates throughout my college days, and since then, we've been inseparable, until my dad separated us.
"I fucking missed you too buddy," I returned the warm gesture.
"Rumours has it that you're back in town. Is that true?"
"Oh my goodness, is that Asher Barney you've always spoken about?" I could still hear the woman's voice over the phone.
I laughed, resting my feet on the desk. I subconsciously placed them on the laptop, before I quickly took them off when I became aware. "I see you've gotten yourself a fine woman. You still play night games, bud?"
Robin laughed really hard over the phone. "Oh, no. That's Samantha, my wife."
"Oh, wow," I was shocked.
"You missed a lot mate. Even my wedding."
"Sorry man. I didn't even know. I had a fallout with my dad, but now we're back together. He wants me to run Berkscorp."
"Is that not massive bro?" He sounded really excited.
"Wow, he runs Berkscorp," I heard Samantha's voice again.
"It is, bro, but I don't wanna run Berkscorp."
"I understand you don't want to run Berkscorp, but leaving that aside. Why did you call now? You and I know you just don't remember poor Robin like that."
I laughed out loud again. "Yeah, do you still fix stuff?"
"Yeah, but you're gonna have to be specific. I'm here fixing a lot of things," he replied to me, then whispered the next part, "Trust me buddy, marriage will teach you to fix every broken stuff. It is a trap."
"I heard what you said," I could hear Samantha yell at him.
"Shut up! You slim donkey," he replied jokingly, laughing and breathing really hard like he had just evaded a knife thrown at him.
I really found everything amusing. My smile widened cheerfully.
"Ask him if he will come over for dinner," I heard Samantha's voice again. This time, gentle and serious.
For almost five seconds, Robin was silent. Then he cleared his throat to speak to me. "Yo man, do you think you can stop by at my place for dinner. Samantha wants to meet you, and obviously we need to talk about that stuff that needs fixing."
"Alright, no problem. Text me the address, I'll be there before 8," I replied.
"Alright then. See you soon bud," he said, before ending the call.
I was silent. At first, I crossed my lips with my phone as I went into thought about my college days with Robin. He was someone I shouldn't have cut off just like that. For eleven years, we were apart. I was anxious to see how great his life must have been during my absence. He had a promising future back then because of how talented and brilliant he was. While I was still lost in thought about how awkward things was going to be when I see him again, I rolled my seat to face the glass side, directly looking at the city. I couldn't wait to see Robin, but I had to wait till evening because of two reasons. The first been that it was dinner I was invited. And the other been that I couldn't just ditch work on my second day in office.
I anxiously waited in my office till dusk, hoping Isla would have given my request a second thought but she didn't show up in my office throughout the day. When it was past seven, I got up from my chair, where I had been streaming movies for hours. I gently put the laptop in the bag I had in my office and walked out briskly. The rest of the office was already dark—all lights were out, except that of Isla's office. Only God knew what she must have been doing so late. I could see her using her computer relentlessly. She was obviously going to do anything to get rid of me even if it would cost her pain. What a determined woman. I really respected her courage, and her unbreakable spirit. Even I wanted her to rid me of my duty as the CEO but I couldn't imagine how dad would feel if I disappointed him again. So, that alone was enough to fight for. After watching her for nearly a minute, I walked into the elevator. Arriving at the parking lot, I got into my car and drove out after tipping the guards at the gate.
It was a seventeen minutes drive from Berkscorp to Robin's place. My favorite playlist was blasting. I was still vibing to Juice Wrld's wishing well when I arrived at his place. He, Samantha, and their two kids lived in a two-bedroom bungalow. I calmly parked my car in front of their building, then I climbed to their porch to ring their bell. It has started snowing already by the time I got there, though it wasn't that intense, I was still worried about my car. About a minute after I rung the first bell, the door opened, and in front of me was a beautiful young woman, probably in her late 20s. Her grey eyes hinted at something great and mysterious, but the wrinkles around her eyes showed that she must have gone through a lot of stress. She was in knee-length gown and an apron was tied around her waist. She was peeping when she opened the door, using one of her legs to stop it from shutting.
"Good evening, you must be Samantha, I guess," I didn't hesitate to say to her.
"Yeah, yeah," she smiled softly immediately, opening the door widely. "You must be Asher," she replied, putting out her hand for a shake.
"Yes. I'm Asher. Asher Barney."
"Please come in," Out of excitement, she invited me in.
I walked inside, seeing the place to have a very simple and beautiful interior. Nothing inside looked expensive, not even their couch, which looked like they got it off Temu on a discount price. Samantha gently shut the door behind us, before calling out to Robin. About thirty seconds after she called him, he came out of the bedroom with a three year old girl in his arms and a six year old male accompanied him to the living room. The boy had a tablet in his hand that he was watching a show on. The two kids had curly hairs, just like Robin. They looked very adorable. Robin instantly sighting me, dropped the girl and quickly embraced me like a little child. Samantha picked the girl up while Robin was still hugging me.
"Oh God, I missed you man," he sighed before letting go.
"It has been a while. And welcome to my humble abode. This is Rodney, and that's Maddie. I believe you've met Samantha already, she's my beautiful wife," He immediately introduced his family to me.
"It is nice meeting you all. I'm Asher. Robin must have told you about me."
"I can't believe you are really here. Please join us for dinner," I could sense the excitement in Samantha's voice.
"Samantha," Robin grunted with the side of his mouth. "So, what needs fixing?"
Samantha managed to conceal her excitement. I couldn't possibly fathom what could be going on in her mind.
"This," I replied promptly, handing him the bag.
He swiftly took it from me, then instructed Samantha to set the table while he left briefly to drop the bag in his study. I was already sitting at their dining. They only had four chairs, at first I thought it was because of the number of their family, but it was before the meal that I noticed they were poor. While I sat down with the kids after the table had been set, Robin called Samantha to a side. I could oberhear him telling her he didn't know they had that much, and her replying that she borrowed from a friend, then Robin telling her to not bring home a trouble they wouldn't be able to solve because they still had mortgage to pay. Their conversation was silent that any other person would only hear them squeak like mice, but I had a great hearing, so I heard most of what they discussed while I was eating. Samantha's furrowed brows when they returned confirmed my assumptions. She calmly carried the girl and placed her on her own laps before of the lack of chair. Robin sat in to, while their son played games on his tablet.
"Rodney, what did I tell you about phones at the dining," I could hear Samantha ask Rodney before taking the tablet from him. Her tone was soft, yet aggressive.
We were all silent for over half of the time we spent eating, until I cleared my throat.
"What a beautiful family you've got here mate," I said to Robin.
He smiled softly, then briefly stopped eating. "Yeah, they are indeed beautiful. I'm grateful to God for having them. What about yours?" He asked.
"I don't have one right now. Hopefully, I'll find my own Samantha one day, and make beautiful kids."
Samantha blushed.
I then looked up to Robin's face. "So, what have you been doing since I left? You don't seem to look like what I had imagined you would look like."
There was silence in the room. Except the sound of the kid's mouth biting down on their turkey, nothing else was heard.
"It pains me to ask you this. What happened to you?" I continued.
"Life," Robin innocently replied.
"Life? What do you mean by life?" I asked again. At this time, I had stopped eating.
"Like I told you over the phone, you missed a lot about my life. Everything changed so fast," he replied again in a soft tone. Only God knew what have been going on in his mind.
"Mortgage? Really? I thought you got a job before we graduated," I asked again.
"And obviously, it wasn't one that can feed four bellies. I really appreciate your concern Asher, and with due respect, I don't think you should be listening on my family's discussion," his tone was still soft.
I scoffed. "I was going to get you a job in Berkscorp before we graduated, one that would set you up for life but you said you got a better one. I'm not happy you are doing well."
He angrily slammed the table, frightening his own kids when got up immediately. Samantha calmly told the kids to go to their room. "What do you know? What? You had whole life planned out for you even though you didn't want it, and I was just a shadow of yours that would never be known if I didn't learn to spread my wings," he hissed. "Please don't bring this up right now, because if you had been around, this wouldn't have been a news to you. So you don't dare ask a married man why he has a bald head because you don't know a shit about parenting," he replied angrily, pacing back and forth, restlessly.
I heaved a sigh. "Robin, I didn't mean to provoke you. I know you didn't come from a background like mine, and things have never totally gone the way you wanted, but there is this thing in you that I still see in your wife right now, even in your needs, you make sure I have the best. Probably because of the background you thought I had," I paused, gently coming out of the chair. "I am grateful, but it is time you let me do something for you and stop being stubborn. Come and work for me in Berkscorp, I'll pay you twenty grand every month with an allowance of over fifteen thousand dollars. I owe you that for being away for so long."
He had stopped walking around but he was silent.
"That bag I gave you contains a laptop that I need fixed before tomorrow. I want you to think this offer through because this is the last time I'm making you this offer. If you want to work for me, come with the laptop tomorrow, and if you don't want to, call me to come pick it up myself. You can't have me and live like this," I said, looking around before facing Samantha. I slipped my hand into my pocket and brought out my card, handing it over to her. "Thank you for the meal Samantha. This is my card, please buy for yourself anything you think you need. Get stuffs for the children, and her husband as well. I will personally come back for it after my press interview, so you have, let's say two days."
Her hands trembled as she took the card from me. "Thank you," she said.
"Thank you once again for the pleasant meal. I'll see you tomorrow Robin," I replied, before walking to the door.
"Asher," he called my name, then I stopped. "Thank you," I heard him say.
I nodded to return the gesture, then I walked out of the house. I could see them hug when I got outside, making me feel this warmth I hadn't felt in a long time. I got into my car, then drove out of the neighborhood.