Chapter 83

Adrian

The meeting I am sitting in goes by so agonizingly slow. My eyes flicker to the clock in the room, watching as the hands slowly tick by. Meetings like this used to go by so fast but now, after all of the chaos that has happened in the pasty twenty four hours of life, time seems to move much slower than usual.

My foot taps against the floor of the board room, quietly filling in the silence beneath the glass table. I glance at the sheets laid out in front of me.

Spreadsheets, pie charts, statistics, and focus group findings lay before me. I can barely bring myself to look at them for too long, a never ending headache coming back into the depths of my mind.

My thoughts wander to Clara. She was so terrified last night. I was too but I couldn’t let it show, not when she needed me the most.

Clara clung to me throughout the night and I held her for as long as she needed. She was fast asleep when i left for work this morning but I haven’t received a call or text from her like I usually do. It worries me.

I slip my cell phone from my pants pocket. The wallpaper of Stella and I makes my heart ache but I swipe away, moving towards Clara’s name. I open up our messages and let out a quiet sigh, biting the inside of my cheek.

Adrian: Are you awake? It’s been awhile.

Adrian: Are you okay? Let me know if you need anything.

There is no immediate response, she doesn’t even read my message. A part of me is disappointed while the other part of me is fine and just wants to make for sure that my friend is okay.

Hah. My friend. Is that what Clara is to me now?

Who would take her, though? Why would they want my project — which is currently helping millions of people from across the nation — to come to an end after all of the good it has done?

It’s baffling, really. I do not know who would be so cruel and to go so far to kidnap someone in my life? I’m just grateful that they didn’t take Stella. If they did, her health would surely deteriorate unlike Clara’s would.

The doors to the board room slam open. Michael walks in, cell phone in hand. All heads turn to look at him and I stand from my spot at the table, my palms flat against the glass.

“Michael? What’s going on?” I ask, slightly alarmed by the sudden intrusion.

“Everyone, out!” he says.

Right on cue, all of the employees inside of the board room pick up their belongings and shuffle out, not wasting another second. They look at Michael as they pass by, confused looks on their faces. Once the last person leaves, Michael turns to look at me.

“We have a new investor,” he states.

“Okay? Is that worth disrupting an important meeting for?” I ask and cross my arms over my chest.

Michael crosses the room and holds out his phone, showing the message from the company’s lawyers. I take his phone and scan the page, my eyes slowly widening.

“An invisible investor,” Michael begins, “wants to invest millions into our company. Millions that he wants to send to your new project, Adrian. This is huge!”

I look up from the phone, a small and surprised laugh flying from my lips. I pass him the phone and rest my hands on my hips, all of my dreams and aspirations finally coming true.

Success has finally hit. Sure, I was successful before, but now I have truly broken the glass ceiling that I have set for myself. This is beyond anything that I could have ever thought would happen to me and I am so happy to have the opportunity to expand my company and help more people in the process.

I should tell Stella. She would be happy to hear the good news. Maybe I can take her out to a nice dinner…wait.

I can’t do that. She hates me and we are in the middle of a divorce. We can’t do that.

I clear my throat and push her out of my mind, offering a prideful smile at Michael. He claps his hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze.

“We did it!” he exclaims. “You did it, Adrian! You are a genius! I’m sure that there will be lessons about you in college lectures. There will be monuments to your genius!”

“Okay, okay,” I laugh, scratching the back of my neck, “you don’t need to get ahead of yourself there, buddy. Let’s just focus on the company and what we can do to with the millions to make it better.”

“Ha! Look at you, always thinking of work. It is very admirable of you, Adrian,” Michael releases his grip on me. He begins to walk back to the doors of the board room, swinging them open. “Go change the world, Adrian!”

I nod and watch as he leaves. I sit back down in my seat, listening to the doors swing shut, and open up my laptop.

There are countless files filled with ideas for the company that I have come up with. There are so many that we can do, many of which can be implemented almost immediately once we receive the angel investor’s money.

I let out a sigh of satisfaction. This is everything that I have worked for finally coming into fruition. It tastes sweeter than I ever thought it would be.

Typing away at my computer’s laptop, my phone begins to ring from beside me. I don’t look at it, knowing that it mist be Clara finally calling me back after my text messages. I click the green button and bring the phone to my ear, holding it between my shoulder and head.

“Hey, I’ve been waiting to hear from you!” I begin, “I have some good news to share.”

“You do? Well, that sure makes this phone call a whole less awkward.”

My body goes still as my lawyer’s voice vibrates through the phone. My fingers slowly stop typing and I pull my phone away from my face, looking at his name on the screen. I put the call on speaker and set the phone onto the table.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else. I’ve been expecting their call,” I sheepishly admit, scratching the back of my neck.

“That’s okay, nobody ever really likes to see that their lawyer is calling anyways,” he laughs and I let out a quiet chuckle with him, the awkwardness sizzling out.

“So,” I clear my throat, scooting my chair closer to the desk. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Well, I just got word from the courts about your court date for your divorce. It is scheduled for Thursday morning later this month, the 25(th). I’ll send the official date and location to your secretary later but I thought I would call you first to give you a heads up.”

“Oh,” I slowly nod, a bitter taste forming across my tongue.

“I’m sorry to ruin the mood,” he sighs, “I’ll let you go now. Congratulations on your good news, Adrian. You deserve it.”

The call ends and I’m left in the silence. I am stuck in time, frozen in place. My mind runs a mile a minute.

I wonder how she’s doing. I wonder if her health has gotten better and if she’s been eating all of her meals, if she’s drinking her water…

I hope she’s okay. She deserves all of the happiness in the world and…and our divorce will give her just that.