Chapter 91
Adrian
The hallways of my company are quieter than usual but the life is slowly coming back to them. There are a few scattered employees across the almost empty offices. My company was on the brink of bankruptcy, complete and utter destruction, but it has been saved from death by one person: Stella.
Her gift to me by giving me all of my assets and properties through the investment firm was a saving grace that I desperately needed. There was no way I could have been able to save my company from its untimely death without her.
After I paid off all of the company’s debt, every single cent from the money and the selling of the properties and items that I do not even use going towards it, the company was able to hire back a small portion of its employees. We will try to get back as many people as we possibly can but I can understand why some of them will be hesitant to come back.
The people who did come back have gifted me fruit baskets, bottles of wine, and flowers. I have graciously accepted them, of course, not wanting to further upset anyone else because of my reckless actions.
The smiles on their faces have revitalized my hope that this company can do good instead of hurting people like it did over a month ago.
I wish I could tell them about Stella, how she is their savior instead of me. I wish I could say to them that their gifts should be going to her instead of me, that she is the one who deserves all of their praise. She deserves all of their glory and gifts, not me.
If I were to tell them, though, that my ex-wife is the reason why the company is alive and well, I think that Michael and the shareholders will kick me to the curb, leaving me with nothing.
I suppose I deserve it, though. I was the one who got ahead of themselves and bought hundreds of millions of dollars worth of upgrades for the company and my health project. It was me who got excited and decided to dig us into the large hole of debt and bankruptcy, not them.
Perhaps they should fire me and fill my spot with someone new. Someone who can actually run this company and make it viable instead of poisoning it like I have. With the leftover money, I was able to buy back a large portion of the stock to the company after people sold it, not wanting to be a part of a decaying machine in the health industry. So I guess they couldn’t depose of me even if they tried their hardest.
I have implemented new policies, though, to try and combat my mistakes with the angel investor — more like the silent devil — and have issued them to Michael as well as the other chairs of the board. A contract must be signed before we allow any kind go investor to begin to meddle with our plans and current projects.
We simply cannot have a repeat of the previous investor and the way they have destroyed my company. This is a safe and secure way for us to take our time and to wait for good things to come instead of grabbing it too early and ruining it before it can even come into fruition.
At least people have begun to join the health project once again. Those who stayed were awarded higher levels for cheaper prices as a thank you for their loyalty during these hard times. They are also the ones who deserve recognition for saving the company. They are the ones who kept this company and its message of good alive and well.
The numbers, which were once in the low thousands, has now reached the hundreds of thousands and is growing by the day. The growth is slow, yes, but it is the least of our worries and is the reason why we are coming to work every single day.
I feel steady in my job again. I do not feel as if there is a target on my back anymore nor do I feel as if I am a pariah who will be paraded down the hallways, a man to be seen as a cautionary tale, an Icarus who flew too close to the sun.
I stare at the numbers on my computer screen, receiving the numbers from the IT department as they come in. The company just rolled out a new wave of accepting new customers. We had to fix our servers after the check bounced with the old company, so adjusting has been taking some time but I would not have it any other way.
Stella is the reason why there is a smile on my face these days. She is the reason why I am able to bring myself out of bed and turn all of my attention to my job instead of worrying about frivolous things such as my broken relationship with her, with Clara, and I am able to focus on my mother’s recovery. She is the reason why I feel lighter in the morning, that I can take my time instead of rushing to beat out a competitor in the same field.
It is because of Stella that I am able to feel happy again and live without constantly looking over my shoulder in preparation for the worst to happen.
Should I reach out to her? Will she accept my words with open arms instead of pushing me away, shutting me out, from the light of her attention?
No…Stella will not appreciate me reaching out. She will see this as me crossing a line and breaking a boundary that she has set by ending things with me. If I do this, I will lose her forever and I…I simply cannot lose her.
I want to keep her eyes in my life. I do not care how long it is I have to wait to see them in person again, but I will wait. She is worth waiting for.
I will not press things with her. She obviously needs to take things at her own pace, on her own time, and when she is ready, then I will be too.
I feel steady in my career again. I feel steady in my life even though I leave work to go to an empty home that has no life on the inside of it.
I am relieved to still have my job as my pharmaceutical company’s CEO. It is a blessing that only an angel could have bestowed upon me. I just can’t help but feel, though, as if something is missing.
Is it the empty space beside me in bed? Is it the lack of laughter and warmth in the kitchen when I come home from work? Could it possibly be the woman who has been so adamant in leaving me that once her vision came true, it has left a hollow feeling in my heart?
I miss her. I miss her so god damn much. If I could turn back time, to rewind the clock, I would do it in a heartbeat. I would show Stella that I am the good man that she once loved, because she did love me, right?
She was the person who filled the hollowness of my chest and I took her for granted. Now all I can do is sit back and watch as she lives her life without me.
