3 | Office, Waffles & Three Blasts
(Edited)

A week just flew by in the blink of an eye. It was the most relaxing and the laziest day of Naavah's life. Earlier, when she was busy preparing for the exams and the final projects, she planned on doing everything she was missing out on. In the morning, Naavah woke up late, had breakfast in bed, and then watched Friends in a marathon with a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows. That moment, Naavah felt most peaceful in months. Nothing could be any more peaceful than this.

In between her peaceful days, sometimes she thought about why she didn't take Drake's number or mainly why he didn't ask her for it. He was... What did Ayana always say? Uh... a potential boyfriend. It was high time, Naavah was involved with someone. She only had one boyfriend before, where it didn't go well. It was a young love, and just when the guy got what he wanted from her, he started looking for another girl. She was a bet for him to fuck, and Naavah found out the truth about him in a very harsh way. Till now Naavah felt like a fool when she thought about the guy. How she gave her virtue to a guy like him. He didn't even deserve to take her virginity.

But then again, with Friends and hot chocolates, the past regrets faded away.

It is said nothing stays forever. That also went with her peace. Naavah's father was constantly asking her to join him to acquire expertise. And also because she was the only heir. He was tired of telling her again and again. And when she didn't listen to him, he finally used his last weapon. The old man threatened her and announced that he will look for a better candidate to sell out the entire company because he was getting old...

... That was how she lost her precious peacefulness.

Then finally, on a fine morning, Naavah put an end to her peaceful days and decided to join her father in his office. It was high time. She knew her dad will seriously consider selling the company if she didn't join him promptly. So, she woke up early in the morning, which she hated, to be honest. Indeed, one couldn't get everything in life that they wanted, right?

Naavah took a quick shower and opened her walk-in closet to look for something formal to wear. After searching for about ten minutes, she found a cute red-white floral dress. The dress came to her knee, and it was clinging to her hourglass figure perfectly. Though it accentuated her front and back, it also did a good job covering her heavy breasts. It was pretty strenuous to cover a full figure like her, and just because of that, sometimes she envied slimmer girls who could just wear whatever they liked. She finished with a red suede stiletto.

Then she took her red Porsche and then, summoning up courage, she started for her first day at the office. Naavah has been to her father's office many times before, but today was different. It was going to be her first day in her professional career. The forty-storied building was a spectacular modern architecture, and her dad's office is on the highest floor. As she was the daughter of the CEO, everyone in the reception knew her. Naavah's dad's receptionist Lucy greeted her with a gigantic smile.

"Hello, Ms. Wood! We don't get to see you much now. How are you?" The lady looked happy to see her.

"Hello, Lucy! I am fine. Don't worry... Hopefully, you are going to see me a lot more than before now," Naavah replied enthusiastically.

"That's great!"

"Yeah... I am joining the company today and am very excited to work with all of you!"

"Wow! Welcome, Ms. Wood. I hope you enjoy your journey here."

"Hopefully. And please call me Naavah. See you soon, Lucy!"

"See you soon, Naavah!" she smiled at her genuinely.

There was a lift for her father's use and another for the rest of the employees. She took the other lift today. Why not? Today, she was not here as his daughter but as one of his employees. It took her some time to reach the highest level. The journey was a little awkward because of the way guys were glancing at her. She tried to not give them any glances and chose to ignore them.

Then finally, when she reached the floor where her father's office was, Naavah found Jade, her father's personal secretary. She noticed Naavah and greeted her with a gigantic smile and a big hug.

"Naavah, darling. Long time no see. How are you, dear?" as she was Mr. Wood's personal secretory, Jade was familiar to everyone at their home.

"I am fine, Jade. How are you and your children?"

"We are fine, dear. Thanks for asking. Tell me why you are so late? Your dad is expecting you for so long. He even decorated an entire office room for you!"

"Oh! I didn't know about that. I was just taking a break after graduation. Don't worry. I hope to join you today. Where is dad? Is he in the office?" thinking of her father's enthusiasm, Naavah felt a little guilty and sad for not joining earlier.

"Yes... yes... Go on. He will be delighted to see you, dear."

"Okay, thanks, Jade."

Naavah took a deep breath and knocked on the door of her father's room. After getting her father's signal, she went inside.

Let's just say her father was elated to see her. The old man was grinning like a kid. He tugged her hand to lead to another room on the same floor. Naavah was totally amazed by what she saw. He decorated the entire room for his daughter. Now she really understood why her dad was persuading her to join him. Today was the big day for him.

The room was so beautiful!

It was so elegant, and Naavah couldn't wait to work there. Everything was white, the desk was sky blue, and the furniture was baby yellow. So beautifully matched with the environment! She hugged her dad, thanking him for giving her this great opportunity and a magnificent workstation.

He then introduced Naavah to everyone who will work with her in the future. She started her first day at work after getting all her necessary information after conducting a short meeting with them. By the time she was finished, it was almost lunchtime. So Naavah decided to have lunch before she started working again. There were very few people on her floor at that hour. Everyone was busy having lunch, she assumed.

Heading towards the canteen, the delicious smell of waffles caught her nose. She decided to have them for lunch. The canteen in her father's company has always been one of the perks of working there. When she was ordering some chocolate waffles, someone cleared his throat beside her to grab her attention. Looking at him, Naavah gasped!

Oh god! She totally forgot about him!

Drake Williams!

Soon after processing the surprise, Naavah greeted him with a grin on her face.

"Hi!"

"Hey!" he had a huge grin on his face as well.

"So I assume you got the job," Naavah smiled.

"I remember saying I had very high hopes to work with your father," he smirked.

"Yeah... yeah. So you are in Accounts, right?"

"Yes... And you? I assume you also joined here already."

They chatted while walking towards a table. After both of them took their seat, Naavah told him about her job, and it was her first day at the office. Drake was thrilled. With a mischievous smile, he said, "It's great to know someone at work from before, and that also so beautiful." saying that, he winked at her.

To be honest, Drake also couldn't stop thinking about her since that night.

"Hey! Stop coquetting, okay? I will not fall for your trap!" Naavah teased.

"Oh really, Cherry? I didn't even start trying. If I start now, you won't be able to help yourself," she just rolled her eyes at his words.

"I call you Cheesy Cheese buns for a reason," she smiled.

He laughed at that and playfully put his hands up as surrender.

After, they changed their topic and started talking about various random areas. Drake was a great guy to spend time with. His sense of humor, teasing, jokes, and knowledge is simply marvelous. And Naavah absolutely enjoyed the time.

They decided to have lunch every day together, and they did. For the next few weeks, Naavah and Drake spent a lot of time together. As he was a great person to spend time with, Naavah sometimes met him after office hours and met each other's friends. Sometimes they also went to clubs together with a bunch of friends, including Ross and Ayana. Her friends also liked Drake. Well, there was nothing not to like about him. Drake was actually a great person.

Naavah knew he has a bit of different intention towards her. His good night messages and morning greetings were some of the reasons.

Even Naavah also felt that she should finally give someone a chance, too. And Drake felt safe for her heart.

• • ● ● ♣ ● ● • •

Days passed by. Eventually, Naavah started to love working with her father. She worked very hard on her designs for him. Her father was also working with some other big shot companies, and she started accompanying him in some of those meetings. That's how Naavah was learning step by step about the corporate world from her father.

Then, one day her father asked Naavah to accompany him to a meeting with his good old friend, Mr. Carl Marx, the owner of the Marx Corporations. Her father and Mr. Marx were close friends for long enough. Naavah hasn't met Mr. and Mrs. Marx for so long. They used to come to their place when Naavah was young. Mr. Marx was a great man who she admired a lot. They have a son who they talked so much about. Once she even saw him in her childhood, he was too cute at that age, but he talked so little. Since childhood, he preferred to be in his own little world rather than with people. And with time moving on, she never had the chance to meet him again. Because when they grew up, that time he has been studying in a different state for years. But as Naavah admired his parents so much, she assumed their son was just as wonderful as them.

Only if she knew.

So she accompanied with dad to the meeting. The moment Mr. Marx saw her, the old man was thrilled.

"Oh, my dear child! I haven't seen you for almost 2 years! You have grown up to be so beautiful, my dear!" he gave a fatherly hug to her.

It also delighted Naavah to see him too. He was always kind towards Naavah since her childhood and loved her as a father. She smiled, saying, "Yeah! It has been so long, but you have not changed a little, uncle. Looks like you are getting younger with time."

Mr. Marx Chuckled and said, "You always know just what to say, my child," and then looking at her father, he continued, "Such a beautiful and smart daughter you have. You must be a proud father."

Naavah could swear she saw pride in her father's smile.

They talked for a while, and when everybody else arrived, the meeting started. There was a deal to settle between Wood's and Marx's companies. As they have Hotel chains and Wood's have home appliances, it was beneficial for both the companies.

After they concluded the deal, Mr. Marx spent some time with Naavah. He showed interest in Naavah's designs, and she displayed him some portfolios. He loved the designs so much that he offered her to design a hotel he was thinking about building in Bali. Marx's had a huge hotel chain, and their next project was in Bali. She was happy to accept that offer, even though she had to attend a meeting before that. Her father was also satisfied with the decision.

After a month from that meeting, it was one regular night when Naavah reached home after visiting Ay at a cafe who, by the way, broke up with Ross already. Just when she entered the living room, Naavah found Mr. and Mrs. Marx sitting there with her parents. It looked like they were in some serious discussion. Seeing them, Naavah slowly entered the room. All the eyes were on her at once when they felt her presence. Naavah smiled and greeted them and then went to the couch to sit beside the guests.

After she talked to them for like ten minutes, they exploded the bomb they were waiting the entire evening to blast. Mr. Marx told her with so much affection in his eyes, "Child, last day when I saw you in the conference room, I felt like I saw a daughter in you. You were like a daughter we never had. And I... No no... We really want you to become our daughter officially," the entire time he was talking, he held his wife's hand in a tight grip.

Naavah felt dumb and couldn't comprehend what he was actually saying momentarily. Rather she assured him with a smile, "Uncle, I am your daughter. What could a daughter do that I can't? I will always love and respect you and aunt as a daughter if you would let me."

"You don't understand, dear. We don't want you to treat us like family. We want you to be our family. There is nothing I could ask for more," then, taking in a deep breath, he finally revealed, "We want you to marry our son."

Naavah was so surprised and frozen that she literally couldn't utter a single word. Her whole surrounding was spinning. Oh, fuck! She even forgot how to breathe! She couldn't believe what they just said to her. So all she could do was to keep looking at them with wide, shocked eyes.

"Child, please say something. Your reply means everything to us, dear. Trust me," Mrs. Marx was getting anxious.

"H-how can I just get married? I had no plans just yet and.... and ...and I have never met your son. How can I just m-marry him! And....and w-why me?" Naavah stuttered out of nervousness.

"We know that's a lot we are asking from you, dear, but our son Ian will love you as much as we do. Trust us. Once he knows you, once he sees what we see, he will definitely fall in love with you," Mrs. Marx was pleading with her eyes.

"Yeah... Naavah. We were always searching for a girl like you to settle our son, now that he doesn't want to do it himself. Please consider our proposal dear," Mr. Marx was also getting worried about Naavah's reaction.

Naavah still couldn't say anything and looked at her parents instead. They looked at her with eyes, which clearly told Naavah that she should make the final decision herself. They will support her in whatever decision she made.

"A-And, I have little time, dear. Only a few months... Or a year, probably. I won't be here after that with you all. I... I have cancer. But my son doesn't know it just yet. He is too serious about his parents and gets worried too easily. Besides, there is so much he has to settle before I die, so I can't pressurize him with the news. I will tell him about my sickness, eventually. But before I die, I want to see him with someone holding hands, looking lovingly at each other. But that will not happen anytime soon if you don't agree with the proposal. He is losing his path," Mr. Marx dropped the second bomb of the day. He looked so upset... So vulnerable that Naavah's eyes started to tear. He couldn't die! Not just yet!

She just listened to him with tears falling freely from her eyes. Naavah didn't realize when she started crying, but she felt so bad for that old man that her heart was clenching in pain.

In her mind, there was a tornado going on... About their son, she has never seen him, met him, know nothing about him as he was always an introvert in nature, and then studied in a different state. On the other hand, he also didn't know a single thing about Naavah. How could they be a good match for each other? Love each other? Get happily married to each other? How was it even possible? Will it be a good decision? How so?

What about Drake? She was positive there was something between them. But this old man... Looking at Mr. Marx, Naavah couldn't look over the fact about how unhappy she was feeling. She was truly hurting for him. He had always loved her so much. And now, at this dire time of his life, he wanted nothing other than his son getting married. Drake and Naavah were just starting. They never even confessed to each other about their liking. She didn't even know the feeling was love or not from her side.

Well... She has to get married, eventually. If she married someone of her or her family's choice, there was never a guarantee for a happy life. She might or might not be happy there. And now, if she got married to their son, she might be happy, or maybe not. It was like a gamble. There was never a guarantee in life. People always have to take chances and believe that God will give us the perfect reward on time.

She looked at Mr. and Mrs. Marx again. Both of them were clasping each other's hand and... crying.

Naavah couldn't take it anymore. She always knew her heart was soft enough for a family, but she never knew she could take the life-changing decision just because of this freaking sensitive heart.

So she said...

...Yes.

She said 'Yes' to them.

They were so glad that they cried, this time happy tears falling freely from their eyes. Her parents also seemed pleased with her decision. After all, the friends are now going to be family. And with the fact that she was accepting Mr. Marx's proposal in the current dreadful situation. Her parents thought Marx's son should be a brilliant partner for their daughter. Mr. Marx was a nobleman, and none of them expected anything less from his son.

Then...

They dropped the last bomb.

"And you have to give this marriage proper value and try. You can't back out from the marriage unless you complete one year. That's the contract you have to sign, my dear."

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