"Let's go."
Arthur found himself staring blankly at Natalia as she held the front door open for him. A faint, knowing smile tugged at the corner of her lips, and her right eyebrow lifted in quiet amusement at the sight of his flushed face and visibly trembling lips.
"Ah… thank you."
Arthur stepped out of the car and followed her inside, waiting as she closed the heavy door behind them. He absentmindedly counted the seconds it took her to turn around, his eyes tracking her smooth, deliberate movements with far more intensity than necessary.
"Oh, you guys are back!" Kelly greeted them warmly from the kitchen.
Seizing the distraction, Arthur slipped away from Natalia almost immediately. He fell into a cheerful, easy conversation with Kelly, feeling the oppressive residue of his workday nerves finally begin to melt away.
"Oh, so you ran into Jax? Aaah!" Kelly laughed, shaking her head. "She did tell me she bought way too much asparagus. Apparently, absolutely no one else in that house likes it, so she's been forcing herself through every single recipe in her cookbook. She didn't mention she was gifting a batch to you, though. Then again, you wouldn't eat it anyway."
Arthur offered a guilty, boyish smile and handed over the insulated food bag Jax had given him.
On the other side of the living room, however, the father and daughter sat together on the sofa. Their somber expressions stood in stark, silent contrast to the lively kitchen chatter.
"It was a good decision for you to visit the branch office without warning," Kevin murmured, rubbing his forehead as a heavy, profound exhaustion settled into his voice. "I trusted them blindly, Natalia…"
"It's understandable, Dad. They've been with you since the very beginning," Natalia said gently, trying to offer some semblance of comfort. "Who could have predicted they would turn out like this?"
Kevin only shook his head, releasing a long, weary sigh that seemed to age him by a decade. "So, what's your play now?"
"I fired three people today," Natalia replied flatly, her eyes hardening. "The main storage manager and two project leads from the secondary developments."
"Good." Kevin nodded slowly, slouching back into the cushions, one hand resting heavily over his eyes. "That was the right call. You need to be firm. They'll understand the gravity of it now."
For the first time in her life, Natalia looked at her father and realized he looked old.
She understood his disappointment all too well. The people currently holding the highest positions in the company were the very same ones who had stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Kevin when he built the empire from nothing. He had believed their loyalty was an unshakeable, permanent fixture. He had believed in them.
That was precisely why it made her blood boil to witness how shamelessly they had abused his authority, neglecting their basic responsibilities and bleeding company resources dry.
Natalia hadn't even officially introduced herself as the successor when she arrived at the branch, and she was already bearing witness to the staggering audacity of the management staff.
Right in front of her in the main lobby, an older project manager had been screaming at his subordinates. Two young women stood before him in tears, their shoulders shaking with humiliation. The tirade might have been somewhat justified if not for the bitter truth Natalia unearthed seconds later: the women had completed the entire project flawlessly on their own, completely devoid of the manager's supervision. He hadn't considered the account important or urgent, until it was finalized, at which point it suddenly failed to meet his arbitrary "personal standards."
It was utterly ridiculous.
As she dug deeper into the local databases, the chaos only multiplied. Projects delayed for months without explanation. Poorly executed construction hastily stitched together at the eleventh hour just to clear administrative deadlines.
Her father had spent years praising his colleagues, genuinely believing they were a tight-knit family of loyal employees. In reality, they were a parasitic network shielding one another, smiling warmly to Kevin's face while systematically downplaying catastrophic systemic failures.
And when they realized Natalia wasn't a naive girl they could easily manipulate, the resentment poured out. She had already endured whispered complaints about her "inexperience" and backhanded remarks about how she wasn't ready to lead, all because she dared to question their glaring failures.
Excuses came easily to cowards.
It was no surprise, then, that the entire atmosphere of the corporate office had shifted the moment the long-standing senior manager, someone profoundly close to her father, was terminated on the spot. Fear had rippled through the departments like wildfire.
Yet, beneath the panic, Natalia had noticed something else.
Relief.
Many of the lower-level employees looked genuinely, profoundly happy to see those toxic figures escorted from the building. There was still an immense amount of damage to repair, she knew that. But she would dismantle it piece by piece, ensuring the foundation was poured correctly this time.
She only hoped her father wouldn't regret placing the weight of his legacy into her hands.
"I trust you, Natalia," Kevin said softly, breaking her out of her thoughts as he patted her shoulder. Pride gleamed in his tired eyes. Deep down, he knew he had been far too lenient, even when the cracks had started becoming visible. Perhaps his daughter would succeed precisely where his kindness had faltered.
"Shall we have lunch now?"
Kelly's cheerful voice sliced through the heavy room, instantly dispersing the corporate gloom. The family nodded, migrating to the dining table to eat a quiet meal before eventually retreating to their respective rooms for the afternoon.
Arthur spent the next hour at his desk, meticulously grading his students' workbooks, while Natalia buried herself back in the digital labyrinth of company files. Both worked in a comfortable, focused silence, immersed in their separate worlds.
Arthur finished his tasks first. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms, and wondered what to do with his sudden free time.
Should I go see Natalia? Aunt Kelly is probably watching TV, and Uncle Kevin must be with her…
A quick glance out his bedroom door confirmed his suspicions. The older couple was nestled close together on the sofa, their fingers intimately intertwined as they quietly watched an old romantic drama on the television.
Sigh… absolutely no mercy for single people in this house, Arthur thought automatically, shaking his head with a wry smile.
Then, he paused.
Single?
He blinked, a sudden, electric realization short-circuiting his brain. Who exactly was single?
He wasn't single anymore. In fact, no one in this house was single anymore.
A massive, helpless grin spread across his face, lighting up his features.
I am dating, he realized, a soft, giddy laugh escaping his throat. Hehe…
Fueled by a sudden burst of confidence, Arthur walked across the hall to Natalia's door. He knocked softly, his knuckles hesitant against the wood.
Before his hand could even fall back to his side, the door swung open. Natalia stood there, her eyes bright and intense, her hand already reaching out to wrap firmly around his wrist.
Arthur laughed softly as she effortlessly pulled him into the room, closing the door behind him. They sat down together on the edge of her mattress, her hand remaining firmly clasped in his.
"Oh… w-were you working?" Arthur stammered, his eyes darting to the half-open manila folders and the glowing laptop screen spread across her desk. A sudden wave of anxiety hit him. "Did I interrupt you?"
"No," Natalia murmured, her voice dropping to that low, smooth register that always made his pulse jump. "I was only doing that until you decided to come over."
Arthur's cheeks burned a furious crimson. A wave of profound comfort washed over him, though a tiny, lingering hint of nervous excitement still fluttered in his chest.
"M-maybe… you could come to my room too, sometime…" he murmured shyly, his eyes dropping to his lap.
Natalia chuckled warmly. Instead of answering verbally, she gently shifted her grip, intertwining her fingers perfectly with his. Both of them looked down at their joined hands, the quiet rhythm of the afternoon amplified by the synchronized racing of their hearts.
"Then I'll visit you soon," she promised.
Arthur nodded, a peaceful, heavy silence stretching comfortably between them. He didn't want to speak anymore. The need for words completely evaporated, replaced by an overwhelming desire for this exact moment.
Their hands locked together. Her radiating warmth. The quiet, undisturbed closeness.
It would be even better if we could hug, Arthur thought wistfully.
He had almost no experience with romantic relationships, and he certainly didn't understand the psychological nuances of love languages. But as he sat there, feeling the steady brush of her skin against his, he realized what his was.
Touch.
It didn't need to be anything intensely physical or dirty. Just this. The simple grounding weight of holding her hand. The quiet peace of being near her.
It's so incredibly comfortable…