Chapter 21: Rusty wheel starts to spin

Rica felt tremors in her heart, small shots of pain inside. But then perhaps that will no longer change. Dave is her first love anyway. So it's just expected that she would still feel a little of what I used to.

"You're OK?" asked Uncle Sam

"Yeah...I am fine Uncle." said Rica, smiling at her Uncle.

"You don't look shaken after seeing him" said Uncle Sam

Rica held her Uncle's hand "It's been three years Uncle, three years of learning to accept what was not meant to be and being content of what I have." said Rica.

"Well… If you put it that way…"

"On the other hand, I will talk to your doctor. I will make sure that you recover as soon as possible." said Rica.

"The doctor said it's just fatigue." said Uncle Sam.

"At your age, fatigue is not 'just fatigue'" said Rica

Uncle Sam missed his niece. The twice a year visit with her in New York was always not enough. He would always long for Rica. He wondered how someone who is missing Rica for the past three years survived without once seeing her.

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When Rica saw her Uncle sleeping, she took her bag to leave. She needed to sleep. Her head had already started to hurt due to the timezone difference. She hasn't gotten enough sleep since she learned of Uncle Sam's hospitalization.

Rica left the room quietly. When she reached the exit of the building, she was surprised to see Dave. What time is it? It had been around seven to eight hours since he left with Carl earlier, isn't it? Why is he here?

Dave saw Rica approaching and he still felt like his legs lost some muscles.

"Hi." greeted Dave.

"Hi… You returned here. Is there someone else you're visiting?" asked Rica

"Umm, Well… I did not return… I mean… I was here all the while. I wanted to talk to you." said Dave

That made Rica uncomfortable, if it wasn't enough seeing the man you don't want to have anything to do with.

"Oh. You should've just gone back to your office. It's really late to be waiting here. And I could've stayed with Uncle until tomorrow morning, so you might have been waiting for nothing." said Rica

"It didn't matter if I get to talk to you today or not. I just wanted to wait. Um…You're going home?" asked Dave

Rica was confused. He was going to wait here even if he was not sure she's going home tonight?

"Yes, I need to rest. I haven't slept in two days." said Rica

"Oh, alright, you're right. You need to rest. I can drop you off." said Dave

"Oh, no need. I can just call the driver." said Rica

"You will have to wait here for a long time. Let me drop you off. I mean, I insist." said Dave.

Rica can't say No anymore, she just doesn't have the energy to argue.

It was hard not to fall asleep while Dave was driving, but Rica tried not to.

"What did you do in New York?" asked Dave. "Were you there the entire three years?"

"The first two years, I studied Masters. And then I worked for FlyAir in our small headquarters there." said Rica

"That's good. You liked working for FlyAir?" asked Dave

"Yeah…I like it. Since I know everything was for what Dad and Uncle worked hard for, everything I did felt valuable." said Rica.

"I wonder why you never tried working with other companies." asked Dave

"Oh, I did SkyRock for a while right?" said Rica

"I mean not as an intern but as a regular employee." said Dave "It's good to see other company's systems and reapply whatever you learned from them."

"Oh that." Rica can't suppress a yawn. "I…thought about it…but I figured I want to learn FlyAir fast. Uncle was frequently getting sick…" Rica's eyes were closing. "I want…to...help himmmm."

Dave looked at Rica. She fell asleep.

He stopped in front of Rica's house but he did not wake her up immediately. He wanted to savour this moment. He doesn't know when he can get this close to her again.

When Dave felt Rica had slept for a couple minutes, He pressed the doorbell by the gate. Gene opened the door for him.

"Dave? It's you." said Gene.

"Gene. You're also back." said Dave

"Yes. You've seen Rica?" asked Gene

"Yes, She's in my car, sleeping." said Dave

Gene looked at Rica peacefully sleeping inside Dave's car.

"She had a rough week at work. And then Samuel got hospitalized." said Gene "If not for what happened to Samuel, it may still take years before we get back here."

"I can't say I'm happy that Samuel got sick. But I'm happy to see you both back." said Dave.

"I know…I know you are." Gene squeezed Dave's arm

Dave gave Gene a meaningful smile.

"There were a lot of things that happened. I am glad that you're still a good man after all these years." said Gene

"I might not be as nice as I was before." said Dave

"But you still take care of her. And that means not much had change, right?" Gene tried to search Dave's eyes for the answer. And it didn't take long for Gene to see it. The way he glanced at Rica, the way his eyes would get wet and blink a few times to prevent the tears from falling… it tells Gene everything that words can't say.

"No matter how much had changed in business, I'm glad that your heart did not change much. As for my Rica, she had it rough…" said Gene "C'mon let's wake her up. She needs to lie down on her bed."

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Rica woke up early the next day. She had to be in the hospital before Uncle wakes up. It was still a bit dark when she went out. She was surprised when someone called her name from behind her. When she turned around, it was Dave.

"You…Why are you here so early? Did you ever go home?" asked Rica

"Yeah, I did. But I can't sleep. So I decided to just wait for you here." said Dave

"OK."

This is getting a bit creepy.

"What do you need from me?" asked Rica

"Umm…I want to talk to you." Said Dave

"Oh, yes, you said something about that last night. But I think I fell as sleep." said Rica "I'm sorry about that. But then, I'm in a hurry now. I need to be in the hospital before Uncle wakes up."

"Do you want me to take you there?" asked Dave

"Oh…You already did too much yesterday. I don't want to treat you as a chauffeur when you are in fact our business partner." said Rica

"I don't mind." said Dave

"Mr. Lopez, I'm glad that you want to help our family this much. But I don't want to cause any trouble." said Rica. And then she hurriedly walked away.

Dave caught up with Rica and grabbed her arm

"Why are you calling me like that?" asked Dave with a strong look in his eyes.

"Like…what?" asked Rica

"Mr. Lopez?" said Dave

"Oh but You are Mr. Lopez, right? Did you suddenly change your surname?" said Rica, trying to out humor in her voice. Things are getting too awkward. "Look, you are now a CEO. And I am now a business partner. Formalities are necessary."

Dave was feeling sheer pain with how cold Rica was treating him now. Why? Why was she going farther and farther away from him?

"I better get going, see you around." said Rica

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Rica went to the hospital to find that Uncle Sam was already awake. She took care of everything that Uncle Sam needed. When it was almost lunch, Uncle Sam wanted to eat ramen. And so Rica went out to buy him one. But on her way out of the hospital, she saw Carl.

"Mr. Cox?" asked Rica

"Hi!" Carl greeted her smiling "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to buy lunch for me and Uncle." said Rica

"But there's food here right?" asked Carl

"This is a special request. Don't worry, I asked the doctor what he can't eat so that I can avoid buying something that's bad for his health." said Rica

"Do you want me to accompany you?"

"Umm…"

"Don't think about it, because I won't take no for an answer." said Carl

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"I heard Dave tried to talk to you yesterday." said Carl while driving.

"Huh? He told you?" asked Rica

"No. I went to his house to ask him to sign something. But then he was out. I kind of just thought he went to see you." said Carl "I mean he would want you two to get time to catch up."

Rica sighed.

"He wanted to talk. But I just don't think there's anything to talk about." said Rica

"Really? Wow…I never expected that answer." said Carl

"Why?" asked Rica

"I just feel that when you left three years ago, there were a lot of questions. There were a lot of drama around." said Carl.

"But those are all in the past. The answers to the questions should not be important anymore." said Rica.

Carl doesn't want to say things that only Dave had the right to say. But Rica's easy dismissal of the past will surely hurt Dave. Carl still likes Rica. But he had long tried to forget the way he felt. When Rica had an accident with Di, Carl promised that if Rica survives, he will help ensure that Rica and Dave gets the happiness they deserve. And Rica survived. He wasn't able to do anything for his best friend at that time. He had to move on from her.

But Rica left.

And he can only listen to Dave whenever Dave wanted to wallow on his loneliness.

"I still hope that you could talk. Dave, he…he has a lot of things to say." said Carl.

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Nina called Rica up to tell her that she needed to meet with one of FlyAir's Vice Presidents since Samuel can't accept meetings right now. Rica knows how FlyAir works. She will help make sure that Samuel gets the rest he deserves. So she went to meet the Vice President.

"Rica Dear, it's been a long time!" The old lady Vice President hugged Rica.

"Auntie Ann. I am happy to be back" said Rica

"I am so happy to see you, especially now that Samuel is always sick." said Ann. " I'll go straight to the point, Dear. The rumor is spreading. We are losing market share since clients do not trust FlyAir to last longer than five years if Samuel retires. They are already thinking that the retirement will happen soon."

That sounded a lot worse than Rica expected.

"What steps have already been done?" asked Rica

"We tried to control media. But soon, everything will be too crazy for us to control." said Ann "We started submitting large proposals to every company we know. They have all declined except for SkyRock. It is the only company which is large enough to accommodate the contract. But with the rumors, nobody can say if they'll accept."

Rica took a deep breath.

SkyRock.

"In the meantime, you need to attend a party tonight. Your Uncle was supposed to be there since it's the party of one of our biggest stockholders." said Ann.

"I can ask my Mom to stay with Uncle. I will attend that party, Auntie. Don't worry." said Rica, giving off a reassuring smile.

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Dave doesn't like parties but he had to be there. Ignoring the invitation would cause business damage. When Dave came, reporters flooded his way. But even when people were blocking his way, he still saw a familiar face walking into the room.

Rica. Beautiful Rica.

Rica was wearing a formal dress in white. She looks like an angel.

Rica noticed the group of reporters and doesn't want them to notice her. She can't afford being asked how FlyAir and her Uncle were doing. She went in immediately only to see Dave's parents. It stopped her feet from moving.

"Uncle…Auntie, Hi." said Rica

Andres and his wife could not believe their eyes. It's Rica Spencer.

"Rica? Wow…I can't believe it." said Andres. "You are back."

Andres's wife only smiled stiffly at Rica and Rica felt something was wrong.

Dave found his way in and immediately looked for Rica. When he found Rica talking to his parents, he quickly went to them.

"I see you saw my parents." said Dave

"Yeah…I did." said Rica. "I'm glad to see them again."

"We should grab a seat."

Dave immediately took Rica's arm and pulled Rica to sit on a nearby table beside him.

"You don't have a specific table to go yet, right?" asked Dave

"Umm…yeah…" said Rica awkwardly. She did not exactly want to sit anywhere near Dave.

A couple and a woman sat on the same table and had been looking curiously at both of them.

"Hi, I'm Rica of FlyAir. Have we met before?" asked Rica, when she can't bear the scrutiny anymore.

"I don't think so. It's just that you both look familiar." said the woman

"Magazines? Papers? I'm David Lopez, I'm SkyRock's CEO." said Dave.

"Oh yes! You're that famous CEO." said the other.

"I think Mr. Lopez is quite popular here in San Francisco. That's why he's familiar." said Rica

"Umm...But you also look familiar" said the man

"Oh really? I assure you that I am not at all famous." said Rica

"Oh! I remember now! You both…you were in a photo, no video, in the papers a few years back!" said the woman

Rica thought nobody will remember that anymore. It's been three years! Why would they still remember that.

"I saw your video uploaded online. I watched that over and over. That was the most romantic kiss I've ever seen." said the woman.

This is so embarrassing! Rica wanted to disappear! Rica can only smile a bit and look at Dave. Dave felt really awkward…how will they get out of this topic?

"You were engaged right? Shortly after that incident, your engagement was announced." Said the man

Rica can't listen to this anymore.

"But I did not hear a wedding. You've been engaged for a long time now, isn't it?" said the other woman.

"No." said Rica "We broke the engagement three years ago."

Dave knows Rica was just stating a fact. But her words still pierced through his chest.

"The engagement was only for a business partnership. Everybody thought a wedding between our companies was the best course of action. But we realized that there's no need for that. And look at where we are now." said Rica

Rica looked at Dave "Everything turned out for the better, right?" said Rica

Dave could not think of a word to say. Better? How can she even think that it would turn out for the better?

"SkyRock is on top of the industry now." said Rica

"That doesn't mean everything is well" thought Dave. His blood was boiling in anger. This woman…Is she throwing away everything that ever happened between them?

"That's a pity…You two looked really good together. And that kiss, It looked so sincere." said the woman

"It doesn't mean that the engagement was broken then, it ends there right? As long as both of us are still alive, the story can still continue." said Dave

Rica's eyes widened in shock with what she heard Dave was say. Was he giving these people false hope? Was he giving them a chance to gossip and spread rumors about them?

Dave stood up.

"If you will excuse me I need to greet some people."

And Dave left the table leaving Rica infuriated.

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Dave saw Rica's angry eyes and could not help but remember that time when he forced her to get in his car and brought her to his Villa. Dave chuckled. The story is not yet over…He will make sure of it.

Dave called up the company lawyer. "Let's talk about the proposal FlyAir submitted to us. I need all the shareholders in a meeting tomorrow."

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Dave would only accept one decision in this shareholder's meeting. And if he had to be a dictator, he would.

"It's not a good decision to partner with FlyAir. They are going down. There is no benefit for us." said one of the shareholders.

"I agree. Samuel Spencer will not be there anymore." said another

"Samuel Spencer is sick that's true. But he is still very sharp. He's still doing great." said Dave

"But people are not confident on that anymore." Said another shareholder

"His niece is back. She did a great job in their New York office. I'm pretty sure she's now preparing to replace her Uncle." said the Lawyer

"What if Samuel gets sicker than he is now? That niece only got back. She will not have enough time to learn." said another shareholder

"I worked with her before, she learns really quickly and she's very good at what she does. She's a competent person." said Dave

"But FlyAir might be too big for her. How old is she…twenty-six? A twenty-six year old CEO, what can she do?" said another share holder

"I became a CEO when I was thirty, not a big age gap." said Dave "Look here. I can give you two options. One is that we don't help them, let them fall on their own. Let's not get involved and let's continue to grow. But what does that mean for us? That means we're doomed. Everyone knows FlyAir was the only company who trusted us three years ago when nobody else would believe we will still survive. If we ever get into a tight situation in the future, do you think anyone would care to help us knowing we won't help them if they end up falling?"

Everyone was silent for a moment

"Plus, we can be sure that writers will publish stories of how we do not show any amount of gratitude towards FlyAir. We will look like we betrayed a friend in need. Bad publicity like that can ruin us." said Dave

Dave looked around and saw the wheels turning.

"Or we have the second option. We help them, I'll sign the contract. We'll be held back for a few months. We will lose some of our sales for a while. But we will recover it after a year. And if FlyAir does well, we will have a strong partnership. We will be the biggest company in our industry." said Dave.

Dave can see the eyes of the shareholders and he knows he got them.

"Now I don't want to be a dictator here…You know me, I want to give you a voice. So let's vote?" asked Dave

"Wait a minute. How can we make sure that they will honour all their commitments?" asked an old shareholder "We've been through this in the past. How can we be sure that they won't run away from us?"

"You mean we need to bind them. That's a good point. Any suggestion?" asked Dave

"Marriage. That will bind them long term" answered the Lawyer

Everyone seemed to agree.

Dave smiled when the result of the voting was announced. The story will still continue thought Dave and he can't help but be excited.