Lost

~There is something people always seem to forget; God is always watching.~

Two little kids, age twelve and ten, walked side by side down an almost deserted dirt road in the cold night.

The rags they were wearing clung unto them like a second skin, they were just skin and bones. As they walked down the deserted road, their eyes caught a small reflection of the moonlight and it turned out it was from the windows of an old small house, it seemed abandoned.

"Come on, let's go Julie." The older beckoned to the younger sister.

"No, it's too scary. Please, can we find another place to stay?"

"There isn't any other place Julie, you don't have to be scared, I'm right here. I'll protect you, I promise."

"O-okay." She said unsure.

So, they moved towards the abandoned house, and as they moved towards it, it seemed more scary, menacing even.

Soon enough, they were inside. Seemed like the owner must have left in a hurry as some of the furniture were still intact. The place was very dusty and eery but they didn't mind as they laid on the floor side by side to sleep.

It was almost completely dark except for the little moonlight which got in through the cracks of the roof of the room they were in.

"I'm hungry," Julie whispered weakly.

"I know, me too." He whispered back. Just then his stomach rumbled loudly as if in agreement.

"Tomorrow we'll find something to eat."

"How? We have no money left. I don't want to eat out of the garbage again." She spoke near tears.

"Don't worry Julie, we'll find something."

"Okay." She sniffed.

"Don't cry ok, please?"

"O-ok."

"I miss mom and dad. Do you miss them too?"

"Everyday." He whispered.

|||||••||||

Sarah ran as fast as she could to get to work on time. She woke up late and consequently, she missed her bus. The next bus arrived ten minutes later, she kept checking her wristwatch every second. She was going to be late.

This can't be happening.

She sped through the door barely avoiding tripping on her own two feet. She ran past Judy unable to stop and chat.

Her boss would have her head, literally, even if he did seem kind. She was seriously pushing her luck here.

Immediately she sat down, she checked her wristwatch- it was 8:00 on the dot. It was a miracle indeed. She woke up real late, she's usually a morning person, the night before she had had a lot of trouble falling asleep. She couldn't stop thinking about the look she saw on her boss' face the night before, it haunted her. As far as she could tell, she knew next to nothing about her new boss, well except that his name is Aaron and that he is immensely generous.

She said a quick prayer and proceeded to do her work. She began sorting the mails received-they were quite a few, ok, a lot.

It took a while, they consisted of letters, business strategies so on and so forth. In short, the sorting took a while.

She quickly went through her computer for more mails. After she was through sorting those as well she checked her boss' schedule for the day he's to have a meeting in the afternoon by 1:00-2:30, she knew she'd have to be there, to take notes at least.

Apparently, he's meeting with a potential business partner, she'll have to inform him about that. Afterwards, he's to do a review on the worker's performances, it's a monthly review.

After that, his day was completely free, maybe just signing and approving a few requests, important ones of course, from his workers.

She got up and walked to the door leading to her boss' office, she proceeded to knock but she paused, her eyes widened, her hands were shaking. She didn't know why she felt so intimidated by him.

She shook her head.

Get a grip, Sarah.

She sucked in a deep breath and knocked twice. She patiently waited, two seconds, ten...

'Maybe he's busy.'

She turned back to her seat slightly relieved she wouldn't have to confront him then.

Then she heard a muffled 'come in'. She swallowed hard, her throat was very dry. After steadying her breath, she opened the door and walked in, closing the door gently behind her.

"G-good morning sir."

He raised his head, he was wearing his reading glasses but they did nothing to hide the intensity of his eyes.

"Morning Miss Anderson, do you need something?"

She swallowed.

"Sir, I wanted to inform you about your schedule for the day sir."

He removed his glasses and placed it on the table, his face as stoic as ever.

"Ok."

"Today, you're supposed to do a review on the performances of all the employees for the month sir."

"Can you handle that for me Miss Anderson, I'm a bit busy."

"O-of course, yes sir." She almost did a salute.

"When you're done, bring me the list of those that are slacking, punctuality and output wise so I can approve it, then I want you to fire them." He said it so smoothly with neither sympathy nor remorse, he didn't even bat an eyelash.

Her eyes widened to the size of baseballs.

'What?'

"Do you understand Miss Anderson?"

"I-I do sir."

'No more mistakes on her path or else she'll definitely get fired too,' she thought.

She didn't want to be the one to deliver the horrible news to them, she didn't have a choice though. She willed herself to speak.

"U-um you also have a meeting this afternoon at 1 pm with a potential business partner sir, a Mr Nathan."

"Cancel it. Anything else?"

At that point, her hands were barely holding on to her notebook.

"No sir."

"You may leave." He dismissed her without so much as a glance her way.

"I-I...yes sir." She turned to leave but then she stopped.

"Thank you for the ride home last night sir."

He raised his head and stared at her, like, he really stared at her. She started fidgeting.

'What was he thinking?'

His eyes, they were so intense. She didn't know why, but she found herself wanting to get to know more about him.

"You're welcome." He said finally.

And with that, she left his office. As she sat on her seat, she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She laid her head on her desk with her hands folded underneath. Why did he always make her so nervous? There's something about him that just screamed 'off-limits'.

She sighed, what is she to do?

She straightened and began reviewing the employee's performances for the month since they were already at the end of the month, most were outstanding and very efficient but a few weren't so flawless.

As she scrolled through the computer, she prayed Judy's name wouldn't come up for termination of employment. Sarah knew even if it did, there's was nothing she could do to help her.

|||••|||

Aaron was the CEO of Snow Corporation or SnowCorp for short. His beautiful yet cold green eyes could pierce through the thickest stone. He was rich, famous, handsome, powerful and to top it all off, morally inclined, to some ladies' immense dismay.

His cold exterior and interior have made him unapproachable to most people.

He doesn't talk to anyone outside his business, not even his sister. She has always loved her brother and she always will. He wasn't always like that, they were so close when they were younger but then he changed.

He became cold, distant and unavailable. He was always so busy with the company.

She was the chairwoman of the board of directors, Aaron had given her that position and every day she tried her best to make him proud of her, to approve of her but he was always so indifferent towards her.

She wanted to talk to him, to see how he was doing.

As she walked through the premises, she received greetings from many of her associates and workers.

The workers admired her and she was glad about that, they admired her brother as well, in fact, they held him in very high esteem because he was very hardworking and he attended to the needs of his workers, though he was very strict especially about punctuality but what business could survive without discipline?

Soon enough she was on his floor-the last floor.

The secretary quickly straightened and hid her phone when she saw it was her—she had been playing candy crush. She cleared her throat.

"Miss Snow." She said, trying to be professional.

"Is he busy?" She inquired, getting straight to the point.

"I don't know ma'am. Let me check with the PA." She was already moving to Sarah's office.

"Don't bother." And with that, she entered his office without so much as knocking. As usual, his head was buried in his work and he was wearing those silly glasses. She shook her head, figures.

"Juliet, what are you doing here?" He asked in his usual tone.

Aaron knew it was his sister, she was the only one who didn't knock before entering his office, she simply barged in, it annoyed him to no end.

"Don't you miss me, big brother?" She said with a mischievous smile.

"No." He said simply.

She sat on one of the couches and helped herself with some candy, his windows gave a breathtaking view of the city-she really liked his office.

"Why are you always so grouchy?" She asked with a mouth full of candy.

All he did was raise an eyebrow at her ridiculous question. He had long since stopped what he was doing since she barged in, he knew he was kidding himself if he thought he could have any work done with her around.

"I thought I told you to stop wearing that ridiculous piece of glasses, wear contacts instead."

"They're reading glasses, I only need them for that specific purpose." He said matter-of-factly.

"I still think contacts are way cooler." She said, helping herself with another candy.

He didn't bother replying her.

A long pause passed between them before Juliet broke it.

"How are you feeling?" She asked quietly.

He knew what she meant.

"That's none of your concern Juliet." He replied.

"It is my concern!" She raised her voice.

"You're my older brother, I care about what happens to you, even if you don't care about me." She said the last part quietly so he wouldn't hear. She shook her head, this was how their conversation always went.

She tried to be her cheery self again.

"Eric proposed to me yesterday." She hoped that would at least get some reaction from him.

"Good for you." He replied quietly.

He was happy for her.

"You could at least pretend to be happy for me." She pouted.

"I am." He said truthfully, looking into her eyes. She blinked, surprised.

"Thanks." That made her smile.

"Anyway, when are you getting married, Aaron? You're 26 years old and you've never had a girlfriend, like, in what world does that happen?"

"I mean you can't blame them, who would put up with you and your cold ways. I can barely put up with your stock up ways not to talk of someone putting up with you for the rest of their lives." She huffed and brushed her hair out of her face. She tried to hide her smile, on the inside, she was laughing her butt off.

Her brother was very handsome, no doubt about it but he hardly paid women any attention.

She has seen women struggle, like really struggle to get his attention and either he was completely oblivious or blatantly just ignoring them.

As usual, he didn't reply toy her sarcastic statements.

|||••|||

Two hours later, Sarah was through. Thankfully, Judy's name didn't show up but four others weren't so lucky. She printed the list but before she gave the list to her boss, she requested their files be brought from the Audit department, just to make sure. She crosses checked and apparently, there were complaints about them. She let out a breath, she knew this wasn't going to be easy.

She walked to the door leading to her boss' office and knocked twice, this time he replied immediately.

"Come in."

She went in but froze when she saw a woman sitting on one of the couches, she seemed to be engaged in a conversation with her boss, she was dressed in a skirt suit. She was very beautiful with beautiful brown hair.

From the way she spoke with Mr Snow with such enthusiasm, Sarah could tell she was a very outgoing woman, unfortunately, Mr Snow wasn't quite replying her with as much vigour...ok, none. As if finally just noticing her presence, she gasped in what Sarah hoped to be excitement.

"Is she the new PA?"

"Yes." Mr Snow replied in his usual tone.

"You didn't tell me she was this pretty."

Sarah looked at her boss, he didn't even blink.

"What's your name?" She asked.

Sarah was surprised by her question but answered nonetheless.

"Sarah Anderson, ma'am."

She chuckled.

"Ma'am? I like her already."

'She already has a plus in my book.' Julie thought.

"What can I do for you, Miss Anderson?" He enquired before Juliet said anything else, his attention switching to Sarah.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt you sir but I'm through with the task you assigned me. Here are their files and the list I made sir." She moved towards his desk and handed it to him. He picked up his glasses and put them on.

She waited patiently for him to go through the list and the files.

"You've done an excellent job, Miss Anderson." He signed the list and handed it back to her.

Well, she didn't feel all too peachy about that. She didn't want to have to fire those people but she knew she didn't have a choice.

"Thank you, sir." She said quietly.

"Is anything wrong Miss Anderson?"

He must have noticed her slight change in demeanour.

"No, it's just...I may have a suggestion, sir." She didn't know if she should say anything. She shook her head, she has to at least say something.

"Sir, I don't think we can afford to lay off any workers now, the company can't afford to lose that much workers all at once, it'd harm the overall output of the company."

"Mr Simmons and Mr Raymonds are senior officers at the Administrative and Finance Department respectively, if we fire them, it'll create a gap that can't be filled fast enough, plus they're very much experienced in their various fields, at least from their records sir."

"We could maybe put them on probation or cut their salaries for a month or two as a warning since they've both only received query once for misconduct."

"Mrs Rogers, one of the cooks, her son fell ill two weeks ago one morning all of a sudden and had to be taken to the hospital, as a result, she arrived 15 minutes late to work, an undertaking was written to that effect and she hadn't been late since."

"Mr Harper, one of the payroll administrators, has received five queries this month alone and multiple complaints has been filed against him even from outside his department. And h-"

Sarah was cut off by someone whistling, it was her.

"Damn, she's pretty and smart."

Sarah turned to her shocked.

"You gotta listen to her Aaron, she's got pretty good points there."

She turned to her boss, she wanted to know what he was thinking but as always his face was unreadable, a closed book had more expression than him.

"What do you think Aaron?" She spoke again when he remained silent. Sarah couldn't help but wonder who she was to him, well for one, she didn't call him Mr Snow and that's got to mean something, they must be quite close seeing how they were on first name basis.

His attention was now focused on Sarah. His eyes did a quick take on her overall appearance.

A fleeting thought infiltrated his mind unhindered.

'She looks nice today.'

His eyes widened slightly in confusion.

He was completely caught off guard by the thought.

After what seemed like hours, he finally spoke.

"I'll think about it. You may leave Miss Anderson."

"O-okay sir." And with that Sarah left his office.

He hadn't been paying attention to most of what she was saying.

He just wanted her to leave, so he could think straight which is why he told her he'd think about the list she gave him even though on normal circumstances he would have had them fired anyway.

He removed his glasses and buried his head in his hands.

"I like her, she's very smart." He heard his sister say.

"She's quite the beauty too, you did a good job ." He raised his head and stared at his sister.

"Have you picked a date yet, for your wedding I mean?" He enquired.

Juliet was surprised at his question, simply because he never acted like he cared enough to ask about her life.

"No, we haven't decided yet." She was worried about her brother, she wanted to take care of him like he took care of her when they were younger, but he wouldn't let her, he kept shutting her out. She missed his old self.

"When is your next doctor's appointment?" His cold eyes were unsettling as they pierced hers but she refused to be deterred.

"I told you, my health is none of your concern, Juliet."

"Apparently, it is." She took a small tissue from her purse, stood up and walked over to him. She motioned to her nose.

He touched his nostrils and saw blood on his fingers, his eyes widened significantly.

"Here." She gave him the tissue. He wiped the blood.

"It's getting worse isn't it?" He didn't reply but he didn't need to, the nosebleeds were enough evidence.

"Today." He said quietly.

"What?"

"I'm having my doctor's appointment today."

|||••|||

Work was over for the day.

Sarah began packing her stuff into her bag, she was elated to be going home. She'd have more than enough time to catch up on her sleep.

Within minutes she was on the ground floor. Immediately she spotted Judy, she was her usual chirpy self.

"Hey, Judy."

"Hi, Sarah." She was already packing her stuff too.

"I wish we could hang out some time you know, just us girls."

"It's weekend tomorrow, we could go shopping!" Judy squealed.

'Not my scene.' Sarah grimaced inwardly.

"Okay, what time?"

"I don't know, you decide."

"Okay, I'll call you then. Can I have your number?"

Judy gave her her number.

"I'll call you ok? Bye."

"Bye Sarah, I'll see you weekend," Judy said with such enthusiasm and Sarah couldn't help but chuckle.

"Bye Judy." And with that, she left and went straight home.

'Bed, here I come.'

|||••|||

Sarah decided not to take the bus home, she wanted to stretch her legs a little, well that was only partially true, the truth was, she saw an ice cream shop nearby and she wanted to try some out.

But sometimes she just loves to take a stroll, enjoy the fresh air, have her fill of ice cream. Her favourite flavour was mango, she knew not many people liked it but she loved anything made from mango.

Ice cream, drinks, the whole lot.

She got to the counter, her hands twitching in anticipation. She saw different flavours displayed in all their glory.

"Which flavour would you like?" The guy at the counter motioned to the magnificent array of different flavours of ice cream.

Without missing a heartbeat she ordered.

"Mango please."

"Coming right up."

"Make that two please." She heard someone say from behind her, she turned and found herself staring into piercing blue eyes, her own eyes widened in surprise-it was Noah. What was he doing there?

He simply smiled at her. He paid for both their ice cream much to Sarah's discomfort.

"You don't have to do that."

He smirked at her this time.

"I insist."

She sighed.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome beautiful." Sarah couldn't help but cringe at that. She found a table near the window and sat down, but of course, he had to join her.

"What do you want Noah?" Well, she hadn't seen this coming, all she wanted was to enjoy her ice cream.

Suddenly, his face became serious.

"I want you, Sarah."

What?

"What did you say?" He only chuckled at her surprised expression.

"I like you, Sarah, I have, ever since the day of the interview."

Was she hearing things?

"E-excuse me?" He wanted to reach for her hand from across the table but she recoiled away from him.

Was this guy some kind of weirdo stalker?

"Who are you, really?" He sighed and withdrew his hand.

"I'm the eldest son of Senator Idris Malik."

What?

Idris Malik, wasn't that the Speaker for the house of Senates and also the CEO of MinoCorp, also one of the top companies in the states?

"He felt like I needed to be more responsible, as he so sweetly put it. He forced me to work in Snow's company, as a fucking Accountant no less, he thought it would teach me to be more, what did he call it...humble." He huffed.

"I graduated with honours from Harvard, you would think my degree would be put to better use." He mumbled to himself.

"So, what are you doing here, shouldn't you be heading home?"

He couldn't help but chuckle at her question.

"Can't I help myself to a delicious cup of ice cream?" He smirked at her.

'Was he following her?'

Now she was warier of him.

"Noah, I'm sorry, thanks for the ice cream, but I have to go now." She quickly stood up to leave when she felt his hand grab hers. She gasped softly in surprise and turned.

He was holding her hand, but it wasn't vice-like, it was gentle. She looked up at his face and was surprised to see desperation?

"I'm sorry, ok?" He sighed. He released her hand from his soft hold.

"I know it sounds insane, I know you don't know me and I don't know you and let's be honest, I know I haven't given you much of a reason to like me, I don't know, maybe give a guy a chance?" He gave her a sheepish smile.

Sarah gave him a confused look, she didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." His expression fell, he looked a little bit hurt.

"At least give me your number." He persisted.

"I'm sorry Noah." She turned and walked out of the ice cream shop. She was surprised to see a beautiful black Ferrari or was it a Bugatti? She didn't know, she knew next to nothing about cars.

'Was it there before she entered the shop?'

A few seconds later, Noah walked out of the ice cream shop and stood beside her.

"I know you officially hate my guts, but let me at least give you a ride home." Sarah was surprised he still offered her a ride home. She sighed.

"Okay." She said quietly.

She was surprised at the look of pure shock on his face and soon it was replaced by a blinding smile. He was very handsome with his dark hair and blue eyes, but what mattered wasn't the outside but the inside wasn't it. What kind of person was he?

He opened the front passenger door for her and closed it when she entered.

"Thank you," Sarah said quietly.

He smiled in response.

"You're welcome beautiful."

He got into the driver's seat and they were on their way to her home. She closed her eyes and said a quick prayer in her head.

'Dear Lord, give us a safe drive'

"Hey, are you ok?" She opened her eyes and turned to him. He almost touched her again but thought better of it.

"Yh." It was then she only just noticed how lovely the interior of the car was. She had never ridden in something so luxurious.

"Where do you live?" He asked her.

"I live downtown, Jordan street." His eyes widened at that. She could guess why. Her street wasn't exactly the most peaceful or safest place.

She could tell he wanted to ask more questions but he kept silent.

In less than fifteen minutes they arrived at her apartment.

"Do you live alone?" He blurted out as they sat in his car, outside her apartment. He couldn't help but ask.

Sarah hesitated, should she be telling someone she barely knew information about herself?

She sighed.

"I appreciate your kindness, thanks for bringing me home, bye." She made a move to open the door.

"Sarah wait, please." Her hand hovered over the handle. She turned her head to him.

He sighed deeply.

"I meant what I said." He stared into her eyes. His eyes, they were so light, almost colourless but they pierced right through her.

"I do like you and I want to get to know you if you'll give me the chance." She didn't know what to say, he looked genuine enough. She didn't want to hurt his feelings but a relationship wasn't what she wanted right now.

She looked away.

"Noah, I-" She paused.

"I'm sorry Noah, but I can't. Thanks again for the ride." She said carefully.

"Just friends then?" He persisted. She turned to him ready to say 'no' but the look in his eyes made the words get caught in her throat. She looked away.

"Okay."

She opened the door and walked into her apartment without looking back.

Shutting the door, Sarah peered through her front window, she saw him speed off. She sighed, she hoped she wasn't too harsh.

She turned and took a long look at her apartment, the month's rent was due, the landlady was already demanding for it. Thank God she found a job in time, if not she'd have been kicked out.

She loved her apartment but she loved her neighbourhood much less. She never left her home at night, not for any reason whatsoever, her neighbourhood was that dangerous. She knew that was the reason Noah looked apprehensive when she told him where she lived.

She removed her work clothes and put them in the laundry basket. Took a shower, changed into her black tank top and blue shorts and laid on her bed. She plugged in her phone and turned on her laptop.

She looked up her boss online, 'shock' was an understatement of what she felt.

Apparently, SnowCorp ranked first among the top five leading business establishments in the states. Her eyes widened when she saw the picture of the woman she had seen in Mr Snow's office-her name was Juliet Snow, she was the chairwoman of the directing board.

Sarah gasped, she was also his blood sister.

She saw an article about them both. They had both started SnowCorp from scratch. Through hard work and discipline, they were able to get to where they were. Sarah thought that was admirable.

There weren't lots of pictures of Mr Snow, she only found a few, she found one he shot with the British prime minister and some other pictures. He looked very handsome in the picture-he was wearing a pretty expensive-looking black suit...but he wasn't smiling.

As she stared at the picture, it felt as though his bottle-green eyes were piercing right through her very soul. She couldn't help but wonder what he thought about her...her work performance of course.

He intrigued her, she wanted to get to know him, to know who he really was. He hardly talked, every single time his eyes caught hers, she found it hard to breathe. There was something about the look in his eyes, something that goes far beneath the surface.

She was glad she hasn't encountered any problem at work and hopefully, it'll stay that way. She prayed she'll get to keep her job.

She looked around her small apartment, it's usually so lonely, she was thinking about buying a little puppy. She was also thinking about visiting her sister next week. A smile played on her lips, she was going to surprise her.

She quickly retrieved the paper Judy had written her contact from her purse and saved it on her phone.

She yawned. She never slept during the day but today would be an exception.

Immediately her head hit the pillow, she was already in dreamland.

...