An Interesting Occurence

DANA

Two years passed and I feel like it was only yesterday. I can still remember all the tiny details from the key memories I have within that time frame. Day by day, the burden for the death of my dad gets less and less heavy. Though I know it would always be there, now I'm kind of a little better. Now, I can manage to talk about him with the investors without excusing myself to cry in the bathroom. I can also visit his grave and bring flowers and smile on his carved name on the tombstone. Of course, I know none of this would be necessary if only he's alive. It would be a completely different experience but regrets won't bring me anywhere so I better keep pushing forward. for me, for the company, and for the family legacy I will forever be thankful for.

I was on a parked car at the side of the road. On my hand was a tablet where the details of the last minutes of the meeting file was open. As I go through them one by one, I was adding my own notes and annotations at the side of the document. Something to review later. Marvin was texting his family with his phone.

"er, Miss Dana?"

Suddenly he spoke, making me pause from reading page 6.

"what is it?"

"can I ask for a leave today? Turns out my son has to be enrolled and today is the last available day. My wife couldn't come herself. Can I ask someone else to drive?"

I sighed and looked at him. He looked down, guilty that he has to desert me like this on the side of the road. However, I thought of what he said and I knew he was only doing his best to be a good father. We have lots of drivers at home anyways so I nodded, much to his excitement.

"thank you, Miss Dana. Do you want me to drive you home?"

I shook my head. I didn't want to go home just yet. I looked around, looking for a nearby place for me to stay and kill some hours. I saw one spot… a coffee shop with a rather interesting name. He Brews. Cute. I wanted to check what's inside.

"there… just leave me right there and I'll be fine." – I said, pointing to the small coffee place

Marvin nodded and started the car. It was only less than two minutes drive and I was getting out of the car, telling him to notify someone at home to pick me after an hour. I had to finish what I was doing, and well, it was kind of my tradition not to bring work at home. It's either in the office or someplace quiet. Because I had a meeting in the city, I didn't feel like going to the office. Coffee shop, it is.

The door chime clanked when I pushed the door open. As what I expected, it was quiet. A low piano music was playing on the background and the design of the place was very minimal. The tables and stools were light brown in color and there were two similar abstract paintings on the wall. Aside from the black coffee maker and the oversized menu at the back of the counter, everything was in either cream or white color. There were also little decorations like a huge oval vase with artificial bamboo twigs or the overhead oval lamps that gave more classy aura to the place. All in all, it was simple… but satisfying to look at. The owner must be an interior designer or consulted one to make use of such a small space for something like this.

"welcome to He Brews, Ma'am. anything you like?"

The man on the counter said. His name tag said his name is Peter. I smiled, and then there was a flicker of recognition on his eyes, but he shook it off quickly. I didn't mind that. I often get that. it's only fortunate that people who recognize me from local television interviews or business magazines were too shy to ask or to get a picture.

"yes. One affogato and a… a cereal cookie please." – I said, eyes on the display of cookies, breads and cakes on the left side. They were placed on glass cabinet with a small flag of its name stuck on one of the goodies.

"would that be all?" – Peter said, looking at someone from the back. I didn't care to look who it was. As long as he got my order right.

"yes. Here."

Finally, his gaze came back to me. I handed him a card which he swiped and gave back. I opened my wallet to return the card and when I do, I had a glimpse of the picture inside. It was of me and my dad at my 18th birthday. We were smiling in the camera as we danced in the middle of everyone. It was one of my most memorable moments with him. feeling a little bitterness on my gut, I closed the wallet and shove it down the bag. Peter gave me the receipt and I found me a comfortable table at the side of the huge wall painting about what looked like a crumple of gray clouds. Or at least that's how I interpret it. I'm not really good with art and paintings.

I continued what I was doing by turning the tablet on and scrolling to reach page 6. I saw where I was on and read, eyes only focused on the digits in front of me. As usual, our sales were going up and I guess it was because we hired two more young fashion designers to keep up with this generation's trend. So far, they were doing well. Brand new designs to flaunt and promote, I noted. For some reason, I found out Neil has opened his new clothing line and because of his company's fame, it was received well by the public. I was unsure of why he was doing it then, but now I'm starting to get that he did it on purpose. He's trying to get back at me by ruining my business. As if that's possible. But there's no harm in making sure Russel Clothing is still the best by keeping up (or even upgrading) the company's sales performances.

"excuse me, miss… I don't know if you still remember me but it's nice meeting you again."

My focus was interrupted when someone spoke behind me. I turned, quite annoyed that a stranger would come up and talk to me, and saw who it was.