June sat in the room with Lucy and Joel as they previewed their entry for the South City Resort Project. Since her mother’s return, she felt a lot of joy and worked more efficiently. As a result, the process was sped up.
“I think this is the best project I’ve ever seen,” Joel said with a genuine look of awe. “When you pitched the idea, I didn’t think it would come out this good.”
“I know right!” Lucy chimed. “If they don’t accept this design, we’ll take on the project ourselves. It’ll be their loss!”
“No one with eyes would reject this,” Joel said as he inspected the final draft further. “The thought behind it is so powerful too.”
June smiled but refused to let her hopes up. She was finally in a decent place but the last thing she needed was to get her hopes too high. She looked forward to getting the contract but tried to manage her expectations.
“Whatever. The showing is in two weeks. I need the design to be in HD. Get the technical team to get to work, I’ll be supervising the final product. For now, let them get things prepared.”
“Yes ma’am,” Lucy said with a mock salute and Joel nodded.
“Alright then. I have some meetings to attend so I will be off for the rest of the day. Keep in touch.” June left the office afterwards. Her mother requested to see her, hence she returned home and headed straight for her room.
They sat down and discussed important matters.
“I want to return home,” Evelyn said with a serious look on her face. “Or at least visit the Rivera Stores headquarters.”
June felt thrown off by her mother’s words.
“Do you need something? I would easily have it replaced.” She chose to go through that angle. The thought of her mother wanting to leave as soon as she was better ignited feelings of abandonment.
“No.” Evelyn pursed her lips, “You don’t understand. I watched the news, and the company is not looking good. The stocks have fallen and there is hardly any development since my accident.”
“And you think going there would change it? Newsflash Mother, the last time you went there without informing me, you almost got killed!” June realised she might have come off rude only after the words were out.
She took a deep breath and retraced her steps. “I’m sorry if I sounded rude. I just can’t watch you put your life in harm’s way again. Not while I am alive. I can’t stand anything bad happening to you again.”
“I just want some peace while I figure out how to get things off the ground and get April what she deserves.” Evelyn nodded at her daughter’s words. “It’s clear that April is not an easy opponent to bring down, so I have to be careful this time.”
“I don’t want the news of your health out there yet. I am doing my best to protect you from any possible harm. I understand that you are worried about our company, believe me, I am too.”
Evelyn hated the amount of stress her daughter seemed to be carrying. She further hated the fact that she had contributed immensely to her state. “Don’t stress yourself over it. I’m sorry I mentioned it. I know you are going through a lot trying to balance things.”
June took a deep breath after hearing her mother’s understanding words. A part of her panicked at the thought of falling out with her mother due to her take on things. June felt happy about their newfound relationship.
“Thank you, mother.” She said and hugged her mother who gingerly returned the gesture. “I think you are right. Rivera stores have been going through a lot lately. Someone needs to be held accountable.” June said as an afterthought.
“I will soon be meeting with April so I might as well bite the bullet and pick her brains on the condition of the business.” Evelyn shook her head once the words left her daughter’s mouth.
“No. It’s dangerous. She is a dangerous woman. She will easily interpret it as a threat and heaven knows what she is capable of.” June felt happy to see her mother fuss over her.
She couldn’t remember the last time her mother worried over her and it brought sweet flutters in her heart.”I understand your concerns, mother. But if we all run away in fear, we become her willing slaves.”
“June..” Evelyn said in warning. “Just forget it. Let it be, it’s not like the company will ever belong to us. You have a company so just focus on that. I heard JL is doing so well.” She cupped her face. “You make me so proud.”
June smiled, happy to hear the words from her mother. However, she decided to seek out her sister and find out the company’s state. She knew her mother enough to know she wouldn’t be joyful if she didn’t save Rivera stores from falling.
The company encapsulated her mother’s work and was a living testimony of her late husband. The emotional value of the company was enough to sponsor her desire to ensure it didn’t end up in bankruptcy.
“Thank you so much,” June said with a smile. “I’m glad to have you back.”
Evelyn and June spent the day bonding and towards the evening, they entered the kitchen and whooped up dinner for the family. While they cooked, Rafael was in the hospital with Carson.
He had nearly collapsed at work from the amount of weakness and pains he felt in the abdominal region of his body. Carson went through the scan results while he administered some drip to Rafael.
“We need to push the surgery forward. The cancer is growing faster than predicted. We can’t delay the surgery any longer. We have to make a decision quickly while we can.”
Rafael was in a lot of pain, he ground his teeth and racked his brain for a possible solution but came up empty. He felt rage at his body for developing such sickness. For two years after his late wife’s death, he had prayed to be taken by death.
He prayed and wished that death could rid him of the pain he felt but there was no such luck. He had to be operating with the shittiest luck as the moment he decided life was worth living, his choices were stripped from him.
Once again, he prayed, but it wasn’t for death. He wanted to live. He had a reason to live, and couldn’t imagine leaving the perfect life he led with his wife and son.
He couldn’t imagine watching them go through the level of pain he did when he lost the first love of his life to the cold arms of death. He didn’t wish that trauma upon anyone, not even his enemy.
For that reason, he made a choice. He would do anything to live. Not just for himself, but for the lovely family he had found. He would fight this cancer with every drop of his money, blood and strength.
He would not be defeated. He would overcome it and enjoy all that life had to offer with his wife by his side. He wouldn’t settle for less.
“How quickly can I have the surgery?” He asked and Carson hid his shock.
“Three weeks.” He responded, “The best doctors will be here to perform the procedure. You will have to be admitted for monitoring by week two.”
“So I have a little over a week?”
Carson nodded. “More or less. I will keep you posted.”
Rafael stayed in the hospital till his body felt relatively better. He worked remotely, clearing out his schedule for the period as he planned for his surgery without the knowledge of his immediate family members.
Afterwards, he returned home and was happy to feast with his family. Every moment became more precious than the last and he treasured it as such, secretly making the most of everything before he had to do the needful.
Time passed and soon, the companies were asked to come in with their projects. June prepared herself for the meeting and showed up looking professional with Lucy. Although June appeared put together, she felt a deep feeling of unease within her.
June couldn’t fathom the roots of such negative feelings. She penned it down to the fact she would be meeting her sister. Whenever she came across that devil, she always managed to leave the interaction with a frown.
Once again, the government representative hosted them and soon, they were presenting their mind-blowing designs for the Resort. Knight constructions went first, April followed and June was slotted for later.
April walked up to the mini podium and soon started her presentation. June watched her go through the slides that seemed very familiar to her. April took roughly over fifteen minutes to get her point across and by the end of the presentation, June was certain her idea had been stolen.
The entire room erupted with cheers after her performance and June shook in anger and uncertainty. She had created that design in her early days and it remained one of the most memorable ones she remembered.
She suddenly didn’t feel so confident to present her work. It was easy getting herself to compete against others but how could she cope if the enemy’s design also belonged to her?