"I am Leyna Staten."
As the door to the chairman's office closed behind, two pairs of high heels made the footsteps of the two women wearing them echo with sharpness in the wide corridor, the one at the front with a calmness it did not use to have, that it was only now discovering.
Sharon glanced at the senior employee half a step in front of her, and responded with her own name.
"Sharon Kenner."
"Kenner…"
Leyna's smile shifted slightly, the edge of her lips softening as a faint, thoughtful light passed through her eyes. But she only ruminated the name for half a second before continued with a smile:
"You must be very talented for Alex to choose you to work by his side."
Sharon didn't catch the dark-haired older woman's slight reaction. She was getting used to her name provoking such a reaction. She remained on guard in the unfamiliar environment, with someone unfamiliar, but she did behave with shyness:
"I like to think the same, but I still have to keep proving it."
Leyna smiled in approval:
"That is a good spirit to have. There are many talented people in the world. If you stop proving yourself, it will be easy to get you replaced. We are here."
Pointing at the office they have arrived beside, Leyna pushed its door open and led the way inside.
"Is that what happened to you?"
Leyna turned to glance at Sharon, eyebrows raised questioningly. That prompted the blonde into elaborating her question, her expression tightening subtly with apprehensiveness:
"I mean getting replaced. Because you have stopped proving yourself?"
"Hahaha… You can say that."
The soft chuckle that came before the answer confused Sharon, leaving her unable to decide whether to feed the guilt behind her calm expression, as she looked at the woman who did not look angry or disappointed at all about being sent away from the seat just beside the seat of power.
Leyna glanced at the blonde, and shook her head with a light laugh:
"Alright, don't think too much. This will be your office from now on. Let me do what Alex asked first, then I will help you through the boarding process and transfer my responsibilities to you."
"Understood, Miss Staten."
The office was wide, designed to appear bright with white being the predominant color that reflected the rays coming in from the large windows.
Leyna went to sit down behind the heavy white desk as she smiled at the way she had been called.
"Just call me Leyna, or big sister Leyna, like Alex and his friends. It has been a while since people of his age have called me Miss. How old are you?"
Recalling the way the older woman interacted with Alex and Lance, Sharon quietly answered, because she indeed seemed to be of the same age as Alex, the exact same age:
"25."
"Just like Alex. Give me a moment."
Leyna raised her eyebrows, looking unsurprised as she smiled. With the last sentence, she turned her focus back on the screen of the desktop computer, before she made a call with the deskphone.
It only rang once in the other side before it was picked up:
"Hello. This is the IT department."
"This Leyna Staten, from the chairman's office. You will receive a file soon. You are to integrate it to the system of the Group. The sooner, the better."
A moment of silence to process the instruction later, the answer came:
"Understood."
*Beep*
Leyna ended the call, then returned her focus to the computer. But before anything, she glanced at Sharon and beckoned:
"Come here. I'm about to send the notice for the meeting of the executives and the directors. You can see the way to do it with the internal network of the Group."
"Alright."
_ _ _
_ _ _
"Let's go, Lance."
Lance raised his head from his phone to glance at Alex, then at the clock, before he exclaimed, incredulous:
"You really want to be on time for the meeting?"
Alex glanced at his friend, then snapped the laptop shut, before standing up, without bothering to reply. But that did nothing to diminish the surprise Lance was feeling.
"I thought you would make those old people waste their time again!"
"Don't forget that your father is among those old fellows."
Alex casually remarked, before, ignoring the wince Lance suppressed, he replied as he buttoned his suit:
"As for the wrong idea that you got, I am the chairman now. I need to give a good example."
Lance opened his eyes wide, looking at Alex like the latter had grown a second head. Only when the door of the office was closing after Alex did he snap out of it, and scrambled to catch up. But it was when the destination became close that he realized something, and he looked at the straight back before him:
"Wait, Alex, why am I following you to the meeting you called? I'm not an executive, much less a director. Why should I participate in such a meeting?"
"And who said you will be participating?"
"Really!?!"
Lance's desperate eyes flew open with renewed vigor, his face a mask of the pleasant surprise that suddenly flooded his heart.
"Then, can I leave?"
The tone was so full of hope that it might have been mistaken as belonging to a death convict convinced of his own innocence. And that hope grew, when Alex stopped walking.
Lance was starting to smile, his face like an overcast sky clearing up, until Alex moved to the side, and he recognized the door they were standing before. His smile froze, then faded bit by bit, starting with his teeth going back into hiding.
Alex glanced sideways at him, a small smile on his lips that seemed so much to be mocking him even though it was calm. It was as if even the laws of conservation were mocking him, conserving the smile, and only shifting its location.
Lance's face turned bitter, and he asked in a mutter:
"My father knows that I'm here, doesn't he?"
Alex's smile grew as he responded:
"Most probably. He must have asked big sis Leyna to confirm."
Lance inhaled, then straightened his back, looking determined now that his fate had become inevitable.
"Alright, I'm ready. Let's rock it."
Alex gave him a flat stare:
"Why are you getting fired up? You are coming as a spectator only."
It was like a pike to the heart. Lance froze, his world turning grey as Alex stepped forward, and pushed the large door in.
*Bang!*
"Good morning, everyone!"