Having gone through the check-up, Heather and Leon returned to the hospital room. They could do nothing else but wait for the laboratory report, and the boredom that ensued led them both to start scrolling through their respective phones. Heather, in particular, did not look like she had come to terms with being a patient.
“Hey, since you’re bored, why don’t you join me for a round of video games?” Leon suggested in an effort to persuade Heather to play video games.
“I don’t like League of Legends,” she replied. She had never shown much interest in the video games he played.
“No, no, we aren’t playing League of Legends; we’re playing Honor of Kings. Are you interested?” Leon quipped cheerily, as he had recently become a fan of Honor of Kings.
Heather narrowed her eyes at him. She truly had little to no interest in video games, but it seemed as though he was rather persistent, so she decided to try her hand at a round or two for the fun of it. In reality, he was angling to pull her into the realm of video gaming with hopes that she might see the value of it.
However, his efforts were futile. Adamantly maintaining the view that video games were a waste of her time, she bit out with emphasis, “As far as I’m concerned, video games are a waste of time and money.”
“But it will be time well-spent because of all the fun!” he argued passionately. He could see himself setting up a gaming workshop in order to develop a video game based on his own preferences.
“Look, it’s clear that both of us have very different views on this matter. Don’t try to force yours upon me, and I won’t try to dissuade you from playing your precious video games,” she said plainly, sounding so sensible that Leon allowed her to put a swift end to this debate.
He lowered his head with the manner of a child who had lost an argument and carried on gaming. He had to accede to Heather’s obstinate refusal to venture into video games. At the sight of his defeatist demeanor, she smiled. There were times when he was just like a kid, and she was starting to see him as family—like a little brother she never had.
Being cooped up in a hospital room left Heather with an abundance of free time. She spent a better part of it staring up at the ceiling, given that she had nothing to do but daydream. Catching sight of this, Leon tried to persuade her for another round as he pointed out, “It’s a waste of time to daydream, too, Heather. You might as well pick up a bit of gaming while we wait.”
She blinked slowly and corrected him, “I’m actually pretty comfortable spacing out like this. Thanks, but no thanks, I don’t think I’d start gaming anytime soon.” As she turned down his offer once more, she wondered briefly how he could be so patient and insistent on this matter.
He fell into yet another bout of disgruntled silence, growing irritated by her blatant refusal to indulge in video games. Does she really have no interest in gaming at all?
With that question in mind, he began to think about what she often did in her spare time, and concluded that she was a monotonous person. She showed no interest in all the things that trended among young adults, and instead emulated an old soul.
“Have you never done anything that isn’t a waste of time, Heather?” he asked, refusing to believe otherwise as he maneuvered his avatar through the game.
“I have,” she answered bluntly. “Which is why I try to stay away from doing such things, and gaming happens to be one of them.” She could not stress enough that she was impassive toward gaming, and the thought of it being a waste of time only bolstered such a lack of interest.
As far as she was concerned, achievements attained in a fictional setting were significantly different from those attained in the real world. If she had to have anything to do with gaming at all, she would much rather invest in a couple of game production companies than waste time traipsing around a fictional world. The former venture was a more profitable one, after all.
“What if video gaming is a job requirement? Would you consider it then?” Leon put forth the question in all seriousness, seeing as he had plans to have Heather invest in his gaming workshop.
“Well, I’ve not been confronted with such a job requirement before.” She paused in thought. Indeed, the sphere of her job scope would never intersect with that of video games, and she figured it was pointless for her to give an answer to a hypothetical scenario.
“What if I were to set up a gaming workshop for the fun of it? Would you consider investing in my venture?” he pressed on, and this time he was brazenly presenting his proposal. He thought it was about time he set himself to do something useful since he had no goals for the time being.
“I highly doubt if my complete lack of prowess for gaming would do my partner any good,” Heather countered coolly and rationally, thereby making it clear that she was not keen on the idea of a gaming workshop.
“Wow, that’s harsh, Heather,” he said in mock disappointment. Just then, he brought up the matter of starting an enterprise. “You know, we still have to set up our company after this.”
Upon hearing this, she grew reticent. She admittedly did not have enough confidence to set up a company in such calamitous times, and the commercial scene in Bradfort City was far too unpredictable for her to know how things might turn out. With all the uncertainty that played into the picture, it might be necessary for her to delay her plans for a start-up.
“Are you really planning to hold off on the launch of the business, Heather?” Seeing as he wasn’t able to leave Bradfort City anytime soon, Leon thought he might work on the plans he had agreed with Heather previously.
“I don’t know. There’s a lot on my plate at the moment, and I don’t even know if I have the energy to set up my own company,” she explained tiredly as she thought about all the things she still had to face after this. She was frustrated, and she wasn’t sure of her next move either. She had felt so lost before.
“It’s okay to push the plans back; it’s not as if we have to set up the company right away,” he consoled her, knowing that her hands were tied. After all, he knew better than most about the troubles that plagued her.
“We still have the Saffords to think about. They’ve put all their trust and expectations in me, and it would be unfair to them if we kept delaying our plans. It would only wear out their faith and patience at some point.” Heather had been the one who looked for the Saffords and convinced them to jump on the bandwagon in the first place, but as things were, she was afraid that she might be forced to go back on her word, which was something she loathed doing.
“Don’t worry, I’ll smooth things over with them,” Leon answered confidently. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen Paige for a while. I wonder how she’s doing.
With a sigh of resignation, Heather replied, “If we keep dragging this out, I don’t even know if I could keep my own faith.” She had been riddled with self-doubt recently, and on her worst days, she questioned if she was truly cut out to be a businesswoman.
In the business world, the only things that decided one’s standing were success and failure. There was no grey area in between where Heather could get back on her feet and figure things out. She had no intentions of becoming a failing entrepreneur; she wanted to be a winner in that field.
However, it seemed as if she was straying further and further away from her goal. Success was starting to look like a faraway dream, and she was growing unhappy with herself. I know I can do better, she thought sourly.
“What’s up with you, Heather? You’ve been acting all gloomy lately. Come on, you should be more upbeat. You’re Heather Langston for God’s sake! You were iconic on campus, and everyone wanted to be like you. You shouldn’t think less of yourself,” Leon cheered presently. He could tell how dejected and unsure she was of herself these days. If this carried on, it would only be a matter of time before she spiraled into depression.
Presently, Heather stretched out like a starfish on the bed and mused woefully, “Oh, how meaningless life has become!” She had no qualms about dwelling in sadness, not when she had Leon next to her.
Meanwhile, Matthias had been simmering in anger ever since his return from the hospital and was currently burying himself in work at Locke Group. Having seen the sullen expression on his face, Lara started to worry. Her gaze flickered over to him from time to time. However, he paid no attention to her and was only concerned with the mountainous pile of work at hand.
Lara had gone into his office for multiple reasons just so she could get him to take notice of her, but her baiting was futile; he did not even spare her a glance, and she wasn’t sure what Heather had done to render him so furious either.
“President Locke, here are last month’s spreadsheets for your perusal and approval,” Lara informed dutifully. She had come up with various ways to start a conversation, but after running through them in her head, she decided that the only way to get a response out of Matthias was to bring up something work-relevant.
However, he only nodded and reached out for the spreadsheets. He did not speak to her, nor did he even bother to dismiss her.
It didn’t take a genius to know that Heather was behind his moody countenance and erratic demeanor. While Lara did not have the slightest idea as to what that woman had done, she figured it had to be something dramatic.
Her skin prickled with suspicion, Lara finally resorted to asking Nikolai to console the sullen man inside the presidential office. She knew her place, and Nikolai was the closest person to Matthias, which meant he had a better chance of getting him to talk.
When Nikolai heard her suggestion, he frowned skeptically and said in a somber tone, “President Locke is currently swamped with work, so I don’t think it’s a good time for me to barge in and initiate a heart-to-heart talk with him.” It was the wisest thing he could do to turn her down; otherwise, he would end up being roasted on a spit by Matthias.
“You’re his cousin, and it’s only right that you show some concern for him. He’s in a bad mood right now, and I don’t even know what Heather said to him. Just offer him a couple of words of solace and try to get him out of his funk. If we just let him carry on like this, it would only bring down the whole atmosphere of the workplace,” Lara explained gravely, looking serious. She sounded so sensible that Nikolai found himself acceding to her request, but if he had to be honest, he was terrified of being in the same room with Matthias when the latter was having mood swings.
Lara, on the other hand, shoved Nikolai into the presidential office, and when he turned to see that the door had slammed shut behind him, he grew grim. I’ve been tricked by her again!
Presently, Matthias glanced up at him without addressing him, and Nikolai had never felt more invisible than this moment as he grew uneasy at the former’s stony silence.
He swallowed and quietly sauntered up to Matthias, and when he saw the spreadsheets sprawled out on the desk, he realized that this might be a bad time to interrupt the man’s work. He was seized with the sudden urge to bolt out the door; he didn’t want to become the target of Matthias’ inexplicable rage.
After glancing at the documents Matthias was reviewing, Nikolai shuffled over to the couch that had been upholstered on one side of the office. This is a safe spot, he told himself. I’m just going to sit here quietly now since it’s too late for me to back out of this.
Matthias, on the other hand, was no fool. He knew what Nikolai was trying to do, but he couldn’t care less about such petty tactics. Work was the only thing that could clear the clamor in his mind right now.
He checked through the spreadsheets quickly, and tossed them aside after making sure that they were accurate. Nikolai saw this as a window for him to cut through the tension and immediately rushed forward to the desk.
He skidded to a stop in front of Matthias and stared at him as though he could telepathically talk to him. However, Matthias was not one to crack under pressure. He did not even look up from the rest of his documents. This only made Nikolai feel more awkward than he already was.
“You look like you’re having a productive day, Matthias!” Nikolai broke the silence with a cheerful remark, then winced at how stupid he sounded.
Matthias merely lowered his head as he buried himself with work. He did not even bother looking up to acknowledge Nikolai’s presence. The latter didn’t want to give up so easily, so he decided that he needed to persevere before he could get the gloomy president to warm up.
“I wonder how’s Heather, Matthias. Do you think she’s recovering well?” he asked deliberately, knowing that Matthias had dropped by the hospital to visit Heather earlier.
It was only after hearing Heather’s name that Matthias raised a brow and looked up. A dark fire could be seen burning in his eyes and it intimidated Nikolai. Bristling with fear, the younger man thought, I must have said something wrong.
After a long pause, Matthias finally said in an icy voice, “Save the leisure talk for outside office hours.” His warning tone was enough to make Nikolai want to bury himself in a hole somewhere.
With his heart thumping wildly in his chest, Nikolai thought it would be safer for him to retreat. He didn’t want to become the fish in the barrel when Matthias decided to draw his gun.
“I’m sorry, President Locke. I’ll get back to work right away,” he said courteously, his words coming out in a flurry as he dashed out of the presidential office. He knew that he had to leave before Matthias turned him into livestock in a slaughterhouse.
