Andy clenched his fists as he read Avery’s email the following day in his office room. Avery had clearly mentioned how she applied, then got accepted and then rejected out of the blue.
She had also expressed her disappointment about Aurora Airlines for being negligible about female pilots when they have proclaimed to lift them up. And hadn’t stopped from there. She had also attached the email that was sent to her by the Human Resources Department of Aurora Airlines.
Andy couldn’t believe how unprofessional the department head had been and it was obvious Serene had pulled some strings on him.
“Well... if that’s the case, about time he got fired.”
Andy muttered to himself as he read the email once again, his keen eyes going through every little detail. The more he read it, the more anger seeped through him.
He only got to know about this because Avery met him randomly and told him about it. This is something that happened to Avery, someone he knew. He wondered how many times this type of dispute might have happened right under the nose and he didn’t like how that felt to think about it.
Inhaling deeply, Andy got up from his chair after transferring the email to his laptop. For a moment, he thought whether he should tell Caden about this but then he had a better idea.
Now that Avery’s going to be accepted to Aurora Airlines anyway, it might as well be a surprise to the man.
Caden had told him he had moved on from the girl and had even insisted there wasn’t even a little feeling remaining of her. But Andy knew better. He has seen how Caden smiled along to himself from time to time, he has seen how the man’s eyes lit up when the slightest mention of Avery came up.
If Andy knew something, that is Caden is deeply in love with her.
He wasn’t sure if Avery had the same feelings, but that night when he met her, he knew she still had feelings for him as well. If Caden had fallen for Avery, Avery had fallen more.
Now all that was remaining was for the two of them to get together, and Andy believed he was the perfect person to make it happen.
But before all of that, he has to solve the current problem, which is why he clenched his jaw and departed to the Department of Human Resource Management himself.
---
When Andy entered the department, it was busier than ever. With the recruits’ applications they were receiving this year, to solve the disputes of the current employees, the department had its hands full.
But no matter how busy they were, when they saw Andy, each of them greeted him respectfully.
“Oh, Andy.”
He stopped to the familiar voice of a female and she beamed as he turned to her.
“Lara.”
He said, looking at the elderly woman affectionately. Lara Heath was the head of the Cabin Department. She had been serving Aurora Airlines for over a decade as an air hostess. Her husband has been a pilot for nearly twenty years in Aurora Airlines before he retired last year and the man was now an advisor for the company.
“What brought you here? Rare to see you out of the top floor.”
She had claimed with a tease in her voice and Andy chuckled.
“Something that disgusted me. I’m personally here to investigate it.”
He said without holding back. He trusted Lara more than anything. She and her husband have always been the second parents of him and Caden.
“I wonder what that is?”
The lady asked in response and Andy smiled.
“Long story short. Hans had been acting really unprofessional and seemed to have been bribed or pulled strings by Serene Airlines. He had made a grave mistake by turning down the best female pilot in the country who had applied to join our company.”
He said and Lara’s eyebrows furrowed.
“He dared to do that?”
“Apparently, he did. Don’t worry, he won’t be doing that for too long.”
“Does Caden know about this?”
She asked and then added.
“He will surely fire him in this case.”
“He doesn’t know yet and I haven’t told him for a reason. But I’m going to fire him myself now. Just don’t tell Caden anything about it yet. If he asks me, I know how to handle it.”
Lara nodded in understanding before she spoke with Andy about a few problems regarding the Cabin Department before bidding farewell to him to go on her way.
After Lara walked away, Andy straightly headed to the office of the Minister.
“Mr. Andy.”
The man stood up the moment Andy stepped into his office.
“Well, yes, Mr. Hans. It’s me.”
Andy said almost sarcastically as he didn’t bother to sit down even though Hans gestured him to.
“I have no intention of staying too long.”
He said, voice cold as ice, that it sent shivers along Han’s spine.
“Did something happen, sir?”
He asked meekly. Everyone knew not to mess with Caden and Andy. The two men were equally known for their temper and harshness in decisions.
“You tell me, did you do anything that has an ill-effect to the company?”
Andy asked, looking directly into his eyes and Andy could say the man’s wrongdoing flashed right in front of his eyes as the very first thing when the question was asked. Han’s pupils dilated rapidly before he pulled himself together.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir.”
He said a minute later and Andy smiled eerily.
“Good, then you shouldn’t be worried about what I’m going to show you next.”
He said, placing his laptop on the working desk and opened his email. Andy pretended to search for the email from Avery intentionally to make the man nervous and he knew he succeeded when the man started to sweat buckets.
“Ah! There it is.”
He smiled at Hans wickedly before clicking on the very first email and then turned the laptop to him.
“Care to explain to me what this is all about?”
He asked, his smile disappearing and replaced with a glare. Hans just read the email, the color of his skin disappearing with each line.
“For someone who insisted that had done nothing wrong, aren’t you a bit too pale?”
Andy asked, sniggering at the man and this time Hans looked at him with horror in his eyes.
“I don’t know what this woman is talking about, sir. Our company didn’t send her any email like that.”
“Oh really? Do you know what disgusts me the most, Hans?”
If Andy had at least a little sympathy for this man, it vanished the moment the man lied.
He leaned towards Hans making the man lean backward and then said with a baritone voice that went a few octaves lower than his usual, making it sound scary.
“People who fail to admit their mistakes even when the proof is fed to their throats!”
Andy hissed as he clicked on the original email sent by Hans, which was sent by Avery.
“Sir, I-“
“Yeah, what are the excuses you are going to come up with now, Hans Nicholas? You dared to make a mistake that tarnished the reputation of the company and now you are shamelessly coming up with excuses?”
Andy’s voice raised with each word that echoed in the office room and when Hans shut his mouth instinctively, it lowered momentarily.
“You’re fired.”
Andy said as he walked away and Hans didn’t have any more strength to talk against it. The man stood there solemnly, too shocked for words.
Andy guessed that the other employees of the HR might have heard the commotion with the way they started when he came out of the office. But they were intelligent enough to pretend they didn’t.
Then the assistant CEO went back to his office and sat on his chair once again before starting to type an email. At first, he wondered if he should reveal his position in the company to Avery, but decided against it until she was hired. He was just going to put his position in the company without a name.
He typed out the email which confirmed to Avery that she is officially hired and also informed her she can start working the next week itself.
Avery had to admit she was dumbfounded when she received a reply email from Aurora the day after she sent hers. She was shocked that it was from the assistant CEO himself but she guessed Andy really went all lengths to help her out.Of course, the first thing she did was to call Andy and thank him. Andy had laughed and said it was nothing. He had even urged her to contact him if anything came up because apparently, even if she was divorced from Caden, it was still his job as Caden’s best friend.Avery got up that morning, feeling refreshed as ever. She was back in her habitat as a pilot and she couldn’t wait to experience the new journey. Serene was an amazing company, but nothing could beat Aurora.When Avery reached the building with large block letters that read “AURORA AIRLINES”, she felt her heart bloom. It was really happening.She walked in with a big smile, greeting almost all the co-workers who she was yet to know. She walked toward the reception and leaned to the counter.“I
That night, Avery tossed on the bed from one side to the other. She couldn’t sleep. There was so much going on inside her mind and that was driving her crazy. Her mind constantly ran back to everything that had happened on the first day of Aurora Airlines. There she expected a peaceful and new start but in return, all she got was chaos and confusion. She had more problems when she came back home than when she went there in the morning. All of this was just frustrating her. From being in the headlines of the Airline Magazine to the co-workers hating her for kicking out one of their employees to finding out Andy was the assistant CEO and to wondering who the hell Janet was, Avery’s mind was a fucking mess. Why didn’t Andy say who he was that night? Did he send Janet? What was the true self of Janet? The cheerful, bubbly girl she knew or the ferocious, prim lady she met? Avery groaned in frustration. She knew there was something more than it reached the eye and she was determined to f
“Janet?”Both Caden and Andy looked at her at once. They were sure that they hadn't seen the girl disheveled as much as now. Janet looked at Avery for a brief second before facing the two men.“It’s Lara. She suddenly fainted on the third floor. One of the bodyguards discovered her. She is currently in our infirmary. But the nurse wants you to be there soon.”Caden groaned in mid-frustration before she took a glance at Avery.“I promise I will make up for this, Avery.”He said before he ran after Janet and a second later, Andy followed them too. At first, Avery was taken aback by everything because things had been happening too fast in her life in the past hour, but the next moment, she also ran after them.Avery didn’t even know where they were running to but her gut feeling said that Lara is someone important to all the three of them. Just when the elevator was about to close, Avery pushed herself in.“I’m coming with you.”She panted after all the running in high heels and the thre
Avery couldn’t believe her eyes when they landed on the island. The little island was one of the most beautiful places Avery has ever been to. The palms bent towards the sea on the coast and there were little beach bars everywhere.People were singing and dancing to the calypsos while they drank toddy from coconut shells. They wore Hawaiian clothes while those clothes and their hair fluttered to the sea wind as they danced.The little yellow lights that were hung from trees and strings of lights that hung on the beach bars perfectly complemented the scenario in front of her eyes. Avery felt like she stepped into a paradise.“Beautiful, isn’t it?”A girl with a red ribbon tied to her hand approached her with a smile. Avery looked at her own hand on which the blue ribbon from the cupcake was tied. She almost forgot about it.“It really is. I can’t believe I’m in a place like this. I mean, I’ve seen these kinds of places in movies but this is the first time experiencing it first-hand.”“
Avery and Caden walked along the beach side by side, their hands brushing against each other softly. They barely talked at first, but their faces had a faint smile that showed how much they loved each moment.“So, how have you been doing?”Avery spoke first, her voice no louder than the wind, and Caden turned to look down at her. His eyes stared into her eyes as if he was seeing the whole universe in them.“I’ve been doing fine. Though I’m sure you can’t say the same. From what I heard from Andy, you’ve been going through a lot.”“For the past few weeks, yes. Almost too much that I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle. But Andy helped me a lot.”“How did you even get in touch with Andy to begin with?”Curiosity was evident in his voice.“I'm a kind of hurt you went to him instead of me.”Avery’s face turned into a bloom before she chuckled and stepped in front of Caden to stop him from walking. Then she squinted her eyes at him and asked;“Is Caden Wright jealous?”“No!”He insisted i
Avery and Caden stood shocked as the young boy fell on the sand dreadfully. His eyes were rolled to his head and for a second, they assumed he was dead. Avery held Caden’s hand tightly and Caden looked down at her and patted her hand.Just then, Andy and Janet came running.“Are you guys okay?”They paused when they saw the boy on the sand with his eyes wide open and foam dripping from his mouth.“We are fine.”Caden said with a little gulp and then walked towards the boy on the sand. Andy followed a second later. Janet looked at the entwined hands of Avery and Caden which never let go of each other, even when Caden walked towards the boy and then spoke.“We saw the boy coming in this direction with a knife and he looked a little unsettled. So we thought you might be in danger.”“For a second, I even thought he was going to stab us. But then he suddenly threw the knife into the sea before he ended up like this.”Caden said, checking the boy’s pulses.“He’s alive. We should take him to
The next morning, Avery got up, feeling more tired than usual. She wasn’t able to sleep properly because the sick boy’s image kept coming to her in her sleep. The way he walked up to them with the knife, his bloodshot eyes, and the dead stare before he threw the knife to the sea kept replaying in her mind.“Dammit."She cursed to herself as she kicked the sheets and woke up. It was still too early in the morning, probably around six or something. That may be why the sunshine had a very warm glow. It poured into her room. The sight somehow made Avery smile to herself. At least the morning was pleasant.She walked to the window and pushed it open, letting the sea breeze hug her. She took a deep breath and let it evoke her.She looked at herself, who was still wearing the same clothes from last night, when she headed out to meet Caden and the gang. She had been too tired to wash herself after all those incidents, so she had immediately hit the bed.Despite the sleep playing hard to get,
Avery and Janet stopped at a range of caves at the corner of the island. They didn’t intentionally mean to come there, but their walk had slowly led them to the destination.“Do you think this is the range of caves Khama was talking about?”Janet turned to Avery. Avery wasn’t entirely sure, and she didn’t even know the gears that were turning in her head were up for anything good, but she knew there was only one way to know.“I have no idea. But how about we go inside and see if this is the place that certain black magic started?"Janet laughed as she shook her head.“Do you really believe the cause of this is black magic?”She asked as they entered the caves.“Do I look like a stupid to you?”Avery questioned back with a mock gasp, and Janet smacked her in the arm.“Don’t be such a smarty mouth. I’m a person who believes in superstitions. So this isn’t impossible for me.”“Honestly? Do you wanna know my opinion?”“Shoot.”Janet said as she held Avery’s arm tightly right when a bat fl