He's The One™

Listen To Me

Kaia stayed on the couch most of the day working on some things for the music festival. Taking a break, Kaia stood up and went to her room upstairs to get dressed. She decided to go casual today and wore light blue skinny jeans and a grey wool sweater. She made her way outside.

Stepping out into the fresh air, she took a deep breath. She didn't like being cooped up in the house all day. Since this was the first time she went outside, since she moved here, she strolled through the yard. Even though it was winter, the garden was well kept, along with a few other trees around the yard. Walking to the side of the house, she stopped when she noticed a few boxes of Christmas lights placed in a garden shed. "Hmmm." A smile appeared on her face.

She strung up the multi-colored lights one by one as they soon lit up the house, giving it life. Hours passed, and Kaia soon lost track of time. She was enjoying herself. Before she knew it, it was getting dark. Standing on a ladder, she was hanging the last few Christmas lights when a set of headlights illuminated the house. She was too engrossed in what she was doing so she didn't even notice. She reached up, latching the lights on the last hook, and sighed pleasantly. She shifted her gaze to admire the rest of the house. "What are you doing?" A rumbling voice from below called out. Caught off guard, she flinched and almost fell off the ladder. Thankfully, she had fast reflexes and grasped onto the ladder tightly, leaning her weight towards the house. Her eyes shifted downwards and met Alex's. "Um...I was hanging...the Christmas lights..." she responded, her warm breath contrasted with the cold air and formed a fog as she spoke. Alex frowned. "You're sick! Get down now! Let's go inside and warm you up!" he said, motioning for her to come down.

Kaia nodded and slowly descended from the ladder. Alex stood at the bottom holding the ladder in place, keeping a watchful eye on her and it was a good thing too because her foot slipped on the second to last rung of the ladder. Kaia let out an "Eek!" and closed her eyes preparing for impact. Instead, she landed in Alex's warm embrace. Alex let out a sigh of relief. "Woman! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" he scolded. Kaia blushed slightly. "Th—thanks." Alex looked at her before slowly planting her feet down on the ground. Then he grabbed her hands and slowly rubbed them with his hand to warm her up, then he stroked her cold cheeks. He frowned slightly. "Your body is freezing! Come on, let's get you inside," he said, taking her hand. Kaia finally came back to her senses from the daze that Alex put her in as he warmed her up. She stopped for a second, pulling her hand away. Alex frowned before turning to look at her. "Stop being so stubborn already!" Alex stepped up to her and quickly picked her up, slinging her over his shoulder and holding her there securely as he walked into the house. Kaia fought back by smacking him on his back a few times. "Let me down!!" she huffed angrily. Alex didn't listen, though.

Once they were in the house, he walked over to the couch before putting her down gently. "Sit and stay!" he said with a warning look, pointing at her with his index finger, which made her glare. Alex reached over, grabbing the blanket and throwing it over her before going to start up the fireplace. Kaia curled up in the blanket, enjoying the warmth now that she realized how cold she was.

Alex lit the fire and then went to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate. He stood at the counter as he mixed the ingredients. He hesitated, gathering his thoughts together as he took in a deep breath. "Kaia...will you please listen to me? No interruptions. No buts. And no arguing, please," he pleaded, his eyes shifted towards her. Curled up real tight in the blanket she looked back over the couch with a sigh. "You know, I wasn't stubborn being outside. I wanted to step back and look at the lights," she said, softly resting her chin on the cushion as she looked at him from afar.

Grabbing the mugs of hot chocolate, Alex walked into the living room, setting them down on the coffee table before looking at her. "Still, I want you to hear me out." Kaia stared at him, unsure of whether she wanted to trust him a third time. Her heart told her to listen so she let out a sigh and nodded. "Fine." Alex looked at her with a complex expression. "Your parents called me asking me if I wanted to buy main shares of the company because they thought that you weren't suitable enough to run it." Kaia frowned. She knew her parents didn't like the idea of her running the company, but to go behind her back after everything she went through to obtain it was just too much. Kaia's parents may have started the business, but she was in charge of it at the moment! They wouldn't have done it to Annie, so why did they do it to her? Alex sat back, drinking a bit of his hot chocolate. "I told them to let me think about it. A year later, Caine came into the picture. They took back the offer for a while, then about two months ago they offered it again, but I think that's because your father thinks he can dig up some dirt on me that way." Alex said, his eyes reflecting the glowing red and orange flames of the fire. Two months ago, that was around the time I started to complain about Caine. Kaia took a deep breath, staring at him intently. "So you were planning on taking it this time?" she asked lightly, looking down at her cup.

"I was at first. But when I heard your conversation that day, I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to see what shady deals Mr. Crescent has going on. I didn't expect you to be so well-deserving of your title as CEO. I knew you were kind, headstrong, and extremely smart back in the day, but I didn't think the position of CEO would be suitable for you. I was going to turn the offer down, but then I thought about how Caine was probably a prospective candidate for CEO, so I accepted the offer, and I'm going to buy the main shares of the company," he said, pausing to drink some of the hot chocolate. Kaia frowned at his words, glaring at him. "Crestfall Industries is under my control now! Why don't I get a say?!" she spat the words out harshly before grabbing her head as it began to throb again.

Alex noticed and placed his mug down before leaning towards her. "Are you ok?" he asked with concern. He reached towards her forehead, intending to help her massage it but Kaia pulled away from him. "I'm fine, don't touch me." She groaned as the sudden movement made her head throb even more. She took a few moments of massaging before looking up at him.

"You're having a nosebleed," Alex exclaimed. He hurriedly grabbed a few pieces of tissue from the tissue box on the coffee table and reached over to wipe the blood that was beginning to drip onto the blanket. "Are you sure you're ok?" he asked, even more, worried now. Kaia sighed, standing up. "Y—yea, it's just a nosebleed. I—I'm going to go to the bathroom and deal with the nosebleed in there," she quickly said while running off to the bathroom.

Alex frowned slightly. Something didn't seem right. Not only that... he didn't get the chance to tell her he had plans to hand the company completely over to her when he bout the shares.

((These are who I modeled Kaia and Alex after))