2 Chapter 2 - With the Distance That's Been Growing

Alone. That term has been following Risha throughout the entire course of her life. As a child, she grew up investing all of her time in learning and working towards goals which she had placed far beyond her ability. With the pressure of being the successor to the Wei Company, Risha already had a huge weight on her shoulders the minute she came out of her mother's womb. Combined with the pressures of society expectations and her strive to become perfect; she has no time to bother with human relationships. She believes that it is pointless having such things as friends, as the disadvantages outweigh the benefits. To her, commitment is a waste of time.

She bitterly laughed and thought to herself, "I wonder; if I had chosen a different path, would I be able to have people whom I can depend on?"

Shaking her head at that thought, she straightened up with confidence. "There is no turning back now. So what if I am alone? Emotions are trivial as they just negatively impact the state of mind and the ability to make decisions. I will move forward without looking back." She mumbled under her breath. There was no point in turning back to look at the past. What's the point of reminiscing about something that'll never change?

Risha continued to maneuver her way through the halls and cubicles with a stack of papers held in her hands. The clacking of her heels for every step she took disturbed the silent atmosphere of the empty building at nightfall. As she was about to enter a room, someone else walked through the doorway which effectively made her stumble backwards for a few steps before regaining composure. Lifting up her eyes from the scattered papers littered across the floor, Risha saw a familiar figure within her line of sight.

"Oh, excuse me. It is my mistake for not being careful, Mister Donovan." Risha politely said before bending down to pick up the messily scattered papers. She continued, "All of the employee's shifts has ended already. I wonder what brings you here so late within the night?"

"Ah, fancy meeting you here Risha! To answer your question, I was actually looking for you."

After picking up all the papers, she stood up and took a look at the handsome man standing in front of her. His features were lean but not scrawny. Quite feminine-like, but very attractive. What was the word to describe him again? Ah, yes; a f**kboy.

"Speak. I am planning on storing away these papers before I get going. As you can see, my schedule has been awful to me for the past few days. I'd like to rest as soon as possible so please say what you have to say, Mister Donovan."

After hearing her response, Dace rubbed the back of his neck and awkwardly said, "Let's go out sometime, Risha."

Her right eyebrow rose in curiosity, "Oh?"

"I'd like to know more about you. After all, we're engaged right? Don't you think that it would be beneficial for us to have more information about each other?" Dace knew that the last sentence he said was complete bulls**t. In truth, he was interested in Risha. As much as he wanted to deny it, he couldn't. Ever since their first meeting he started to take a liking towards her. Why? Dace didn't know. Her cold demeanor and the way she spoke to him just made him curious to know more about her.

"Hmm." Risha looked as though she was contemplating something.

He looked into her eyes and she stared back right at him. She held a sharp glint in her eyes. Combined with her gorgeous features, she was quite the beauty inside and out. Elegant, powerful, and well-spoken; she fought against all the norms in terms of how girls acted in their society presently. Her icy cold eyes seemed as though they saw right through him. Dace felt an eerie chill brushing against the back of his neck.

"I mean, you don't have to!" He started to get nervous, "I forgot that you're quite busy, how silly of me! Don't worry about it anymore, haha."

She cut off his rambling, "Contact me about the place and time via text. I suppose you have already added my number to your contacts?"

Dace continued with his rambling shortly after her response that went along the lines of "Oh I completely understand!" and "I respect your decision to decline!" Shortly after, he finally processed the words that she had spoken, "...You agreed?"

Risha faintly smiled and turned towards the exit. "I'll see you tomorrow Mister Donovan." The clacking sound of her heels began to grow fainter and fainter until all that was left was the gob smacked Dace Donovan standing in silence.

~

As Risha walked away towards her car, a small thought crossed her mind, "This situation seems quite familiar."

Yesterday's events popped into her head. Sometimes, a little push is all that is needed to make a dam burst open. Everything that she pushed from her thoughts roared back to her like a tidal wave; from their meeting within the coffee shop to the turmoil of emotions when she left. Her emotions began to fluctuate and she took deep steady breaths in an attempt to calm herself down.

Risha stood there in silence bringing her thoughts back to order. She sighed, "We're growing more distant with each passing year, aren't we?"

'I am sorry for pushing you away, Jaque, but this is the choice that I must take.'