C8 An Old Friend

A man dressed in an all-black Emporio Armani two-button slim suit paired with his sleek black pointed-toe leather shoes, his wrist decorated with the finest silver-colored Rolex, comes out of a sliver-colored Mercedes-Benz G-Class, he parked in the building parking lot that is just a minute walk from the building. He walked towards the tall building that looks to be built with only glass.

He climbed up the stairs that leads to the reception area and the glass door automatically opens, he got in and looked around the reception. it's quite different from the last time he was here, 'what's he saying? it's been years, of course, there will be changes'

The table for the receptionist is located on the left side of the main entrance, the table is cream and light brown in color, complimenting the chairs. The chair surrounds a portable glass table that has some magazines stacked neatly on top. There is a brown rug underneath the table, giving it a classy look.

He walked up to the receptionist and noticed the lady behind the table doesn't look familiar.

The lady looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties, her brown hair is up in a tight bun giving her a strict look with the minimal makeup she has on. She is wearing a black suit jacket with a white turtle neck.

She was on the phone when he got to the desk. She is different from the other lady that used to be here. 'Probably transferred or resigned' he guessed.

He looked at his watch to check the time while she was still on the phone.

She turned to him when she was done with the phone and gave him a smile.

"Sorry about that sir, how may I help you?" she asked.

'Yeah she's new' he said to himself.

"Oh, it's okay, I seek Donald Lorenzo, is he in?" he asked.

"Err yes sir, do you have an appointment with him?"

"Well no, but can you put a call through and let him know Kingsley Bernard is here?" he answered.

"Um... okay sir. Please hold on" she said and picked up the caller then dialed a number. "Hello... sir, someone is here to see you... no, he doesn't have an appointment... he says his name is Mr. Kingsley Bernard... oh...okay, I'll do that...okay sir" she put down the phone and turned to Kingsley. "You may go in now sir"

"Thank you," he said and walked up to the elevator.

...

The office floor is a brown color porcelain tile, that shines when light is been focused on it. Coming from the door, you could see a table with three chairs one behind the table which is for the boss and the other two facing the boss. Behind the boss, is a bookshelf that has books arranged neatly beside each other in the first three rows and the fourth row has a french three-piece antique marble and bronze clock set, a gramophone, and a Meissen porcelain centrepiece with a stand.

There is a not too long table, and about six chairs surrounding it by the right side of the boss, more like a mini-conference room. While on his left side is the floor-to-ceiling window with a miniature statue of a woman and beside it is a flower pot.

The wall of the office is decorated with a stick panel wood wall cladding interior wood wall partition, there is a painting he got from an auction some months ago. In the painting is a girl sitting on an artist's chair while she paints the beach.

There is a mini sitting room setting, with two single black bean sofas facing each other and a three-seater sofa with the same color resting on the wall, basically in between the single sofa. A small dark brown table is in the middle and has a basket of prop fruit.

Donald Lorenzo is wearing a three-piece gray suit his jacket is hung on his chair, his brown hair has slight silver color streaks, so does his beard giving him a good aura for a fifty-eight-year-old.

Donald is sitting on his chair talking to a foreign client on the phone when he heard a knock on the door. He answered with a 'come in' and Kingsley came in smiling.

Donald ended the call soon with a promise of calling back and puts the phone down on the receiver. He stood up and went towards his friend and they shook hands and did the man hug.

"Hermano" Donald says with a wide grin.

"How are you doing?" Kingsley said when they sat on the sofa.

"I am doing fine my dear friend, how are you doing also? Do you care for some drink?" Donald asked.

"Orange juice will do, please and I have been good"

Donald stands up to get them something to drink from his little fridge meters far away from the sofa.

"Just, juice? What the hell happened to you, my friend?"

"I have to be careful, Hermano. I need to be healthy so that Moana and Audriana don't worry too much" Kingsley said.

"Worried? What is with you, my friend? Not as healthy as I saw you last, eh?" Donald said.

"I have some heart-related problem and our family doctor said I should stop my intake of alcoholic drinks and take more fruity juice" replied Kingsley.

Donald turned to look at Kingsley, he had a worried look on his face.

"Oh my GOD, Hermano, when? Why didn't I know?"

"You weren't in town remember?" Kingsley reminds him.

Sighing Donald walked up to him with their drinks, he placed them on the table and got cups for them.

"Thank you," Kingsley said and poured some of the juice into his cup.

"I am so sorry brother for not checking up on you, I feel so bad, I am sorry," Donald said.

"Oh come on, you don't need to apologize, everyone has their share of problem they are facing" was Kingsley's reply.

"I have a nicely diced fruit pack that my Patricia packed for me" Donald stood and went to get it from the fridge. "I told her it isn't necessary but you know women, they worry a lot? She said I must finish them or she'll get mad at me and I should tone down the amount of alcohol I take"

"You should listen to her, mine won't have been this worse if I listened to all her warnings," Kingsley said taking the pack from him "is there a fork?"

"There should be a toothpick there," Donald said "Hmm... I will try to eat more fruit now and the alcohol intake... I will work on it"

"There are two, and you should try harder," Kingsley said.

"How is the woman that makes my brother's heart beat fast doing?" Donald asked wriggling his brow "It has been so long I saw you all, your daughter was still little then"

"Yes, Moana is doing fine, she is the only one that makes me want to live, the love of my life and my princess Audriana, she has grown to be a beautiful young woman" he took a sip from his cup "How about Patricia? The only woman that could tame this aggressive man called my friend?" Kingsley grinned when he asked.

Donald grinned too but you could see love written all over his face.

"My Patricia is doing great, next week is our wedding anniversary, and since I am going to be staying here in New York for a long time, we will be having a party" Donald came closer to Kingsley to whisper what he was about saying "More like me throwing her our anniversary party, It is our 30th anniversary and I want to make it beautiful and memorable for her, she is going to love it"

"I very much trust you my friend, and I am glad we both found the love of our lives and enjoying our marriages," Kingsley said "How about your boy? Dimitri, right? How is he doing, while you were away I could see how great he is doing with the company when he came here to New York, he got a business mind just like his father" Kingsley praised.

Donald smiled "Yeah he got the business mind from me, he is doing great though, and improving" he replied.

"What happened with Cade..." Kingsley said looking sad.

"No, it's okay. I did receive your condolence message when It happened. It really broke us... It was devastating, especially Dimitri, he didn't take it easy... Cade and Dimitri are really close but..." Donald shakes his head and drank all of the scotch in his cup.

"I am so sorry about that" Kingsley consoled.

Donald nods and changed the topic, they talked about lots of things, from school times to when they met their partners, to when they started their family, and when Donald decides to relocate.

They were catching up on lots of things.

It felt good to see each other and they enjoyed every moment they spent.

"So, how is business going?"