To Color Your Life

Well, Hayes, you said that. Emily wished she could breathe a sigh of relief, but the serious face of the boss's grandfather would not allow her to do so.

The man looked at the girl in silence for about a minute. He rested his elbows on the table, clasped his fingers and buried his face in them. Only his eyes, gray like her Justin's, but without a hint of warmth, were visible from his tightly pressed palms together.

"I refuse," he replied, after long consideration.

Emily saw that he really considered her words, so his abrupt refusal, although upsetting the girl, did not interfere with her determination.

After all, she had a serious trump card up her sleeve.

Once she wanted to help her beloved author in his new works, so she thoroughly studied all his research, like a maniac would study his victim. These weren't love stories that she had to read when she came to the magazine. These were scientific works written in dry language, with a bunch of facts, historical references and other tediousness.

Who would have thought that the habit of delving into even the most boring texts in detail could ultimately provide such help? Never underestimate what you are doing, even if it seems to you at that moment the most meaningless thing in the world.

"According to the rule of reverse priority in the company protocol, you have no right to refuse me, sir," Emily replied in a calm voice.

Pitcher's stone mask wavered. The man looked at the girl in surprise, as if she had confessed that she was his illegitimate daughter and presented evidence of this.

"What is this rule?" Jacob asked his grandfather.

"Where did you find it?" Arthur asked Emily.

"This morning I studied the Pharaoh's protocol in detail."

To say that she surprised him, would be like to say nothing. The boss's grandfather looked absolutey taken aback now.

"Pharaoh's protocol is comprised of over five hundred pages, Miss Hayes."

"Well...," a slight blush flashed across Emily's cheeks, "My morning started very early, sir." More precisely, she has not even slept yet. After Justin fell asleep, the girl opened the necessary document on his laptop and studied it until dawn broke.

"Rule of reverse priority, huh," Pitcher chuckled and leaned back in his chair, "Did you hear her, Jake? And what should I do with her now?"

The boss's grandfather was like a teenager who once made a wish and forgot about it. And now, many years later, he suddenly received his gift.

"Anyway, Miss Hayes," he got serious again, but not as cold as when Emily voiced her wish, "It's up to me whether I agree or not. But first, explain to me, where did you get this amount? If you took out a loan to buy my shares, then I advise you to hurry up and return the money to the bank before the interest turns you bankrupt."

"No, I didn't borrow money from the bank. These are my own funds," Emily bit her lower lip and added a little more quietly, "I sold the apartment that was left to me by my parents."

"For two million dollars?" Jacob was surprised.

"She could have sold it for a bigger amount, since the apartment is located in the very center of the city and has an area of ​​more than three hundred meters, am I right?"

"How do you know that?" the girl was taken aback when she heard Pitcher's question.

Arthur sighed. The wrinkles on his face suddenly became more visible. "I know a lot, my dear," he said sadly and signed Emily to sit on one of the chairs, "Have a seat. Don't just stand there."

"In fact, the lawyer said that if I had waited a little, I could have gained a lot more from this apartment. But I didn't have time to wait." She began to squeeze the hem of her dress, but noticed this and clasped her hands in the lock.

"Does Justin know about this?"

"Not yet." Emily didn't tell him about her decision. She didn't say anything to anyone except her grandmother.

The apartment that she inherited from her mother was an inviolable place. Parents were rarely there, and after their death, Emily did not appear there all this time. She often received offers to sell or rent property, but she refused everyone.

She could not live there herself, and the thought that someone else would live there was completely unacceptable to her.

The decision to sell was difficult. It's like ripping off an arm or a leg.

You will remain crippled. But you can live on.

She put on the line everything she had. The most valuable in order to save something even more important.

"Justin might not approve of this," said Mr. Pitcher.

Emily looked the man in the eye, "I'm not doing this for Justin. I'm doing this for myself. At first I thought that I wanted to protect people who became close friends to me, but after thinking, I realized that they had nothing to do with it. More precisely, not only them.

Everyone who works for the magazine goes all the way, regardless of the risk. They do thier best, even if they know that victory is not guaranteed.

I don't want to stand in the shadow of my past and my fears anymore.

I want to test what I'm capable of. Pharaoh is a place that I have dreamed of since my childhood. Believe it or not, I wrote some short novels in high school and sent them to your publishing house. True, at that time I did not know yet that you did not publish children's books."

Emily smiled, remembering how upset it was when she received the answer that her stories did not fit the publisher's format. She received a letter from Pharaoh in a very beautiful envelope. The paper looked like ancient parchment. Probably, any child would be just as happy if he received a letter from Hogwarts.

"Then my love for all history books began. I swallowed any, if it had the sign of the Pharaoh publishing house. Thanks to the knowledge I gained, I was able to get a scholarship and go to university. And thanks to them I won the competition for working with you."

"Which you ended up giving up," commented Mr. Pitcher. "After all that you have done to achieve your goal, you gave up victory when there was only a step left before it. Owning Pharaoh's shares is primarily a responsibility, Emily. You are responsible for people, for their lives-"

"And for their dreams," she interrupted the man. "I know what it means to show weakness and turn away from your dreams. I know what thoughts fear and doubt feed into your head. When you choose the easier path, because it's scary to go where you really want to. I'm scared even now. But now I know that behind this fear my dream awaits me."

Mr. Pitcher closed his eyes. There was silence in the room, and only the hands of the clock ticked, beating out the usual rhythm.

"This morning I got the new department proposal from Christian Denver. I cannot divulge the details, but I will tell you as it is: it will be very difficult to defeat him. Almost impossible."

Emily nodded, thanking the man for his sincerity, "Thank you, sir. I know. But the risk is worth it."

Arthur Pitcher smiled, his eyes sparkling with curiousity, "Remind me, dear, when are you and Justin getting married?"