29 - gala

Dominic

$$

I hated seeing Amina upset. It was the one thing that could make me act so stupidly. Act so out of character. To think so violently.

I wanted to find Aaron and I wanted to kill him. I wanted to watch the life leave his eyes from my bare hands. But because murder wasn't legal, I was doing the next best thing to make Amina happy.

I was going to the gala.

About a week ago I told her I would come to the gala with her, and the way her face lit up made everything I was about to endure worth it.

"I can't believe you're going to one of your father's gala. This girl has you wrapped around her finger!" Andre exclaimed as he helped me tie my tie.

"I said no at first. I'm doing it now because I want to."

"Because you want to see her happy, not because you want to be there." Andre corrects.

"What's the difference?"

He chuckles, "You're so far gone man."

"I am not. It's a friendly thing."

"Keep telling yourself that." He says before stepping away to observe my look. "Alrighty, the tie is on and you look smooth."

I walk over to face the mirror and nod. The gala was a black tie event so I had no other option than to pull out an old tuxedo I had. "Thanks, man." I tell him before dapping him up.

"No problem. Now go get your girl."

"Not my girl." I remind him making him chuckle.

The cool thing about being neighbors was that I hardly ever had to drive to pick her up. I just needed to walk next door and knock. Kendra opened the door and greeted me with a smirk. "I assume you're here for Ami?"

"Yeah."

She chuckles before narrowing her eyes at me. "You watch yourself pretty boy. If you hurt her I will hunt you down." She threatens. "Are we clear?"

My eyes widen in surprise and I nod. "Crystal."

She smiles, "Good! Let me get her for you. One moment just wait outside."

I nod pulling out my phone to occupy myself while I wait for her. I guess I'm no longer in the good books with her friends. It's expected after what happened at Thanksgiving. I've been an asshole to Amina and she honestly deserves better. But I can't help sticking around. "You look nice." Her voice says snapping me out of my thoughts.

I chuckle, looking up at her. "Thanks, so do-" I was stopped in my tracks as she fully walked out. I look her up and down, fully taking in her appearance. She wore a long black gown that clung to her body in all the right places. Her normally curly hair was straightened, revealing its true length down her back. Her makeup emphasized her features, making her eyes pop and her lips more defined.

Yeah, I don't deserve her.

She smiles shyly, "It's too much isn't it? I know everyone's going to be dressed up so I was just trying to keep up. Maybe I should tone it down-"

I shake my head quickly, "You look, breathtaking."

She blushes, "Thank you. You look great too."

"Thank you." I reach out my hand for her to take, "Shall we?"

She smiles taking my hand and allowing me to lead her down to the parking lot. I open the door for her to get in and make my way to the driver's seat.

"You look beautiful." I tell her again as I get into the car.

She giggles, "Dominic stop. Thank you."

I smirk, "No problem gorgeous." I comment, which makes her hit me playfully as I pull out of the parking lot.

The drive was long as we had to drive down to San Diego for the event. Only my father would pick a venue in San Diego when Los Angeles is covered with event venues. I connect my phone to the car's Bluetooth and begin playing music for our long drive.

"Thanks for deciding to come with me." Amina says after a few minutes. "I know this may be hard for you."

I shake my head, "Truthfully, I expect the venue to be so big that I'll hardly see him. So don't worry about it, I'm fine."

"And you look great by the way. The suit really fits you."

"Thanks, Andre's grandma helped me tailor it."

"Are you close with Andre's family?"

I chuckle, "Extremely. His grandmother was our housekeeper, that's how he and I met."

"Really? Is that why your father doesn't like him?"

I shrug, "Who knows why my father doesn't like him? My mother loved him though, and his grandmother. She worked for us since the day I was born, and she left shortly after my mother died."

"Oh, I'm sorry Dominic I didn't know."

I shake my head, keeping my eyes on the road. "It's okay. It was 5 years ago."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

I reach out and hold her hand that sits on her lap, giving her a small smile. "Thank you." I don't think she felt comfortable asking any further questions so I decided to ask her some. "What are your parents like?"

She chuckles, "I love them but they're exhausting. Especially my mother."

I raise a brow, "How so?"

"She picks me apart every chance she gets. Nothing is ever good enough."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay, they're still good parents. It just gets to be a lot of pressure. And being the oldest and only daughter doesn't help."

"You being the oldest daughter makes sense."

She raises a brow, "Really? Why?"

"Because you're so bossy." She hits me making me laugh, "But you're also so organized and put together. Team leader by nature."

She smiles, "Much better response."

After two hours of driving, we finally arrived at the venue. It was a large building with a fountain in the front of it. We pulled up to the valet station and I helped Amina out of the car before handing the valet my keys. "If you scratch it, I'll find you." I threaten the valet driver before Amina pulls me away.

We walk down the long stone walkway that is surrounded by greenery and fountains, leading up to the big double glass doors. Amina's smile was wide, she held my arm securely as we walked toward the venue. I couldn't help but smile too.

"Tickets please?" The woman at the front asked as soon as it was our turn. Amina pulls out her phone for our tickets to be scanned. The woman smiles, "Your dress is beautiful by the way."

Amina smiles, "Really? Thank you so much."

The woman nods handing us two pamphlets, "Your event program for the night. You're both seated at table 1. Enjoy."

"Thank you." I reply, leading Amina into the venue.

Amina's eyes widened as we entered. The venue was beautiful. High colorful ceilings made from glass, bright crystal chandeliers in every corner, and beautiful marble flooring. In big letters on a screen, it read '10th Annual Innovation for Impact Gala'.

I looked around at the tables to find which one was labeled Table 1. After a few glances, I spot it and sigh. In the middle of the room, directly in front of the stage. Stacy, my stepmother sat at the table adjusting her makeup, with few others around her.

"We've been seated with my father." I groan making Amina look up.

"Do you think we can change seats? Maybe we should take someone else's?" She looked up at the upper level where patrons had additional seats and were able to look down at the event. "Maybe we could watch from up there when it starts?"

I nod, "Okay, if that's okay with you."

"It's perfect." She says with a smile. We make our way to the large stairs on the side of the room.

"Amina, Dominic, what a pleasant surprise." My father's voice says from behind me.

I turn around reluctantly. "Father."

He was smiling widely, "I have underestimated your influence over my son Amina. I'm so happy you're both here."

"Thank you for having us, sir." She nods politely.

"Never in my lifetime did I think I'd seen my son at one of these events. Willingly." He says with a laugh. "Come I have some people to introduce you to."

"We were actually about to go do something." Dominic interjects.

"It can wait. Besides there's someone I would love to introduce you to Amina."

Amina's eyes light up but she looks at me before responding. I sigh, "Okay."

My father gives a satisfied smirk before leading us toward the other side of the room. "Noemi, I'd love for you to meet one of my future employees. Amina Bassey." My father introduces. The tall tanned woman smiles, reaching her hand out for Amina to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Amina. I'm Noemi Sabre."

Amina nods, "I know who you are. You're the youngest CEO in the industry, it's an honor to meet you."

"And this is my son Dominic Taylor." My father adds.

I reach out to shake her hand, "Good evening ma'am."

She chuckles, shaking my hand. "I haven't been called ma'am in a long time. I guess I need to go harder on the anti-aging cream."

I shake my head, "My apologies, I didn't mean it like that."

She laughs, "I'm just messing with you." She turns back to Ami, "Joseph tells me you're interning at Acme right now?"

Ami nods, "Yes, business analytics."

"And she's our most promising intern as well. Why don't Dominic and I leave you two to talk?" My father suggests, ushering me away from them before I could speak.

"Why do you want me here? And what are you doing using Amina to get to me?" I ask him after we've walked away from the group.

He laughs, "Son you always think things are about you. Can't a father just want his son to see his accomplishments?" He walks us over to a tall man talking with a group of people. "Let me introduce you to some people."

I sigh as my father parades me around to different individuals and groups. I turn to see Amina still talking with the lady from earlier. At least she was getting something out of this.

After finally getting away from my father, I wandered around the party, picking up snacks before walking out into the hallway. "Dominic." A voice calls from behind me.

I sigh when I see Stacy approaching me. "What?"

She frowns, "I was just coming over to say hi. I'm happy you could come."

"Hi." I respond nonchalantly.

She sighs, "Look I know you don't like me, but I hope you know I do care about you."

"Thanks." I respond plainly.

Suddenly I could hear the presenter speaking from the main room, indicating the event was starting. "We should make our way back to our seats."

I shrug her off, "I'll be there eventually."

She sighs, tired of making an effort. I could hear the clicking of her heels as she made her way back to the main room. I went around the other way, walking up the top level to watch from there. I watched from the side by the stairs before receiving a text from Amina.

A: sorry I can't meet you at the upper level. Your dads holding me hostage lol

I looked down to where table number one was and could see Amina seated with my father and Stacy. I chuckle texting her back.

D: all good, enjoy :)

The program begins and I watch as they recap all the good they've done for the previous year and plans for the future. I hated to admit it was impressive. Providing free wifi and electricity for underdeveloped areas, the development of drones to deliver food to the poor, and creating new jobs in underserved communities. My father was good at this saint act, but I knew better.

After all of the presentations, my father came to the stage to deliver his closing speech. Everyone roared in applause as he walked up, waving and smiling proudly.

"Thank you everyone, I'm so happy you all could make it here tonight to witness the accomplishments here at Acme Corp." Everyone applauds again before he continues speaking. "I started this company 20 years ago with nothing but a dream and a few hundred dollars. To see it pan out the way it has is unbelievable. I would like to thank all the teams that work hard every day in our many offices scattered around the globe. And I would also like to thank my family." I look up at him in surprise. "My dearly departed wife Sonya, who stood beside me during the creation of this company. My current partner Stacy and all she does to support me. And most importantly, someone who is here tonight for the first time, my son Dominic." My eyes widen and I feel something in the pit of my stomach. "Dominic has been working hard for many years, acquiring his degree to hopefully one day in the future take over the business for me. Dominic, why don't you come up here?"

Suddenly the spotlight was on me as the room erupted in applause. I felt myself freeze, I physically could not move myself. So I didn't stop them when I felt two people guiding me down the stairs to the stage. Next thing I knew I was standing beside my father as he wrapped an arm around me proudly. "I would like to formally announce the next CEO of Acme Corp, Dominic Taylor!"

Lights were flashing as cameras started to flash photos aggressively, and applause erupted around me, just as I could hear reporters suddenly ask questions.

"How far out till you step down as CEO?"

"Is Dominic ready for this kind of responsibility? Where has he been all this time?"

"Is it true that he was top of his class 3 years in a row?"

I didn't hear responses to any of those questions as I completely zoned out. I was screwed.

Well played, father.

———

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