Burn

Chapter One

Brianna:

Three Years Later:

"Good morning, Mr. Markov." I smiled at the older gentleman, offering him one of the coffee cups in my hand.

"Good morning, Brianna. It's been three years. When are you going to stop calling me Mr. Markov? I told you it's Egor." He scolded lightly with a chuckle, accepting the coffee.

"Sorry, it's become a habit now." I said, smiling sheepishly.

"How are you doing this morning?" He asked.

"I'm alright. What's on the agenda for today?" I responded, sitting in the chair in front of his desk.

"I've actually been meaning to talk to you about this for a while, but I never got the chance." He took a deep breath, looking at me warily.

"I know I promised your father that I would look out for you, and the company... And I plan to fulfill that promise, but it's time for me to retire, Bri. This job is a lot of stress for me to take on, and I'm not getting any younger. I can't keep burning the midnight oil like I've been doing for the past three years. Even my doctor told me to slow down. That's why I'm stepping down and letting my son, Viktor take over your training."

I sat there quietly, trying to process what he was telling me.

"Are you sure that's the best decision?" I asked finally, and he nodded.

"Yes, it is. My son is the best person for this job. He's the only person I would trust to assist you. I should warn you that you'd be taking up a little more responsibility now though, seeing as he is already running the family business and his own company." He smiled like a proud father, and I couldn't help the tiny smile that broke out on my face.

"Okay, I'll trust your judgement." I murmured.

"Great! He'll be here some time after lunch. I'll introduce you two then." He said, and I nodded.

"Okay, what's on the agenda today?" I asked, and began taking note of everything I had to do today.

"Today I have two meetings that I need you to sit through with me. One is with the operations management team. We were planning on opening another vineyard and we were discussing different potential locations. I'd love to have your input on that. The second meeting is with the accounting team. Apparently, something in the books is not adding up, so they want to go over it with us." He sighed, suddenly looking more tired than when I first came in.

"Are you sure you're up for today, M- Egor? You look exhausted." I said softly, watching the older man rub his temples.

"Yes yes. I'm fine. I'm not staying the entire day anyways. I have already given my son a rundown of everything you'd need help with, so I'll just stick around long enough to attend these meetings and introduce the two of you." He responded, taking a sip of the coffee.

He groaned in appreciation, taking another sip.

"You always make the best coffee, Brianna. You can give my wife a run for her money." He joked and I laughed.

"How is she doing?" I asked, watching his eyes light up.

"She's amazing. Although, she is nagging me to retire as well. She said we should be traveling the world now before we get too old to move." He rolled his eyes.

"She does have a point." I agreed and he nodded.

"Yes, I know. I'm ready to have some quality time to spend with her as well." 

My phone buzzed with a text, and a smile flitted across my face when I saw Blake's name. After my dad died, we'd started dating and we've been together ever since. He was amazing and I would not trade him for anything in the world.

I deflated a little and the smile on my face dropped as I read his latest text.

'I'm sorry babe. I can't make date night tonight, I have to some work to catch up on. I'll make it up to you this weekend, I promise.'

'But Blake, this is the second time this week you're canceling date night for work. You promised you wouldn't.'

'I know I did, but this project is really important to me, Brianna. I need to get it done.'

'Fine.'

'I promise I'll make it up to you this weekend, baby.'

'Yeah, sure.' I rolled my eyes after sending that last text, standing to take my leave.

"Is everything okay, Brianna?" Egor asked, looking concerned.

I gave him a strained smile and a nod.

"Yes, everything is fine. If you'll excuse me, I'll be in my office finishing up some paperwork." I left before anything else was said, making my way into my office that was right next to his.

My phone began ringing, and I looked down to see Blake's name flashing across the screen. I rolled my eyes, ignoring the call and putting my phone on silent.

I sat down for the next few hours and got lost in my work, only looking up when I heard a knock on the door.

"The meeting is about to start, Bri." 

"I'll meet you in the boardroom." I responded to Egor, needing a few moments to collect myself.

He looked like he was about to say something, but shook his head and walked away.

I wonder what that was about?

I put it into the back of my head, grabbing my iPad to take down all my notes. I took a deep breath and stood from my chair, making my way into the boardroom.

"Good afternoon everyone, I hope you're all doing well. Let's get this meeting started and over with." Egor sighed.

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By the time we were done, I had a crick in my neck and my eyes were feeling strained from staring down at my iPad screen for too long.

God, I hated these meetings.

"That was the last of it for today, Thank God." Egor muttered as the last accountant left a room, and I couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"Are you sure you're okay Brianna? You've been awfully quiet, and you seem distracted."

"I'm fine." I assured him, and he eyed me skeptically.

"I might be your temporary boss, but you're family to me before all of that. I hope you know that you can tell me anything." He said softly, and I gave him a small smile.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it, but I'm alright." I said.

"Okay, well-" The ringing of his phone cut him short and he pulled it out of his pocket.

I zoned out as he began speaking, looking out the window at the beautiful city below me.

"Brianna." Egor touched my shoulder, and I almost jumped out of my skin.

"I've been calling your name for the past two minutes. It seems like you spaced out for a moment."

"Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts for a moment." I admitted sheepishly, and he chuckled.

"That's alright. I just got off the phone with my son and he's coming up in the elevator now. I think it's time I introduce the two of you, and I thought that we could all go to lunch together so you can get to know a little more about each other." He said, and I nodded.

I could hear footsteps padding down the quiet hallway, and straightened my posture. This side of the office usually is quiet because this is where we conduct majority of our meetings.

I heard the footsteps stop in front of the door, and immediately I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise. I held my composure, however, as the doorknob turned and the door was pushed open.