He had to admit that at times he loved his life but there was other time that he hated it. People sometimes found himself staring at nothing with sad eyes. To him, he was staring into the past. To something that once was but could never be again.
"Excuse me Mr. Flyheight, but Mr. Crougar wishes to see you for right now," said a woman as she walked into Van's office. She noticed Van turn around in his chair with the far off look in his eyes once again. "He says that it is important that he needs to talk to you," said the woman as she walked out of the room.
'I just don't get it,' thought Van with a sigh as he stood up from his chair and walked towards the door. He was in charge of this entire company ever since his old boss Crougar retired. Van couldn't figure out why he was retiring; yet he seemed to stick around all the time. It made Van laugh a little trying to figure this out.
Van knew that Crougar valued the well being of this company and its workers more than anything. He wished nothing more than to see its success. Van was still young and hadn't had too much experience as of yet but he welcomed the help that Crougar always gave to him. Van figured that Crougar would truly retire when he was sure that the company would be in good hands.
He walked down the halls and came up to a large door. He gave it a small knock and when he heard a, "Come in," He opened up the door and walked into the door with a small smile on his face.
"You wished to see me sir?" asked Van as he took a seat across from an elderly man who had a smile on his face as well. The man that was across from Van was like a second father. Him and Van's own father were very close friends and that made him like family as it was.
"Yes. I have some matters that I think need to be brought by your attention. I have made a decision that I think that you would definitely benefit from," said Crougar as he stared at Van. "I realize that you are in charge now, but I have decided that I am going to hire you a personal assistant to help you get through this," said Crougar with a smile.
"I am pretty sure that I could do without one sir. So I don't really think that it will be necessary for you to have to do this," said Van not really wanting to have a personal assistant.
"You are a lot like me Van. At one time when I was about your age, I also felt the same way as you. Do you know what happened to me when I decided to go without one?" asked Crougar with the smile still on his face.
"I don't know. What happened to you?" asked Van wondering what happened to his mentor at that one time. Van thought that he got along just fine, and became the well known businessman that he was today.
"It nearly drove me insane," said Crougar with a small laugh as he sat back in his chair. "I became very thankful when I actually did get one. Before then I hardly got any sleep trying to get important matters done, barely had time to eat as well. It started to take an effect on my health. My assistant took care of many things and I was able to rest a little better. Trust me when I say that you will be happy to have one," said Crougar as he stood up from his chair.
Van thought about it for a second. After hearing that story, he felt a little differently about all of this. "I guess you could be right. My question is will this person be qualified for the job?" asked Van wanting to make sure that whoever it was didn't get in his way of doing his job.
"She graduated at the top of her class in college. She has a really impressive resume as it is. So don't worry about it. For this sort of job, it is necessary to have the person that would fit in this job best," said Crougar with a smile as he walked around his desk towards Van. "I am sure that you know of the party that is being held tonight. I will introduce you to her there. Until then, why don't you head home now and get ready for it. I will handle things for you here until then. You work too much anyways," said Crougar with a laugh.
"I will do that, thank you," said Van as he stood up. He gave Crougar a small handshake before he started to walk towards the door. 'My wife is not going to be happy about this,' thought Van with a grimace. She was a type of woman that would hate any woman that was in a certain radius of Van and now Van had a female assistant. Van gave a small chuckle as he walked out of the office.
"Hey Van, wait up," yelled Van's good friend Irvine. While Van was the president of the company, Irvine was the vice-president. The two of them tended to argue a lot but it was only friendly.
"Hey Irvine. Hey, are you going to be coming to the company party tonight?" asked Van as he stopped and allowed Irvine to catch up to him. He walked into the elevator when Irvine had caught up.
"Of course I am. Why the hell would I try and pass up free food? I would have to be crazy to try and do that. Plus, it is either that or I can stick around for Moonbay's cooking," said Irvine with a laugh. He wasn't saying that his wife was a bad cook in fact she was a pretty good cook when it came to certain things, but when it came to what she was making that night he knew it would only lead to disaster.
"It is sort of the opposite for me. It is either I go and eat, or stay and starve because Tiffany has to go on another photo shoot," said Van with a sigh. 'The joys of being married to a model,' thought Van with a sigh. "I am also obligated to go as it is because of my position with the company. I guess it is the same for you so I wonder why I asked that question earlier," said Van with a small laugh.
"Well I don't have to go but then it would make the company look really bad and then either you or Crougar would get on my case about how the vice- president should be at those sort of things," said Irvine as he laughed as well. He knew perfectly well that one of the two would definitely get on his case about it.
"You've got that right. Not having the vice-president there would let the media have a field day, and I really don't feel like answering any question from them," said Van with a loud laugh.
The elevator came to a stop on the garage floor and the two stepped out of it. The two didn't have to walk far before they reached Irvine's car. "Irvine, just one question. You are the second highest paid person here and yet still drive this piece of junk. You should by one of the newer models and not a version from a few years ago," said Van as he examined the black car. It had a few scratches around it but all in all it was still in pretty good condition.
Van remembered clearly when he first bought it. 'I was dragged along to go and help him look when I was supposed to... no! Forget about back then Van. It is in the past and I don't need to think about it right now,' thought Van with a stern face.
Thinking about the past always made him think of his old girlfriend. The two were madly in love but were forced to separate. Thinking about the past made Van think about the what ifs, and when you are married, that isn't something that you should be thinking about. He knew that it was impossible for him to forget but he had always kept trying.
"What can I say? I really like this car and I don't want another until this won't run anymore," said Irvine with a shrug of his shoulders and a smirk on his face as he hopped into the drivers seat.
"See ya Irvine. Tell Moonbay that I say hey, will ya?" asked Van as he waved behind him while walking towards her car.
"Just tell her that tonight because I am going to bring her whether she wants to come or not," said Irvine with a smirk on his face at the image of dragging his wife out of the house and to the party. It made him laugh pretty hard. He then pulled out of the parking spot and immediately sped out of the place.
"Now it is time to head home. I could definitely use a little rest before I have to get ready for the party," said Van with a sigh as he leaned into his seat. He stayed that way for a few minute before he started up the car and drove out of the garage in his blue convertible.
Van was tired beyond reason at that moment. 'Crougar was right, this could be a good thing for me,' thought Van because of how tired he was. He didn't have to start getting ready for another hour or so, so he tried to get a little sleep.
Dream
Van stood there in the park. It was late at night yet his girlfriend insisted on talking to him. She sounded very timid at that time and he had a feeling of dread at that moment for a reason that he didn't know of.
"Van," came a soft voice from behind him, which caused him to turn around and face the one woman that he loved more than anything in the world. Her blonde hair blew in the light wind giving her a radiance that Van had not seen before.
"What was it that you wanted to speak to me about Fiona?" asked Van with a small smile on his face as he stepped towards his girlfriend and wrapped her into his arms. He gave her a light yet passionate kiss before she had a chance to speak.
The two broke apart a few minutes later in search of breath. "Van, there is something very important that I need to talk to you about," said Fiona backing away a little and staring at Van. She saw that she had his undivided attention so she decided to continue talking. "I am sure that you know that I am leaving tomorrow for college," said Fiona as she stared at the ground.
"Yeah, I do. I wish there was a way that we could be closer because you are going to a college that is too far away," said Van in a sad tone as he watched Fiona stare at the ground like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"I think that if I don't say this now it will probably end up being far too difficult to say later. So, I think it would be best if we just broke up," said Fiona in a sad tone. She didn't want to do this but she knew that it would be for the best since neither of them would even be able to see each other at all and that could probably lead to a miserable life.
Van was taken by surprise. If there was one thing that he did not expect, it was her saying those words that a lot of people dreaded hearing. "Wh- what?" asked a startled Van.
"If you think about it then it is probably for the best. We won't be able to see each other and most long distance relationships always end. I love you so much that it hurts to say this but it would make many things easier for us if we were to just end it now," said Fiona in a hurt tone as a single tear rolled down her face. She did not want to end it but she knew it would happen eventually.
Van was upset but he knew that Fiona had a good point with this. "So... this is it?" asked Van in a really saddened voice. "After all that we have gone through together, this is it?" he asked again managing to keep a calm voice. He couldn't bare the thought of not being together.
"Just think about it now. You can probably find someone better than me," said Fiona although that hurt the most to say. She didn't want someone else to have him, she wanted to keep him.
"No. There is no one better than you. I love you and you know that. I don't think I will ever be able to find anyone even remotely close to you," said Van while he tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. Van quickly scooped her up into his arms once more, and he held her tight because he knew that it would probably be the last time that he would be able to do this with her.
"I am sorry Van," said Fiona as she pushed him away before she ran off down the road. Something inside Van wouldn't allow him to give chase so Fiona got away before he could do anything.
End Dream
Van eyes fluttered open but he just laid there. It wasn't the first time that he had had this type of dream. They had been plaguing his thoughts ever since that day about seven years before.
He had never seen Fiona since that day or even heard from her. He couldn't figure out for the life of him why he just let her leave his life. Irvine tended to get on his case very once in a while about marrying his wife when Irvine thought that Van was still in love with Fiona.
'No! Fiona is just a thing of the past now. I love Tiffany now. If I didn't than I wouldn't have gotten married to her,' thought Van as he refused to get up. Ever since that day, Van's heart laid shattered inside of his chest. When he met his wife it seemed to be fixed but for some reason there always seemed to be something missing like part of his heart never healed.
"I see that you finally decided to wake up," said a beautiful young woman as she walked into a room wearing a bathrobe. She was very beautiful with long brown hair that fell down to he back, lovely violet eyes, and many other things that men would kill for.
"I was just a bit tired, so I decided to take a small nap before I have to leave. I am fully awake now though," said Van as he stood up and walked behind his wife. He wrapped his arms around her waist and fiddled with the knot that held the robe together. Her hands stopped him though.
"Not now. I am in a bit of a hurry to get to my photo shoot," said Tiffany as she escaped from his grasp leaving a very annoyed Van standing in the same position. She walked over to their closet and grabbed a pair of black pants and a blue shirt and slipped them on.
'Yeah, yeah. Like always. Always an excuse. I'm tired; I'm in a hurry. Man, we never get to have any time alone because of her job,' thought Van with a frustrated sigh on his face. He had known her for about three years now. Ever since their wedding about a year before, he has only managed to be with her on their honeymoon and maybe once after that. It was starting to get annoying. With a sigh, he walked into the bathroom to take a quick shower.
"Are you sure that you don't want to skip your plans and come along? It might not be too late for that," said Van a few minute later once he was out of the shower and putting on a tie.
"You know that I can't do that. They need me to be there and I am going to be there. It is not really going to hurt that I miss some of these every once in a while," said Tiffany as she put some black high heels on to go along with the black dress that she already had on.
Van gave a low groan upon hearing this. "Once in a while? You have practically missed every one that we have had since we got married," said Van with a sigh as he button up the wrists of the dress shirt.
"Hey! Don't blame me for being busy with my work. You have your job and I have mine so don't get on my case about this," she said in an exasperated voice as she walked out of the room and into the bathroom.
'Man, she sure seems in a bit of a bad mood today,' thought Van as he put on his shoes. 'I only brought up a simple subject. She didn't have to bite my head off about it,' thought Van as he grabbed his coat and walked out of the bedroom.
He walked up towards the bathroom door and gave a knock onto it. "Hey! I have to get going. I will talk to you when you get back," said Van having a feeling that he was going to be the one that got back home first. When he didn't hear a reply, he just let out a sigh and walked out of the room. 'Perhaps it could have been worse. I could have told her what was happening. I would have never heard the end of her complaining,' thought Van considering himself lucky at that moment but he knew that she would eventually find out and that was something that he hoped to be far away from that when it happened.