Co-Presidents

4

"Kanti and Ari, why don't you two go to your rooms?" Aunt Puna asked the girls. She had always treated them as though they were her own; never making comparisons between the two. Her father, on the other hand...

They girls immediately got up and made their way upstairs. Once they reached their respective rooms, Ari's father's voice echoed throughout the entire mansion.

"Ari, get down here this instant!"

Ari launched for her door and pulled the doorknob like her life depended on it. She looked to get left and down the hallway waiting for Kanti's room to open.

And when it finally did, the two girls shared their thoughts through their eyes. Kanti nodded before retrieving into her bubble of happiness, stress-free nest of cushions and teddy bears. Ari on the other hand refused to go back downstairs as she instead closed her door, blocking the world out.

She stood in her dark, secret-filled bubble of anxiety and restlessness. She felt the demons eating away on what was left of her. She crawled under her dark, heavy but surprisingly comfortable duvet that hugged all her curves on her body protectively.

She knew exactly what she was risking. She knew what consequences she'd have to have, but in that moment, all she wanted to do was sleep. She wished to sleep forever and never open her eyes again.

No sooner did she close her eyes was the duvet snatched from her body. She shivered and her heart dropped, locking eyes with someone who looked like he could kill her from the look he was giving her. Her lip quivered and she tried to open her mouth to speak but a large cold hand struck her across the face, cracking her nose and instantly knocking her unconscious.

•••Three years later•••

"Oh, come on!" Kanti was trying to get Ari to agree with her for the tenth time in the hour and it would be an understatement to say she was slowly beginning to get on Ari's nerves. But if Ari knew better, Kanti wouldn't leave without getting her way yet Ari still put up a fight.

"I said no. Why are you still here? Don't you have people to t*****e?" Ari asked as she pointed to the door. Kanti just chuckled as she rolled the wheels of the office arm chair across the large and spacious floor.

Their office had a unique touch to it: two tables were aligned on either side and in the far distance were sofa's for hot tea and gossip breaks. There was also an en-suite and the wall facing the city was made entirely of tempered bulletproof glass. Blinds usually provide needed privacy since everyone has an eye on them everyday of every week.

Well at least Mondays to Fridays.

There was a soft knock on the door before Kanti's PA walked in with a newspaper in one hand and a Kew coffee in another. Kew was the café down the street. They offered a wide range of only the best coffees from Macchiato to Latte and even Ristretto.

Kanti jumped up from her arm chair and sauntered to meet her PA halfway. Ari envied her cousin in the right way. She always did what she was comfortable with and what she thought was right without having second thoughts. She always wore sweatpants to work and at formal functions, she'd opt for formal jumpsuits instead of dresses.

In the streets, she would be caught wearing loose t-shirts, boyfriend jeans, chinos and crocks. Ari on the other hand chose to wear formal clothes at all times. She'd either wear a pencil skirt and blouse or small black dress. On occasion, she'd wear a dress but it was for an hour then it would come off.

"Guess what bored people published today," Kanti skipped around her 24 year old cousin, disrupting her thoughts altogether.

"Would you be a dear and tell me?" Ari sighed as she turned to her cousin who took centre stage to deliver the headlines.

Kanti braced herself as she cleared her throat. "Billionaires at just 24."

"Well that's a catchphrase," Ari commented sarcastically, typing as fast as she could for a presentation she had in a few hours.

"Would you just listen and not interrupt?" Kanti rolled her eyes before continuing. "24 year old Kanti and Ari proved to us all that you don't have to be in your late sixties to get the most attractive, most desired smashing title, Billionaire.

Ari Mahi, the daughter of the retired business man, Rudra Mahi, has wasted no time in taking over the family company alongside her cousin Kanti Mahi, Mr Mahi's niece, whom he'd raised just as strongly. The two joined hands as they enter a new stage in their lives last week Friday where they officially took the title."

Ari deliberately let out a loud sigh. "Can you just skip to the interesting part? If there's any?" Kanti nodded and skimmed through the article before finding the perfect part.

"Brace yourself," she winked before reading aloud. "While it was a shock that the company was the first to have 2 presidents in over 40 years, what's even more ground-shaking is that it has been confirmed that they'll enter into partnership with the all-powerful Dyke International later this month."

"Who owns Dyke Int?" Ari wondered out loud. they've only been talking with their lawyer, they've never actually met the CEO. Kanti just shrugged as she kept reading.

"A follower took to Twitter and said, 'Who else wills for Ari Mahi and Kaden Dyke to become partners? Their companies will be powerful in the long run!' While another had this to say, 'Hands up if in favour of team #MaDy. Massive waves!'"

"Wow," Ari exhaled when Kanti was done reading and she sent the page she searched up to Kanti's computer. the brunette instantly sat up straight as she zoomed in and gave Ari her signature smirk.

"I like me a hot man."

"You have a girlfriend," Ari scolded, making Kanti look at her with lovey dovey eyes.

"I bagged the hottest girl, haven't I?"

Ari laughed, shaking her head at how uncanny her best friend was. With a smile on her face, she fell rihgt back into work. If they were going to work with Dyke, they had to be present their best front.