Ash was taken aback when Daisy made such a statement. Some days ago she was apologizing for kidnapping him the other day and now she was threatening him? How unpredictable the Landers were! Ash must have thought in his mind. But he was wrong, totally wrong. Daisy was not two faced like most ordinary folks would say the Landers’ were. She was sincere, the most straightforward Landers that anyone can ever come across.
“Are you threatening me now?” Ash asked her.
“Threatening you? No! I’m trying to save your ass from my brother…He’s here.”
What? Ash looked around and got a glimpse of Ivan approaching from a distance. He grew weak knees all of a sudden. He didn’t like being anywhere close to Ivan, not even if they were distant apart.
Ash knew one thing was certain, if Ivan found him in the mall, he’d try to bully him. He would say all sorts of harsh and mean things to Ash. That would even be good if Ivan would not ask his bodyguards to slap him around after he was done lashing him with his words.
“Just come with me,” Daisy said to Ash as she led the way.
Ash followed Daisy behind the desk of an attendant. The attendant was Daisy’s friend so it was okay if Ash remained there till Daisy cleared him to come out.
“I think I should get going now!” Ash said. The urgency in his voice was driven by the fear that he felt. He just wanted to be anywhere far from Ivan Landers.
“I thought you were shopping,” Daisy said.
“Do you expect me to continue when your brother is here? What if he comes out and then he finds me here? Worst still, what if he finds me with you? He might come to the conclusion that I was only harassing you and then he’ll have his boys beat me up.”
Ash was shrewd, he knew there was no way he could match up to Ivan. Ivan would have him crushed even before he could blink his eye.
“You don’t have to worry. My brother has gone in for a manicure and pedicure. He won’t be out again till the next one hour or two.”
Daisy was able to convince Ash to continue with his shopping. In fact, she even helped him choose some girly things for Vivian.
“Your girl would love this, trust me.”
Daisy wanted to foot the bills of all that was bought but Ash refused to it. He didn’t want any favor from the Landers. It was also said that if they give you one, you’ll have to give them ten. Ash wasn’t sure but he definitely didn’t want to find out if it was true. He would never accept anything from them.
Ash wasn’t so smart after all to refuse something from Daisy. She wanted to make amends for what she did to him the other day. Daisy was not someone that took delight in the knowledge of hurting someone. If the Landers wanted anything, they would have done it regardless of whatever circumstances surrounded it.
Back to Ash, he wasn’t so smart. But how? He didn’t know that forty percent of the shares of the mall also were owned by the Landers. When Daisy was certain he was home, she had the money reversed back to him. She made the accountant do that and then she sorted the bill out herself.
Nelly, on the other hand, insisted on going to work the next day after she was discharged. Amanda begged her not to, she tried to dissuade Nelly but she refused to be dissuaded.
“Nelly, it’s just for a day. You have a lot of savings already, you don’t need to be at work today.” That was Amanda trying to convince Nelly but she refused.
“I need as much money as I can for my child. I really need to save up. It’s not enough, what I have.”
“Fine, I’ll give you half of the money I’ll be paid today.”
Since Amanda was going to be cleaning alone, she would be getting her wages plus that of Nelly. She was now offering to give Nelly the part that would have originally belonged to her but Nelly still refused. She insisted on going to work at last, she did.
Nelly made Amanda promise her that she won’t breathe a word of what happened to her the other night to Mrs. Sandra. Amanda didn’t understand why. She tried to tell Nelly, to make her know that it was necessary to tell Mrs. Sandra. It would make Nelly’s job for the day easier if she did but Nelly kept refusing. As always, Amanda was the one to give in.
During the closing hours, as Amanda was cleaning the offices, Nelly sat in the cafeteria, taking a break after being persuaded by Amanda to do so. Then Neuer walked into the cafeteria, he saw Nelly sitting alone.
“What are you doing sitting here?” He asked Nelly, his voice wasn’t so friendly either.
“I – I – I’m just…um… I’m just waiting for…”
“Can you speak up and save my time? He spoke rudely to Nelly. He paused –
“I thought you were supposed to be cleaning the offices, not sitting here like someone who’s not being paid!”
His words hurt Nelly so badly. She even felt like weeping right in front of him but they wouldn’t change a thing. He would only think she was seeking sympathy from him.
Amanda heard when he was yelling at Nelly so she abandoned what she was doing and ran out.
“What’s going on here?” Amanda asked Nelly upon her arrival.
“It’s nothing serious, Amanda.”
“I was just telling your friend here to be up and doing. She’s showing a hell of a lackadaisical attitude in this studio! I’m sure she’s not being paid to come here and relax while someone works for her.”
“You son of a bitch!” Amanda already had enough of him. “Can’t you see she’s pregnant or are you now blind as well as stupid?!”
“Stop it!” Someone shouted from behind.