There was a small tap on her transparent door, Clair looked up and saw Stephanie standing on the other side of it. Clair signalled for her to come in. She sat in the chair facing Clair.
She was carrying two plastic disposable cups in her hand. “What’s up! Went to get coffee and thought you’d want one. Care for?” She asked Clair, raising the cup in her right hand.
“Steph, have I ever told told you want a wonderful angel you are?” Clair asked her in turn stretching her hands to collect the cup.
“Maybe once or twice but I wouldn’t mind hearing it again.” Stephanie replied with a shrug.
“Baby you are a darling, I will say it over and over again.” They both laugh.
“Thanks Clair. I saw you coming out from Ben’s office. Gotten yourself in trouble again? You seem to have a knack for that.”
“Well this time, trouble came to find me. Literally.”
“Hmm, that’s new. Not strange though but I guess a little bit switched up.”
‘Tell me about it Steph. Stephen douchebag Mang called me this morning to request that I be his escort for an exotic trip to France…”
“Well that’s romantic.” Stephanie interrupted her, chuckling when Clair glared at her. “What? It is romantic and what better place to stay than the city of romance itself.”
“Keep at it girl and you might loose your front tooth.” Clair threatened. One look at her face and Stephanie knew that she wouldn’t hesitate a moment to carry her threat through.
“Ok. Ok. Easy with the claws” Stephanie said raising her hands in surrender
“Not just any ordinary sort of escort but one with benefits if you know exactly what I mean…”
“Surely you don’t mean what I am thinking?” Steph asked cutting her short again
“That is exactly what I mean and what’s worst, he even went to the extent of reminding me of all the things I stand to gain if I agree.”
“Wow, unbelievable. Isn’t that guy married with two kids?”
“Three. Three kids and he still can’t keep his dick in his pants. Benjamin advised me to be careful with how I relate with him so the company doesn’t loose it’s funds. What a total jerk.”
“Clair, he has a point though. Not with the company loosing sponsorship but with you being careful. If there’s any truth behind the rumors that has been going around about him, then I’m sure you don’t want to piss him off. He’s a man of so many resources and has the means to dispose off a lot of people.”
“Now you’re beginning to sound exactly like Ben. It’s disgusting.” Clair rolled her eyes and took a sip from her coffee cup. “Hmmm. This tastes heavenly. Thanks for the coffee once again babe. Exactly how I like it.”
“You’re welcome but don’t try to change the topic. This is very serious. I’m just looking out for you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Awwn, Steph. You’re going to make a tough girl like me cry. Just to be clear, I won’t forgive you for that. But I suppose you do have a point.”
“Of course I have a valid point. If I’m asked my opinion, I would say that Mang is responsible for the death of that man. But that is just me running my mouth, I’m not 100% certain but I have a hunch about it.”
“Ok, I will be careful. But I’m not writing anything on it without fully investigating the case. I need to write what I sincerely feel about the event. Do you understand? Cause if I don’t, I will feel like I still owe the people.”
“Of course. People adore you for your honest albeit blunt reports. But enough with the depressing talk about Mang. I heard you going to Alaska for a few days. When were you planning to tell me?”
“Wait, how did you know that?” Clair was confused. It hasn’t been up to an hour since she informed Ben about her plans.
“Ben called John and told him that he’ll be filling in for you because you’ll be travelling to Alaska for a few days. John told me about it when he saw me. You look surprised.”
“I am. I just got the news this morning and it’s been barely over thirty minutes since I told Ben about and you already know. I have to say I’m shocked to my very bones.”
“What can I say dear. News travels with the speed of light around here.”
“I can see that now. Amazing.”
“So…” Stephanie quirked her brows.
“So what?” Clair asked blank faced.
Stephanie quirked her brows again. Claire quirked in return.
“Really Clair? Are we really doing this? She quirked her brows again.
“You don’t expect me to understand that right? It looks like you are having a seizure but only on your face.”
“That’s my ‘tell me more’ face. Okay, what are you going to Alaska for? Happy now.” Stephanie gave up.
“Darling I have so much going on in my life right now. If you want to inquire something you have to specifically spell it out.”
“Ok, now I know. Ms booked and busy.”
“Last week I sent a mail to Siltek INC requesting an interview with them. They didn’t reply until this morning when the CEO himself wrote back to me to confirm the meeting.”
“Wow, you go girl. Siltek is like one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Lucky you. What Clair Fisher wants, Clair Fisher gets.”
“I know that right” Clair agreed, snapping her fingers. “But for an exposé that is untrue, no he won’t.”
“I’m sure you’ll be getting VIP treatment. Have they booked your flight yet?”
“Not yet. I won’t be traveling till three days. I’m sure they’ll send my ticket before then.” Clair stretched in her chair.
“Babe I’ll trade places with you in a blink of an eye. But as it stands, I’ve got better things to do than to sit here all day and drool over your perfect life. See ya”
“See ya.” Stephanie took her cup of coffee and left.
If only you knew Stephanie. My life is very far from being perfect.
They all had their demons to fight and Clair was fighting hers too but she put in effort into hiding it and making it look like she’s got it all covered.
A notification bling snapped her from her reverie. It was a mail from Siltek INC. Not from the CEO directly but from the company nonetheless.
Ms Fisher,
Please kindly find attached to this mail your flight ticket. We wish you a safe travel and look forward to meeting you in person.
FILE
Sincerely,
Alice from Siltek INC.
Clair quickly downloaded the file. It was indeed a flight ticket to Alaska. First class precisely.
She couldn’t wait till she could travel. At this stage of her life, she was going to maximize any relaxing time she could get but not at the expense of her dignity like Mang was suggesting. She wondered slightly if Rick Silver was any different. He hadn’t made any snide comments to her so far but then again it’s not like they’ve had any real conversation. All she has to conclude from was two email messages barely up to six lines. She hoped he was nothing like Mang. Physically though she had to agree they couldn’t be anymore different. She had seen several pictures of Rick Silver online. Where Mang had black hair and eyes, thin lips and dropping eyelids, all the pictures of Rick that Clair saw, he looked like he jumped out of a vogue magazine cover. Always out to leave a statement wherever he was seen.
With a golden blonde hair, a clear blue eyes and a body fit for an Adonis, it’ll be no surprise to find women swarming his way. He looked so young for someone who has accomplished as much as he has. Once, she zoomed in on one of his pictures to the satisfaction of her eye’s scrutiny. She couldn’t wait to see if his eyes were as blue and shiny as they appeared in the pictures. Thinking of him this way made her smile fondly.
Strange.
******
“Thank you everyone. You can all go back to you stations.” Rick Silver said to his employees. They had just finished a conference to talk about the new product and all the things that has been kept in place for it’s launch. Rick was quite impressed with their progress. Everything seemed to be coming along nicely. Except for the product’s publicity. He couldn’t wait for Clair Fisher to arrive and work on that. He trust her magic words to give the machine the hype it deserves. He really looked forward to her arrival. He was confident that he was going to get nice reviews and hence good publicity.
“Good afternoon, Mr Silver.” A tall man on black suit and black sunglasses greeted him
“Todd, I don’t know why you insist on being so formal. I’ve told you a dozen times to call me Rick.”
“I’m sorry Mr Silv.. I mean Rick” The man stammered. Rick shook his head. He doubted Todd would ever get used to calling him by his first name. Todd McDonald was his head of security for the entire cooperation. He was in charge of ensuring that the research compound, the staffs and even Rick himself was kept safe.
Although Rick couldn’t be killed in any traditional way, of course magic always had its loophole, he still kept a crack team of bodyguards on hand wherever he went. In the past, he’s been attacked more than a dozen times. Because his products actually cure diseases instead of subduing them for sometime, Rick has accumulated a handful of enemies in his industry. They hated him for cutting their money making schemes short. These companies had attempted to have him dealt with more than once, and he didn’t want to have to explain surviving an explosion or a headshot. So every car was scanned and guarded, and armed guards accompanied him everywhere.
Todd McDonald was in charge of organizing the team of bodyguards that followed him around and most times he accompanied Rick himself. He was Rick’s favourite maybe because he was the head of his security team. Oh actually he never thought about that.
“Never mind. Call me whatever you’re comfortable with Todd, ok?”
“Yes sir.”
“A female reporter from the Quotidian news will be arriving here in a few days. Her name is Clair Fisher. I want you to organize a crew to escort her from the airport to the private airstrip when she arrives. Makes sure she gets here safe.”
“Alright sir. I’ll get to that. How many days precisely sir?”
“Three, she’ll be here in three days.”
“That’s fine Sir. I’ll check the roster to see those that can be spared for the job and assign someone to do that.”
“You do that Todd.” Rick said collecting his briefcase from the conference table.
“Have a nice day Sir.” Todd said with a brisk nod.
“You too, Todd.” The head of security then left the room. Rick carried his bag straight to his office. The dark interior welcoming him like a mother welcomes her child that has been away for a long time. He settled into his office seat. The dull ache inside of him intensified, he felt his head pounding and his heart heavy. He had been having this feeling for days and could not explain what it was. Then he felt an urge. As if a puppet controlled by the strings, he searched for Clair Fisher on his computer again. He filtered the search results by image and his screen filled with images of the young reporter. He stared at the screen scrutinizing the image it displayed.
She had hair, hair the color of chocolate and plump red full lips. But it was her eyes that caught him like a deer in the headlights. Her eyes were sea green, very bright and clear. They reminded him of Sil’s. Her eyes had been exactly the same shade, sea green, bright and shiny. He remembered all the long hours he spent looking into that eyes, loving it’s owner with the whole of his being, fantasizing a whole lifetime with her but life had dealt him a fatal blow and took the only thing he held dear from him. His precious Sil. Flashes of her image never left his mind’s eye.
He moved his head from side to side as if it would shake off the depressing thought from his mind. He didn’t want to go down that lane, not at the moment anyway. He forced himself to look back at his screen. One of the pictures caught his eyes, so he clicked on it.
In the picture, Clair was wearing the red stone necklace and that was what caught Rick’s attention. The moment he saw it, the effect was astonishingly shocking. He felt like a wave of electricity jolt through his entire body. He zoomed in on the necklace. Rick couldn’t trace exactly where he’d seen that necklace before but he was very certain he recognized it from his past. It was like an intriguing piece of his life from his past. He couldn’t understand the emotions running through him as he looked at the pendant but something about the stone was drawing him to it and he couldn’t help but stare at it. He decided that when he met Clair, he was going to ask her about the necklace and how she came about it.
He could feel it in his guts. He had seen that pendant before and there was only one person it reminded him of.
His Sil.