“Anne Jones.” Jack called the name again and she shook slightly at the sound of his tone. Many thoughts were running through her mind as she stood in front of her new boss. “Was she going to be sacked?” that was the biggest of them all.
“Take a seat”
“Huh!” she exclaimed before she could even stop herself. To say she was shocked was saying things too lightly. She was bewildered, she was stunned completely.
“I said, take a seat.” Jack had to repeat himself twice before the words finally sank in. He was offering her a seat in his office. She began sweating as she timidly took one of the leather chairs opposite him. She fiddled with her fingers nervously, her head bent as she muttered a quick prayer.
Once she was seated, not comfortable though, no staff could be comfortable being in that position with Jack, Jack hard voice stated
“Tell me about the corruption scheme y’all run in my company.”
Her head whirled aggressively to stare at him, her heart almost stopped beating at that moment as she stared at him in horror.
Her mouth suddenly became dry as she stared at her boss, unable to form a sentence. He stared back at her with eyes that suggested that he knew a lot so lying wasn’t an option.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She stuttered and he chuckled evily.
“Alright then. Pick up your termination letter and leave my office.” He stated coldly and her eyes bulged in horror. “No. No, this couldn’t be happening.” She screamed within herself. A stray tear dropped down to her cheeks and she wiped it with the back of her hand, still staring at Jack who watched her intently.
“I am not part of the corruption scheme. I’m innocent.” she stated with a cracked voice, her voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t know much about it, but I think the management board are responsible.” she spilled fearfully. She looked at him and met his eyes that urged her to continue speaking.
“I’ve barged into the director having unofficial meetings with the head of the finance unit at odd hours, I didn’t really put much thought to it untill I uncovered a classified document about the fraud. Since then, they paid me to keep quiet. I swear, I didn’t want to, but there was nothing I could do.” She stated. Her eyes held sincerity as she spoke.
“You can go.”
“Huh? Go home? Am I really sacked?” she asked, hoping he he didn’t really mean what he said.
“We’ll see about that.” he stated, shutting her off.
Karen sat on the comfortable chair in her hotel room as she typed away on her laptop. It’s been four days since she arrived in New York, and so far, her life has been going smoothly. She had been informed numerous times about Jack making inquiries about her at her company, but each time he showed up, he was told the same thing over and over again. Karen was fine and didn’t want to see him.
He had deduced that Karen had travelled out of the city, but he didn’t know where she was. Searching for her now would be like tiring and futile, so he choosed to wait. Wait with hope that very soon, she would return.
He walked groomily into his office, avoiding the greeting from his secretary who looked up at him from her table. The past days, he had been burying himself in his work to reduce the pain of loosing Karen. He still felt very bad about his actions, and when he wanted to make it up to her, she left.
He took his place in his big comfortable chair behind the table. His face looked disoriented, with visible eyebags under his deep blue eyes, signs of the fact that hasn’t had a good sleep in the past days. Wrinkles appeared on the skin of his face due to fatigue. A lot of things were on his mind and they were slowly and steadily weighing him down. The fact that Karen was somewhere out there, pregnant with his child, and he could do nothing to protect her kept bugging heavily on his mind. His father was dying slowly, and he didn’t have the guts to tell his mother about it. He knew how broken she would be when she found out, but he would rather let her find out herself.
Ever since the his dad was discharged from the hospital, he had frequented his parent’s house. Though he didn’t have the best relationship with his dad, he wanted to make the most of the last few months he had with him. His mother had become suspicious of his sudden close relationship with his dad because normally, he couldn’t even stand his dad for more than an hour but now, they spent hours together, talking about business and everything.
Work too was piling up for him. Ever since he took over his father’s company fully, his work load had increased massively. He was yet to fully uncover the corruption scheme that was going on in the company, but he was getting closer everyday. He had found some indicting documents about some members of the management board and he was going to kick them out.
He rang the electronic bell on his table and few minutes later, his secretary, Lisa rushed in. He was back at his company after spending the past few days at his dad’s company. Lisa rushed in, her head bowed slightly as she stood in front of Jack’s table. She was dressed in corporate wears of a black skirt and multicolored shirt. She had a bright smile on, making her look as beautiful as always.
“Welcome back sir.” She greeted. She had noticed his stressed and bad mood as he walked past her some minutes ago. He nodded at her greetings, too tired to respond.
“I need a comprehensive report of every file that came in since I was away.” he stated.
“I worked on all the files and they’re arranged chronologically in the database. I’ll send them to you now.” She replied and relief washed over him. She had just saved him from a lot of stress. Though that wasn’t part of her job description, she had taken the initiative to do since her boss was away.
“Thanks for that.” he managed a smile at her. The first time he smiled in the past five days.
“You are welcome sir.”
“One more thing, These are files from Antonio Aesthetics. I need you to check them carefully. Email everything you find out to me.” he said, picking out the file and handing it over to her. She collected the file and held it possessively before walking out of the office. He trusted her to do a great job. That was why she was the best secretary in California. That was why she was working for him. He relaxed into his chair, closing his eyes.
***
Damian, Karen’s dad and the other men of the organization were seated around a large glass table in a private room in one of the clubs in New York. They were all dressed in black suits and were in a meeting. Damian stood up from his chair, walking to the front of the table. The rest of the men looked at him with curious eyes. He wasn’t one to speak during meetings like this, especially when he wasn’t called to.
He cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the five men that were in the room. Karen’s dad sat comfortably in one of the chairs, swirling a glass of whiskey and ice in his hand as he stated at Damian.
“I’m leaving.” Damian stated once he was sure that he got their full attention. They stared at him incredulously as they waited for him to continue. “I’m leaving the organization.” he added and silence fell in the room. The men stared at each other in surprise before they returned their eyes to him. The five pairs of eyes stared at him and he shook slightly under their deep stare. Their faces held the same indifferent look and he couldn’t decipher what they were thinking. He knew they wouldn’t let him go easily so he had to be unwavering.