Rachael inhaled deeply, getting herself prepared to walk into Damien’s office. She hadn’t slept well enough after Isabelle’s missing incident and had to rush down to the office after skipping a working day without giving prior notice. Now one of her colleagues had informed her that she was expected to see the boss immediately after she arrived at the company. Blowing out the puffed air in her mouth, she opened the door quickly, to avoid having a second thought and walked into the office.
As usual, Gina, the new self-proclaimed personal assistant, was sitting with the boss himself. She had readied herself for Gina’s insult and scolding, but none of them came running to her. The expression on their faces were neutral which almost scared the shit out of her.
“Good morning, Mr. Russo” she muttered her greeting and gave the excuse she had practiced in her head. “I’m sorry for not coming to work yesterday, I was indisposed. I know I should have called, but my brain was totally drained, I couldn’t even do anything”
Damien sighed in frustration while Gina just remained silent, both staring at her which caused an unsettled feeling in her heart.
After a brief moment of silence, Damien spoke up, “it’s alright, Rachael”
“What??” Rachael pouted her lips in surprise. “I thought you called me here to scold me and Gina here, is not throwing any of her witty remarks this morning. what’s going on?”
“Watch your mouth. Gina here is the one behind the reason why I called you here” Damien scolded her, his eyes flashing with hesitation as he was about to say what he and Gina had agreed on. His guts were telling him not to do it, but he was crazily drawn to the woman who could come out of the hole she had pulled him into.
He paused for a moment before saying, “I want to reappoint you as my assistant starting today”
Rachael was flabbergasted but she felt her heart leap for joy at the good news. Still, she wanted to be sure she had heard right. “Mr. Russo, I’m greatly confused, did you just say you want me back as your PA?
“Which of my words did you not understand?” Damien snapped in vexation, his gaze sharp as he stared down at Rachael who quickly bowed and apologized. “I’m sorry sir”
Like a tacit agreement, Damien and Rachael simultaneously glanced at Gina who seemed lost in thoughts, her silence was putting them both in a tight spot. Most especially Rachael, who was always ready to defend herself when it came to her attacks.
Damien who had gotten tired of her silence called her out, jolting her out of her thoughts.
“Gina, you’ve been silent. Say something” Damien urged her, his voice laced with concern as his gaze lingered on her.
“I’m sorry, I was just bothered about something else,” Gina said with an apologetic gaze lingering on Rachael who cringed in disgust.
“What’s wrong with her?… Is she alright?” Rachael asked herself with great trepidation in her heart. Gina’s sudden change of attitude was giving every one the chills.
“Tell her about our new plans” Gina blurted out without any sign of hesitation, fidgeting with her nails absentmindedly. Even though she had resumed her medication, it had only helped slow down the deterioration of her brain cells. Her abrupt silence was a decision she had made to keep people from detecting what her problem was. Though the silence was still weird, it didn’t matter for now.
“Gina, are you sure about this?” Damien asked to confirm for the last time. He wasn’t on good terms with Rachael and he still felt uncomfortable when he saw, working closely with her was going to put his whole emotions in disarray.
“Yes, Damien. She’s one of us” Gina replied with a weird smile, a fleeting glint of confusion flashing through her eyes. She was beginning to make choices unconsciously, but couldn’t retract them back to avoid suspicion. She just hoped she wouldn’t be the one to ruin everything in the head.
Damien stared intently at Rachael before sighing deeply, giving up on procrastinating the matter.
“Now that you’ve resumed your position as my assistant, I want you to schedule a meeting with the private investors of the Callahan enterprise”
“The Callahan enterprise, why?” Rachael asked with interest, her heart thumping in her chest with excitement as she rejoiced at the finding of another information she could use to convince Liam to trust her.
Damien had a skeptical gaze in his eyes as he continued. “Yes, you’ve seen the latest news about Liam Callahan’s fiancee. Her scandalous act has caused huge damage to his company’s reputation, much worse than the last incident”
He paused briefly to catch his breath, then continued saying, “Every company has a group of investors that backs up the company’s foundation and keeps it standing. I want to meet with them. Doubts about Liam’s capability must have been planted in their heart, just a few words to nourish it and they’ll be on our side, leaving the Callahan’s enterprise to crumble into dust”
Rachael was thunderstruck by the plan Damien had solely orchestrated. She was partly grateful to Gina who gave her a job back or she wouldn’t have figured out this treacherous plan. She could only nod at every order issued to her, occasionally glancing at Gina whose brows were twitching strangely.
“Rachael, I don’t want any misstep or a single act of betrayal from you” Damien declared, his voice laced with threat as he stared suspiciously at Rachael. His mind hadn’t been at peace with her, since he saw with another man. His heart was strongly against her but he couldn’t say no to Gina’s words, not now that they had reached a critical point. He also needed someone who had a deep knowledge of how he runs his plans and actions and Rachael was the best man for the job, considering the many years she had spent working it him, doing his dirty work.
Rachael was taken aback by his words, surprised he had already started suspecting her. “I won’t disappoint you, Mr. Russo. We’ve come a long way for me to choose a simple misunderstanding over many years of partnership” Her voice was sincere and convincing. “I’ll get started now”