Liam strutted with heavy footsteps, into the company, ignoring the insincere greetings from the employees and directors. Regardless of his not being the sole cause of the problem at hand, his name was still dragged into the mud. Warnings had been issued to him to break off his engagement with his fiancee, but he had remained adamant, playing by his own rule.
He had miscalculated for once, his cousin’s abilities which had led him to being played for the first time.
“Good morning, Mr. Callahan” Sarah’s cautious voice brought him back to reality. “I’ve been expecting you,” she said, not in her usual enthusiastic manner which made Liam feel guilty as he remembered the moment he had yelled at her for being considerate of his feelings.
“Good morning to you too, Sarah” he replied in a solemn tone, halting in his tracks in front of his office and uttered after a second thought. “Sarah, I’m sorry for what happened yesterday. I know the work of being my secretary is strenuous and you can leave anytime you want, I won’t…. ”
“No, sir” Sarah blurted out, stopping him from saying the remaining words on his lips. “I’m not leaving. I’ve invested years of my life in contributing to the growth of this enterprise… I have seen us in our ups and down times. This isn’t the first scandal and it also might not be the last. If I give up now, what was the point of staying in the beginning?…. I’m your secretary. I’m here to help you sail through hard times like this… So, please don’t say words like me leaving again, it doesn’t sound fair to me”
Liam was dumbfounded by her words as he watched her trying to catch her breath, after the earth shaking speech she had just delivered. He began to see her in a new light, her words sparked a tiny bit of hope in his dark heart.
He admired her for a moment and uttered, “your right, Sarah. We shouldn’t give up now, no one should” he walked into his office and sat on his chair.
“So, what are the pending issues I urgently need to attend to?” Liam asked with a serious gaze lingering on Sarah who opened her tablet to read out what we wanted to hear.
“Sir, there’s a lot of problems that need to be solved” Sarah began with severity in her voice. “First of all, the company’s stock price has once again, plummeted to the ground, small scale companies are threatening to dissociate themselves from us…. Some low-class employees have signed their resignation letters and lastly, the investors have been pestering me to organize a meeting with you. Rumour has it that they want to replace you with someone else”
Sarah took in a huge amount of oxygen after reading out the information, her gaze fixed on her boss who seemed calm, deliberating on the issues at hand. If only she could see or even feel the barricade of fear in his heart, his head was throbbing as he thought of ways to settle the issues without draining himself to death.
“Sarah” he called out weakly, massaging his head with his fingers. “Just organize a meeting with the investors. Let those who want to resign leave immediately and as for the stock price, just let it be until I have spoken to the investors.”
“Alright, sir. I’ll do that now” Sarah replied with hesitation before a knock landed on the door.
“Come in” Liam answered with an arched eyebrow. “Adrian” he recognized the visitor.
“Boss, I came to see you immediately I was informed about your arrival” Adrian spoke hurriedly, with fear in his voice. “Things are tight for us here, boss”
“I understand you, Adrian” Liam sighed deeply, his hands quickly grabbed a pain-relieving pill on his table which he rarely uses, and threw some in his mouth without checking if it was the right amount of dosage. Sarah quickly handed him a cup of water which he downed at once.
After a long moment of silence, Liam finally spoke out. “Have you detected how the projector was made to display those photos and by who?” he asked, his voice laced with urgency.
“Yes sir, I have” Adrian replied, his voice carrying a hint of confidence as he explained. “The person who planted the photos was an insider. He had carefully placed with the day before the conference meeting and had planned time for its display”
As Liam listened carefully to his technician’s words, his mind wandered back to the smile that was plastered on Max’s face that gave him the chills that he had ignored. The time of his sudden disappearance marked the beginning of the commotion in that room. He knew fully well that his cousin was behind it all, but he needed evidence to sue him.
“Adrian, can you find out for me, the mole in our company?” He asked with a heavy voice, he needed someone to reassure him. “I want no stones left unturned”
“Of course, sir” Adrian replied, his tone reassuring, just the way Liam wanted it. “That’s why I’m here. You can always rely on me for this”
“Great!” Liam uttered with a firm voice. “Get to work. And Sarah, please organize the meeting as soon as possible”
“Yes sir” Sarah replied before a thought crossed her mind. “Erm… Sir, is madame.. no, I mean Miss. Isabelle alright?”
Liam’s gaze darkened when he heard the name of the woman he hated and loved the most. “Why are you asking?”
“I was just worried. you know, the social media pressure she would be getting, the witty remarks of that netizen can cause depression which wouldn’t be easy to get through with”Sarah explained, pouring her feelings out as a fellow woman. “I’m sorry if I spoke out of line. I just wanted you to know my thoughts regarding the matter.
“It’s alright, Sarah. You can leave”Liam uttered with gritted teeth, his hands balled into a fist on the table as he tried his best not to lash out in anger. He understood her words, she was right, but he also had feelings, he was also in pain. Why didn’t anyone ask about that?… Maybe his cold demeanor had made them think he didn’t have a heart to feel such emotions.