Jane pulled out of the Clinton’s mansion. She breathed in fresh air and heaved a sigh of relief. “Finally,” she muttered. She could not wait to embrace her independence again. Of course she would miss the attention and all but she had made a choice long ago. She knew she couldn’t be in her parents’ care and enjoy her Independence.
She drove back to the metropolis and down to Lisa’s.
Lisa screamed when Jane finished her tale. “This is unbelievable! Jeff was the suitor? You don’t mean it! This is the most beautiful coincidence I have ever heard! Congratulations to you.. wedding bells on the way,” Lisa teased.
“Yeah, wedding bells.. but you know what? The betrothal and all hasn’t changed my misgivings towards Jeff,” Jane said. “There you go again!” Lisa reprimanded.
“Yeah, I sounded crazy, right? Well, after the high spirits, merriments and all, I realized the gut feeling I do have against Jeff still persists and you know… Investigator Patrick even said the same, he warned me to be careful,” Jane said.
“Oh, tell me about the investigator… Is he going to take up the arson case?” Lisa asked.
“Yes, of course, I related it all to him. He said he would come down to the metropolis to have a word with you and to check out the crime scene,” Jane responded. “Thanks so much Jane. I indeed appreciate your efforts. I can’t wait to put Marie behind bars. She must pay for what she did to my husband.”
“Until investigations are carried out, we ain’t sure if she is indeed the culprit. It’s just an assertion… How is Alex,” Jane asked.
“He is still the same, l will go visit him this evening… I need to clean him up again.” “Let’s hope for good news soon… How is the company pulling through?” Jane asked.
“Work has resumed, though skeletal, we have a handful of workers on ground. All thanks to Benny. He is indeed a man with fine qualities. I just realized why my husband keeps him by his side. They both have a long history,” Lisa said.
“He is quite hard working,” Jane commented. Lisa cleared her throat as she searched out suitable words to relay her next news.
“Can you date a younger guy?” Lisa asked. “What the fuck is that? Where is such a question coming from? Well, It doesn’t matter… I am engaged already,” Jane responded.
“Not that it matters, I just wanna know,” Lisa pestered.
“Why not? The most important thing is love and mutual understanding. If there is a spark between the two… Why not?” Jane responded.
“Oh, I thought as much. Age isn’t a barrier…” “What are you driving at?” Jane interrupted. “The PA is interested in you… He asked me to tell you,” Lisa stammered.
“What?! Are you kidding?! You’re pulling my legs, right? You’re a scam, Lisa!” Jane yelled. She hit her friend and laughed out loud.
“Is it funny? I’m damn serious! And he seemed serious too,” Lisa responded in a serious tone.
“Common, Lisa. Did you hear yourself? I am engaged. Families are involved already. I know you relayed Benny’s intentions because you favored him but come off. He is a fine young man but absolutely not meant for me,” Jane responded.
“Never say never… Moreover, you should have a plan ‘B’. I am as well skeptical about your overnight engagement with someone you have doubts and reservations about. I am sure the betrothal turned things around else, you wouldn’t have taken things this far with Jeff. Benny is a fine young man, you do not come about such men easily,” Lisa ended her lecture.
Jane kept her cool. She brought out her phone and diverted the line of discussion. “Let me link you up with Pat. You guys should talk and fix a time to meet up. We need to move fast.”
“You are right,” Lisa responded while Jane dialed investigator Patrick’s number.
*******
Marie made her way down to Lense Clinic. Lense Clinic was one of Evans Mechanics competitors. They had tried hard over the years to reproduce most of Evans Mechanics machines but had always failed. When Marie offered to strike a deal with them, it was an answer to their prayers.
The transaction was finally going down right within the prethe company.
Marie did not trust her aide enough and could not trust him with such a transaction. She made her way into the company and pulled over at the parking lot.
She was sighted immediately and led in by a representative who was already waiting for her.
The director and two engineers from Lense Clinic were seated in the conference room when Marie was led in. They all exchanged greetings and Marie was led to a seat.
“Let’s get down to business, I have a tight schedule,” the director said. Marie provided a flash drive. It was fixed into a laptop and its content was projected.
It revealed a detailed research report on the design and creation of one of the latest Machines designed at Evans Mechanics. The engineers followed the display stepwisely and one of them suddenly exclaimed, “wow! This is incredible!” “Yes, it’s indeed unprecedented,” the second engineer commented.
They continued to view major parts of the presentation and discussed amidst themselves. It was obvious they were impressed.
“Miss Marie Tanner, as you can see, we have just validated the authenticity of the data you brought to us. Now, we can proceed with the transaction but you must always remember, the sale of this data remains exclusive. It would be a breach of contract if we find out that another company aside Evans Mechanics can design this. If such come to light, you could incur heavy legal consequences and we could decide to act out using any measure,” The director warned.
“I understood the terms of the contract but if I may ask what do you mean by reacting using any measure?” Marie questioned. “Do you intend to breach the contract?” The director asked and Marie remained quiet.
The company’s lawyer was invited in and the latter part of the contract was signed and concluded.
Marie smiled out with a cheque of one million dollars. “I can never be poor again, not when I have numerous data from Evans. It’s all about some smartness,” She muttered and got into her car.