Immediately we arrived at the cafeteria, Frank ordered for some Cheesesteaks and non-alcoholic wines. "You do like Cheesesteaks, right?" he asked, "I don't want them to bring what you don't like"
"Of course I do, it was one of my best foods when I was in College" I responded. It wasn't really one of my favorites, but I liked it just like Cheesecakes.
"Alright," Frank beamed at me. I beamed back at him as well and then lowered my gaze. I didn't want people to start suspecting things even though, by the looks of it, nobody's attention was on us. Everyone was just busy, going to and fro. Taking their orders and heading back to the elevators.
That was awesome, whoever set up that rule was a genius. I mean, it's hard to see a business organization like this. I had worked in a business organization before during my intern, and to be honest it wasn't as calm and convenient as this place. You don't have to worry about people's eyes on you here.
"Here is your order, sir!" Said a waiter as he began serving us on the table.
"Alright, I can't wait to lay my hands on this" Frank said, rubbing his hands together while smiling. He really looked hungry, I could tell by his expression. "Thank you, Alex" he dismissed the waiter and gently began eating his food while I stare at him. "Ain't you gonna eat your food?" he curiously ssked with his mouth full.
"I... I will, just thinking about something" I said as I gently took a fork and a knife.
"Thinking about what exactly?" he asked, sipping his wine.
"Thinking about random things," I said trying to check the topic, it wasn't as if I could tell him he's amazing when he's eating, "can I tell you something? It's about what happened during the festival"
"What's that? Is it about Paul?" he questioned.
Paul, his friend? Well, actually it wasn't about Paul. In fact, I didn't even used to bring Paul's thought into my mind.
"No, not him. It's about Jessica, she's under house arrest. She and her friends" I apprised him.
"House arrest?" he stopped eating, and wrinkled a brow at me, "I don't understand, why did they do? Were they involved into something?"
"Not really, but they did something that implicated them. They sneaked into a jewelry store during the festival and took some pictures while wearing some of the jewelries there" I explained.
"Is that all? And weren't they wearing their masks?" he bespoke.
"They were but, somehow their voices had been recognized and the fact that they stupidly posted some of the pictures they took there on social media, that means they exposed themselves" I added.
"If that's what happened, I mean all in all then I don't think they deserved to be arrested. Except if you are not telling me the whole thing" he said and gently continued eating.
Well, I actually forgot to tell him some jewelries were missing, and the people behind it were yet to be discovered. "Actually, some jewelries were allegedly missing, and the culprits somehow managed to dodge all the CCTV cameras in the store. Now all eyes are on Jessica and her friends. I did warned them to stay away from the store but they didn't listen" I uttered, deeply concerned about what awaits them.
"Wow, that's bad!" Frank commented, "That's very bad, and unless we know how much jewelries are missing we won't know the gravity of the situation. Didn't the police scrutinize the CCTV footage? There is no way someone would enter the store and take jewelries without being seen except if there are other parts in the store that wasn't covered by the cameras there, which doesn't make sense to me" he added. I didn't want to involve him into the case but two heads, most of the time are better than one.
"I told them to go through the footage yesterday when they came to interrogate me too..." I said as he snapped at me,
"They what? Interrogated you? Why would they do that? What's your business with what happened?" he said clenching his fists. Wow, my defender!
"They wanted to know if I knew something about the whole thing and that if I'd seen one of them with a jewelry that didn't belong to him. They just wanted to find a lead to the investigation" I tried to calm him down because I was already scared of how he frowned his face, he could possibly ask us to pay the police a visit now and I didn't want any trouble even.
"Those bastards, they don't have the right to interrogate you" he sipped his wine, "If I was there, I would break their hands for even touching you" he said smiling, probably thinking it was funny. But to be honest it wasn't funny to me, I couldn't even fake a smile to show my support for him. I thought he wasn't violent, I thought he was calm. "Don't mind my words, please" he remorseful uttered the moment he acknowledged my reaction, "I just don't want to see you hurt"
"I wasn't hurt, I was just... sad for my sister and her friends. They are probably going to jail in the end, I believe the Feds would be alerted soon about the case and if that happens, the local police would have to handover the case to them" I expressed my fears.
"Not when I have a friend working with the Federal Investigation Bureau" he huffed, "If the Feds take the case, I will talk to him and see how he can help us. However, for now, let's wait for the CCTV footage to be analyzed. We can also start making arrangements for a good lawyer for Jessica"
"How about her friends?" I curiously asked.
"Well," he heaved a sigh, "they have families, right? And it's not as if we can fully defend all, who knows if the culprit is among them? I am helping Jessica because she's your sister, if she's nothing to you I wouldn't be doing that"
His words freaked me out, like seriously? I thought he was, I mean... I thought he was a saint, someone that cares about everyone. Now I am begining to think what I saw on the internet about their family was true, about the indifference towards the locals around their mansion. They obviously only care about the people that are close to them through special bonds or the people they cherish.
"Okay," I muttered and dropped the utensils in my hands, I couldn't even eat because I lost my appetite and it wasn't as if I could force myself to eat the food because the person that ordered for it had just pissed me off.
"Ain't you eating anything?" he asked out of curiosity.
"No, I don't feel like eating. Can I go back to my floor now? I think I have some payments to authorize and some papers to sign" I said withdrawing from the chair I sat in to my feet.
"Like seriously? What's the work of Mike then? I am sure he would do all that since you are not around, besides he can only transfer his work to you when you are available. If you are not, then he would have to do it himself. Please don't be naive, sit and eat you meal. I have everything covered" he said as he sipped his wine, leaving me with no other choice but to oblige.
"Okay" I muttered and gently sit down.
"Eat please, it's not good to stay hungry Laura, please eat" he persuaded me.
"Okay," I muttered, sat down and gently began eating while wondering what has gotten into him and why he was acting all strange.
"Good, dear" he remarked.
Some minutes later, just as he was done eating his own meal I dropped the fork and knife in my hands, "Thank you. I think I am okay, I should get back to my floor bow" I muttered.
"Sure, let me escort you" he stood to his feet.
While heading towards the elevator, he told me he had a sister before but died when she was seven years old. "What happened to her? How did she died?" I curiously uttered.
"She was killed in an accident, together with the driver. Although not instantly. When the car was hit by a truck, they were taken to the hospital. That was where they both..." he huffed, "I was overseas when I heard about it, it was a very sad news" he lamented.
"That's sad, sorry about that" I consoled him.
"It's okay, I know she's in a better place" he said.
"What was her name?" I asked.
"Stella" he responded, "My mom wanted to name her Lilly, after her mom though but Dad wanted her to bear his mom's name, hence she was named Stella. She was beautiful, and I believe if she's still alive she would be amazing" he said.
"You should name your future daughter after her," I said, and that made him blushed. "Yeah, you should do that" I encouraged him.
"Okay, but..." he said as soon as we stepped into the elevator, "I am single, or are you willing to marry me now, I mean right now?" he sarcastically asked.
"Why me? I am not even beautiful, there are many beautiful girls out there and even here" I said trying to channel his attention elsewhere.
"I know, but yet I chose you" he looked down at me and smiled, "You are beautiful, Laura, so beautiful" he complemented.
"Thank you, sir" I smiled back at him and quickly turned my face away. He was also good looking, he was handsome and every time he smiled, his smile would send shivers down my spine.
Talking about handsomeness, since when did I start considering looks? When I was in Vincity, I was an introvert. I didn't used to look at men, and even if I do I wouldn't mind their looks. But now, here I was, admiring Frank. Probably because he had been kind to me and had showed me unimaginable love over the time.
"You are welcome!" he said and huffed the moment we arrived at my floor. I thought he was going to follow me back to my office but he didn't. Just as I stepped out of the elevator, he waved at me with a smile, "I am going back to my floor, up there" he pointed up.
"Ohh, okay" I muttered, returning the smile. Although mine was a fainted one. When we were in the cafeteria, I wanted to leave him there but now that he escorted me to my floor and wanted to leave, I felt like following him to his own floor.
"Call me if you need anything, and don't forget we are closing by six in the evening. However, if you feel like going home now I can take you home. I will do anything to put a smile on your face, Laura" he said in a very nice tone, I had never heard him talk that way before. And somehow, I loved it.
"Okay, bye. See you soon" I said and waved at him.
"Bye!" he waved back at me.
Just as the elevator shut its door, I turned and headed directly to the work area. It was as busy as I left it, however Mike was nowhere to be found. I assumed he was in his office, hence I walked around to check what some of our staff were doing. They were thirteen in number and everyone had their own workspace.
While going through their activities, my phone began ringing. It was a call from Shirley. I quickly picked the call and headed straight to my office, "Hello!" I said.
"Hi, Laura. How are you doing?" she asked in what seemed like a whisper.
"I am fine," I responded, "I hope you are fine too?"
"Not really, I just got a call from Jack that Fred is dead" she said sending shivers down my spine,
"What?! Fred is what?" I uttered in total bewilderment.
"Fred is dead, Laura. Fred is... he's dead" she stuttered, breaking into tears.
