Today was a hectic and traumatizing day, it all began with meeting Stephanie and going through a hot argument with her, to being subjected to a very big task that didn't only took a toll on me but also landed me into thinking whether to continue with the work or quit the job.
While signing the papers one after another, I realized they were Stephanie's work for practically the whole month. She didn't do any of them, and might not have bothered to do them today if she was still the assistant head of the department. Was that how she always was? If that was how she is then she deserved to be fired even, not just replaced. Luckily though, she left willingly after the replacement.
Talking about replacement, Frank did something disheartening to me. I was expecting him to come to my office when he arrives but he didn't. In fact, he didn't even shoe up at our floor today and didn't care to check on me through the phone or at least, intercom. I thought I would see him at the cafeteria but I didn't, however I was told by the waiter that he came and even sent for his lunch earlier.
That wasn't the Frank I knew. Was he trying to avoid me or what? What did Jessica told him about me that made him to act that indifference? I was totally worried because I wasn't expecting such from him and it wasn't as if he was used to doing that to me. However, that was what I had been cautious about. That was why I never wanted him to befriend Jessica, I should have warned him about her earlier!
When it was quarter to six in the evening, I submitted all the files together with the new ones to Mike. He was surprised to find out I was done, but before I left I told him I only did the job because if I didn't, it would be a burden on him because nobody will do it. And since he knew it wasn't my job to do in the first place, he smiled and never utter a word.
Thus, I headed to the elevator and descended to the lowest floor. Just as I stepped out together with other people, I found Frank discussing with some staff in suit. They must be from the upper floor, I had never seen them before. He saw me coming and I knew he saw me but I didn't say a word to him because I was angry. I pretended as if I didn't see him and then walked past him out of the building.
Just as I was heading towards the gate, I heard a car rumbling from behind. I knew it was his, hence I didn't mind turning back. I allowed him to drive to my side so we could glance at each other. I wanted him to see my face clearly, to see how unhappy I was with him.
"Hey, Laura" he called upon me just as he drove to my side. I quickly glanced at him but without saying a word. "I am sorry," he said, he must have acknowledged the anger written on my face and must have realized his mistake, "I am so sorry, I was just too busy today. Can you get in so I can explain more?" he asked but I ignored him still. "Laura, please... I beg you!" he beseeched prompting me to halt. "Oh, thank goodness" he quickly opened the door for me, and I sluggishly entered and shut the door. "So," he uttered as he continued driving, "when I came I met one of the board of directors. My father isn't around, you know? And that means I would be the one to head tomorrow's meeting. We are having a board meeting tomorrow actually, ..." he kept talking until I eventually decided to interrupt him,
"Did Jessica told you anything about me?" I went straight to the point, I wasn't interested in his stories about the board meeting or board of directors, all I wanted to know was how it all went with Jessica. I mean, the conversation they had.
"Jessica? She didn't tell me anything about you, why?" he said.
"Nothing, I just want to know if she said something about me to you" I muttered.
"No, she didn't. She only talked about her school with me and asked if she could get a scholarship from my dad to study at Oxford" he apprised me.
"Like seriously?" I was confused, why would she do that? Why would she ask for that? I thought she outrightly believed in Reade, her friend.
"Cross my heart, she really wants me to talk to my dad. She expressed how eager she is to enroll into Oxford, and I told her I could sponsor her myself if she promise me she would try her best to study and round up in time" he said infuriating me by his words.
"Why? Why would you do that? You shouldn't have promised her anything, that girl won't study. She's damn crazy, don't you know that?" I bespoke prompting him to glamce at me somehow, he was probably speechless the fact that he couldn't say a word. I had to apologize for yelling at him, and when I did he asked if I could explain everything to him.
"I would like to know why you said she's not going to study, what's her high school grades please?" he queried.
"I... I don't know her grades but, I live with her. She's materialistic and childish, all she cares about is how to make trouble. That was why she went into that jewelry store I told you about to take pictures with their ornaments, and now she's under house arrest" I uttered reminding him, "What if you sponsor her to Oxford and she did something worst?" I continued, "Ain't you scared of tarnishing your image or that of your family company? 'cause that girl is going to make sure everyone knows about you and what will happen when she ends up causing trouble? The headlines would be, one of the students sponsored by the Walters Family did so and so. You should think too"
He was silent for a while before heaving a sigh, "Okay, what then are suggesting? I've already agreed to help her, and I don't want her or her mom to feel somehow" he lamented.
"Somehow? Nobody's going to feel somehow, except maybe her. Should I even remind you of something? She's under house arrest and I don't think things are going to get better anytime soon" I uttered trying all my best to discourage him from sponsoring her.
"Okay then, let's see what's going to happen. But for now, let's just pretend the deal still stands. Now can you smile at me?" he said as he glanced at me with a smile. "Please, smile" he implored.
"I will when you promise me you will never come to our house again without my consent, and you won't chat with Jessica on phone or make calls with her unless it's necessary. I am not asking you to delete or block her contact, but if you do that I would be happy" I muttered.
"Hmm!" he heaved a sigh again, this time around he was speechless the fact that he couldn't say anything after that.
"If you don't want to do that, then no problem. We can keep being friends but I won't smile at you again" I pouted.
"Like seriously?" he laughed out loud, "Okay, I won't chat with her unless it's necessary. But I won't delete her contact just because if I do that she would suspect something, I don't want her to start looking at you somehow, because she would definitely know you were behind it all. I mean, behind everything"
"Fine then" I muttered and crooked a smile for him since that was what he wanted.
When we arrived home, he didn't follow me into the house. He only told me to greet Aunt Vicky and then drove away. Hence, I walked into the house and met Aunt Vicky making a call. I waved at her and she waved back at me.
Then I went upstairs to my room to take shower. I wasn't done taking shower when my phone began ringing. I thought it was Frank, hence I didn't mind going out to pick the call in time.
As soon as I was done, I checked the phone only to discover it was an unknown number. Before I could call the caller and confirm who it was, a text message popped up telling me to come to the 2nd Main Street.
At first I was reluctant but when the person assured me of my safety, I decided to check it out and see. "I have a lot to tell you, it might help your sister get out of the shit hole she threw herself into" The person texted again.
Thus, I changed into another clothes and then lied to aunt Vicky that I was going to buy something from a nearby store, she was still making call and didn't want to be bothered, therefore she gestured to me to go even though her first expression was as if she wasn't convinced.
The moment I stepped out of the car, I turned to the left and began heading to the 2nd Main Street. Surprisingly, when I arrived there a young girl appeared from nowhere holding an envelope, "This is for you, Miss" she handed the envelope to me.
"From who?" I was surprised, was it the caller... I mean, the person I came to see that sent her to me with the envelope? I wondered while waiting for her response.
"It's that man over..." she said halfway as she pointed at the direction, "Oops, where is he?" she looked around but couldn't find the person.
Just then, a woman came out of a grocery store and summoned the little girl while holding a nylon. "Althea, is that you? Come here right this instant, we have to go home now!" The woman yelled at her.
"Okay, mom!" she responded to her mother and then turned and waved at me before running to the angry-looking woman.
As soon as they left, I tried to call the mysterious person but the line was down. Perhaps the person changed his or her mind, instead of meeting me in person he or she decided to send me an envelope which probably contain letter with everything I needed to know.
I intended to open the letter in public but somehow I felt I was being watched, and that made me uncomfortable. Hence I decided to return home instead, and when I did I couldn't believe Aunt Vicky was still on phone. I was really surprised, what was she really discussing about. It was actually as if I could hear her clearly.
I went to my room and opened the envelope gently. I slotted my hand inside and felt a device and a paper. I brought the device out first and found out it was a flash drive, then I returned my hand into the envelope and brought out the paper inside which turned out to be a note. The note read thus, "Sorry I had to do it this way, everything you need to know about what's going on is in the flash drive. Do have a wonderful night, Laura!"
After reading the note, I stretched my hand to the bedside table and took my laptop there. As soon as I turned it on – it was actually off before – I inserted the flash drive into the system via one of the USB ports and waited as the computer recognized and read the drive.
There were only three folders in the drive, the first one was the "About Me" folder, followed by "Why I Did It" and then "How To Know More About Me", I quickly opened thr fist folder and found and audio record which played in a male artificial intelligence voice, which someone signified that the person playing this game was a male.
