Gary just stared at Claire with a blank expression. The girl still had the guts to speak even though she was surrounded, he thought. Interesting.Gary had become desperate. He had been desperate from the start but it doubled a triple times over and he couldn't just sit and wait for someone to help him or for the stupid Harrier man to suddenly call him and announce that he was returning his assets to the bank. And most of all, he couldn't keep begging like a fucking pathetic loser. He gritted his teeth and his jaw hardened when he remembered how he had shamelessly pleaded with Claire, only for her to walk out on him. Even the stupid manager who also knew him wouldn't pick up his call anymore. Time was running out, he couldn't lower his pride and begged only to end up losing his job. He'd rather do it the hard way and keep his job. He had tried to be nice anyway."What's the meaning-" Claire started but Gary interrupted her harshly. "Will you shut the fuck up?" He held her fiery gaze,
"It's Brad, my boyfriend that I introduced to you at my birthday party."There was a loud pause and the deafening silence of the night descended, making everything feel and sound more eerie to Claire.Gary locked gazes with her, a lot of jarring emotions swirling in his eyes. Amusement became more prominent and he suddenly burst out laughing.He laughed so hard that he had to move to the nearest wall to keep himself upright. images of that man darted in his mind and he laughed even harder."What the fuck, Claire?" Gary said amidst short bursts of chuckles as he walked back to stand before Claire.As Gary laughed, he didn't look so scary. He looked like her boss and Claire would have relaxed and managed to laugh with him but she couldn't quite grasp what was so funny in what she said and that made her even more tense."Oh my God, Claire, you got me nicely," he said as he finally sobered up. He shook his head, "No, good one." He wiped the fake tears from his eyes and gave her a thumbs-u
Claire's heart rammed in her chest when she thought that Brad had figured out that she was lying."I mean," Brad licked her lips, her eyes darting from Gary and back to the floor, "Your withdrawal has been causing a lot of ruckus. Our CEO is mad at all of us for letting you withdraw from the back. So I'd just like to know if you would really stop banking with us.'"Well," Gary listened intently as Brad explained, "I have found a pretty nice bank to keep all of my funds in. I am aware that my father has been using your bank forever and there has been no issue, but I guess the chain has broken during my time since the employees of Trust Financial Bank now seem incapable of treating the customers right. Perhaps, the management does not find empowering its employees with good customer relationships and service skills important enough. But then, how would they when the manager himself is horrible at relating with the customers."While Claire thought of something to say, perhaps to convince
"You will help me," Gary said in an authoritative tone and Claire's heart fell.What help now? She thought miserably."But I already he-" she attempted to protest but Gary calmly shut her up."Listen to me, will you?" He held her gaze, "You and Brad dated, didn't you? Maybe you still do and that makes you the closest person to him that I know right now," he said calmly.Claire thought of telling him that she and Brad really didn't date so that she would not have to be involved in the whole thing anymore but she didn't think it was the right thing to do. Besides, she felt he was being nice and calm and lenient because of Brad and because he believed that she was his girlfriend.Claire licked her lips, "How will I help you then?" She shrugged, "I mean you've kidnapped me and you've probably angered Brad by taking me and forcing me to speak. I doubt he'd want to do anything to help you." She tentatively added, feeling the insane urge to taunt him and feed his fears, "Instead, he will rui
"Mum!" Sophia felt like a kid all over again as she ran into her mother's arms, revelling in her warm motherly embrace.Together, they walked to Lancelot's side, who had a grin on his face as she watched the both of them. He might not have fully recovered but he was happy that he was back home and his family was united again."My son," Sophia's mother cried as she let go of Sophia and bent over Lancelot, caressing his face and arms before she pulled him into a hug.Oh, she had missed them so much, especially her ever-so-sweet boy. She hugged him again and her eyes watered when he slowly curled his arms around her form."I missed you guys so much," she said as she beckoned on Sophia to join the hug. "Many times, I thought of taking up an extra job so I could save up and fly to Russia,""Oh Mom," Sophia's eyes watered and she tightened her arms around her mother. As they silently reveled in one another's embrace, happy to be back together, Sophia suddenly heard sobbing sounds and she l
As Sophia made her way out of the company, she shook her head, impressed at whoever this Mr Harrier was."Wow? Really?" She muttered to herself, "So this company can someday belong to someone else? I wonder who this Mr Harrier is. How did he get Ned to sign the company to him? What happened?" There were so many questions, the answers eluded her but she kept on asking anyway.She knew that the company had always belonged to Ned's family for so many years, so what changed?Well, she put the thought aside, not that she was solely interested in Ned losing his company. In fact, she was happy. She swirled on the way, watching as cars breezed past her. Everywhere felt so safe and protected with Vincenzo out of the country and Ned in hiding.She decided to call Brad again since he was yet to call back. She dialed the number and just as it had gone into voicemail after ringing earlier, the same happened again.Now, she was starting to get worried. It was very unlike Brad to see Sophia's call
"Hey man," Gary literally sighed in his response after he answered the call."Man," the caller, Dylan, drawled. "You don't sound good, "What's up? How far have you gone with the search for your man? Did the chick tell you who he is?"Since Dylan was the one who arranged the men he used to get Claire, he knew about it.On a normal day when Gary was his normal self, if he had been asked so many questions at once, he would have lashed out at whoever dared to try it but this time, he didn't. He only knew his friend was talking, he couldn't process his excessive words."Man, I need to talk," he pinched the space between his forehead, squeezed his eyes shut, and opened it again. "I need to clear my head." "Are you okay, Gary?" Dylan asked worried."I might lose my job soon, I can't be fine," he answered Dylan's irritating question. "What do you say we meet at the usual restaurant in…" he trailed off and his gaze slid to his desktop screen to check the time. "I'm about an hour?"Dylan had
Gary was just reaching the restaurant at the same time Dylan arrived too. He shook his head as Dylan suddenly stopped walking and squinted at him.As Dylan approached the restaurant, he scanned the area of Gary's car but couldn't find it. He's late? He wondered, surprised, Claire was never late to their meet up here since he always came with his car. His thoughts trailed off when he saw someone who looked like his friend in the distance, hands buried in his pockets as she swaggered toward the entrance of the restaurant, his gaze already on him.At first, Dylan squinted at him, not believing his eyes. Gary shook his head as Dylan wouldn't stop staring. Then he left him outside and went inside the restaurant. Almost immediately, Dylan joined him across the table."Bro! Did you just trek?"Gary shrugged, "I told you I needed to clear my head, didn't I?""Wow. This is new," Dylan muttered to himself. He was about to start throwing questions at Gary when the waiter arrived and Gary immed