"Excuse me?" Gina said, turning around to look at the man. She looked him square in the eyes to confirm if she heard right and the man made sure he held her gaze as well."Yes," Eugene responded and then stood up from where he sat."I wanted to confirm if I heard right. Did I actually hear you well?" she asked."You did. And I don't mind repeating what I said." He took two steps toward her and then added, "Work for me, Miss Gina. There's so much you could achieve if you do that. So much we could achieve together. With your level of experience, working with you is going to come in handy."Gina had no words at that moment for the man. Not that she was short of those, she just didn't know how best to react considering the little time she had left.She didn't say anything to the man and just walked off, heading straight to the driver's seat of the taxi she came there with."Here's your payment," she says as counted a certain amount of money out of her purse. "I'll understand if you have t
"Were you offered a job at Jackson and Sons too? Is that why you want to leave?" Gina asked as she really wanted to know why Derek uttered such a statement."No," Derek shook his head. "It's not that at all.""Then why are you suddenly deciding to leave the company? Did you find a job elsewhere?""Something like that. As a matter of fact, it's bigger than me getting a job. I get to own this completely without the fear of being fired. The only fear I might have is how to properly handle the affairs of this one."Gina picked on what he said without thinking too much into it. The words were clear enough."But how? How long have you been planning this?" From the tone of her voice, one could tell that she wasn't pleased. She didn't like the idea of knowing that something like that was going on and she had no idea until that moment."I haven't been planning anything at all. A friend just offered me the chance to run my own enterprise and I'm still thinking of accepting it or not. There's a l
"Hello, Mr. McKay."To Derek's surprise, that came from the man standing in front of his apartment.He knew that car wasn't the one he recognized as it didn't look anything like Catherine's car. So when he stepped out of it and saw the Eugene Leviathan there, he was stunned a bit."What are you doing here?" he asked in a stern voice."I know you must be surprised to see me but I mean no harm," Eugene Leviathan told him, trying to sound as reasonable as possible but Derek wasn't buying it."How did you find this place?""Well it wasn't much work," Eugene said casually. "Aren't you going to invite me in?""What I'm going to do is invite the cops over so they can get you out of my premises this instant," Derek declared, already enraged."Easy there, tiger. I just came here to talk.""And I don't want to talk to you. So you can take that your offer and give it to someone else who needs it."Eugene scoffed. "I see Miss Gina already told you. But that's not why I'm here.""If you're not her
Derek went in after he was done talking with the man. They agreed to find time to meet later so they could discuss and it seemed he could find something from him.But before the man left, Derek left him with something very important that he hoped he would help him crack. And from there, he could at least get a good grip of what he was trying to find out.Once he was in, he waited patiently for Catherine. He wondered why she wasn't home yet but didn't bother putting a call through to her.Right in the living room, he sat, drowning his thoughts with a lot of things that he shouldn't necessarily be thinking about.He held on to that level of patience until the door into the apartment was pushed open. And immediately he saw Catherine walk in, he stood up and walked toward her.Catherine looked confused upon seeing him approach her with such momentum. "What's going on?" she asked but the response she got right after she shut the door behind her was the smack of Derek's lips over hers.Dere
"Mr. Leviathan?" Derek asked over the phone after putting a call through to the man he was hesitant to call at first."Yes, who is this?" was the response he got."It's Derek McKay," Derek said."Oh, Mr. McKay. So nice to hear from you. How are you doing?""Very well," A pause then he added, "Actually I'm calling to make a little inquiry from you. I hope you're free to talk at the moment?""Yes, yes. What is it?"Derek was surprised to hear how open the man was to communicating with him. It made him wonder why he had been suspecting the man in the first place.Realizing he was starting to let his guard down, he drowned every thought pertaining to that and said into the phone, "What do you know about encrypted lines?"The man seemed to hum first before saying, "Encrypted lines? The only thing I can say I know about that is they are very tricky. Why are you asking?""I need to know if such lines can be decoded. If there's any possibility at all.""Actually there is," the man said. "The
This was probably the first time Derek was face to face with the Compton branch of Jackson and Sons. And like the HQ in the heart of town, the structure was similar.The notable difference between the Compton branch and the HQ was how smaller in size the Compton branch was compared to the size of the HQ. Asides from that, they looked just the same.Once he got down from his car, he went straight to the entrance and got in after he pushed the door open slightly.From there, he went straight to the receptionist counter, already seeing someone seated behind the counter."Good day, sir," the receptionist regarded him with a smile as she stood up from where she was sitting."Good day," he said as he took a glimpse at his wristwatch. "I'm here to see Eugene Leviathan.""Do you have an appointment with him?""Yes, I do. He told me to meet him here by twelve. This is a few minutes past that already.""And you are…?""Derek. Derek McKay.""I'll just call in and check with him for you, sir. Giv
"I guess this is a tracking number for something. Let me see if I can run another check on it," Eugene Leviathan said and then did his thing again.Derek kept watching intently to know if the man would be able to get something substantial from the search but when he kept looking at the man's face, he noticed that didn't seem to be the case."This looks like a dead end," the man finally said, frustration eluding from his tone. "I think we might need something more than just these numbers before we can get anything from it." He then looked up. "Does this mean much to you at all?" he asked Derek."It does," Derek said. "I found it in two places that didn't seem to match which is why I want to be sure I'm not making a mistake." He picked the paper from the table. "I'll just think it to be a mistake of some sort and hope it stays that way."The man's expression after Derek had finished saying that was close to scrutiny. He looked like he was trying to understand Derek more but Derek didn't
Derek was excited to see Jasmine and he let that show with the way he hugged her when she showed up at his doorstep."How have you been, Jasmine? I didn't know you'll be back this early," he said after letting her go."I didn't know either. But we had a sudden break which would last for a whole week so I thought of spending it in the place I'm very well familiar with that's why I'm back home," Jasmine explained."And I'm glad you took that decision. Come on in."As he ushered her to a seat, he was already preparing to get her something to drink.The reason he was this excited to see her was that it has been a while since he has gotten free from all of the things that have been troubling him. Seeing someone that he could say he grew up with was enough to take his mind off such problems for now."Here," he said when he got back and handed her a glass of wine which he had poured himself in the kitchen.Jasmine collected the glass and before she took a sip, she said, "I hope this has alco
"What are you talking about?" Marcus asked, his expression a mixture of confusion and surprise."You know what I'm talking about. Stop acting like you don't," Derek said."Well, I don't. And I'll be leaving now before you consume me with your bullshit.""The past two weeks made me realize something, Marcus. And it's the fact that your enemies are actually the ones closer to you. You have been my enemy for but u didn't know all these while.""Did you drink something? Why are you speaking nonsense? And since when did I become your enemy?"Derek stood up, facing the man directly. "That's a good question… When?""Can you two sit your asses down and explain to me what is going on here?" Catherine said to them, almost screaming at them.Derek looked at the woman. "I haven't said you should talk," he told her."And since when did you get to give me how and when I should talk?""Since I found out that my allegation against you has always been true."Catherine wasn't getting a hang of what was
As Marcus was reluctantly finding a way to get in between the couple, Catherine, who still had a frown etched on her face, whispered to Derek."What is he doing here? I thought it's supposed to be just you and me," she said with a stern tone."I know I said that. But Marcus is just here to join us briefly. I can promise that his stay here won't be for long then we can have the time to ourselves," Derek told his wife.Catherine wasn't buying that. And she was this close to telling him to send Marcus away when the man eventually came back with an empty chair which he placed in the middle of the couple.Marcus took a seat but was still confused about what was going on because this wasn't what he had in mind when he got the invitation from Derek to show up at Kingston Hotel."What's going on here, Derek? Why is there a cake on your table? Is it someone's birthday?" Marcus directed the question to Derek while trying to make a guess.He couldn't deny that he noticed the hard stare Catherine
"I'm home," Derek announced as soon as he got into his apartment. "Where are you, Kathy?" he called out as he went to take a seat just so be could relax himself."I'm upstairs," was the response he got from his wife to which he nodded."Alright, I'm coming."Two minutes later, after getting a cup of water, he was on the way to their room upstairs with his briefcase in his hand. He was sure that the woman would be busy when he gets there and it was no surprise that she was on her laptop when he got there.She was sitting close to where the mirror in the room was and he watched her from where he was standing, seeing that she was typing into her laptop. There was also a document on her laptop which she kept glancing at occasionally.He dropped the briefcase on the bed and then took off his jacket which he also placed on the bed. Then he walked over to her, standing right behind her.In that position, he bent and put his hands around her waist. "What are you doing?" he asked as he whisper
"How did it go?" Derek asked the lady who seemed to be more interested in the ice cream she was consuming than him."How did what go?" Gina asked in return as she scooped a mouthful from the cone. As the cream melted down her mouth, she felt a sensation that made her giggle without a care in the world."Now that was weird," Derek stated but then got back to his question. "How did the meeting with Eugene go? Was he able to convince you this time around?"Gina wanted to take another scoop from the ice cream when she heard that question which then put her to a halt."Hmph, of course not. I already told you that I wouldn't be accepting his offer, didn't I? It seems like you forgot to relay my message to him," she said and then got back to her ice cream.At that point, Derek was getting annoyed with how immersed she was in it. He just had to hold in his annoyance lest he snaps at her."I did relay your message but it was too late for him to turn back," he told her."So you mean you just to
"I think it would have been better if you had called me before coming over to the company. What if I was away? It means you would have wasted a full trip down here," Derek said in a scolding manner to the woman sitting opposite him.Edna didn't care about what he was saying and she revealed that completely through her expression. It was as if she just wanted him to talk and then get through with it."At least I met you in, didn't I? I don't understand why you're making a big deal out of it," the woman said.Derek didn't respond to that, perhaps worried that he was going to speak out of line if he did."So, why did you reject my offer? You had a long time to decide and at the end of it, you said no. There has to be a reason. And it had better be a good one."He sat there quietly for some time before he finally decided on saying something."It doesn't feel right, Edna."The woman's gaze at him was a mixture of stern and confusion. "What doesn't? Owning a business or my offer?" she asked
Derek felt a little tired as he walked back into the Cora Limited after having lunch at the eatery down by the road. It was supposed to be his go-to place whenever work got overwhelming but today was just different.He just wanted to try something different other than skipping meals or simply just having something little in the company's eatery which only made light snacks.He knew that having a meal at his go-to eatery would affect his work rate but he was willing to risk it.A honk from a car caught his attention right after he passed by the parking lot. He was sure that it was for him which was why he turned around to find out which car had honked at him.It didn't take him too long to find the car as well as the person who operated it. And right out of that very car, Eugene Leviathan stepped out, looking all smiley like there was something good he wanted to talk about."Mr. McKay. Good to see you again," Eugene Leviathan said to Derek like it was the first time he was seeing him i
"Who's that again?" Gina asked, trying to rack her brain for any information related to the name Derek just told her."The ex-wife of Richard Langston," Derek responded."Wait, isn't that the man that you thought was having an affair with your wife?""Yes.""Oh. So when did you get this close to his wife so much that she offered you her business to handle?"The way Gina said it made it seem like he was having an illicit affair with Edna and that didn't look good at all."Ex-wife, Gina. They are divorced now. And the way you say it, it sounds like I'm doing something wrong with her.""I never implied it that way. You're the one with the ideas here," she defended herself."Whatever," he said. "Edna and I kept in touch after we both realized that we were chasing the wrong thing. But it didn't change the fact that her husband was a chronic cheat.Anyways, their business was handed over to her by the court but she doesn't want to be around here anymore which is why she wants someone else t
The sudden sound of something slamming on to his desk knocked Derek out of his thoughts. It came as a shock, that for a few seconds, he couldn't get a hold of himself."What did you do that for?" he asked through gritted teeth. He was furious at the person that did that just to get his attention."I've been calling your name but you didn't hear me." He heard Gina's voice and that meant she was that person."Well, you should have called harder."He had to put both hands over his face just to take out the wobbly feeling that had overwhelmed him from the shock.He was still furious at that point. If it had been someone else other than Gina, he would have taken his frustration out on the person. He could only keep his rage to himself because of her."I'm sorry," Gina apologized. "I shouldn't have done what I did but I was getting scared when you didn't answer which was why I resorted to that."He looked up at her. "What happened to tapping me, Gina? Wouldn't that have been much better?""
"You do realize it's my weekend you're consuming," Derek pointed out to Jasmine who was dragging him."I know," she said. "But there's no one else I could call."She came to his place that afternoon and told him that she had an event to attend but didn't have anyone to go with which was why she decided to come to his place.He had declined the offer at first but she kept insisting and even resorted to pulling him out of the house. If Catherine had been home, the sight wouldn't have been pretty.At one point, when they were about to get to his car, he pulled his arm out of her reach."I can't follow you," he told the lady who turned around to face him."But why?" she asked with a pout."I've got to go to work tomorrow, Jasmine. I can't afford a day out at this time when I should be resting.""And I'll be out of the city by tomorrow too. Let me have this, please."Her emphasis on the 'please' was a bit infuriating due to the way she made mention of it. It was as if she wanted to do anyt