"You look worn out. Are you okay?" Edna asked Derek immediately he took a seat beside her on the bench.They were right in the middle of a public park in the middle of the day. It was the timing they had both chosen to meet up and Derek agreed to it."Haven't had a decent sleep yet since last night," Derek informed her as he ran a hand across his face."Why? Worked through the night?""No," he said. "The time I received your text, even up until this morning, I was in the hospital with my wife. She collapsed last night.""Oh my. Is it something serious?""Not really. Just a result of a physical toll on her. The doctor said she'll be fine after she has taken enough rest.""That's good to know," Edna heaved a sigh of relief right after saying that. "Do you want to take a bit of time to rest your head before we talk? I don't want you to feel burdened by me bringing you out here just to discuss.""You said it was something important. Of course, I have to be here to hear what it is. Besides
"I shouldn't be here," Derek said as he looked around the premises of where he found himself.It was a party. And not just any party. It was one hosted by the company he works for, the Cora Limited.The party was one which members of the company decided to get together to host after finally securing the deal with New Age Holdings despite all odds. Now they saw it as a chance to celebrate."This party won't be happening without you, sir. Of course you have to be here," his assistant said as a way to cheer him up."Don't flatter me. The deal would have gone through one way or the other. Before me, the Cora Limited has always been a success. It definitely will continue to be…" Derek stated, his tone and expression exuding his lack of interest in the party."Still we owe this one to you."Derek didn't give an answer to that. In his head, it felt all weird that there was even a party in the first place. To him, this was an excuse for the workers in the company to actually lazy away."Do yo
Derek woke up the next day with a bang. It was like the weight of the world was on his head when he did. So much that for a moment, he thought he was going to pass out.He sat up from wherever he was and placed a hand at the side of his head to try to suppress the pain he was feeling. This wasn't what he would expect to feel after having such a long night.How many drinks did he have? He wondered just how many shots he had that would get him to this point. He wasn't one to get himself high to this extent but this hangover was a huge one.He had to open his eyes well just to get familiar with where he was. Although it took a while, he got a hang of himself.The room he found himself in was pretty much recognizable. Turns out that he was in his living room. The question now was: how was he able to get himself to his apartment after such a night?Slowly, he sat down upright, looking around for his wife who didn't seem to be there with him. He was just about to call for her when he notice
Marcus took his time to take a look at the picture in the device that was handed over to him not too long ago. And as he stared at it, he was finding it difficult to make sense out of it."You mean someone just sent you this picture and said nothing else?" he asked the owner of the device. It was Derek who came to meet him with worry written all over his face."Yes," Derek affirmed, his tone revealing his dilemma.Marcus gently put the phone down on the table before facing the man in front of him. "How did you get yourself in this kind of position?" he asked."I messed up. The company hosted a party last night and I got drunk in the process. I made a stupid mistake from there," Derek explained his situation."Who's the girl?""She's a colleague. The one I mentioned that almost got molested.""Who came on to who?" Marcus wanted to know."She did. And I'm surprised that I didn't resist because this isn't the first time she has made such a move. It took me a while to realize I wasn't eve
At that moment, the person going through a whole lot of issues wasn't just Derek anymore. Marcus was in the same category.For the first time since Derek got to Marcus's place, Marcus was without proper options. It was like he had no solution to anything whereas he was the man whom Derek always ran to whenever the issues looked to be more difficult than expected.How was he or anyone else going to explain the call Derek just received? It was a short but precise one. Precise for anyone to know that Derek had something huge to deal with.Derek looked at him, looking all confused. He looked like he was going to drop the device in his hand so he had to say something to him."What was that all about?" he asked Derek who still looked confused as hell."I have no idea," Derek admitted."You sure it's not more than kissing a girl that you shouldn't? Is there more to this that you aren't telling me? Because this call just opened a lot of other possibilities…"Derek took a seat. He was devastat
Immediately they got into his office, Derek turned around and said to the lady: "I don't know what it is you were thinking but you've put me in trouble.""What are you talking about?" the still confused Gina asked as she shut the door behind her. "I don't get you, Derek. What did I do?""Are you working with someone?""Working with who?""I don't know. Anyone that's planning to ruin my life by using you to get that done…"Gina shook her head in disappointment. "That's too much coming from you. You think I would want to ruin your life, Derek? Is that what this is about?""The only thing this is about is you coming on to me and then someone sending me a picture of you and me in such an intimate position that if my wife gets to see it, she could call off our marriage completely.""Wait, wait, hold on…" Gina said as she tried to understand the whole situation. "Are you telling me that there's a picture of two of us together?""I wasn't speaking another language."Although that came off as
"Welcome home," Catherine said as soon as Derek got in.He didn't respond at once as he first went to take a seat. What he needed was enough rest to make him feel better as his whole body was telling that he had a long day."Thank you," he said to his wife finally.When he looked at her, he noticed that she was on her laptop. She was fully immersed in it as she typed away into the system and Derek has never seen her looking more serious than this."What are you doing?" he asked her."Working," she simply said as she continued with what she was doing."Hmph," he hummed and then stood up. "I'll be in the room.""Okay."He looked at her once before deciding to head up to their bedroom.When he got in, he took off his top first before laying on the bed, the softness of the mattress giving him an instantaneous relaxing feeling.He wished he could stay like that all through because his body needed that rest. And it was really his one way of forgetting all about work and any other thing that
The sound of the door shutting was all that Derek needed to know that Richard was now in the car with him. All through he didn't even bother looking in that direction because he already saw the man coming toward there in the first place.After a long silence, Richard decided to break the ice."Why are you here? I thought our business together was done. What more do you want from me?""That's what you thought," Derek said. "I never told you that our contact is off. You only assumed that yourself.""I guess breaking off my marriage isn't enough for you, is it?""I have no hand in that. That's on you and your foolishness. Now let's get on with what I summoned you for instead of me sitting here and listening to you whine about your failed marriage.""Like yours isn't failing…"Derek turned his head toward the man, his expression revealing an ounce of rage. "What did you say?" he asked sternly.Richard Langston looked at him. He looked like he didn't care and the manner at which he decided