"Sorry I asked to meet with you on such short notice," Derek apologized to the lady in front of him. "I could have texted you but I don't think it's safe anymore.""It's a good thing you mentioned that because I was about to ask you why you didn't just tell me what you want via the phone." That was the response he got from the lady.The lady was none other than Nadia. He had summoned her to meet with him after thinking through his options of finding a good way out of his predicament.She wasn't his first choice but she seemed like the most feasible option. And what was left now was for him to make good use of that option."So what's the issue that you so badly had to call to see me?" Nadia wanted to know as she sat uprightly to listen to what Derek had to say. All along she was sitting very relaxed because of her nonchalance of being there with him."The first thing you need to know is that I'm not trying to blackmail you this time around…""Oh good. Then I think I don't have any busi
"Still nothing?" Derek asked, a little surprised a while after the call he put through to the man got picked."Nothing," Marcus admitted over the phone. "I've tried and tried but nothing seems forthcoming. I won't lie to you, it's a dead end.""I thought you have friends that are into stuff like this. Can't they help us out?"Derek was already frustrated as he asked that question. He hoped to get a better answer from his friend because that was the only way he could actually feel better to hold this conversation."And you think they didn't already try?" Marcus asked him. "Derek, I already told you that the line was like an encrypted one. It was going to take a lot to knock it down.I put in a lot of effort into knocking it down. My people too. But nothing came out of it. Just some bunch of nonsense that wasn't going to be useful."With his hand running through his hair, Derek stood up to think. He hoped to get a better flow of thoughts from that point as he did that but it seemed stan
The first thing Derek did as soon as Gina went out of his office was shut down his laptop. Then he stood up from his seat and began to head out of his office.His destination was Gina's office where he hoped he would be able to talk things out with her. Even though it hasn't been for long, he was already fed up with staying away from her.He wanted to patch things up with her. So when he got in front of her office, he didn't bother knocking because he guessed she might totally ignore him when she found out it was him at the door.Instead, he pushed the door open to come in contact with the lady staring at him directly from behind her desk.Her expression was neutral and he was glad that he didn't have to deal with an angry looking woman as he wasn't the best in that aspect."Gina, I need to talk to you," he first said as he stood by the door which he managed to close while not breaking eye contact with her."What do you want?" Her question was solid without beating about the bush."To
"So, I'm not the one you're suspecting now, right?" Gina asked for reaffirmation. She wanted to be sure about where she stood before getting on further with the conversation."I wasn't necessarily suspecting you, Gina. To be honest, I was just mad that I got into that kind of situation. And maybe I did suspect you a bit. I thought you might have been working with my wife into getting something like that that can be used against me."Derek explained that to the hearing of the lady. His expression was neutral as he waited for her to understand what he just said.Gina shook her head, disappointment written on her face. "I will admit that coming onto you was a mistake. But I would never make that mistake of betraying you. I don't understand why you would think so low of me," she said while still expressing disappointment."I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking when I acted that way and that's why I already apologized."Gina says nothing to him for a while. She self reflected within that time frame
When he arrived at the manager's office, he was immediately directed to the conference room by the secretary.It was strange because his assistant didn't specify what type of meeting it would be with the manager. But it didn't expect it to be a conference type of meeting when it was just a discussion between the both of them. Except it was more than that.Getting to the conference room, he felt there was something off about the place. That thought lingered in his head even as he proceeded to push the door into it open.Inside the room, it wasn't just the manager that was there. The assistant manager as well as the supervisor sat in the room.At the end of the table was a man whom he had never set his eyes on before. The man was well-suited and had this weird aura surrounding him.Ignoring that, Derek acknowledged the manager and the other officials before taking a seat."Sorry, I'm late. I just received your message," he told them."It's okay, Mr. McKay. We were just discussing with M
"Who is Eugene Leviathan?" Derek asked that question in such an aggressive manner that his assistant thought for a moment that he was annoyed at him.Derek was walking too fast as they both headed back to his office together. All through the meeting, his assistant had stayed outside the conference room."Eugene Leviathan?" the assistant questions him back."That's what I said.""Eugene Leviathan is a district manager—"Derek cuts him off, "I know that already. But who exactly is he other than being a manager at the Jackson and Sons Consortium?""Do you want me to provide you information on his private life?"Staring at his assistant briefly before looking ahead, he asked, "Do you have it?""I do," the assistant said almost quietly."Then give it to me.""Mr. Eugene Leviathan, from my findings, is the youngest child of the chairman of Jackson and Sons. According to reports, he became a district manager about five to six years ago and has been influential in the Consortium maintaining i
Unconsciously, Derek dropped the spoon he was holding. That action alone made Catherine very confused as she didn't expect him to react that way."I'm sorry," he apologized after realizing what he did. "What did you say you are again? Pregnant?" he asked for clarification."Yes," she responded but the confusion was still written on her face."Sorry I'm acting this way. I just haven't processed the news yet.""What exactly are you finding hard to process?""That you're pregnant. I'm not sure whether to be happy or be super excited. It's the best news I've received in a while," he told his wife.It was at that time that she realized the overwhelming feeling that must have eaten up her husband after being informed of the news of her pregnancy."This is the best news ever. I'm happy to hear this," Derek told her and then reached out for her hand on the table. Catherine smiled and then took his hand in hers while she enjoyed the moment."I'm happy you're happy," she told him."How long gon
Derek was destabilized. And it was that instability that he took with him back home.From the look of things, he wasn't safe anymore. He couldn't do things willingly without actually having it at the back of his head that he was being watched by someone he didn't know.Who knows how many more pictures the person had of him. Pictures that could generate questions due to the way they looked.He went straight to the bedroom once he was at the apartment. He wasn't surprised when he found Catherine already on the bed, supposedly waiting for him to join her."Where did you go?" she asked him as he joined her on the bed with his mind still going through a lot of dilemma.Halfheartedly, he responded, "I went for a walk around the neighborhood.""I see," was what she told him before silence ensued between both of them. It was what he wanted at that point because he still had a lot that he wanted to think about.He thought about the possibility of the person watching him being one of the neighb
"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