"Can you rephrase your question? I don't think I understand what you mean," Eugene Leviathan said to the man who asked him the last question."Why does your company want a collaboration with ours at this point?"Eugene had to stand up again to address the entire team. He didn't look too pleased though but he remained composed."The Jackson and Sons was just referred to as one of the biggest companies in the global market and that's a fact that's well known.We didn't just attain that position without working toward it. We got it by trying so hard and by trying so hard, we have everything to show for it.You ask why now? If not now, then when?"His response to the question only left more questions lingering in the mind of others. That was his goal… to not be straightforward.This was because he realized how less being straightforward has helped him in the meeting.From where Derek sat, he couldn't help but commend the man. As much as he was beginning to hate his guts, he couldn't deny
"Details on Eugene Leviathan, coming up in one, two, and boom."Right in Derek's face, descriptions ipin descriptions mounted up on the screen of Marcus's desktop in the study.The information he was seeing was more than just basic information. It looked in-depth. And in-depth enough to get anything on anyone."What did you do?" he had to ask, his curiosity piqued as to how Marcus was able to find vital information about a man that didn't want his lifestyle out there.Marcus shrugged and said, "You know me. I have my ways."Derek couldn't dispute that knowing how much connection his friend had with the cyber world. It was easy for him to always get anything and that was one of the reasons he kept going back to him for help each time."So what do we have here? Ah, the background of Eugene Leviathan," Marcus announced as he scrolled through the information, using the mouse cursor as an aid.Derek focused intensely on the information on the screen to gauge what was on it. And from the in
The receiver on Derek's desk rang out for a couple of seconds and he hesitated picking it up. It could possibly be from the management and he wasn't cut out to speak to them at that moment.He hesitated for a while before he then finally gave in. Although he wasn't still okay with it."Hello," he said into the receiver as he leaned forward more."Hello, sir," a voice came in and he recognized it as his assistant's voice. "I hope I'm not disturbing you but the receptionist called and said there's someone here to see you.""Someone here to see me?" he asked, his expression hitching as he tried to guess about who the visitor could possibly be. "Well why didn't the receptionist reach out to me directly.""She said she tried but she has been cut out of access to your office."That sounded ridiculous to him but he didn't want to clamor for too long. "Did she say who it is?""Yes. Edna Langston."Immediately Derek found himself a bit hyper. Edna Langston was in his office to see him? How str
"I'm sorry, Edna, but I don't think I can accept your offer despite how tempting it is. For so many reasons I can't explain, it feels so wrong," Derek told the woman, outrightly declining the offer that he was so close to actually accepting.It was the feeling of things not being right that was bothering him. And if he put that feeling aside, he would jump on the offer without thinking twice. But not at that moment."What's wrong? Maybe you need to find a way to make me understand. Or do you perhaps think I'm messing with you? If that's what you think, I'll call my lawyer now so he can draft the documents now that will effect the handing over. I'm being serious here."He has never seen Edna look as stern as she did right at that moment. Every word that came out of her mouth felt sincere and he actually wanted to believe her."It's not that," he said. "Like I said before, it's a whole lot that I can't explain and I really can't." He shrugged after saying that. "I just can't place my ha
The public space was quiet just like it would everyday by that time of the night. The lights were on and it illuminated the place, giving a sight into the space that was the shadow of itself during the day.It was void of anybody and anyone except one particular person…Eugene Leviathan had taken his time to show up at a venue like that, secluded away from the prying eyes of others. And he sat on a bench, patiently waiting for someone.His position was almost motionless that anyone who passed by him would think he was some type of statue. But he was human, glued to the spot as he awaited the arrival of the person he was there to see.The headlights of a car gave the public space even more view and the lights were directed into Eugene's eyes. He didn't flinch but was filled with the awareness that his companion had arrived.The car stopped not too far away from him and from the back seat of the car a lady stepped out. It was at that time that Eugene decided to look up to catch sight of
"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
"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