2025-01-11 01:53:00After the first 3 rounds of delivery, the delivery van started emitting thick smoke from the exhaust pipe as he made his way back to pick up the next batch of pastries and beverages. ‘This Thursday sure has something up its sleeves.’ Jason thought wearily and felt obligated to report the boss directly as he had been instructed to do so whenever the vehicles develop hiccups.
As soon as he parked the van and made his way to his boss's office, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand in their roots. Jason had learnt to pay attention to this rush of dread but at that moment he had zeroed in his mind on what he had to do. ‘Yo man! What's up with the van?’, The 6 feet tall brown skin security guarding the parking lot asked approached the van. ‘I really don't know.’ Jason replied dismissively as he exited the van. ‘You should be careful with our boss's babies. He doesn't like them bothered.’ The well- built and taller security with a strong German look and accent chipped in. ‘You should just pick up another. There's a free one on the premises. Tyler called in sick earlier.’, He continued ‘I'll do just that. I just need to report to father ZacXavi on my babysitting gone wrong’, Jason replied playfully to ease the tension which was building up in him. The securities couldn't help but laugh at his joke for some seconds and surprisingly he joined in and felt a wave of relief hit his body. As he made to enter the building, his eyes caught the shorter security whispering something to the taller one. In a split second, the taller one called out to him, ‘ Jason!’ He turned his face to look at them as he stopped in his tracks while holding the door's handle ‘Yes?’ ‘Why don't you just report to the boss at the end of today's work? You'd be saving yourself some time and making more money, bro.’ ‘Sounds like a great idea but I'd rather report now than later… Boss has warned me never to stall on reporting hiccups so as to get it repaired on time.’ ‘Are you sure you wanna face him now? I heard you had a not so friendly encounter with him this morning’, he said sounding so concerned ‘News travel faster when they are bad’, Jason thought ‘Yes but I have to’, He replied impatiently. ‘What is wrong with everyone today?’, he said to himself. The instance he opened the door and stepped into the building, the sense of dread which he had earlier felt washed over him again. He felt as though all eyes were on him. ‘Maybe not all eyes but Daisy's.’, he thought as he locked eyes with her from across the hall ‘What again?!... More like, not again’, he thought wearily. Smiling like one that hit the jackpot, Daisy waved frantically at him from her corner at the pastries stand. Jason could only smile back as it felt more than a little odd as he had seen her that morning already. ‘I might as well be dreaming or seeing things.’ He said to himself as he continued his mission which was interrupted by Iglesias who bumped into him suddenly with a cup of freshly made coffee. ‘Watch where you're going man!’, Iglesias fumed as he threw his hands in the air. ‘You bumped into me!’, Jason exclaimed in disbelief ‘No, you did! Now I have to make another cup of coffee’ He said as he stomped away towards the worker's kitchen. It was only then that Jason realized that his shirt was drenched with coffee. All he could let out was a hiss. ‘I need to change my shirt now... Not today, please.’ He said to himself. He felt himself gradually becoming apprehensive about his encounters with his colleagues. As Jason thought about them as he made his way to his locker in the worker's lounge like his colleagues call it. Then and again, he met Daisy in the lounge. ‘Why is she always everywhere‽’ He exclaimed in his thought as he picked out a clean shirt to wear ‘Why are you always in my face?’, Daisy said while smiling seductively Jason ignored her as he took off his shirt and wore a clean one before dumping it in the laundry basket behind the door. As he made for the door, he was obstructed by Daisy once again. ‘What do you want from me?’, He asked while staring intently at her ‘You.’, Daisy said without breaking eye contact ‘I'm married Daisy! Happily married… With a beautiful daughter.’, Jason replied exhaustedly ‘What’s been up with you lately, Daisy?... huh… you have changed a lot.’ Daisy could not help but laugh, ‘you think you are ‘happily married’, huh?’ She said while laughing. Jason did not reply as he just shook his head and left the room merely and made his way to his boss's office. As he approached the door, he suddenly caught a whiff of a familiar scent on his way up but merely ignored it. He knocked lightly at several intervals on the door but got no response. ‘Maybe I should just let myself in... All he would do is insult me for some minutes.’ He thought wearily ‘Good afternoon, Boss. I've been...’ Jason said as he opened the door. Motion and words failed him the moment he set his eyes on his boss and the unmistakable curly redhead beauty with milky skin. She was sitting on the boss's table directly in his front with his hand holding hers up to his mouth for a ‘gentlemanly’ kiss. They seemed lost in the moment as they were oblivious of his entry. Jason felt his heart churn at this sight. ‘Boss?’, He whimpered as he felt his legs almost giving ways beneath him. His voice pierced the atmosphere and obviously brought his boss and his red head beauty back to earth. Jason suddenly felt his heart, his soul and his whole body burning. ‘It cannot be her… She's not the only red head ...’, He reassured himself until she turned her head backwards to burrow into his soul with her icy blue stare. ‘Hey Jason! … There you are. We were just talking about you’, Diane said smiling broadly as she spoke. Without moving an inch from his boss's table, She continued ‘are you supposed to be done with today's deliveries by this time? It's just few minutes past noon.’ ZacXavi's voice halted whatever reply he wanted to give this redhead beauty, if he could. She has always made him tongue tied and she's doing it again. ‘How many times have I warned you not to enter my office without my permission or approval?’ ZacXavi thundered ‘And what the heck are you doing back here at this hour?... Is this how eager you are to become jobless?’ He reeled on. ‘Will you get your filthy self out of my office before I throw you out myself?’ All Jason could do was stare at his enraged boss and his own’ Dee’ in his boss's arms. ‘Dee?', He called visibly hurting as he fidgeted and held onto the door for support ‘Yes love.’ She answered with her hands straightening out her rolled up skirt. ZacXavi protested with his body language but was calmed by Dee's touch on his cheeks as she stared at him lovingly. Everything started to add up in Jason’s head, ‘Their insistence on me reporting later, the whispers, Daisy's statement earlier that morning,’ All he wanted to do was flee from the scene playing out before his eyes. And flight was what he chose.
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‘Watch out man!’ Iglesias called out behind Jason as he almost bumped into one of the waiters exiting the kitchen with a breakfast box. Jason heard nothing. All he wanted to do was flee. It was not until he exited the building through the back door that he realized that his keys were not in his pocket and he was still wearing his work clothes. ‘I’d rather dump them in a trashcan rather than return them anyways.’, he thought.He had momentarily forgotten what he had just witnessed as the ache in his head made it difficult for his thoughts to conjure. Jason whimpered as he felt his head throbbing as the scene and exchange of dialogues came rushing back. He felt his stomach churn as though he was hungry and nauseous at the same time. As he held unto the delivery boxes stacked by the door in order to relief himself of his aches, he heard the door open behind him. He did not turn because he knew that whosoever it could be was probably out to mock him. Then he heard the familiar voice
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He hadn't planned on sleeping that long, but fatigue had a way of creeping up on him. Jason had slept for more than six hours on the couch in his study before he was woken up by a sudden crash that sounded like the shatter of a glass window. Instinct kicked in immediately, cutting through the haze of sleep like a razor.His hand reached for the sleek, black combat knife on the coffee table. The weight of the blade felt familiar in his grip, but it was the revolver that truly made him feel ready. He grabbed his Samuel Colt revolver from beneath the top of the coffee table, slipping a silencer onto its muzzle with practiced ease. The quiet click as he loaded the gun echoed softly through the silent room.Jason moved quickly, but silently, out of his study. His door had been reinforced and made in such a way that it creaked not once, even under the weight of his movements. His fingers wrapped around the doorframe as he slid into the hallway.The corridor was shrouded in shadows. The apar
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Jason’s hand tightened around the phone as he pressed the redial button again. His heart pounded, but not from fear as he was now used to high-stakes situations. No, this time, it was the sudden shift in his usual routine that had him on edge. He had specifically called his driver, Crux, to pick him up from the parking lot instead of the usual bus stop two blocks away. It wasn’t something he’d normally do, but something about today felt different. The people on the sidewalk had already started to notice, eyes tracking the car as it pulled out of the lot. Jason didn’t care about the stares. And right now, he couldn’t even shake off the feeling that he was being watched.“Everything alright?” Jason asked, his gaze sharp, glancing out the window to check their surroundings.“Everything’s fine, sir,” Crux replied, keeping his voice steady, but Jason could see the faint tension in the man’s posture. It was subtle, but it was there. Jason’s instincts were never wrong. As they merged onto
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The locker room grew quiet again, the tension thick in the air. Jason stood in front of the row of lockers, his reflection staring back at him from the dirty mirror. He adjusted his mask, pulling it down slightly to ensure it fit comfortably over his face. The familiar weight of the nosemask had always been a source of comfort for him, a shield that kept the world from seeing the parts of him that he wants to keep hidden.Behind him, Huda sat on the bench, his eyes carefully studying Jason. Huda had been the kind of guy who’d never asked too many questions, always keeping to himself, until recently. Jason could feel the shift in the air whenever Huda was around. He wasn’t just the coworker anymore. He was asking more questions than was safe, and that made Jason uneasy.Jason adjusted the hem of his uniform, pretending not to notice the subtle tension in the room. But Huda’s voice broke the silence.“What’s your deal with the president, Lucas? You’re stepping on toes without thinking
CHAPTER 30
Cain sat behind his desk, his fingers drumming anxiously on the polished wood. His mind was a whirlwind of frustration, anger, and strategy. The scene in his office, the humiliating confrontation with the newcomer janitor, still played over and over in his head, gnawing at him. He could hardly believe it had escalated so quickly. What had begun as a simple disagreement had turned into a full-blown spectacle, one that now involved not only his own men but the president's personal bodyguards as well.Cain’s pulse quickened as he replayed the moment in vivid detail. He had allowed himself to be provoked, something he hadn't done in years. But now, more than ever, he understood that he couldn’t afford any distractions. He needed to act, quickly, decisively. And above all, he had to ensure that no one spoke of what had happened.His bodyguards had been there, but they hadn’t seen much, only the tail-end of what had been a much more humiliating exchange. Cain had never been one to back down
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...Cain leaned back in his chair, visibly frustrated but unwilling to show weakness again as he opened up his laptop. Cain knew he had lost this round. Jason had already made his point: he was fearless. And that was something even Cain couldn’t manipulate.Cain glanced up from his laptop, his eyes flickering over Jason with an almost dismissive glance. With a practiced air of nonchalance, he closed the laptop with a swift motion, standing up immediately. He didn’t bother to acknowledge Jason directly, choosing instead to carry the laptop with him as he walked towards the far side of the office. Jason, unfazed as ever, immediately proceeded to start where Cain had vacated. He began sweeping the area under the desk, he realized that the office, with its sleek, polished surfaces and sharp edges, felt almost suffocating in its perfection. It was large, almost as big as the president’s office, and it offered a commanding view of the rest of the headquarters, and beyond that, the sprawlin
CHAPTER 28
After the staged grab and shove by the securities as well as the brief tete-a-tete with his father in his office, Jason became not only the most gossiped about individual amongst the workers of the cleaning agency but also in the whole of the ArkWrath headquarters. Nobody knew what he did except that he was taken to the president’s office where he spent almost an hour and came out unscathed or battered which was very much unusual. The rumour, which quickly spread of the newcomer Janitor, was that he possessed an ample amount of information either for or against the president for him to be allowed to wear a nose-mask around the premisies and defying the laid down rules and norms. Surprisingly, Jason was totally aware of what was going on alongside the expensive rumors but what shocked him most was the fact that Cain, his cousin requested him to clean his office. Cain was however not interested in the works of an ordinary Janitor. Rather, he wanted to come face to face with someone who
CHAPTER 27
Jason had no expectations from his new job. He knew exactly what he had to do and expected almost nothing in return. It, surprisingly felt too natural, as if this role had always been something he was familiar with. Like there had always been someone above, giving orders, telling him where to go and what to do.The first week was too simple. His introduction to the job consisted of observing the routines of the other janitors, who moved through the headquarters with a quiet, almost military precision. The task was simple, clean, scrub, organize, but it required a keen eye and a focus on detail. He’d been taught how to clean without disturbing the sensitive documents that filled the offices, how to polish the glass surfaces without leaving a streak, and how to ensure that every inch of the topmost floor of the building was spotless by the end of his shift. The mask he wore over his face and the glasses that shielded his eyes had now become a part of his identity. They were the first
CHAPTER 26
It had been three months since Jason began his reintegration into the system, and in those three months, his life had become a series of routines and adaptations. As the sun pierced through the blinds at 7 am, Jason rose from his bed, the rhythm of his body waking up as instinctively as his mind. The gym had become a non-negotiable part of his day, a daily ritual born out of his need for discipline and control. The private martial arts training that his father had arranged for him had transformed his body, honed his reflexes, and instilled in him a quiet sense of power. But today, as he prepared for his morning workout, something was different.On his study table, already cluttered with an assortment of packages that had arrived over the past weeks, was another box. It wasn’t particularly large, but it stood out among the others, as though it was waiting for him. The note attached to it was simple, scrawled in his father’s familiar hand: "Wear this."Jason raised an eyebrow, the feeli
CHAPTER 25
Jason stood in front of his father in his home office, the weight of everything was now pressing down on his shoulders. He had never imagined this moment would come, this confrontation that seemed to have been waiting all his life."Why didn’t you ever look for me?" Jason's voice broke the silence, hoarse with a mix of pain and accusation. "You just let me go... and didn’t try to find me. All this time, you never even cared enough to search."His father didn’t respond immediately. The old man looked down, his hands clenched tightly together, as if searching for the right words, but finding none. Finally, he sighed, a long, heavy exhalation, as if the weight of the past had crushed him too many times."I did look for you, Jason," Mr. ArkWrath said quietly, his voice trembling with a vulnerability Jason had never heard before. "I searched... but your letter..." He paused, as if the mere mention of it was a wound too fresh to touch. "You told us not to. You wrote that we should leave you
