"I'm… I'm sorry. For not coming immediately. I knew she had a gun, and didn't know where you were. I didn't want a case like her finding out and killing you." Charles said, and Vera manged a little smile."It was just a moment's fear. You don't need to apologize. I'm not dead." She said. "You know, I was happy there were two others, who were more scared than I was. I was able to control my fear, and tell them you would come for us. What mattered is that you did. "Honestly, I've never been more grateful to hear someone sing. Kent surprisingly had a nice voice. He was also talking to himself." She said, trying to stop her eyes from watering, but they did, so she looked down."I've never been more grateful to him." Charles said."It was like hope. I immediately worked out where we were, with information from the girls, and I'd never been more happy to talk to you. All through the night and morning, I didn't want to say a thing because I didn't want you to think our plan had flopped. I d
"Damn you. Who are you, and what do you have to do with Vera?" Charles asked, and signaled to the driver to search for Vera. The man got the signal, and immediately exited the car. "I thought you'd burst out of the car, and search for her. Guess you aren't dating after all." She said coyly, and the voice had a striking resemblance to Layla's, but it couldn't be. Layla had been taken by the cops.She was probably in a psychiatric ward sleeping after being heavily sedated."Who are you, and what did you do to Vera? What do you have against her?" He asked, and the voice laughed."I must be really insignificant. With all the brainy heists I carried out, you still do not gasp at the sound of my voice." She drawled."Layla?" Charles asked, and the doubt was rich in his voice. He kept on expecting to hear traces of anger in the voice at him still unable to recognize them, but instead, he heard a pleased chuckle."Now you know.""What? Layla? You? You were taken by the police!" Charles shout
Vera was shocked and looked like she had just seen a ghost.How could she be as heartless as that? How could she just kill someone she liked, and feel no remorse about it? She knew she was mentally troubled, but still it felt like she had taken it a step too far. At that point, she began to feel scared, knowing Layla wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of her. Even if she wasn’t a murderer, and Kent was the first man she had ever killed, it wouldn’t be a problem to kill a second time. Killing a person at first, seemed daunting, but once it was done, doing it the next time was always easier than the first. She could imagine Kent laying somewhere dead, his mysterious brown eyes staring up at the stars, unblinking, not closing, just staring. What could have been his last thoughts? Had he regretted following Layla, or had not regretted anything at all?The thought of it was so unnerving that she didn’t want to give it another thought. Layla was a scary and her mental problems were not at fault.
“Layla… Layla, hang on, please. Wait, you have to wait. You have to think deeply about this. Trust me. You do not have to kill me. No, you do not want to kill me. It will only complicate things. Your life will be a mess. A total mess! Killing someone… you’ll be found. You’ll be taken to jail…” Vera pleaded, trying desperately to change Vera’s mind.“Do you actually care about me? Or you’re just trying to save yourself?” She scoffed.“I admit I’m trying to save myself, but it doesn’t have to be like this. You will only make everything worse.”“Nope, I’m going out of this country very soon, and your body will never be found, until maybe three days? Five? A week? Well, you’ll be found when you’ve become all scabby and gummy. Your pretty face wouldn’t even be recognized and your man will cry. Oh yeah, he will.” She said, continuing to drag Vera into the water. Already, the cold water had covered her legs, and she was beginning to shiver. Her heart was pounding in her ears, and it seemed l
Charles stared at Vera, worried about her as she looked a bit pale. It wasn't easy to get past such a trauma.Imagine one's head being dunked inside water by a psychiatric patient. That experience is one which one wouldn't love to experience, but then, there was no choice than to console her.Hopefully, she would be able to get over it soon before the competition commence.“Are you okay?” Charles asked her out of concern.Then Vera looked at him weakly, and breathed out shakily.“I guess I am. I'm much better than when we were still there. At least, this place is quite sane.” Vera replied, and glanced at the window.“I understand.”“This trip just got messed up all because of that woman. We weren't able to do what we came here for, but regardless, I'm certain we're still going to win and have what we want.” Vera said, nodding her head to assure us both.“Yeah, I believe. Just lay your head back and rest until we get back to the city.”When they got back to the city, they drove off hom
Charles held her shoulder, trying to figure out what was going on and if he ought to be wary of her.He hadn't confirmed it it was possible for a one-night traumatic experience such as hers could change her behavior totally and even automatically change her into a person in need of immediate medical attention.“What's going on, Vera?” Charles asked, concerned about her.Vera fluttered her eyelids and then shook her head.“I thought I saw something underneath your eye bags.” She said, then cleared her throat.“Oh, alright then.” Charles said, then cleaned his face with his palm in case there could be really something on his face.“Alright, so I think I'm ready to go to bed now.”“Okay, that's much better. Goodnight then. I'll also be going to bed now.” Vera said goodnight as well, then she left immediately. Charles also laid down on his bed, and stared at the ceiling for a while and hoped that things would get much better than it is at the moment.~A night to the day of the contest,
Charles, Vera and James walked into the reception hall, and looked around."For some reason, I'm getting goosebumps. I know we'll do just fine, but I still can't help the nervous feeling that clouds me." James said, smoothening his suit jacket.He looked smart in a navy blue suit, and white shirt. It was a regular for business men, but James made it seem even better. Vera was dressed in stunning red, and her hair was packed beautifully at the base of her neck, with a pin on it. She walked confidently with her heels clacking on the ground, and if she was nervous, she hid all the signs well.Charles was dressed in dashing cream. They were going to stun the audience with their looks, eloquence, and product. Their trip hadn't been useless after all. It had given him a massive idea, and his genius team had put it together, working overnight, so they could try to meet up with the short notice. Layla was probably back at the psychiatric hospital, receiving severe treatment, but thanks to
Charles and Vera were a little stupefied, but a second later, someone began to clap in awe, another joined, then another, and in seconds, the applause were louder than any applause Charles had ever heard. Screams from the audience mixed with their applause, and Charles, and Longman were all smiles.The sleeping employee was awoken, and he looked embarrassed, which made the audience laugh.They could not believe how meticulous Pax was. The applause lasted long after Charles, Longman and Vera stepped down, and Longman patted Charles on the back happily. Then Charles excused himself, and went down to the receptionist, and after giving her a smile, he registered again, with the sole name of his company, without Longman."Please kindly send the update to them. You can do that, can't you?" He asked, with a smile, and she nodded.Charles walked away, and went back to the hall, sitting.More companies presented their products, and Charles heart skyrocketed in anxiety, as it neared the end.