The Underdog's Triumph

Chapter Three

“What is my offense again?”

Henry is left to wonder this question over and over again in his  mind as he stand idly beside Mr. George’s secretary who doesn’t seem to give a crap about him, even with the fact that he has been standing beside her for the past 32 minutes ever since she informed him that he is being summoned by Mr. George.

A part of him wants to question the secretary about the time Mr. George would have his time, but he know that would be stupid of him. So he just bite his tongue hard in his mouth, preventing himself from blurting out the wrong word that may cost him his job.

After some time that feels like forever, Mr. George finally places a call to his secretary through the intercom for Henry to come into his office. So without wasting any moment, he makes his way diligently and carefully to Mr. George office’s doorway, trying his best not to give in to the tiredness of his  leg after standing for over an hour without any tangible reason.

He knock politely on his office door and make his  way into the office when he heard a quiet “come in” from inside. As he enters, the atmosphere seems weird. For some odd reason, Mr. George doesn't seem like himself. And when he say himself, he mean his usual abusive self. He looks calm which is a suspicious character from someone like him.

“You called for me, sir?”

Henry asks confusedly, not knowing how to act around this new side of him. He'd have preferred it if he just stuck to a side, rather than confusing him with being abusive one minute and being calm the next.

The cool and dejected expression on his face makes Henry kind of feel sad for him. He looks like someone who is only putting up a hard front just to hide his dark shameful secret, and Henry would love to know what it is that can get his boss this dejected, except he is not the type to probe. So he'd rather focus on his  job and not let anyone play with his  mind.

“Here, I want you to deliver this letter to someone in Wilsons’ Group.”

Mr. George says calmly to him as he hands over the white letter. Written on the letter is a very familiar name that Henry seem to have heard before, but can quite place it at the moment; Scarlet Wilson.

"Mr. Henry. You know how seriously I take my instructions. I want you to hand this letter directly to Scarlet. I don't want this letter going from hand to hand. Trust me, you cannot afford that. So make sure you hand this directly to the recipient. Do you understand me?"

Mr. George asks while still using his calm voice, although Henry can now sense a bit of fear in it. He seems to be afraid of whoever this Scarlet is. And oddly enough, Henry cannot wait to meet the woman who has the power to make his abusive boss so fearful.

"Okay, sir," Henry replies curtly again.

"You have only 90 minutes. Give this letter to her and return to the office without wasting any moment. I have other errands for you to run."

Mr. George’s final words before Henry left his office resonate loudly in his  ear as he walk out towards the gate to look for a quick cab that will get him to the Wilsons' Group in about 30 minutes which on a normal day, the distance between the Wilsons' Group and ABI Conglomerate takes about 40-45 minutes.

“But what can I say? The boss wants me to rush down.”

Henry sigh as he finally plop down into the first cab that stopped and do his best to persuade the cab driver to drive as fast as possible.

Fortunately for him, it didn’t take more than 30 minutes for him to get to Wilsons’ Group, now, all he is left with is to locate whosoever Scarlet Wilson is and deliver the letter in 15 minutes.

So again, without wasting any moment, he walk hurriedly into the building towards the receptionist. But as he does this, he cannot help but admire the beauty and exquisite structure of the company. He have always heard rumors that Wilsons' Group is much richer than ABI Conglomerate even though ABI Conglomerate has been in Cape Town longer than the Wilsons' Group.

But he must also agree, the company is giving off the aura of riches. Everyone that walks up and down the ground floor is perfectly dressed and professional. As he walk past them, they all respond to him with a small official smile plastered on their faces. At that moment, he wish he had gotten a job in Wilsons’ Group.

“Even though their smiles are nothing personal, at least I wouldn’t be treated like trash over here by such professional people.”

When he  finally get to the front desk of the receptionist who is already looking at him with the brightest smile on her face, he  feel the tension in his  body disappear as he  tells her what brought him to their company.

“Good afternoon. I am looking for someone who goes by the name Scarlet Wilson?”

Henry say coolly with his smile, but the moment the young lady who seems to be in her late 20s hears the name of the person he is looking for, the smile on her face drops drastically and it is replaced with a bewildered one.

“Who did you say you are looking for?” She asks.

“Scarlet Wilson.”

Henry reply to her confidently again, but it seems something he is saying isn't sitting well with her because the expression on her face remains the same while he is left to wonder what is going on until a feminine voice behind him interrupts their conversation.

“Who is asking?”

Henry looks back to see the owner of the voice and from what he  sees, he  don't need a genius to tell him that she is the lady he is sent to. But what he didn't know is that she is exceptionally young, probably too young for the kind of power and wealth she controls.

She exudes confidence as an aura in her six-inch high pair of heels. Her light brown eyes seem like they are searching his soul as she looks deeply into his eyes to discern his intentions. Although she doesn't seem as abusive as his boss, he cannot help but think that her calm demeanor is gonna be worse than that of his boss.

“My name is Henry.” Henry begins as he choose his words wisely.

“Just to be sure, ma’am, you are Miss Scarlet Wilson, right?”

“Yes, I am. What have you got for me?” She asks calmly yet authoritatively.

“I was sent by Mr. George of ABI Conglomerate to give this to you.”

Henry says as he hand over the letter to her, making him let out a relieved sigh. At least, he has completed the second phase of his mission. All that is left is for him to get back to the office. But his planning session is ruined when he  hear a cold giggle from Scarlet.

“Now he is sending you to do his dirty work? Okay! Let’s see who wins.”

She says with one of the coldest expressions Henry has ever seen before she walks off, while he just watch her go on. At this moment, he feel scared for his boss. Her strange behavior is alarming. And at that moment, he cannot help but wonder just one thing.

“What has my boss gotten himself into?”