“Amy you can’t go to work yet, there are still more days before your sick leave is over. I’m not letting you out of this house” Lair declared in an angry tone, as he blocked Amy’s path out of the room.
“Lair I’m not a small child anymore. I’m an adult just in case you haven’t noticed. I can take good care of myself and believe me this is very important. I have to be at work, I won’t be at peace if I stay at home and do nothing. The company is having troubles and they need all hands on desk” Amy said exasperatedly.
“What kind of trouble? And are you the only one who can fix it, let the others do it. Amy as far as I’m concerned, you’re not stepping an inch out of this house” He told her firmly, letting her know there was no way he was changing his mind.
“Lair come on, please stop doing this. My trouble at work is quite serious. I don’t know if I can be of help, but as a senior supervisor of my department I’m sure I can make an input” She tried to reason with him.
“What kind of problem are they having?” Lair asked of curiosity.
“A virus has affected one of our softwares, and it hasn’t been neutralized. It’s really affecting the company badly” Amy informed him.
“A virus?” He asked, while Amy nodded.
“Then I’m more convinced you’re not needed there. They have someone who can fix it” Lair replied.
“Who?”
“Amy stay indoors, take your pills and rest to gather your strength. You’ll need it for later, today is mother’s last day. We’ll get her answer when Dad comes back” Lair told her, making Amy silent for some seconds. The truth is, that was one of the reason why she wanted to go back to work. She was growing anxious just by thinking about tonight’s outcome. She didn’t know to expect, and that was truly making her anxious. And to be sincere Ethan’s words back at the party had some how gotten into her. She thought about the possibility of Micheal being dead. People do die in prison. Sometimes they die mysterious death, sometimes they commit suicide most especially in cases like this, when the victims were innocent. What if he has turned into something else, an angry and bitter man. Bad influences from prison could have made him change and he probably resent her and her family. This were the depressing thoughts hounding her mind and she really needed a break.
She had to leave the house or she might really lose her mind. Just some few hours to go before she gets the answer she has been waiting for, but she couldn’t keep her cool anymore.
“Lair I love you and I know you love me too, just as much as you love Jade” She paused, making Lair to cock a brow at her.
‘What has Jade got to do with this?’ He asked himself, but he didn’t need to ask it out, because Amy already understood his confusion.
“I wonder how she’d feel when she realize that you’re the reason why her boyfriend’s company collapses before morning” She told him, with an accusing tone.
“How am I responsible? What has this got to do with me?” He asked confusedly.
“Well you don’t really know, but I’m good at my Job, and whoever you think might be very capable to fix this problem might actually need my help. So I wonder what Jade would do if she finds out you’re being an enemy of progress, and secondly I really need to get out of this house” She said increasing the tone of her voice as she said the last part.
“Amy are you threatening me now?” He asked with tilted brows, while Amy shrugged.
“I’m not, I’m only pleading” She walked closer to him and put her arms around him, hugging him tightly. She knew he wasn’t going to say no now.
Lair lifted his head upward, as he sighed exasperatedly. Why did God give a sister as stubborn as her? Did he maltreat or murder his sister in his past life or what.
After staying silent for a couple of minutes, he finally said, “Fine you can go, you’re just as stubborn as your mother” He hissed, while Amy giggled as she snuggled a bit closer to him.
“You’re just the best bro, ever. Other than you, all other brothers are counterfeit” She praised.
“False sweet words” He scoffed, making by giggle happily. “Don’t exhaust yourself out. If I see as much as tiny spike on your blood pressure when you return, I’ll tender in your resignation letter and strap you to a hospital bed” He warned seriously.
“Bro, your sister is not that fragile. I’ll be back unharmed and unscathed” Amy assured him with a serious tone, making his lip involuntarily curve upward.
“Alright you can go, but I’m dropping you off” He told her while she nodded her head. She had no problem with him dropping her off. As a matter of fact she never had the intention of driving.
“Let’s go” Amy said as she wrapped her arm around his. She didn’t really know if she could be of much use at work, but she’d rather be there than be at home, doing nothing.
…
Lair dropped her off at work and promised to pick her up later after work. Lair wasn’t really convinced about letting her come to work, but he also knew his sister well enough. She was a typical workaholic, in fact all the women in his life were all workaholic. It was a miracle that she had stayed at home for the number of days she did. Naturally she wouldn’t even agree to stay idle for one whole day, but surprisingly he did.
Lair was about to drive off when he caught sight of someone familiar. He narrowed his eyes at the person just to be sure he wasn’t seeing things. But the more he looked the more it became clear, that was indeed his mother.
But what was she doing at this side of town when she said she had an urgent matter to attend to this morning during breakfast.
And who was she talking to?
Lair thought he hasn’t seen well, but no matter how he looked at it, it was truly his mother standing there with an unknown man. it wasn’t odd finding his mother talking with a stranger because of her profession, but something was off about the certain man she was talking to. But that was not just the only thing that caught his attention. The brown envelope which the man was also passing to her got his interest.
He noticed the way she reacted after opening the envelope. She looked shocked after skimming through the document in her hand. She had a dumbfounded look on her face and she shot her head up to look at the man, with a disbelieving look in her eyes.
He noticed the way the man shook his head after she said something, it seemed like she asked a question. Her countenance was crest fallen when the man shook his head in response. It was all suspicious.
She had a disappointed look, and from the way her countenance kept changing from bad to worse, making her look like her world was about crumbling, Lair had a foreboding about things.
He had a feeling this was about what they had all been waiting for all week. It had to be related to Micheal.
His mother was one tough woman who knew to hide her feelings well except when it came to her family. And seeing the way she was reacting to whatever they were talking about definitely had to do with her response to them tonight.
‘It wasn’t good, and if it wasn’t good, —he turned his head to look at the direction his sister had just walked into— then his sister was going to have another major break down, maybe even worse.
He can’t let that happen. But what should he do?
…..
*Xenox Inc*
Jade had not been able to keep her cool since she heard about Jake’s ordeal. Her worries grew worse when she reconfirmed with her team leader, Simon. She didn’t know what to do.
She was both worried and angry. Worried because this problem wasn’t a slight problem. She had weighed how this would affect Jake’s company and even Jake himself. Angry because Jake was hiding his problems from her. No matter how she tried to understand with him, she still didn’t know why he’d lie to her. She had sensed something was wrong with him, and when she asked he said everything was fine.
She knew he was trying not to bother her, but they were together and she should know when he has a problem, and not find out from other sources. If this was a life threatening situation, then at what stage would she had found out? When it was probably too late?
She was mad at him, but the fact that she still couldn’t reach him, made her madder.
Calling Amy was out of it, she’d probably or definitely get worried about work when she gets the news of this. She kept looking at the time, It was no where lunch time talk more of closing.
Why was the day suddenly passing by slowly.
Jade looked at the time once again, it was just 10:30 am; two hours more before lunch time. She didn’t know if she could wait that long before seeing him. Two hours to her right now seemed like two decades.
Jade was too lost in thought that she didn’t notice Sara’s scrutinizing look. She even didn’t notice her leave the desk, it wasn’t until she returned and her attention was called in, that she noticed that not only was Sara staring at her, but also was Julius with his usual cup of coffee.
“I heard you’re not okay” Julius said with a concern as Jade looked up at him. She turned her gaze to Sara and the simply shrugged.
“You’re acting strange” Sara said. Though Jade didn’t talk much while at work, because that was all her mind was always occupied with, work; but Jade hasn’t even done a thing since she resumed work this morning and her mood worsened after talking about the software, and Sara found that strange. That wasn’t the Jade she knew.
Jade didn’t know what to say to her, she knew Sara was worried, and it was all her fault for making her worry. She sighed and apologized to her, “I’m sorry if i scared you with my attitude. I just have a lot on my mind”
“Is it serious? Do you want to talk about it? A problem shared is said to be half solved right?” Julius asked. He didn’t like seeing Jade like this, seemed off.
Jade scoffed inwardly when she heard that. If only Jake knew that.
She shook her head and said, “It’s fine and i—”
“Well it’s not fine and I just spoke to Simon about it and he wants you in his office” She paused and placed her hand on Jade’s hand. “I don’t know what’s stressing you today, and I know you won’t ask for a day off, but if Simon offers you a day off please take it and go home, fix whatever is boggling your mind and come back tomorrow in the familiar workaholic Jade mood. I like her more than this one….. she’s depressing” Sara added, with a serious look on her face, telling Jade she wasn’t joking.
Jade looked at her without knowing what to say. She simply nodded her head, muttered a thank you, left for Simon’s office, again.
She knocked on the transparent glass door, and Simon who could already see her said, “Jade come in, take a seat” He dropped his own, and looked at her. Jade did exactly as she was told.
Simon intently looked at her for some minutes. “I heard you’re a bit off today, I also noticed when you were here earlier. I know you wouldn’t like to talk about it with me, and I don’t want to pry. So I want you take the day off and handle whatsoever is bothering you. And if by chance it’s about the software, don’t feel bad about it. I know it was your first project but don’t feel bad about it. The company is on it and the problem would be fixed soon. So I just wanted to say that to you” He wasn’t used to giving pep talks, but he admired Jade, so trying to have one with her wasn’t that bad.
Jade didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to say she was feeling downcast because the software which she had helped the company sign a contract for was currently bringing the company issues– okay she was a bit bothered about that, but she also knew she wasn’t at fault. The major problem it was her boyfriend’s software, and was worried about him.
Nodding her head, she said, “Thank you sir,” while Simon nodded his head too.
“Alright get that sullen look out of here and bring a happy one back” Simon said with a small smile. Jade nodded her head as she flashed an appreciative smile at him, before thanking him again.
She felt grateful for the care and concern her colleagues and boss had towards her. She was happy to have them.. She got back to her desk, picked up her stuff, thanked Sara before hurrying off to check up on Jake.
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 6
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