REMISSION

ONE IS NEVER ENOUGH

"So it's true, you went out drinking even though you knew all too well we had an appointment today Richard?" the seriousness in her voice was on another level but Richard didn't seem all that scared. " Oh come on Linda, I just had the worst morning of my life. My mother just yelled at me for the last two hours and my father said how he was disappointed ten or more times during his half hour lecture. Please don't add to that," he looked at her with those puppy dog eyes that had seen him get away with so much over the years. "Okay but I have to be honest with you, your performance this afternoon is what will determine if you are fit to be the CEO and I am not going to favor you today," Linda said as she leaned back on her chair ready to start with the usual questions. "If only you knew how much I hate these psych questions...I mean they are dumb and pointless..." Richard thought as he adjusted his seating position ready to start. "Honestly, Linda you know me, do you think there is any point to this crazy questions? My parents basically brought me up to take over some day..." he had more to say but Linda cut him short with her first question. "Have you taken any drugs or alcohol recently?" the question was as stupid as it was obvious. Even Linda knew that. "Come on Linda," he said one last time while holding her hand. Richard knew that Linda always had a soft spot for him and he always used that to his advantage even though he knew all too well that he would never feel the same way. "You know that one day you will have to pay up all the favors you owe me right?" Richard nodded in a teasing way and she couldn't help but blush.

"Would you look at that, I need to be in my office in ten minutes or my mother will bite my head off...that woman," of course he was just using that to get rid of Linda who was making her way towards him in a suggestive manner. Richard practically ren out of the office and he never looked back. He knew one day he would have to tell her that there was no way anything would ever happen between them but that day was not today. Today, he needed her to prove that he was capable of leading the company. Linda was attractive, she was smart and she knew how to carry herself with that womanly confidence. Anyone would have loved to be her boyfriend. Everyone but Richard. That was because Richard knew something that most people including Linda had no clue. Something that almost brought about separation of his parents. He was only a boy back then but there was no way he would ever forget the fight. Maybe one day he would tell Linda all about it but yet again, that day was a little way ahead. As he got into the elevator, a thought of him and Linda in bed naked rushed through his mind and he found himself cursing out loud before realizing there were other people looking at him looking offended. "Sorry, sorry I am just cursing at the crazy voice in my head that won't shut up," he said but later realized that telling them that wasn't going to make anything better. They all ended up thinking he was high or maybe he was all crazy. "This is not my day now, is it?" he finally said as he walked out of the elevator fake smiling at the crowd.

In his office, Richard tried to get some work done but he could never seem to concentrate. The events of the previous night kept interrupting him and he found himself staring at the ceiling while smiling and frowning from time to time. He hated to admit that even though he was feeling guilty about spending the night with a p********e, he also had a great time. He hated to admit that he thought Annie was cool and quite a catch. She was cold, said everything as she thought it and that was the most honest night that Richard had had for a long time. He also had found her pretty and he would have loved to spend more time with her. He was thinking about everything nice that happened that night and everything came back to her. "That's it, I am going to look for her...too bad they don't give their real names," he thought as he turned towards the door where his Secretary had been standing for the last couple of minutes. "Sir, do you wish to stay overtime? Also you never took your lunch and you didn't sign todays documents..." he was then aware that it was already half hour after four in the afternoon. "Afternoon to you Sally, you can drop the formality now that it's already half an hour since your work day ended." His words gave her the go ahead she needed to approach him ready for gossip. "I know you think I will tell you about yesterday but for your info, I have neither the strength nor the energy," he reached for his water bottle but she was quick enough to move it further where he couldn't reach. "Even if I told you that I already did all the work you were supposed to do today...aaaand, I brought you this....hah, what do you say?" she said showing him his favorite Lucozade energy drink. He would have liked to turn her offer down but he badly needed the energy and a pick me up. "Remember probable deniability and all? I don't think it's wise to tell you," he said as he reached for the drink. "Ooh...no...no...no, remember the agreement? No story no drink," she was smiling but Richard knew she meant her words so he pulled his hand back. "Okay, I will however have to save some details," he finally said after taking some time to think about whether or not to tell her. "Well, I am not proud of it but...after I left..."

"Ohh my goodness Richard...you did it, you really did it. I always knew you had it in you...well, some parts didn't make sense like how you accidentally met this former friend of yours...Annie is her name right? How did you get her to go home with you in less than an hour? I figured you would just go for the hookers or something. Anyways, did she give you that bruise? Well don't tell me that because if she did, I would also like to know which style you were doing it for you to get that," the smile on her face was bigger than Richard had ever seen before. "Well," Richard said as he reached for the drink. He knew he had lied his ass off but that would never be worse than telling her the truth. " What about the meeting? Did you get the top job? Am I still going to be your assistant? Please," she could already picture herself working for the CEO of such a huge company even better, having to work for her friend. She knew he was a little rough around the edges especially after meeting with his parents, but she also knew that he had a soft spot for her and he was never too hard on her.

"I will have to get back to you on that but if I get the job, I am definitely taking you up there with me...now if you don't mind, I have to go," he said as he got up and pushed her towards the door. "Wait, wait a minute, I thought we were going for dinner after work today. You know, your last dinner as a partner in the company," she didn't get why he had to go so quickly at first but when she finally did, she turned towards him with his usual business face. "No...no...you can't go looking for her. It was supposed to be a one time thing. You know that those one night stands should always remain as one night stands or something eventually go wrong," she knew he had already made up his mind and there was no changing that but she put it out there anyway. At least she would say "I told you so" after he had screwed up badly. "Well, I will call Oliver and let him know its just the two of us for dinner," she hoped that would somehow change his mind as he hated letting Oliver down but that didn't work. She got out of the office where she had been standing just in time to see him punch on the elevator button. "Thank you for closing up after me," he shouted as the door closed. "I hate that he is too adorable to be hard on," she closed the door and reached for her phone to call Oliver. She hoped that it was not too late for him to talk Richard out of his bad plan and there was no better person to do that job. Unfortunately for Oliver, Richard's phone was already switched off by the time he called.

Richard went straight to the Pitch 6 night club where he and his friends were the previous night. He ordered his favorite Whityhall Whiskey. He looked at his watch and it was still two hours too early for the girls to show up. He had his fingers crossed and his heart pounding for her. He wanted to see her, no, he needed to see her and he was planning to do so if it killed him. He would have loved to just find her outside in two hours but if that didn't happen, he planned on using all the power he had in looking for her. The crazy thing about the whole looking for her thing was the fact that he was still not sure what he wanted from her or what he was going to tell her once he had met with her. All he knew was that he had wanted to see her. He sipped through his drink while glancing at his wrist watch every five minutes. Half of the time he didn't even see what time it was but he kept looking anyway. There has never been an explanation as to why time always seem to move so much slower whenever someone is looking forward to something. The case was not so much different for him either except for the part where time seemed to have stopped all together. An hour later, he was drunk enough to forget about time that he didn't even realize that two hours were over until he cleared the whole bottle. He paid up and left.

Out in the parking lot, it was semi dark as always. Just the perfect condition for the girls and there secretive customers. Richard knew what to look for and it didn't take him a minute to find her. As expected, she was all alone by the wall staring at her finger nails. Her skin was the only thing that seemed to be calling for attention. He walked towards her super quickly as he tried to think of something, anything that he was going to tell her but his mind was all numb. She saw him and turned away for a moment pretending not to care that he was headed her way. "She is playing hard to get? She really doesn't belong here. I wonder..." He was still in his thoughts when a black new model x-trail stopped right infront of her. He watched as her style changed from confident strong lady ready for anything to scared little girl. Richard knew something was off even before the two ripped fellers stepped out of the door. Something inside him told him to run but his body froze into place. He watched as the two dudes grabbed her and pulled her towards the vehicle completely ignoring her screams. They were manhandling her and Richard didn't like it. Instead of running away, he ren towards the vehicle as soon as he found his strength again. "Let her go, she is mine," those were the only words that he seemed to find. "Ooh really? did she tell you that she owe us some serious cash? Until that is paid, she is ours so beat it," one of the huge guys said. Richard could have stopped for a minute and think of something reasonable to say or do but instead, he chose to punch the guy in the face all because he felt insulted. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground receiving heavy leg blows from all over. "Please, let him go...he is just some drunk who think he is helping but clearly don't know who he is dealing with. Let him go and I will pay yoh back all your money with interest," her words seemed to have hit a spot on the boss who was just seated at the back of the car watching as his bodyguard beat the crap out of Richard.

They stopped hitting him and one of them pulled him up to threaten him but the boss signaled for them to leave him be. They pushed Annie into the car next to the boss before resuming there position at the front of the car. "Wait, how much does she owe you? I can give it to you," Richard finally caught his breath. "Ooh, wait, looks like the young man here is ready to deal. She owes us a lifetime of service. We get 70% of whatever she earns every night for the next ten years. Do you think you can afford that?" the Boss asked ready to watch Richard walk away. "That is not a number," the alcohol was starting to mask his pain and that helped him stand straight even though he knew he would definitely feel that in the morning. "Well, you get me two million and I will sell her to you. Though, I don't get why you are willing to go out of you way to save her. After all there are a hundred others right here in this parking lot, some even three times prettier than her. She is just a dumb hooker for crying out loud. Anyway, I am only here for business so might you decide to save her, meet me here tomorrow around this time....don't forget the money," the old ugly dude said as he touched Annie inappropriately. "Promise me she won't be touched by anyone else until I bring you the money," Richard said as the car started and after being promised, he dropped to the pavement in pain. He could feel his insides toss and turn. No one came to his aid until the X-trail was gone. Every lady seemed scared. "Richard, what the hell happened to you?" was the words he woke up to a few hours later.