CHAPTER2
1118 Words
I stared at the note in shock.
'What's going on?' I wondered, and my thoughts spun around in my head.
"Hey,are you okay, man?" Lucky's voice dragged me out of my thoughts.
I nodded, " I'm fine "
Lucky glanced at the paper in my hand.
I squeezed it, shaking off my thoughts, 'I will get to the bottom of this' I promised myself.
"It's fine, just thought of something," I said, not giving Lucky another glance.
"Oh crap! And there's the time, Jane will have my head on a tray if I delay any more." Lucky groaned while staring at the clock.
"I'm grateful, Jay, I gotta go."
I nodded, " Give Jane my regards."
"Sure." Lucky nodded before he left.
There was silence in the wake of his departure, I stood motionlessly, and my thoughts were a mess.
'What could be the reason behind the note, Was it a note from a coworker who didn't have her cell line?
My heart stopped, 'Could it be another man?'
I shook my head. My thoughts are getting more and more ridiculous by the minute.
I needed to talk to her,right now!
I tried calling her cell, but her number was switched off.
"C'mon!!!" I yelled in frustration,I flung my phone away,the noise jolting up Sky, who was sleeping on the floor. Her dark eyes stared at me quietly.
'Now's not the time to be agitated,' I reminded myself, slowly calming down.
I glanced at the pile of ledgers; ' said, Time to sink myself into something distracting'
And so I spent the next couple of hours going through the ledgers,I recalculated costs, expenditures , profit, and utility bills.
The predictability of figures helped calm me down.
I was almost through when I saw it.
Towards the end,the records seemed too balanced,the figures were all round figures.
My sixth sense tingled,I redid the calculation,retracing every single step. I'm so focused that I didn't notice time had passed.
'There it is!!' I stared at the ledger triumphantly, the cost of production seemed to have been factored in with the total sales, which inflated the whole gross profit.
It looked intentional, I wondered who could've done it. No name came to mind.
'Never mind' I thought,that's for Lucky to deal with.
I stretched,my whole body creaked in protest, and I glanced at the clock.
I frowned, It's past one thirty, Melissa should've been back.
I called her number worriedly,it wasn't connecting.
'Not good' I thought,I quickly threw on a jacket before leaving the house.
The walk to the hospital was long and quiet,I kept my jacket collar up because of the cold. Taxis don't stay this late, and Ubers were beyond what I could afford.
I nodded at the receptionist, "Hey, by any chance, is Melissa Charles still on duty? " I flashed her a picture of I and Melissa that was in my wallet.
"Melissa? " the receptionist looked up, about to speak, when a voice sounded ahead of me.
"Jay?" I glanced up, there stood Melissa.
She was still dressed in scrubs.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, " I was about to call to tell you I'm still on call, Madrine called in sick."
Madrine was the nurse who switched with Melissa for the night shift.
"Are you okay," I touched her cheek," you look exhausted."
"I am" she admitted, "Thankfully, there haven't been any emergencies so far."
I nodded,I smiled widely. " Lucky told me about Jane, that was impressive."
Melissa blushed, she tried but failed to contain her smile.
" She works too much."
"Well," I said, putting an arm around her shoulders, "I know someone who works even harder."
"But I'm a nurse,that's different." Melissa argued, but I noticed the slight smile tugging at her lips.
I stared at her lips for a moment, lost in thought, I was just about to lean in for kiss when a voice called out.
"Melissa"
I jerked my head up, it was a middle aged man, he was wearing a suit.
'Definitely not a nurse' I thought.
My thoughts suddenly went back to the paper in my pocket.
"Uhh, Mr Heinze, I'll be there in a moment," Melissa said, turning to me "Uhh, Jay I gotta….,"
"Who's that guy?" I interrupted her.
"He's a relative to a patient," Melissa said.
I squinted, I couldn't shake off the feeling that Melissa was lying to me, her eyes were too shifty.
"Are you sure?" I asked, staring straight at her.
Melissa blushed, her face and neck reddened, She spoke, her voice almost pleading; " Don't start, Jay, I gotta go."
She turned to leave.
"You haven't answered me, Melissa." I stared at her.
"Jay, you're being cranky, I'll come see you in the morning."
" Don't give me that, Melissa! Cut to the chase." my raised voice turned a few heads, but I didn't care.
I removed the note from my pocket.
"Mind telling me what this is about?"
I flicked it at her, Melissa jolted, and I saw a flash of guilt move past her eyes.
"Of course, he's the relative of a patient," I said, sarcasm dripping from my tone.
"Jay…Jay, allow me to..."
"Melissa,could I have your attention here?" the middle aged man called out at that moment,interrupting Melissa.
Melissa stared at me for a moment, " We'll talk later, Jay" she said, turning again to go.
"We won't," I said quietly,my head was bent down, my face distorted, the pain i felt rippled through my voice.
Melissa paused slightly. Just as I'd thought she was going to turn around, the middle aged man called out impatiently again.
"Melissa, this is urgent."
Melissa continued walking away, she and the middle aged man disappeared by the corner.
I stood there for a moment.What just happened' I wondered.
I turned to leave, I ignored the receptionist's calls,walking out into the pouring rain.
The rain pounded on me,as I slowly trudged along the street,the pain of Melissa's actions bit at me.
I walked slowly, not even sure where I was going, the events of today replayed in my head.
I didn't even realise when I started shivering,my body felt ice cold.
Soon I stood in front of pizza hut,the bright yellow billboard illuminated the surroundings.
I walked in,I'd barely walked in when Lucky's voice called out in surprise.
"What in heaven's name happened to you? You're literally soaked," he said, catching sight of my expression, he asked cautiously; "What's wrong, Jay"
I felt head throbbing at irregular beats. " My life is wrong " I muttered, I felt my strength draining from me.
I heard Lucky's frantic shouts, but his voice felt so far away.
The world went black.
- Writer
