Second Thoughts
1742 Words
“What happened?” Johnson roared into the phone. His hands shook and he suddenly felt drained of all his energy. He toppled and fell backwards flumping onto the sofa.
“Someone was kidnapped in the parking structure. We alerted the police and I’ve already notified Mr. Pierce…”
“Did you identify who was kidnapped?”
“We believe it is Ms. Tania Everly by the surveillance videos but it was a little blurry. We are waiting for the police to run the car plate to confirm.”
Johnson sighed in relief but then frowned as he tried to recall that name, it sounded oddly familiar. “Make sure you keep me in the loop. We need to stay on top of this before it hits the news tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, sir.”
Johnson threw his phone on the couch and leaned his head back into the soft rest. With eyes closed he tried to think about the next steps. Picking up his phone he called Darren.
“Darren, you heard what happened?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What is her position in the company and what are the risks of her leaking key information?”
“She is one of your secretaries, sir. The risk is fairly high. She was summarizing reports on some high-end projects lately.”
“s**t!”
“Don’t worry sir, if this is a case of company espionage, we have legal remedies.”
“Take care of it,” he paused and added softly, “and Darren… make sure we do everything to get her back safely.”
“Of course, sir.”
When he heard someone was kidnapped, for one terrible moment, he thought it was Jason, his baby brother. Johnson sighed and bent over to rest his head into his hands. He could never forgive himself. Because of his insecurities, he did something irreparable and it ended up destroying Jason and killing their mother. It was his haunting secret and he intended to carry it to his grave.
***
The next morning, everyone in Kensington’s Public Relations department was running on hot coals, they were putting out fires left and right. Any headlines were crushed and taken down before they had a chance to become trending news. By lunchtime, the team were slouching in their chairs, drinking tea and munching on sandwiches someone brought up for them.
“Fuuuuuck… I’m so tired.”
“What would anyone gain from kidnapping a secretary?”
“Who knows? Maybe she was involved in something bad…”
“Hey! Don’t jump to conjectures. We don’t know the story. She could have just been at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Who cares? She’s making us work on overdrive.”
“Shut it, George! Don’t be so heartless! A woman was kidnapped! Don’t you guys feel sorry for her? I hope she’s okay…”
“You women are so emotional. Geez, I swear.”
The man paused when he noticed most of the staff glaring at him. “What?! I’m just saying it as it is.”
Another man sighed and scanned his laptop for any more news. “Just shut up, George. Wait, what’s this trending news?”
Everyone crowded around to take a look. “Oh s**t! Theo Jones just made headlines with news of his latest movie release date! Everyone is going to be focused on this news for a while. The timing is a little suspicious though. Do you think someone in our company knows him or someone on Theo’s team?”
“Who knows? But thank you, Theo!! You’re my idol forever.”
***
Theo had his team release news of his movie date release earlier than scheduled when he received a call from his cousin Dustin Roger; something about a friend who was running into a bit of news trouble and needed some big headline to take over the internet for a few days.
It didn’t matter when Theo released the news, whenever he was involved, any news would be a trending item for days if not months.
Theo didn’t bother to ask for details. He wasn’t exactly close with his cousin but having Dustin owe him a favor would come in handy one day.
He was in a good mood and looked at his cell phone. Should he just call her? He had held back for so long but like a sandcastle built next to the waterline, every minute was like a crashing wave eating away at him. He chewed on his precious lower lip, contemplating what to do. While he was fiddling with his phone he accidentally tapped on the number and his eyes widened as the screen changed.
Ring… ring… ring… (click) “Hello?”
Theo glanced at the screen; it was Tania’s number but why was it man’s voice?
“Is this Tania’s phone?”
“It is. Who is this?”
Every hair on his neck stood on end, something in his sixth sense was telling him this was a bad situation.
“May I speak with her?”
Theo strained and he could hear the man ask in a muffled tone, “Do you want to answer your phone?”
After a short pause, he was back. “She’s unavailable.”
“What do you mean?”
“She can’t come to the phone right now.”
“Wait! Where is she? Who are you?”
There was a pause on the other line. “Are you her ex-husband or are you her boyfriend?”
Theo’s eyes drew to slits; this man seemed to know Tania well. “Neither. I’m just an acquaintance.”
“Oh? Well, she does have you labeled as “IDOL” on her phone. Whatever. I don’t have time to talk to you.”
Theo interjected once more, “Wait! Can you ask her to call me back when she gets a chance?”
The voice on the other side paused. “I’ll ask her later.”
With that, the line disconnected.
Theo tried to call back, but the call was immediately routed to voicemail. Frustrated and disconcerted, Theo ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his neck trying to think what happened. What’s going on?
***
On the other side, Dorian tossed Tania’s phone on the couch and looked towards the trembling lump in the bed.
“So you still want to say you don’t know Theo?”
Tania remained silent, trying to pretend she was asleep. Dorian rolled his eyes at her feeble attempt, he could see her squeezing her eyes shut unnaturally.
When Tania woke up again yesterday, she was physically weak but no matter who he sent in to threaten or cajole her, she would not give up her relationship with Theo. Since she was already in a bad condition, they didn’t torture her and only talked to her.
Despite it all, she just stayed curled in a ball, clutching the covers over her shivering body, responding with the same three words, “I don’t know,” like a broken record.
When the call came through, he half expected her to scream for help but she clammed up and squeezed her eyes shut as if shutting herself off from the world. He wanted to test her resolve and Theo’s interest in her so he answered the phone ambiguously. Something about Tania’s desperation to keep Theo out of it made him think about his woman again. She was the same. Despite being beaten and tortured, she refused to scream through the whole video.
“She was a good woman,” His father had said at her funeral.
All good women seem to die early. Dorian scowled as he looked down at Tania. She was making him have second thoughts on his original plan and he never changed his plans once they were set in motion.
“Look, woman. I know you’re awake. I won’t hurt Theo if you bring him here for me. I just want to talk.”
Tania opened her eyes, staring at nothing. “I don’t know him.”
Dorian got up from his seat and walked to her bed. Sitting down next to her, he noticed her flinch and her eyes started darting side to side frantically.
“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you,” he whispered gently, “ you know, I can easily call him and tell him to come get you. Would you like that?”
Tania shook her head. “He won’t come. I don’t know him.”
“You heard him over the phone. He seemed like he cared for you deeply. Why don’t you admit it to yourself?”
Tania continued to shake her head, “Look at me. Do you think someone like Theo would take a second look at me?” She scoffed in a self-deprecating manner. “He was just going to talk business with me. But now that I’m like this,” Tania paused to point at her eyes, “I don’t think business talks will go through. I’m too much of a liability.”
“You’ll be better soon. The doctor said there is a small blood clot in your brain that is putting pressure on your nerves. It should dissolve on its own and by then you should be able to see again.”
“Thank you,” Tania whispered.
“Why are you thanking me? You got in this mess because of me.”
“Because you are helping me. You’re not a bad person.”
Dorian blinked. It has been a long time since someone told him this. “You’re too naive. Just because villains show a little humanity once in a while doesn’t make them a good person.”
Tania smiled, “I can tell, you don’t hurt women. What happened to my eyes was not your fault but you got me a doctor and now you’re trying to make me feel better. So, in my book, you’re not a bad person.”
Dorian stood up suddenly and stormed out of the room. He couldn’t stand being next to Tania for another second.
"You’re not a bad person, Dorian. I love you."
"You’ll be a wonderful dad, Dorian. Then you’ll have two people in this world who genuinely love you."
"We will love you forever, Dorian."
Dorian marched down the hall, his blood-shot eyes staring straight into the darkness ahead of him.
- Writer
