Repeat and Retribution

Chapter 53

Crystal was silently sitting in the waiting area, the only people who were there were Larse three assistants in their work stations, who were trying to look like they were all busy with their work, trying to disregard the argument that was happening inside.

They would share a smile and meaningful glances once in a while, trying to shrug off what they were hearing.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Larse voice boomed even though they were all within his office.

“What is she doing here!” Dana not backing down had the same tone as she screamed.

“Seriously Dana!” Larse frustrations can be heard even from the hallway.

“Tell me what is that woman doing here!” the woman screamed at the top of her lungs, stomping her feet like a spoiled little brat.

“Son, why don’t you just explain who she is?” the man’s father finally intervened.

Larse ended up sighing. “Why does that even matter! We’re not the ones who’re making a scene here!” he says back with a much calmer voice.

“Son, just try to understand,” his father had this sullen look as if they were the one with the problem.

Larse ended up giving in. He could not help but palm his face from the frustration and anger that he was feeling right now.

“She’s the officer from one of the companies I hired to fix the problems your people cause! She’s just here to pick up their payment! So why are you making such a huge fuzz about this?” he hissed at Dana who was being a drama queen right now.

Sobbing like a little girl to her father as if she had been the one being oppressed, Larse shook his head in disbelief.

The woman’s father seemed to have been fazed after that, as his face suddenly turned wide eye and was unable to look him in the eye, after mentioning the problems with the staff they had placed within their company.

“Dana, honey, please calm down,” the man patted his daughter's back to console and calm her down.

But Dana did not yield and seemed to be determined in pinning the fault on Larse as she kept on weeping.

“You know how I hate it when you do this!” she shouted, pointing at Larse.

That was the last straw for him. “Well, I wouldn't be doing this, if you didn’t keep on insisting on what you want! How the hell do you think will I be able to keep this company afloat if the people you keep on hiring are stupid, incompetent people who don’t know how to do their jobs!” he yelled out loud, no longer caring to hold back.

That seemed to have done the job as the woman’s father gaped while Dana ended up biting her lower lip as she went silent, though she was still glaring at him.

“Larse, let’s calm down, for a bit. I think you can do something else about this, rather than hire another company to do the job, right?” his father said calmly, still trying to salvage the whole conversation.

“I am! Why do you think I reshuffled the staff again! And then I’m the one who ends up wrong for trying to avoid this from happening again! What is it that you want, why don’t you just hand out the whole company to them, and let’s see how they run this down!” Face red and breathing heavily, Larse was suddenly no longer able to control his temper, seeing as he ended up on the wrong again.

“Larse!” his father's voice became deep and full of authority, giving him a steady and intent look.

Larse clenched his fist, lips tightening into a line as he remained silent, in the end, he had no choice but to give up to his fathers' whim.

That gave Dana the courage that she needed to face the man again. Head held up high he walks in front of the man and points a finger at his face.

“Don’t think we are finished!” she states with gritted teeth before turning around.

“Fine!” The words came out like a spit as he was really pissed at that moment.

Crystal and the others quickly straightened in their place as the people started coming out of the office. Dana scowled at her as she passed by them, the two elder men didn’t seem to mind them at all as they were now having a conversation of their own.

Larse seemed to be stress out, as he signaled her to come into the office. She remained collected as she stood up and walked into the room.

“I’m sorry about that, I don’t know what came over her,” Larse sighed as he gave her the check.

“It’s all right,” she gives him the sweetest smile, trying to at least console him in a way.

“Do you know the reason why she acted like that?” Larse frowned as giving her a meaningful look.

It seems the man was really clueless about the woman, though she could not help but get confused as the man knew who Clyde was.

“I’d rather not talk, It’s not my place to intrude, since you seem to be having some personal problems,” she just states.

She knew this wasn’t the right time to bear it all. Especially since she knew that Dana still had every one of them in the palm of her hands.

The man let out a deep sigh, sitting on his table as he pressed his hand to his face. “Sorry, I just...I just don’t know what to do anymore. After we got married she had been hounding me non-stop, accusing me of things I didn’t even do or done! I end up being the bad guy in my family now, and all I’ve been doing is trying to keep my parents proud!” A pained and frustrated groan came out of him as he seemed really stressed and worried at that moment.

Though she felt bad for him, she knew she couldn’t just tell him everything. She didn’t want it to end like that, since she wanted to make sure that the woman would feel every bit of pain that she had to go through.

She decides to just give the man a pat on his arm, knowing full well of Larse’s sorrow. “It’s all right, sooner or later I think things will turn out for you,” she tried to hide her grin knowing what she said had another meaning to it.

“I just hope so, cause I can’t really keep living like this,” Larse whined in frustration.

“Then why did you agree to marry her in the first place?” she frowned at him, wanting to understand a bit of his woe.

Larse let out a deep and pained breath. “My parents betrothed us since we were kids, so I didn’t really have a choice, I didn’t want to disappoint my parents. Why do you think I’ve been doing those stupid things when we were in college,” Snickering as he gave her a funny look.

Crystal ended up raising a brow as she remembered her other timeline. “Didn’t you even try to persuade your parents to not go through with it?” There was a part of her that didn’t understand why the man would let himself be tied to Dana, especially someone who seems to be enjoying his single life.

“I did, that’s the reason why it took a few years before we got married,” Larse let out a pained chuckle.

“So you managed to get to know her at least?” she says.

“Nope, I spent most of my days enjoying the remaining days of my bachelor life, I was supposed to have another year or so, but then she suddenly became pregnant with Lawrence and that totally sealed my fate. Don’t get me wrong, I love my son, but I was just caught off guard.” Larse rubbed his nape, a bit embarrassed about what happened.

“I think that’s unavoidable if the two of you kept doing the deed.” She laughs.

“No! No, It wasn’t like that, I got drunk this one time when me and my buddies went out together with Dana and her friends, one thing led to another and I ended up getting her pregnant.” The man’s face seemed genuinely convinced about that.

Crystal could not help but pity the man, as he seemed really clueless with things, not knowing how conniving and tricky the woman was.

“So you didn’t really know her that well,” she ended up asking.

“I didn’t really bother, In truth, we only just met three years before the marriage, so I don’t know anything about her.” Larse shrugged. “Mind sharing anything? Since you seem to know a lot about my wife.” Tilting his head to look at her, the man now seemed to have an inkling for to know of things.

“It’s not my place, sorry.” She waves him off.

Crystal was pretty sure that the man was still not ready for it, and she still needed to make sure that the man would need to know more about his wife, for him to fully believe her.

“You’re really sticking to that,” Larse ended up chuckling.

He ended up lowering his head in defeat from not being able to persuade Crystal to at least give him a hint of what was happening.

“But if you want my advice, I suggest it would be good to better know your wife first like really get to know her, you’d be surprised that you two might not be that different after all.” She tried to hide her smirk by giving the man a hug since she unintentionally said another double meaningful when she said those words.

After giving the man a good patting on his back to at least give comfort, she quickly let him go to not cause any awkwardness between them.

“Thanks, I also think that would be for the best,” Larse finally had a wide smile on his face.

“That’s the spirit!” She cheers him on.

There was a sudden glint on the man’s eyes when their gaze suddenly ended up in each other. Crystal felt a sudden rush of blood go into her cheeks as he heart suddenly began pounding.

“I better be going, I still need to bring this to the office.” Quickly avoiding the man’s gaze, she immediately shifts the conversation remembering why she was there in the first place.

“Sure, sorry for taking your time,” Larse let out a hearty laugh.

“Not at all, if you need someone to talk to, I’m here to listen, just give me a call,” she gives him a pat on the shoulder.

“Thanks, I always knew we’d get along somehow, I’m starting to regret not approaching you before,” the man said which caused another rush of adrenaline in her.

“Me too,” she definitely agreed with that. “Well, I should be going, It was nice doing business with you!” she offers her hand.

The man shakes it as they try to act professionally once more. “Yes, I appreciate the help.”

“I’m glad we could be of service,” she just gives him a curtsy before going her way.

After what happened she still felt good, though she knew that it had its consequences. And like she had already expected Dana was waiting for her in the hallway when she got out of the elevator. Looking all smug unlike when they first met.