Her Suspected Billionaire

Chapter 27

ALICE: Hello, edy649

EDY649: You’ve got some nerve, girl.

ALICE: Yes, a lot more than you’ve got seeing as you had to photo shop a picture of my friend to scare me.

EDY649: You want the real deal, huh? I like that. Maybe I should send you her finger in the mail.

ALICE: You won’t do that. Because you haven’t been given instructions to do so by your partner. Or should I say, your boss?

EDY649: Funny you. I have no boss. I work alone.

ALICE: Then may I ask why you are stalking me? Have I done anything to you?

EDY649: You don’t have to do anything, Alice. I just don’t like the fact that you exist and I want to do something about it.

ALICE: No, your boss wants to do something about it.

EDY649: I told you before. I have no boss.

ALICE: Prove it then.

EDY649: Careful what you ask for, Alice Bethany James. Be very careful.

ALICE: Think I’m scared of a sissy? Think again.

EDY649: You can’t tell me what to do, Alice.

ALICE: Yeah, but I bet your BOSS can.

EDY649: I will indulge your stupid act of mock bravery no further. Watch your back, Alice. And that of Sheila too. Oh, and the back of that young man who’s been frequenting your apartment a lot lately. He looks familiar though. Steven, isn’t it?

EDY649: OFFLINE.

***********

​It was past 6p.m. when Nathan waltzed into the building that housed Sterling Industries. He took the elevator to the third floor and got off just in front of the door that led to the reception that Edith manned. But Edith wasn’t there. She’d gone home already. A security guard who sat by the door waved at him as he walked in. Nathan knew he was new, but he didn’t bother trying to make his acquaintance as he would normally do. He might not still be manning the door the next time he came.

​Alice walked out of her office just then, with a single file in her hand. She opened a drawer at Edith’s desk and slid it inside. When she looked back up, she saw Nathan and gave a weak smile. Her eyes looked tired and were already reddened like she’d been crying, and her hair was already falling out of the ponytail she’d packed it in since morning.

“Hello, Nathan. Here to get Evan?” she asked. Evan noticed that she looked like she wanted him to say yes.

“I’m actually here to get you too. I don’t know if Evan told you,” Nathan answered her, taking out the tickets from his pocket and handing one to her. Alice received it, glanced at it and chuckled.

“I’m not sure I can go to the cinema like this. I’d sleep through the whole movie. You guys can have fun. I’ll just see the movie when it’s out on Netflix,” she said and walked away quickly, before Nathan could say anything else. She definitely did not want to go see a movie with him and Evan tonight. Her boss was in a mood today and had been barking at her all day.

Firstly, he asked that she delete the proposal she had stayed up all night to draft, saying that it was absolute bullshit. Then, he’d asked if she knew Spanish and when she told him that she actually did know it and even had a degree in Language Studies, he asked her to tutor him a bit in basic Spanish. She had begun teaching him while he drank his coffee and every time she corrected his pronunciation, he would bang his fist on the table and say he did not need to be fluent in it since he would forget it after the meeting. After he had banged his table again till the coffee cup and saucer tipped over and fell, shattering into pieces, Alice quietly got up and left his office, ignoring him as she heard him call her name.

His moodiness was not helping the anxiety that was burning up her insides. It had been almost four days since Steven had chatted the stalker up using her phone. They had been shocked to realize he was stalking Steven as well. And now, both her friends were wearing body cameras and hidden microphones because of her. Even Derrick had one on, even though he insisted he didn’t need it. The worst part was they didn’t even know when edy649 or Clinton Clark was ever going to show up so they could do what they needed to do and get over the whole situation.

She entered into her office to pick up another file and headed to Evan’s office. She found Nathan seated on the chair opposite Evan’s table with his legs crossed. He looked at her as she walked in and dropped the file on the table.

“This is the last of it. I’ll retype the proposal again and email it to you,” she said to Evan.

“For God’s sake, Alice. Print the damn thing out. Am I supposed to read something that long from a computer screen?” Evan asked, raising his eyes from his monitor to look at her

“You’ve been reading them before,” Alice muttered

“Did you say something, Miss James?”

​Alice turned to leave when Evan’s voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Don’t you dare walk out on me, Miss James,” Evan said authoritatively. “You have done this severally and I have condoned it enough. If you walk out that door, consider yourself fired.”

“You haven’t asked yourself why I’m walking out, Mr. Sterling,” Alice said, turning around to look at him. “You have been nothing but, forgive me for saying, sadistic all day and I have no idea why. People have lives. I have a life outside my job here which is not looking so glamorous right now, and yes, I’m supposed to be professional and brush matters that do not concern my office under the carpet while I am here. But the fact is if I don’t get my normal life, my real life outside Sterling Industries settled, I can’t function properly inside here.”

Evan was staring intently at her and so was Nathan. It was obvious that whatever she was saying was sinking in, so she continued talking.

“And if you’re going to rub off your nasty attitude on me because of a few missing punctuation marks or a printed paper, I’m not going to allow that. Because I have to protect myself from falling apart in my real life. I’m sorry if that bothers you and if I have to leave to protect my sanity and get my life sorted out without you barging into my head and messing up what I’m trying to arrange, I will gladly leave. Good night, Mr. Sterling,” she concluded and walked out without looking back.

​Both men sat in silence for a while and then Nathan rose to his feet.

“Way to go, Evan. I suggest she comes with us to see a movie and you fire her a few minutes before the movie begins.”

“I did not fire her, she walked out. You saw her yourself, Nathan. Wait…hold on, was she the person that the third ticket was for?”

“If you walk out that door, you’re fired. I don’t know about you but that sounded pretty much to me that she’s not gonna be allowed to come to work tomorrow or next, Evan.”

“Why would you even want to invite my personal assistant to see a movie with us? I’ve already told you. Grace was the last…”

“Grace, Grace, Grace. Can I have some air, please? Grace and Alice are two different people, and for God’s sake, Evan, you do not have to date your secretary or personal assistant,” Nathan said angrily. His voice was raised now and he was pacing the office while talking.

“You are punishing everyone around you, myself inclusive, for what Grace did to you. I suggest a fun night out for all of us to unwind and you go round thinking I want to match make you with your secretary. I’m not cupid for crying out loud, Evan. You need friends. You need people who you can call and talk about something other than work with. Alice seemed to fit a description of someone who you could to after work like a normal soul,” Evan said, sounding out of breath.

“But apparently you don’t even want her to breath anything that doesn’t have Sterling Industries emblazoned on it,” he concluded, getting the tickets out of his pockets. Evan kept watching as Nathan tossed the three tickets on his table and walked out of the office.

​Evan swore under his breath and slammed his fist in the table. He felt a sharp pain course through his whole hand and he lifted up his hand and realized he had cracked the glass and some bits of it had cut through his skin and he was bleeding. He swore again and slammed his other fist down.