Five
1703 Words
Flipping through the pages of the papers on her desk, Elizabeth waited patiently for her new work mate who had yet to show up after she had been called twenty minutes ago and it wasn't sitting well with the brunette woman who was now glaring at the the elevator at the opposite side of her desk.
As if the elevator had sensed her anger, it slide open to reveal a well dressed Twinkle who was cladded in ironed out purple suit pants and a black shirt and a black purse big enough to hold a laptop. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at the woman who walked hurriedly to the front of her desk and smiled.
"I am so sorry for coming now. Traffic," Twinkle simply said, still smiling.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, stood up from her chair and walked to the double doors of Mason's office. She waved her hand at the door before walking in with Twinkle following suit.
They walked into the airy office and stood in front of the mahogany desk where their boss was sitting behind with his phone on his ear. They waited until he was done before he gestured for them to sit.
"My apologies, sir. I didn't intend to come late," Twinkle repeated and Elizabeth scoffed.
"It's fine, Miss Rudolph. At least you're here. So, how are you?" Mason asked and dropped his laced fingers on the desk. "I believe you're ready to work for us."
"Yes, sir. I'm fully devoted to my job. Which is why," Twinkle said and pulled out a tablet, her phone and a notepad.
Mason swept his eyes over the objects on his desk before looking up at Elizabeth who rolled her eyes. The brown haired man relaxed on his seat and stared at the woman in front of him.
"Those won't be needed," he said.
"Pardon, sir? I thought as your PA, I will need these type of equipments," Twinkle stated with furrowed brows.
Elizabeth smirked. "Not really. You see, Twinkle. Years back, this company witnessed a huge loss because someone hacked into the company's database. Well, not our branch but the headquarters and since then, our big bosses issued new ways through the aid of high tech systems."
"I don't understand," Twinkle said and looked between the two of them.
"Once you step into this company, you are not allowed to use your personal electronic devices to work or assist yourself. Devices of all kinds are provided and trust me, even if you tried sharing information to any unknown third parties, it won't work due to specialised AIs," Mason said and picked up a white box from beside his foot.
Twinkle gazed curiously at the cardboard box that was placed in front of her until Mason opened it then brought out a brand new black tablet, a telephone, a laptop and a phone. She stared at the devices in awe and carefully took the devices one after the other to inspect.
"They are so beautiful," she whispered.
"They are just ordinary gadgets, Twinkle," Elizabeth stated with a grimace.
Twinkle smiled. "Thank you so much for accepting me to be your personal assistant. It is an honor, thank you."
Mason nodded and pushed a worn out file that was on his desk towards Twinkle who was now looking at the file which had sticky notes of all colors poking out from, giving the file a bulky look.
"What are these?"
"Work," Elizabeth answered and glanced at Mason who raised a single brow in her direction.
"Well, these are actually my schedules since I started working here. This isn't the original file, they're a lot of them and each year I use new ones. As you can see, this is 2019's file. Just go through them, and get it into your own schedule list so you can be the one to now remind me just when I have meetings and any business related occasions, got it?" Mason asked and Twinkle nodded then stood up.
"Sir?" Twinkle began. "Uh, where is my office?"
"Oh, that. There will be a change of desk on Elizabeth's work station, so you two can use a bigger desk," Mason replied and got hit with a stress ball by Elizabeth.
"You didn't tell me about this deal, Mason," she said then hissed with her finger pointed at him.
"Uh, are you suppose to talk to our boss like that?" Twinkle asked with a concerned look on her face.
"It's not your business, Twinkle," Elizabeth retorted and walked away.
"Si-"
"Get to work, Miss Rudolph. You have other papers to go through," Mason seethed and faced some documents in front of him.
•••
Elizabeth tapped her finger nails on her desk while Twinkle was sitting beside her on her small desk, going through the heavy file Mason had given her. She picked up her phone and began scrolling when Harry walked into their floor with a scowl on his face and shoulders sagged, she stood up and approached him.
"Hey, you're back," she said with an added smile. "And why are you looking sad?"
Harry raked his fingers through his hair and adjusted his glasses. He was about to brush past Elizabeth but got stopped with her hand on his chest.
"Harry?"
Harry sighed. "Listen, I'm fine. Just let me go see Mason. Is he around?"
"Huh, how new do you think I am to this that you think I don't know when you're not okay," she responded, grabbed his hand and dragged him to the other end of the floor.
"Elizabeth, I'm fine."
"No, you're not. Just tell me, what's wrong?" Elizabeth pleaded softly.
Harry exhaled, tucked his hands into his pockets and walked away from her to stand sideways.
"You know how much I care and love Nora, right?" He started. "We've been together for a year now and I have always wanted to try new things with her every single time."
"Yes?" Elizabeth probed.
"I've been indirectly asking her to marry me but whenever I do it, she turns moody on me. She hasn't spoken to me since we came back and I don't like it, Elizabeth. It's hurting that she-"
Elizabeth held his face between her hands, effectively shutting him up. She gave him a smile and shook her head at him.
"You need to calm down, Harry. You and I know that Nora is in love with you. Maybe the only reason she acts that way is because she's scared," she offered and he took her hands and put them them.
"Afraid of what? I won't hurt her, I can't hurt her. Doesn't she trust me?" Harry questioned with a broken voice.
Elizabeth shrugged. "Harry, you can't be sure of that. No, listen. Nobody know what might happen and Harry, tell me the truth, have you never had the feeling that things might not work out for you and her? Listen, a lot has happened in our lives and we are scared of what might happen in the future. Look at Ciara, she fell hopelessly in love with Jerome in the beginning without judging him but things changed over a matter of years and the same happened with Mason, including the same Nora you're demanding marriage from."
Harry stared at the woman in front of him skeptically then took off his glasses to rub his eyes. He put them back and looked down at his feet.
"I understand but she should know that we've learnt from the things that happened. We have to practice what we preach, you know," Harry said waving his hand beside him.
"Just call her and take her to dinner or something. You two don't fit like this," Elizabeth stated and left him standing alone in the area.
•••
"It's a good thing you're finally out. It took us long enough," stated a gruff male voice to a woman leaning against the balcony of a condo facing the churning ocean.
The male figure in a suit with hands in the pockets of his pants, waited for the woman who's back was facing him and had a printed scarf around her head and shoulders. His phone vibrated then he pulled it out from his pocket and looked down at it.
"It seems like our friend is finally in England," he said again and the woman nodded. "Don't you think it is soon to send such package to them? It might be suspicious. When I planned to do this, I made sure I selected my cards right. Each cards are played perfectly by me and I don't expect a f**k up."
The woman scoffed and shifted her position on the balcony before the man marched up to her, his ox blood colored brogues hitting the wooden floor boards heavily. His gloved hand held her slender arm and forcibly spun her around.
"Can you relax?" Fiona demanded through gritted teeth. "I haven't forgotten our plan, sir."
"Good."
Fiona yanked her arm out of his grip and left the figure on the balcony to the bedroom he was once standing in. She pulled away her scarf and swept the objects on the coffee table in the middle of the room to the floor aggressively. She stood straight and kept breathing dangerously high.
"I don't care if our plans are coming off too soon. We have to let them know that their backs aren't safe anymore. They will pay so dearly for ever ruining my life, for killing my brother and for making me go to prison. I don't care if I have their blood on my hands, sir. I don't care!"
•••
The door bell rang, distracting Ciara from almost placing a spoon full of Lex's food into his mouth. She stared at the door then looked around for any signs of Mason but dropped the spoon on the plastic plate then walked out of the kitchen to the door. She pulled it open and frowned when she didn't see anyone. She rolled her eyes.
Just when she was about to move back and shut the door, her eyes dropped on the folded piece of paper on the door mat. She bent down, picked it up and opened it up to where a typed writing was.
Live now
Smile now
Love now
But keep space
For a little hate.
Ciara raised a brow at the letter then looked around the street light lit area in confusion. She swallowed, walked into the house and missed the hooded figure that walked out of the side of the house opposite theirs.
- Writer
