Chapter 11 - Patricia

It was going to be a long day for Nora but she was ready for anything as she walked into her office wearing a pair of beige pants, a black top and a pair of heels, she set her bag on the desk before settling into her chair. She would be meeting with the Journalist who was trying to cause a stair and the cleaner who acted as an insider, feeding him information about the company. She had to maintain her composure and stay in control no matter what happens today, she wasn't going to give any one of them the upper hand, especially the journalist.

" why do they always have to be nosey?" She spoke only to herself and the room's emptiness, before heaving a sigh and getting to work on the papers in front of her.

Thirty minutes later, she received a call from the lobby, she looked up at the computer on her desk which displayed live feeds of various CCTV cameras in her building one of which was the lobby, at the lobby stood a man whom she recognized as the Journalist, eyes still on the screen, she picked up the ringing phone on her desk put the receiver to her ear and answered in a calm but firm voice

" good morning, Jade"

" Good morning madam, your appointment is here"

" what time is the appointment set for, Jade?"

"10am ma'am"

"What time is it ?" "9:32am, ma'am"

" You know what to do Jade" she said, puting the phone down and hanging up in the process.

She watched as Jade spoke to the journalist whose face drooped a little, he turned away from the desk and headed for the lounge only to turn around and return to it as if he had forgotten something. Nora watched as they started talking; it seemed to her that he was trying to flirt with Jade, she smiled slyly and shook her head calling it " pathetic" as she pealed her eyes off the computer and returned to the work Infront of her.

The phone rang again that morning, Nora picked it up " your appointment is coming up accompanied by Patricia" " thank you Jade" she said as she put the receiver back down.

She grinned and murmured " let the games begin" as she readied herself for the events that were about to take place.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, Nora stood up and said please " come in" , Bernard and Patricia then entered the room and Nora approached them both saying, " Mr Newman please wait outside, I'll like to speak to Miss Johnson alone" her request surprised them both but Bernard quickly complied he gave Patricia a comforting squeeze before leaving.

To Nora, it seemed like they already had a strategy in mind. Fighting the impulse to scoff at the phony gesture, she instead flashed her trademark smile.

" Please have a seat Miss Johnson", Nora said as she motioned towards one of the sofas , Patricia gently nodded and sat down, her eyes fixed on the fingers she had crossed in her laps, she appeared to be very nervous as she shifted uncomfortably and started fiddling with her fingers.

" Would you like something to drink? " Nora asked, as she approached the refrigerator.

"no thank you" Patricia replied in a soft nearly inaudible voice.

After obtaining a glass and a bottle of water, Nora approached Patricia and stated " you'll need it" before setting the items in front of the woman.

She walked to her desk to get a folder and then returned to take her seat in front of Patricia. " One question that has constantly been on my mind Patricia is, why? Why did you decide to turn on both me and this business ? Did we not pay you enough?"

" it wasn't betrayal ma'am" Patricia remarked, in a trembling voice as her head flew up to gaze at Nora. " then what is it?" Nora asked.

" I'm truly sorry ma'am."

" Why won't you provide me with an explanation?"

Patricia shook her head and continued " i have no plausible explanation, he asked me for information and I just gave him. I didn't know he was after you and when we first met, I didn't realize he was a journalist"

Nora simply nodded, then she asked " do you love him?" Patricia nodded her head in agreement. Nora shook hers in despair then she took out several images from the folder and set them Infront of Patricia. With shaky hands, she slowly and carefully picked up each photograph; the first was of her and Bernard, the second was of him with a different woman who appeared to be much more refined and sophisticated than she did, they appeared to be extremely close. She picked up another photo of Bernard with yet another woman, still holding the photographs , she slowly rasied her head to face Nora who was staring right back at her and said " this doesn't imply anything, they might just be his friends"

Aware that she was attempting to deny what was Infront of her, Nora simply nodded and kept quiet for a while. She observed the woman Infront of her, trying to determine her reaction and the best course of action to take because she knew that saying " don't you see that you're being used, are you that naive and gullible ?" wouldn't solve anything but would just make things worse.

After a few minutes of observation, Nora finally said "I can help you aquire a confession if you truly need to confirm your suspicion and remove any doubt"

Patricia toyed with the idea; did she really want to know? What if she was only imagining things, what if there was a perfect explanation for everything but if there was why couldn't she just find out. She dreaded what was going to happen but curiosity ultimately won. She then said to her boss who had been patiently awaiting her response " okay I'll do it"

Nora nodded and said " great here's what we'll do..."