Chapter 8

Drew meandered out of the house through the window onto the busy street of New York. The sounds of cars honking, people shouting attempting to hail a cab and the hurried footsteps of workers on the pavements were not enough to distract him from his thoughts. He was greatly disturbed by how to find an answer to all the questions that were going through his head.

Deep down he felt like a failure because he wasn't able to help his brothers in finding the truth about their identities. It has been three years already, and they still have no clue as to who they were or if they even had a family. 

Would they remain like this forever? 

"If we are dead for good, isn't there supposed to be a white light for us to go through?“ Drew grumbled. 

Giving up on the disturbing thoughts, he set out into the streets of New York with no destination in mind. 

~~~~~ 

Amanda's Pov

I got ready for work and headed out after having a fantastic breakfast. Don't worry, I made sure to check if I was putting on the correct pair of shoes this time.

I was on time when I arrived at the company. I signed in at the receptionist's desk and engaged in small talk with Agatha before leaving for my office. 

‘Hey, Agatha. Good morning," I smiled and greeted her. 

She smiled back and said “Hi. How was your day off yesterday?“ 

“As much as I would have loved to have some peace and quietness, I still got called into the office.“ 

"Sorry about that, honey." 

‘It's okay. I'm used to it already.“ 

"I know that, but you've got to have your day off to yourself. What's the point of permitting it, if you're still going to be called in?“ 

"It was just an emergency. Anyway, I need to get to the office. Talk to you later after work." 

“Alright, honey. Have a nice day!“ 

"Thanks! You too," I answered back. 

“Amal“ Cassie called out to me as I was about to enter the elevator. 

“Hey, Cassie. Good morning. What's up?“

“As much as I would love to exchange pleasantries with you this morning, I can't.” 

‘What's wrong this time around? Don't tell me Gerald has done something unreasonable again...“ 

“Nope, but there's a general meeting between the head of all the departments and Leslie by eight o'clock today."

 “What?“ 

I checked the wall clock that was above Cassie and saw that it was just ten minutes to eight. Nobody told me about any meeting, and it wasn't scheduled by my planner. Leslie must have called an emergency meeting, but I should have been informed beforehand since I was the head of a Department. 

I was in a jumbled state. I just thanked Cassie and we both hurried our steps to the elevator. 

I questioned the situation in my head as I came to the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor. As soon as the elevator doors opened, I stepped out into the lounge with Cassie beside me.  

I hurriedly went into my office and settled my things down. I prepared my planner, a pad of paper and a pen. It was for me to take down notes during the meeting. 

As I entered the conference room, all eyes turned towards me. 

Great! The meeting had already started. 

“Took you long enough to join us, Miss Price,“ Leslie called from the head of the table. 

“Sorry, I'm late. I just got informed about this meeting ten minutes ago," I replied as I moved to take a seat. 

“Some people got the notice five minutes ago, and they still made it on time. Stop giving excuses for your laziness,'' Gerald muttered from the far left of the table. 

“Excuse me. Not everyone likes being a lap dog like you," I retorted. 

"I suggest you take that back," Miss Price. 

“Sorry, but I'm not a ruminant animal. I don't eat my vomit." 

"Enough!" Leslie shouted from the front. "We are here to discuss the affairs of this company and not to watch the both of you bicker back and forth over flimsy things." 

As much as I would have loved to keep exchanging words with the viper seating before me, I had to let go. It was no use angering Leslie, and above all, I needed my job. 

Our silence was all the confirmation Leslie needed to continue with the meeting. 

“So, sorry that I had to call this emergency meeting, but it was needed. You all know we have an upcoming project: the fiftieth edition of the Times Magazine. So far, there isn't any theme for this year's edition, but we need something that would both entice the eyes of the masses while, at the same time, bring about increased sales."

“Why don't we just focus on the fashion world? We can get to interview top models, their walk on the runway and so on. It would be a huge blast for the company," Gerald offered. 

Leave it to the greedy Viper to want to take the spotlight. 

"That would only capture the attention of the young population. Not everyone is into fashion," I countered 

"I can see that from the way you dress."

I rolled my eyes, “At least I don't have to spend five hours deciding what to wear. You should try the exercise called freedom once in a while. It would help in relaxing those veins that you have choked up with that rope around your neck," I fired back 

Erupted laughter from my other colleagues in the conference room drew me out of my vendetta with Gerald.

Damn, I forgot we were still having a meeting. I could see that Gerald's face was already going red since I just embarrassed him. Now, this cannot be good. Leslie was also looking at me like she wanted to crucify me but she was trying to hold it in. 

“Leslie,“ Clinton, the head of Sales called. 

“Yes, do you have any suggestions?“ Leslie answered 

“Going into the fashion world for this period would be okay," he started, and I could see that Gerald was already beaming with pride that someone was in support of him. “But from the record of the Sales of last year's publication, there wasn't much improvement in the revenue. I would suggest we go into something that would draw the attention of a wider range of readers."