2

Valerie just came home from work. She threw herself onto the brown sofa in the middle of her apartment. The tendrils creeping up in front of the windows blocked the orange sun that shot out before setting. She closed her eyes, then took a deep breath, trying to relax. Even if she closed her eyes, Valerie was still smiling, remembering George and their small talk.

Olive said George had actually been aiming for her for a long time to be approached. Valerie was pensive in a smile that never went away on her lips. From the first time she was introduced to George, a new employee in her division, she fell in love at first sight. She, however, did not think George might have had the same feelings, until Olive told her.

This afternoon, George suddenly approached her when she was pouring hot water from the dispenser into a cup containing instant coffee. The aroma of coffee immediately wafted out, filling the room, creating a pleasant fragrance. George greeted Valerie casually and she was already embarrassed about it. But then the man asked if she had any activities this weekend, to which Valerie immediately replied that she was not going anywhere, and then the invitation came.

George took her to a computer fair in a corner of town. Not a date in the real sense, but isn't it when a boy and a girl decide to go out together on the weekend it can be called a date?

Date.

Valerie opened her eyes and looked around the room in her house. She hadn't even thought about it until recently. Since the accident that caused her father to die, Valerie has been busy taking care of her father's inheritance. Valerie sold the whole thing, for her own reasons.

Taking a deep breath, Valerie stood up. She then walked into the kitchen, poured the coffee from the coffee maker into her cup. The coffee was not hot anymore because of the leftovers from the coffee she made in the morning, before leaving for work.

However, she can still taste the distinctive sour taste of delicious coffee there. Her forehead frowned and she sighed. She was almost addicted to coffee. Morning, noon, and night; she could not live without pouring a cup of coffee to fill her stomach which sometimes refused and marched with biting pain there. But Valerie needs to open her eyes.

Since her father's death, Valerie was almost too scared to sleep. Her mind was filled with fear; fear she did not know for what reason. That fear was like keeping a terrible dark secret, leaving Valerie on alert every night, afraid that darkness might catch her by the time she closed her eyes.

She has been in contact with the psychiatrist who treated her since the accident. Her psychiatrist said that her unexplained fear was simply the manifestation effect of the trauma of the accident which left her badly injured and killed her father. The psychiatrist took good care of her, session by session, until she felt that she was healed, free and happy without any fear.

Everything is fine now. Valerie sighed in silence. She's free. Now she can start a new life, can try to open her heart and fall in love again.

That fear has been left far behind. She is free now, there will be no more darkness lurking and trying to hurt her. Maybe indeed a bright light had entered her life. Valerie smiled, imagining the beautiful path she might take with George later.

***

Valerie sat that afternoon facing flower pots that were neatly arranged on the cafe terrace which was quite busy with visitors. She glanced at the watch on her left wrist, it was still fifteen minutes before the man came. She readied several contract agreements, double-checked some of the stamps that would be needed later.

It's all set, Valerie thought.

This is strange, because the client asks for a contract signing in an exclusive cafe that is very private. Usually the clients choose to sign a contract in the meeting room of their head office that has been provided. However, the boss said that this was an important client and that whatever the request was difficult, it had to be complied with.

The noise at the door made her turn her head. Several men dressed in black appeared to enter the room, their expressions all the same; flat and empty, giving Valerie goosebumps. She looked around and was surprised. The cafe had been quite busy for a while, but now there was not a single person there. The atmosphere was quite quiet and there was no activity whatsoever, other than a few people dressed in black who kept coming in and standing stiffly. Almost forming a line, as if they were making way for someone.

One, two, three....

Valerie counted the number of people, twenty in all. Who on earth brought twenty men, gave them the same clothes and made them have the same expressions?

Apparently she did not have to wait long. At the door, entered an old man, dressed in white, in stark contrast to the appearance of his employees and immediately walked towards Valerie.

Is this their important client? Suddenly Valerie trembled because even though he was old, the man still gave off a domineering aura that was slightly choking.

The man stood up, observed Valerie then raised an eyebrow. “Miss Valerie?”

Suddenly Valerie realized that it was rude to remain seated while her important client was still standing in front of her. She immediately stood up and stretched out her hand politely.

“Yes, I am Valerie. Are you Mr. James?”

An unexpected smile appeared on the old man's lips as he returned Valerie's hand. “That is right, let's immediately talk about business here.”

The man sat down, while Valerie glanced at those people who she thought were bodyguards who remained expressionless there, annoyed by their presence. But the man seems to have gotten used to it, because he immediately opened the conversation in the direction of business.

“All contracts have been prepared?”

“Yes.”

Valerie opened the folder and handed it to the old man. James immediately accepted and checked the contents. His forehead creased deeply as he studied each clause. After a long time, he raised his eyes and smiled.

“Very nice. As requested. Where do I sign?”

Valerie's heart that had been waiting tense immediately felt relieved, as if her breath was sliding deep and emptying her chest cavity. With a slightly trembling hand, she pointed to the empty space that was already filled with the seal. Soon the tender for the most important contract in her company will be signed.

The man grabbed a gold pen from the pocket of his white coat and then he calmly signed there, in all the parts Valerie indicated, on the original file and several copies. After that he smiled, handed the paper folder to Valerie, put a gold pen in his pocket and then stood up straight away.

“Nice to do business with you, say hello to your boss.”

Then the old man turned around, stepped away from Valerie who was still dumbfounded as she saw his steps away. His guards dressed in black immediately followed him. After everyone left, the cafe was quiet, only Valerie was left sitting there. Even the employees of the cafe seemed to have vanished into the earth.

Valerie was dumbfounded, then packed up all the important files and put them carefully into the folder. This file was very valuable, she had to take good care of it and make sure nothing was missed there. After everything was neat, she stepped to her feet, looked left and right in confusion because there was no one in sight, as if it had been arranged like that because of the arrival of the old man.

After taking a deep breath, she left the money on the table and walked away. Her heart is calm and relieved because she has completed the most important task from her boss. She did not think about the old man anymore because she felt like she would never see him again, not realizing that she was wrong.

The old man will play an important role in her life in the future.