Gone

"He needs to reach out to his Father. His Father is not even aware that he's been arrested," Romeo pleaded. He was ready to scrub both knees on the tiled floor just to prove how serious he was. 

"Now this is getting more serious than I expected. How much did Dexter pay you to do this for him? Because I mean, you can't go this for a total stranger you know nothing about," Rhoda confronted Romeo with the disturbing question.

"Excuse me?" Romeo fumed. "What do you take me for? Do you think I'm one of those hungry-looking cops out there who would sell their dignity for money?" 

"Perhaps, she might be right. No one knows the reason you are doing this," A masculine voice interrupted them from close range.

The voice sounded like Lucas. Where Romeo was, he prayed silently and wished it wasn't Lucas. Lucas, so far, has proved to be Romeo's greatest fear ever. He wasn't even confident enough to look into Lucas' eyes and speak to him directly, let alone confront him. 

"Good evening, Boss. You are most welcome," Rhoda greeted someone right in Romeo's presence. The way and manner she greeted the individual made Romeo understand that it was Lucas. 

Romeo wanted to vanish Into thin air to avoid Lucas drama. He wouldn't mind the ground opening and swallowing him. 

"Romeo, meet me in my office right now. I don't want to get there before you," Lucas ordered Romeo and went away, leaving him alone with Rhoda. 

"Is he gone?" 

Romeo asked Rhoda 

He couldn't trust his guts. Although he heard some footsteps that suggested that Lucas might have walked out, yet he wasn't convinced. 

Romeo believed that Lucas might be hiding somewhere, just waiting for Romeo to turn in his direction. 

''Yes, he is gone. 

You're free to look back now," Rhoda revealed. She didn't sound quite convincing for Romeo. She spoke as though she were reading directly from a script. 

"Please tell me you aren't kidding around. Is he gone? Currently, I am exhausted," Romeo begged. His face was already covered with sweat despite how conducive the environment was. 

"If you keep asking me irrelevant questions, you are going to end up in a real mess. If I were you, I would go see the Boss right now before it gets worse," Rhoda advised. She walked out on Romeo after seeing that he wasn't ready to leave. 

The departure of Rhoda means that Romeo is alone. Slowly, he turned around and saw that Lucas had gone

He did a cross sign. "I thank the stars. That was a close one. I can't believe I nearly fell inside a pit I dug for myself,"

Approaching Towards Lucas ' office, Romeo felt this strange movement inside of me. That was his heart beating faster. 

He was tense to the extent that he couldn't feel his legs anymore. At every attempt to walk, the ground kept pulling him back. It was as though everything that existed on the Earth's surface was fighting against Romeo. 

Despite his recent struggles, he still had no regret trying to help Dexter out. Romeo knew what he was coming his way before embarking on the journey. 

As Romeo arrived at Lucas' doorstep, he paused. He couldn't lift his hand to land a knock on the door. He wasn't certain if Lucas heard everything that was discussed with Rhoda. 

"How about I lie and pretend not to have said anything?" Romeo asked himself. He was already rehearsing his lies before approaching Lucas. 

"Yes, Romeo. 

You can do this," Romeo assured himself. He beat his chest and vowed that he was going to overcome it. 

Slowly, he landed a knock at the door. For minutes, Romeo waited for Lucas to respond but she never did. 

He landed a knock again and still got a silent treatment. At that moment, Romeo was already doubting if Lucas was inside the office. 

"I don't want to get to the office before you," The warning from Lucas kept ringing in Romeo's ears. That alone, got him more scared. Knowing how disciplined Lucas was, Romeo is starting to guess that Lucas might have left the office after getting tired of waiting for him to show up. 

"What am I going to do now? He is not responding. Should I leave already?" Romeo asked himself. Being alone made it even more difficult to come up with a long-lasting solution. 

After the deliberation, Romeo stopped worrying himself and decided to take the giant risk by entering Lucas' office. He was tired of knocking without a response. 

To his greatest surprise, he saw Lucas seated on the Chair and facing the wall. 

Instantly, his soul left his body. He cleaned the dirt off his eyes to be certain they weren't seeing things that weren't real. 

"But how was it possible? I could have sworn that I knocked tirelessly and no one answered. Am I dreaming?" Romeo asked himself. 

"No, you are not," 

Lucas responded, turning his chair to face Romeo's direction. 

He brought out a brown envelope from his envelope, signed on it, and passed it to Romeo. "Here you go. 

Please have it,"

Romeo hesitated and withdrew his hands. He wasn't certain what the envelope entailed. However, his mind was passing a message he was scared to accept. 

"What's on the envelope? 

I just hope it's not what I am thinking it is?" Romeo asked while rejecting the even lope. 

"What do you think this is? 

It's rude to intrude, so I am going to let you decide. I know you are intelligent. This shouldn't be a problem for you." Lucas teased Romeo with a smile.

Unlike Lucas, who saw this as a joke, Romeo took it seriously. He frowned his face and refused to be cajoled by Lucas' antics. 

The only thing running through Romeo's mind was a letter of his dismissal. He can't afford to lose his job because of Dexter. It would have been better

if it was for a good course and not someone like Dexter, who is of no importance to his life.