CHAPTER 4: MORE BAD NEWS.

After the meeting with Greg Knox, who was the supposed Trevor Holt , Tracy Hall could not bring herself any sort of peace of comfort . From the moment she got back home from the previous night, she had been worried to the very core of it. 

Marry me. 

The very words of Greg came alive again in her head. It has always returned over and over again since she had heard him. 

” Son of a bitch . ” She muttered to herself while still fiddling with her duvet. 

She had been literally awake the whole night . Apart from the fact that she was worried and thought a lot about what Greg had said to her, she equally had her whole focus on how she would be able to say the position of the group in the market. Right on her study desk situated just a couple of feet away from her bed, her system positioned itself like a sort of watchdog that had no enemies to ward off. Though, it was not the case here. This watchdog definitely had enemies to ward off. However, it seemed as though the watchdog had been clipped . 

” Oh my gosh.” She said very tiredly and let out a very loud and prolonged yawn, throwing her hands up and stretching them as high as possible. 

Dragging the duvet off her body, she stepped out of the bed and slid her adorable legs into a pair of pink furry slippers which blended very well with her pink pajamas. Standing now, she stretched her full length , twisting her soft body in all directions , giving off the sounds from her waist joints. 

” Hmm.” She exhaled and rubbed her palms together. ” Shall we give it another try? ”She smiled to herself. ” I guess we have to , after all. ”

She walked to the study chair and drew it out , allowing her whole weight to sink into the cushioning effect of its foam. Her laptop was facing her . 

” Dad. ” She muttered. 

She was yet to give them a call since the previous day. The man definitely was worried about the outcome of her short meeting with Greg Knox. Tracy had so many questions she wanted to ask . But maybe this was not the right time to do anything. Mr James would definitely be discharged soon. 

Grabbing her phone, her index finger slid behind it , reaching to the fingerprint area. Her phone unlocked and came on.  Staring right at her was a series of calls that she had missed. 

” Okay. Where did we stop ?” She said, scrolling through the missed calls list. 

She had missed a good number of them on purpose. Amongst the list, was her father’s number. Letting out a deep breath, she dialed the line. 

One ring....two rings... Three rings....

” Hello, Tracy. ” Mr James’ voice creeped into her ears . ” What is going on? Where have you been all this while?”

Tracy shut her eyes and cleared her throat before opening it. 

” Good morning, father. How was your night?  ”

” My night? Is that the answer to the question? ”

” How is your health, Dad? ” Tracy maintained her firm tone . ” What did the doctor say about it? ”

” Tracy, I am very fine. And the doctor has said I will be ready to go later today. ”

Tracy stroked her hair and reclined on the study chair . 

” That’s good. And mom? How is she doing? ”

” I’m right here, sweetheart.” Kathryn’s voice replied out of the blues. 

” You heard that , didn’t you?” Mr James asked. ” That’s your mom. She’s right here with me . And of course, she has been taking very good care of me.  ”

” Mm. I see. That’s pretty cool. ”

” How was the meeting with Greg?” 

The long awaited question finally came. There was no damn way she was going to let the man know that Greg had made a demand to get married to her. And that it was the only way to save the group from the collapse that was coming . Well, she did not particularly buy into the idea that the Greg Knox she had known from their college days would be able to have such influence. He was only trying to ride along the tide of the sudden misfortune that had befallen the Hall group. It was nothing beyond that. 

” I went to him at the Holt Empire, right in his office. ” 

” And what did he say?” 

At this point, Tracy felt the strong urge to tell her father . She had no idea what contract the man signed with Greg and he was not telling her the whole truth about everything. 

” What did you—”  she held her peace . 

” What? ”

” Nothing. ”

” You were about to ask me a question. ”

” It’s nothing serious. ” She managed a giggle. ” And as for the meeting, we are yet to come to a decisive ground to resolve anything. ”

” Is that so?” Mr James asked with a little show of concern. 

” You have no reason to be worried, Dad and mom. I have it all under control. ”

” Are you sure about this, my dear?” Kathryn asked. 

” Yes, mom. ” She sighed. ” I’m afraid I have to go now. I have quite a lot to do. ”

With that, their little call came to an end. Almost at the same time, her laptop beeped. A video call was in . 

” Oh my dear Steve. ”

She sighed heavily and dropped the phone , receiving the call on her laptop. A cute face of a man with sharp eyes popped up on the screen. 

” My love. ” She said with a quick smile. 

Steve was her lover. Both had been in a relationship for a good while. 

” You look exhausted. Have you been resting?” Steve asked, furrowing his eyes. 

” Unfortunately, no , my dear. I have work to do. ”

Steve smiled knowingly. ” You know you can always come over , right?”

” Yes, I do. I’ve just been busy these days. ”

” I saw the news. What’s going on with the group?”

” It’s right under control. ”She smiled. 

” Is there a solution to it already?”

The question popped out the exact words of Greg to her thoughts. 

Marry me. 

Should she just let Steve know what was going on? No way. She wouldn’t possibly do that. 

” Not really, Steve. ”

Her phone began to buzz . Multiple buzzes  flowing in at the same time. 

” Oh geez. ” She muttered , grabbing the phone. 

” What are those buzzes about? ” Steve asked. 

Tracy was about to go through them when her phone began to ring . Fiona was calling her. 

” Please, babe, hold on. My secretary is calling. ”

She slid the green icon and raised the phone to her ears. 

” Fiona. ”

” Ma’am... Ma’am. ” Fiona’s voice quaked . 

Tracy adjusted her position and  sat up , contorting her face. 

” Is everything okay?” Steve asked . 

No response came. 

” Fiona, why are you sounding like this? ” She asked. 

” Ma’am Tracy, you... You must have seen it already, right? ”

” See what? ” Tracy asked , still trying to understand the situation. 

There was a little pause before Fiona spoke up. 

” The stock value dropped by five percent this morning. ”

The words hit Tracy from every angle. She shot up to her feet. 

” What?!” 

Her eyes darted to her phone as she started scrolling through everything. It was true. Fiona had called to inform her. 

” What is going on?” Steve asked. 

No response came . 

” Ma’am Tracy. ” Fiona called. 

No response came too. Tracy was lost in thoughts. 

hat the hell? 

Clearing her throat , she spoke firmly. ” Fix a board meeting in the next one hour. ” 

With that she dropped the call , her countenance changing. 

.

” What is going on?” Steve asked. ” Talk to me. ”

” I’m sorry I have to go now, Steve. We will talk later. ”

She rose and walked away, not paying attention to the voice of Steve. Perhaps, she was really lost.