23. Meeting>“Let’s get it started. I don’t have a whole day to waste,” I say as we get ourselves comfortable.“What do you want from Rose?“ Callum asks as he takes out a flash drive case and passes it towards me.“We can discuss my ex-wife later. If we are in a good mood after this meeting.” Which is highly unlikely. Especially for him.I feel the drive between my fingers, then pass it to Raylan. He turns on his laptop to check the intranet drive that caused so many freaking problems.Yes, I had an option to go cloud. But I am old school and I like to keep things offline. Like a secured cloud server, it’s hard to crack or clone a protected drive too. Raylan connects the drive while Patterson taps his fingers on the table, bored. I fix my gaze at Callum.“Did she tell you how she managed it?” I ask, out of curiosity. So far, we have figured out Emma was an ethical hacker, but she hid this information from us.Bitch.I’m sure she was planted in my company. Not by Call
Privacy > It’s been a few weeks since I started working at Josef corporation and the tiredness has sucked the soul out of me. I am snoozing in my bed when a door knock breaks my slumber. “Go away! I am sleepy.” “NO! You didn’t come out of your room the whole day. Open the fucking door,” Natalie yells at me across the door. I glance at the clock and shut my eyes again. It’s late afternoon. I still have time. I miss laying in my bed for hours over the weekend. The door knocks again, and I drag myself out of the bed to let her in. “I brought you a surprise,” she says, holding out a take-away burger. I take the bag from her and rub my eyes. “Thanks, Nat. This looks great.” She props up on Ira’s bed while I climb on mine. “Did you eat anything at all today?” “Yes… Ira bought me breakfast before going away for a hike. Then I had a granola bar in afternoon.” I wish I could join her. A hike would have been nice. “And you ate nothing for lunch?” she quirks a brow a
25. Lift>I lean back in my seat and gaze out the window as Jonas hums on the music while driving through the bustling city. The tall constructions and fast-moving cars seem to blur together as they pass by. I can’t help feeling a sense of awe at the sheer size and energy of the city.Downtown. Heart of the city….“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Jonas says, glancing over at me. “All these people, all these buildings. It’s like a never-ending story.”I nod, still staring out the window.“I always feel so small when I come here…. Like a tiny human in front of all these tall architectures.”“You look tiny, even in a crowd of people. Let alone buildings.” He snorts.“HEY! I am not tiny!”Jonas chuckles. “Oh well, you must be. That’s why the bouncer couldn’t spot you that night. He said you vanished in the sea of people…”“He was threatening to throw me out of the club.” I cry. “What was I supposed to do?”Jonas chuckles. “That’s the beauty of being tiny. You can hide under table
26. Jessie>It was a beautiful day today. So we went to the park today. Jessie giggled and shrieked with joy while trying out the swings and see-saw.After letting her play there for an hour, I brought her to the office so I could attend the departmental meeting with team leads. I walk down the hallway with Jessie waddling behind me. She has been roaming around the office and I am trying to keep my patience. Complete resignation. This is what you need with kids sometimes. I am waiting for the lift as I watch her exploring and walking towards me. Suddenly, I feel a jolt as someone bumps into my chest.“Watch where you are going!” I say in annoyance and look down.It’s Riley. I am about to say something but her expression makes me pause.“I–I am sorry,” she stammers, and she runs off.I stand there for a moment, confused. Her eyes were brimming with tears. My gaze falls at Jonas holding the lift door for me.“What happened?“ I ask as I make my way inside the lift and J
27. Dinner Party > “Fuck,” Jessica says and an incident flashes in front of my eyes. Almost 6-8 months ago, I was babysitting a 2-year-old. Cute boy. Very active. Her mother was a little bitch sometimes. But the pay was good, so I put up with her. One fine evening, he started saying some obscene words. Especially ‘Fuck’. He would say it again and again and again. I was mortified. Kids this age are super attentive. I thought maybe I had a slip of tongue in front of him. After a huge tantrum and a few insults from her mother, I was fired. A few months later. I met her somewhere. Laughing, she told me, “Remember that F word he threw around?” That was a sore nerve, but I kept my smile. “My boy was saying ‘Frog’.” ‘Five green and speckled frogs Sitting on a speckled log Eating the most delicious bugs…’ I hate that nursery rhyme now. ….. His jaw ticks, and he shakes his head in disapproval. And I want to shrink in my spot. “Three weeks. It took me three weeks to
28. West’s place>The ride to Mikolaj’s house is silent. His house is in a gated community. Each residence is more extravagant than another, but somehow, his mansion stands out.The car pulls over and Mikolaj picks up Jessica. She is fast asleep and doesn’t make a fuss when I pull my hand away from her.I take in the marvelous property. The stone exterior has large windows to let in plenty of natural light. The lawn is immaculately manicured, and the front porch has a grand archway with beautiful flowers hanging from it. Oh, I would love to own a house like this someday. Is that even possible? But I have my whole life to earn and buy something like this.Right?Mikolaj carries Jessica into his house. I feel thankful that I got to see this side of him today. Dinner went well, and Mikolaj was unexpectedly nicer because Jessica was around. Not that he will be nice to me again. Nevertheless, it matters. My mood was better too because I spent most of my time with kids. Even
29. Problem? > “Hey Philip!” I greet him as I hop into the car. “Hello Riley… How was your day?” “Oh, it was awesome… I went out for movies with friends. Didn’t want to go for work today.” I whine. He chuckles as he starts the car. “Yes, working on Sundays is the hardest.” “Well, I have got some work to catch up on. But why are you working on a Sunday?” He shrugs. “I don’t have anything better. Plus, pay is better on weekends.” He laughs and I grin. I am saving my holidays so I can take a week off near exams. And yes, pay is better on weekends. So… Here I am. I take out the cheesy romance novel to open the page I left reading a few nights ago. I would never admit to Ira that I am enjoying it. After a while, my phone rings and I sigh when I notice it’s mom video calling me. I put a smile on my face and pick up the call. “Hi, Mom. What’s up?” I say, trying to sound casual, praying she doesn’t ask me why I am in a car again. “Hey, sweetie. I just wanted to chec
Apology>Dimitri walks away, and a praise is on the tip of my tongue.But thank goodness I don’t say anything. Because Mikolaj is giving me the same look he gave at Neon Oasis VIP restroom that night.Now what? Can’t I even talk to people?“What the hell is your problem?” I ask.“Why would I have a problem?” he says, his voice laced with irritation. He presses his phone to his ear, then walks into the house.I scoff. Judgemental jerk. He has no right to judge or dictate me. I am not his servant.And I am sure he used the phone to avoid the confrontation. I feel victorious. I shouldn’t let this slide.I look back at Jessica. She is picking up tiny flower pots and arranging them as she likes.“Hey! Jessica! Wanna play hide and seek?”“YES!” she says.“Go Hide! Go Go!”She giggles and runs inside the house. “That was easy,” I mutter.I cannot talk to Mikolaj while playing with her, so I play a trick. I pretend to search for barely a minute, then I catch her.“GOT YOU! No