Chapter 1: Prank Call

Cassandra POV:

It took me seven years to finally achieve my last wish, getting my dream job. A few days ago, someone from RX Corp called me to inform me that I got the secretary position for the company CEO. To some people, it might not sound like a grand position, just a mere secretary. But what people did not see was that RX Corp was the largest business corporation in this country and being a secretary to the CEO meant a lot of travelling, which I loved so much and certainly, I could learn business skills directly from the best. 

So after getting the call from RX Corp, I informed all my friends about it and they suggested that I should buy them a drink to celebrate the milestone. And that led to the occasion tonight at Emerald Nightclub. I booked a private room at that club and at nine I was already there waiting for all my friends to come.

There weren't many of us, just five people including me. There was one person that was so close with me whenever we were in public but emotionally we were rivals inside. It was Tina Sanfield, my most obvious competitor. We always competed in everything.

You knew the basics of this kind of rivalry. Who has a bigger house, a bigger car? Who wears the latest fashion collection clothes or who got the pricier jewellery? Whose man is more handsome or richer? Who gets a higher payable job? Huh! Trust me, in each case, I was always winning over her except for one, the man part. I had none.

So, when Tina arrived at the club, the bitterness was clearly drawn all across her face. She probably did not expect that I somehow would land a job at RX Corp, which she had tried a few times in the past two years but failed. As soon as she entered the private room, we hugged. Obviously, just another act from both of us to show the rest that we supported each other.

"Congrats! You must feel like you're in heaven right now. Finally getting the job that I wish I had," Tina joshed normally and went to sit on the sofa. The rest of our friends followed her lead.

"Thanks, Tina. I wouldn't have made it without your tips and advice. They worked for me," I replied gently, reminding her again how much she told me before that it was so hard to get accepted to work at RX Corp. She was so obsessed with the company before and kept talking about it to everyone. Ironically, I got a job there after applying for the first time.

The night went well. We had fun and sang a lot of songs from the karaoke system. My friends kept ordering drinks and I just let them be. After a few rounds, I slowly got drunk. I just rested my back on the sofa, remembering that my body felt like jelly. Everything was wobbly and I couldn't even stand straight on my feet.

"This is not fun anymore! Why don't we do something else? No more songs!" Tina complained.

I just stared at her from my seat and didn't respond at all. She approached me and grabbed my clutch, opened it without my consent and took my phone.

"Guys! Guys! Why don't we do this," Tina unlocked my phone using my Face ID and then went to scroll something on it. She then showed everyone around the contact number of someone.

"What's that?" I asked half-consciously. She made me look at the phone screen and the name 'Ricky' flashed on my face.

"Let's call him!" Tina suggested and everyone cheered in agreement.

"No..." I tried to grab the phone but Tina walked away fast. I could hear her snickering at me and pushing something on the phone. She called Ricky and put the phone in loudspeaker mode.

"Don't do that!" I yelled, wishing that they would stop doing it but instead, two of my friends grabbed my body tightly, stopping me from getting to Tina.

"Oh, come on Cassie. You never got over this one. It's been years but you still had his number. Let's just call him and see if he still used this number," Tina said.

"Yeah, let's do that. You ought to tell him about your life now. You achieved everything you ever wished for. Tell him how successful you are right now. Tell him that it was such a shame that he chose to walk away from you before," Franklin Simone backed Tina up. He was the idiot on our gang, the troublemaker to be exact. Certainly, his personality matched Tina's energy very much.

For the record, Ricky or his full name Riccardo Xavier was actually my ex-boyfriend during college. We broke up like seven years ago. He was my senior, three years older than me. We decided to break up after he graduated college because he couldn't manage his time properly to meet me more often. He told me that he could only meet me once a month and that was such a dealbreaker for me. So, I brought up breaking up thinking that he might change his mind and agree to spend more time with me.

Unfortunately, Ricky agreed with the breakup quite easily and that thing still bothered my mind until now. It made me feel as if I wasn't enough for him, that it was so easy for him to give up on me. I always wondered how he could have the heart to treat me in such a way after sharing so many intimate memories together.

I was expecting that the call won't go through. I mean, it had been seven years, and Ricky probably had changed his number. But then, Tina suddenly made a thrilling face because the call went through and someone picked it up.

"Hello?" A man answered the call.

"Is this Riccardo Xavier?" Tina asked.

"Yes," he confirmed it in a split second, with no hesitation.

"Hi, Ricky. Do you still remember me?" Tina pretended to mimic my voice, making it sound flirty.

I wanted to say something but Franklin shove a napkin into my mouth and cupped it with his hand. I muffled a sound and tried to break free from the hug given by my other two friends, but to no avail.

"Hello... Are you there?" Tina said in a sense of calling him wittily.

"Yes. Who is this?" Ricky replied. He sounded hesitant in his talk as if he knew it was not me.

"Cassie. You don't remember me anymore? Cassandra Moore," Tina said, still trying hard to pretend as me. What was she thinking? Our voices were obviously so different that even if she tried to talk like me, it would still sound strange and awkward.

"You didn't sound like Cassie. Cassie didn't talk like this," Ricky seemed convinced that it was not me and that made me feel funny. I tried to laugh but the napkin in my mouth hindered my voice and my eyes started to be teary right now because my jaw hurt so much because I couldn't close my mouth properly.

"Of course, I'm Cassie. Do you want to know something? I just got a job at RX Corp. I'm going to work with the CEO. I'm going to meet him every day and so... I might seduce him and marry him later. Don't worry... If you are kind enough to tell me your home address, I would send the wedding invitation card to you later," Tina made up some ridiculous stuff to say to Ricky that I almost got a heart attack while hearing it.

I shook my body, trying to break free again. The muffled sound I made was getting louder and Franklin pouted his lips in irritation.

"Shut up, Cassie. Come on, this is getting good. Let Tina handle that man. I wanted to see what he's going to say," he said, totally disregarding the fact that they were messing with my personal affair right now.

We all waited silently for Ricky's response. For a few seconds, he said nothing. But then he suddenly chuckled as if the things that Tina said just now were so ridiculous for him.

"I know this is not Cassandra and I'm going to pretend as if I didn't hear what I heard just now... Where is she?" He said with a domineering voice.