Amber arrived at the office at 7:00am and went straight to the HR department to learn more about her work duties, she was assigned an office not too far from the CEO, she was to provided him coffee in the morning, get him lunch, attend meeting with him to take note, learn about his work and sit in on some of the meetings he may not be able to attend, she was also to do any other task assigned by the chairman, she rushed to her newly assigned office, dropped her bag and rushed to get coffee, she went to the company’s kitchenette where she met Lauretta, she was a curvy woman but not obese according to the general belief that foodies are always obese, Lauretta was very friendly which makes it easier for Amber to learn of Mr Todd's coffee preference, they chatted for a while and Lauretta told Amber to rush back at 7:25am as Mr Todd will be arriving by 7:30am so Amber grabbed his coffee and rushed back, she was just about going into his office to drop the coffee when Todd stepped out of the elevator, his sharp gaze piercing into Amber soul and the hand she reached out to open the door with froze, Todd walked to his office e door and stepped in ignoring the frozen Amber by the door, Amber regained her senses and quickly stepped in to drop his coffee, then he looked up and told her in his usual sharp voice “get ready for a site inspection" “ye yes sir" Amber stammered trying to rush out of his office but his next word stopped her in her tracks “wait! Meet the asset manager to give you the things you’ll need for to site inspection" “o okay sir" she said and scurried out, Todd Shook his head wondering If she always stutter when nervous, he knew he made her nervous but he was enjoying it at her expense and intentionally made his face appeared more cold than it usually is.
One hour later.Todd and Amber stepped down from the car and Amber put on the helmet she was given by Dan, who is the asset manager for the company, she had put on the safety boot before leaving the office, she looked at Todd and he was putting on a white helmet with the company’s name and logo on the front, her own helmet was yellow, Todd started walking towards the shopping complex under construction and she followed suit, the site engineer met them at the entrance and they exchange pleasantries before Todd started official issues, he pointed out some things he noticed and the engineer answered, they were using some professional terms but luckily for her she had indeed gone to some sites to familiarise herself with those terms before going for the interview so she found it easy to keep track of their discussions, they discussed the progress rate and talked about future plans before moving to the next building which was a five bedroom duplex, Amber took note of all the suggestions and plans, two hours later they were done and headed back to the company, Amber got out of the car and tried rushing to the staff canteen for food but was stopped by Todd who said they were going out in the next five minutes, Amber quietly resigned to fate, she had skipped breakfast that morning hoping to have enough time to eat before the start of work but couldn’t meet up due to the site inspection preparation, it took her thirty minutes to get her PPE from the asset manager and another thirty minutes of lecture from the safety officer who told her things to do or not do. She didn’t bother going up to the office since they will be heading out in give minute, she stayed down reserving her energy for the next phase of work, Todd came back few minutes later holding a file, he gave the file to Amber and walked into his car, Amber followed immediately and the driver drove off, she was grumbling within her all through the drive but couldn’t voice out her concern, she was shocked to see the car packed in front of a restaurant, she watched Todd get down from the car and walk sharply into the restaurant so she quickly followed, Todd was seated at their window side table, Amber approached his table reluctantly not sure if she’ll be allowed to sit with him, she lingered close to his table when Todd looked up abruptly and said in a tight voice “sit" Amber quickly sat down like a scared cat, she couldn’t look up at him but collected the menu he stretched to her, before she could order what she wanted he had place an order for two, she dropped the menu and muttered to herself “what’s the use of giving me the menu when you were just going to order for me anyway" Todd raised his brow and said “what did you say" She looked up sharply and said “I said it’s a nice restaurant, I I love the arrangement” Todd nodded and didn’t say much after that, Amber was too nervous to speak, she kept clutching her hands together and biting and lower lip lightly, Todd studies her and smiled but Amber didn’t see his smile, the food arrived and they ate in silence, Amber was too clumsy and spilled wine on her blouse so she excused herself to the ladies where she cleaned her blouse as much as she could, by the time she was back, Todd had paid the bills and was only waiting for her, but when she said “sorry for keeping you waiting" Todd chuckled and said “what makes you think am waiting you" then he got up and walked away with Amber running after him.Meeting Petra.At the general Monday meetings, the next week Amber resumed, there was a lady in attendant who Amber had not met before, she was a contract staff and only comes when needed, she handles the painting and some other finishes job for the company, while the chief technical officer gave a run down of the progress of work and the next phase target, Petra who is the strange person to Amber raised her hand to say something, she asked when the screeding on the block of flats will be completed and when the painting can commence, the technical officer answered her and the meeting continued, Amber leaned toward Jen who was sitting beside and asked quietly, “Jen, who is the lady there" she asked as she pointed towards Petra in a concealed way, Jen leaned in and said to her “that’s Petra, I’ll give you full detail after the meeting" Amber nodded and sat upright, after the meeting Petra went into the CEO’s office, though she was a contract staff she was also one of the shareholders. A
Todd walked into his apartment later than his usual time, it was a tough Monday, having to attend meeting, make adjustments to plans and dealing with Petra's shenanigans, he knew she had a bad temper but didn’t bother much since she doesn’t go overboard most times and the work she does is good, he figured since they only work together sometimes, they could do so amicably but when she threw her coffee on Amber today he felt so angry but couldn’t show it for fear that his staffs might think he’s giving preferential treatment, though he had seen her misbehaving before but never in this manner, he walk into the house and the house was quiet, he wonder if Carrie had gone to bed and he had missed saying goodnight to her, he walked towards her room and heard Donna’s soft voice as she concludes her night story “Peter and Kate had a lovely day, and bade farewell to their friends as they all headed to their various houses, the end" Todd opened the door slightly and peeped in, he heard Carrie’s
“do you think it’s possible to dream about someone long before you ever met the person" Todd asked Carl as they both sat relaxing in Todd’s living room, Saturday evening “well, I guess you must have met the person without knowing or perhaps you saw the face in passing other than that I can’t say man, I mean I don’t think it’s possible" Carl said casually but one look at Todd’s serious expression and sat up quickly “did that happen to you man, I mean did you meet someone you like, because if you did that would be a great news, I mean it’s been what, like 2years now and you haven’t even look at any lady twice, now you’ve pique my interest, where did you meet her, where can I find her" Todd had to raise his hand to stop him from ranting “Dude, I only asked you a question, where did you get all these ideas from” “am not buying this crap, I know somethings up, are you going to tell me or not" Carl said not backing down, Todd heaved a sigh and smack his head with his right hand palm “why d
Carl could see the pain in his friend’s eyes and he tried to console him and take his mind of that topic “you know, one day, your wishes are going to come through but will revenge or hurting the person who did this lessen your pain, fir the sake of your daughter move on" there was a long pause before Carl said “now, how about you tell me all about that woman of your dreams" “oh, come on, is that what we’re calling her now, her name is Amber and she is my PA.Monday morning.At 9:00am Carl strolled into Jen’s office and asked without any pre-amble “Jen, who is Amber" Jen paused from surprise at first but said “boss's PA” “yes I know, I mean, where is she, I’ll like to meet her" he said sounding impatient, “follow me” Jen said as she led him straight to Amber’s office, Amber was arranging the shelve placed at one side of her office when the door opened, she squirmed and all the paper in her hands fell to the floor, she apologised and was bending to pack up the paper but Carl shouted “St
When Todd was sober, he asked Carl “see what you’ve caused, this is my office Carl, why would you bring a gossip topic to my office" “I couldn’t resist the temptation, I had to see for myself" Carl said shrugging his shoulder, “well, thanks now leave" Todd said and Carl opened his mouth in shock, he didn’t expect his friend to send him out of his office over this issue but Todd looked serious like a business man heading to seal a deal, Carl shook his head and said “I need to get to work anyway, I’ll deal with you later" he walked out of the office and Todd called Amber to come in, when she got in, he ask her to seat, she sat in the chair Carl had just vacated. Todd raised his brow slightly to show Amber how serious he his with what he was about to say. Todd raised his brow slightly making him look more serious than he does usually just to show Amber how serious he was with what he was about to say “everything Carl, that’s the man you saw in my office, now whatever he might have said,
Amber got home the next day and met Ann standing by her door way, “hello sis” Amber knew something was up, the moment she saw Ann “what is it this time" Amber asked without any preamble “won’t you even let me in first" Ann asked faking offence “why should I let you in, so you could sell all the little things I own for money” Ann looked down as if she was feeling remorseful “I deserve that but please just let me in, it’s a matter of life and death" Amber hesitated for a while but finally opened the door, once inside Amber said “now, what’s with the matter of life and death” Ann started to talk but was stammering “it it OK let me explain, it it" “it what" Amber asked feeling strange, she had a feeling whatever Ann wanted to say would be a game changer “I kind off went gambling again, before you lecture me, I know I mess up and am sorry but I owe someone two thousand dollar and it so happened that person is Jack Ray" Ann said and looked up to see Amber’s reaction, Amber’s eyes widen as s
Friday evening Todd went home early, he has been feeling kind off guilty lately for entertaining any form of likeness to any lady, he decide to visit Sarah’s tomb to tell her all that was in his heart, but he didn’t want to go alone so he went home to pick up Carrie, he knows that no matter how good Donna was with Carrie, one day she will need a motherly love and that day was coming soon. He got Donna to dress Carrie in a warm fluffy coat cause the weather was a bit chilly outside, then he strap her in her car seat and ensure she was secured before entering the driver’s seat and driving off.“Hi honey, it’s been a while since I came here last, Carrie say hi to mummy" he said to Carrie “Hi to mummy” the little girl responded and Todd smiled at her response then he continued “you see how big she is now, and she looks just like you, she has you big brown eye and curly hair and she is a foodie just like you” he paused a little and smiled a he recall how Sarah was with food especially when
Monday morning, Petra came for the meeting, where they discussed the progress of work, after the meeting she was on her way to Todd’s office when she passed by the admin office and overheard them talking about Carl checking out Amber and saying stuffs like Todd liking Amber, she paused and thought for a while, could the clumsy Amber really catch the attention of a man she has been trying so hard to catch for years, she made up her mind to be extra mean to Amber, she was wearing a black jumpsuit with bold make up that makes her stand out as usual, she walked into Todd’s office without knocking “Hi, Mr Anderson” she was saying but Todd raised one 9f his eyes, looked at her and said “you didn’t knock" “oh sorry I kind off forgot” she said and was about sitting down when Todd said “you can kind off get back out and knock" she was shocked, Todd had not spoken to her in that tone before, could he still be mad at her for treating Amber like she did the last time, perhaps what she heard was t
Todd walked out as soon as the presentations were over, the winner would be contacted via a mail so there was nothing more to wait for, Rick ran up to him just as he was about to enter his car.“Todd Anderson”He said and Todd paused, he knows that voice, he can never forget the voice of someone he once considered a friend “Rick”Todd said as he turned back to face Rick Warren“you were going to leave without saying hello”Rick said flashing a fake smile,Todd didn’t smile instead he clenched his jaw as he said“i see you haven’t gotten rid of your dirty tricks and games so why would I say hello, we have nothing to talk about”“Oh but I think we do”Rick said“no we don’t”Todd said turning towards his car“don’t you want to know how I got your design, ain’t you tempted to know who the mole is in your company”Todd turned back to Rick and saw his satisfactory smile.Sensing it was one of Rick’s dirty tricks Todd smile and said.“NO”Then he turned and entered his car
Few days later.“I can’t believe my wedding was ruined, just like that”Amber said, as she sat beside Ann in her hospital ward.“am sorry things turned out this way”“Ann, I should be thanking you for pushing me out of harm’s way”Amber said, then she propped her chin with one hand and said.“Honestly I had a feeling something was going to happen, I had a bad dream the night before that’s why I had that anxiety attack at the door”Amber confessed to Ann who raised her head slightly and said.“Wow, it’s so weird though I could’ve sworn someone tampered with it cause when I checked the venue yesterday, it looked fine and why did it drop at the moment you were passing”“ I think you’re right Ann, someone must have done something to the iron”Amber said, her eyes wide from her discovery.“Hold on, I’ll call Todd”The phone rang but there was no response “Oh I forgot, he’s probably at the bid”Amber said, her shoulders slummed and her eyes dulled.“what’s wrong Amber”Ann
“is your friend okay”Ann whispered to Amber.“Who”Amber asked not knowing who Ann was referring to amonge all the ladies present for the bachelorette party.“Jen, she seems to be put of it”Ann said pointing at Jen who was currently at the balcony making a call.“yeah, I noticed she seems off but I can’t quite place my finger on it, maybe I’ll just ask her”Amber said getting up.Ann shrugged and walked away to get herself a drink.Jen was rounding up with her call when Amber got to her.“Okay, let me know what you think, later”She said and hung up the call.“Are you okay Jen”Amber asked, her eyes filled with concern.“Am okay, why do you ask”Jen asked seeing the concern on Amber’s face.“You seem to be out of it lately, you seem jumpy and anxious, I think”Amber said scrunching her nose.“ Thanks for your concern but am okay, just a little stressed out, you know with the upcoming bid and all, documents keep moving here and there but am good and I promise to be
It took Amber a few weeks to get back into the wedding planning mood but when she thought she was over it she decided to pay her father a visit along with Ann who seem to coming around more.She has been so worried about Amber and has since lost the thirst for gambling.“Ann come on, let’s go”Amber said for the fifth time, she has been waiting for Ann for the past fifteen minutes.“am ready”Ann said coming out of Amber’s room where she had been retouching her make up.“finally”Amber said rolling her eyes.Stepping out of the house the twin stepped into the Benz waiting Outside, Todd had arranger for a car and a driver for Amber since the incident.“hi Greg”Amber and Ann chorused at the same time and the two laughed at themselves for talking in sync it happens often when they were little but as they grew older and drifted apart they seem to lose their bond.Smiling they settled in while Greg drove them downtown to their old house.When the car finally stopped, Amber and
“Am really sorry for putting you in harm’s way"Ann said, sitting on the chair opposite Amber.“you’ve apologised severally and I have something to say as well"Amber said coming to sit beside Ann.“A week ago before the incident, we were talking about Dad and I said some things I wish I didn’t”Ann raised her hand to stop Amber and said.“you didn’t say anything wrong, you were right, my lifestyle is toxic and I need to change, I got you into trouble, I can’t forgive myself if something had happened to you all because I couldn’t discipline myself"“it’s okay Ann and I appreciate you but I also know your gambling addiction started because you were looking for means to raise money for us back then, I shouldn’t have been so harsh and am sorry, Please come for my wedding, I’ll invite Dad as well"Amber said tears brimming in her eyes.Ann couldn’t help crying as well as she said.“I don’t have an excuse Amb, you’re the most important person to me and I don’t know what I would have done if
The next day, Todd was waiting for Jack Ray by the old creek as agreed, he had a black bag with him, he had been standing for sometime with no word from Jack Ray, turning around to see if anyone was around, he spotted a black figure from an abandoned building, starring at it, the figure moved closer and soon he could see the man's features.Jack Ray was not hunk, he wasn’t what Todd had expected at all, he was smallish in stature with bright eyes, no one would have suspected he was a criminal.“nice of you to show up"Jack Ray said in an unbothered tone.“where is she"Todd said unable to contain his anxiousness.“not so soon, the money first"Jack Ray said signalling for him to bring the bag.Todd’s eyes were slightly red from anger but there wasn’t much he could do, all he could do now was to follow the plan and hope all works out as planned, they had to involve the police when Ann told them who they were dealing with, Jack Ray is a top criminal who has never been caught due to his
“I don’t think Jen as anything to do with this, Alice as been watching her all this while and she said Jen didn’t make any plan to kidnap Amber"Stanley explained to Todd who couldn’t sit in a spot, he had been pacing up and down his office, at first when he didn’t see Amber yesterday he had thought she was having a good time with her sister and didn’t want to disturb their bonding time but when it was night time and he still didn’t hear from her, he became really worried, he had called her line severally but it was switched off, he tried calling Ann as well but she wasn’t reachable.“here, call Ann again"Todd said dropping a paper containing Ann's number in front of Stanley, just then the door opened to Carl came in.“have you found anything"He asked the moment he was in the office.“no and I can’t stand this anymore"Todd said, his eyes red from exhaustion and fury, he punched the wall with his fist, Carl rushed to him and said.“easy man, we’ll find her”“She picked"Stanley shou
When Amber came to, she was sitting on the floor in a dimly lit room, she could barely make out anything in the room, but she knew the room wasn’t empty, she could vaguely make out shapes that looked like a chair and a bed, her hands were tied to her back and her legs tied together, she could feel the hardness of the rope against her skin, not knowing what to do she yelled.“hello"Not hearing any sound she shouted again“Is anyone here"She was about shouting again when the door suddenly open.The hefty man she had walked into at the store was standing by the door, he pressed a switch and lights came on.Looking at the man, Amber felt her throat was dry, she liked her lower lip with her tongue and said“Please can I get water"Taken aback by her request the hefty man grunt.He had expected her to be scared and shiver at the sight of him.He turned back and went out, coming back few seconds later with a bottle of water.“here"He said in a husky voice, stretching the bottle water to
“wait, not now" Jen said into her phone, she had stepped aside to pick a call, leaving Amber with Todd, the engagement party had been a success, the media there had capture every breath taking moment of it and this prompted Rick to give Jen a call telling her how they should strike now but Jen had a better idea, now is not the time to strike, she had everything planned out, a sly smile appeared on her face but she quickly wiped it off when Amber touched her arm and said“Hey maiden of honour"Turning back swiftly Jen quickly said into the phone“I’ll call you later”she said into the phone, not waiting for a response before cutting the callShe smiled at Amber and said.“really! am your maid of honour"“of course, who else would it be, you are my best friend and meeting Todd was also all because of you" Amber said, smiling genuinely at Jen as she hugged her.“That’s true I did help you guys meet" she muttered through gritted teeth and smiled as she hugged Amber.“Daddy said you’ll be