003 - Scandal

“Five, minutes!.”

“I leave you for five fucking minutes, Lola and you run off to that leech!.” Aria Davis, Lola’s best friend exclaims with a mixture of pure disappointment and dismay written all over her face at her friend’s stubbornness. She had been ten minutes too late and had arrived to see Lola leave the director’s office.

Lola shook her head at her friend’s never changing attitude. “I’m okay mother hen, and be careful please!.” She warned, taking a calculative glance at the few people wandering about the hallway before letting out a helpless sigh. “It’s Director Miller… not ‘that leech’.” She corrected in a rushed whisper. Her friend was no fan of the agency’s director, but she did not want them getting into trouble.

“Ha! I see..” Aria scoffed sarcastically, flinging her long brunette hair to the back. “Well not to me, Cherie.” She returned. “There’s a good reason why the girls call him ‘the brute’ when he’s not looking. A reason you should have considered before going into that den!.”

Aria’s last words juggled Lola’s memory as she recalled how she had almost fallen into a trap and she swallowed hard.

“Well, guess what?.” Lola forced a grin as she pushed that particular uneasy memory to the back of her mind. She fetched a paper from her bag and handed it over to Aria. “He came through Aria. That ‘brute’ just saved Maria’s life.. and mine.”

Lola watched Aria’s eyes dim as the girl received the paper. Still unable to contain her happiness at their success, she waited for her friend’s victorious scream but, Aria’s look was passive and she did not seem to be impressed.

Aria read the words on the check for a second time. The name and figures on the check were written and signed for Lola Coker.

“You mean Miller wrote you this check.. with no strings attached?.” Aria asked with narrowed eyes as she kept staring at the check suspiciously.

“At least no suspicious strings, Aria!.” Lola exclaimed with a smile, deliberately sweeping the director’s earlier indecent attitude under the rug. “Maybe the director is not as bad as we think him to be.” She muttered.

Aria’s brows furrowed tightly together as she maintained eye contact with Lola. “You know I don’t believe in miracles, Lola Coker. So, you better start talking.”

* * *

Infinity Jewels Headquarters.

CEO’s office.

Laughter. More laughter.

Noah Sanchez stared down at the countless headlights of vehicles crowding the city beneath him from the floor-to-ceiling glass window wall in his office.

Rosewoods was busier than usual at this time of the year.

The view was magnificent, but his dark soulless eyes couldn’t see the beauty in them. Not when every single citizen in the goddamn city was busy poking their silly noses into his private life!.

In barely noticeable corners of the large office area, his bodyguards were all nervous and looking quietly at him as no one dared to move or make even the slightest noise.

Only one man was seated comfortably, munching with no worries on the snack delivered by Noah's terrified secretary some minutes ago and entertaining himself with a certain column of the day’s newspaper in his hands. Leisurely, he let out yet another long, hearty laughter. This was Noah’s right-hand man and best friend, the ever-cheerful Tyler Harris.

“For a gossip intended for scandal, this is a brilliant writeup man. You could adapt this storyline and invest it in a blockbuster movie. The Hot CEO AND HIS MYSTERIOUS MALE LOVER. It would be a fucking movie of the year!. I’m a tidbit flattered that they’d think me worthy enough to be your mysterious lover though, but you know I love boobies and I’m as straight as a pole...right?.

Noah’s gaze darkened even further at Tyler's nonhelpful words.

With his gaze still fixated on the scenery before him, Noah’s deep voice was finally heard.

“Do you have a name for me, John? Or do I have to take care of this matter, personally?.”

John, Noah’s most trusted bodyguard immediately stepped forward and saluted. “Come tomorrow, the Arise publishing house would no longer exist. You can trust us, boss… We have the situation under control.” John calmly reported but Noah’s annoyance barely dissipated.

“And the old man?.”

“He hasn’t stopped calling….” A vibration from John’s pocket cut off the rest of his words. He gave Noah a knowing look then retrieved the phone from his pocket and frowned. “It’s the senior master again, boss.”

Noah’s brows tightened as he stared at the vibrating phone in John’s hand. He could ignore the call as he had been doing all day long, but he couldn’t risk the trouble that very act could bring.

In a frustrated tone, he snarled. “Get out.”

All the men scurried out at once, grateful to leave the unusually cold office, and made sure to shut the door tightly behind them.

The man sitting on the couch was unbothered by his friend’s coldness. After years spent growing up together, he had come to understand that Noah’s coldness was like a second skin to the man.

“Grandfather,” Noah called the instant the line connected.

“It’s Henry, young master, not the senior master.” A calm voice on the other end returned.

The butler? Noah raised an eyebrow. “Mr. Henry? How’s my grandfather?. Why are you calling with his phone?.”

“Uhm... Your grandfather has expressed that he has no desire to speak with you for the next ten years sir and had asked that I relay this message to you.”

Noah: “.......”

The phone was put on hands-free mode and the two men in the room with Noah fought the urge to laugh but Tyler failed and bursted out laughing.

The Sanchez grandfather and grandson duo were at it again.

Slightly disrupted from his conversation with the butler, Noah sent his friend an icy glare and cleared his throat.

“And?.”

On the other end of the line, the Sanchez family’s butler turned to his sulking boss who was gripping his cup of rock oolong tea and pretending not to care about the ongoing conversation with his grandson.

“What else would you like to say to the young master sir?.” Mr. Henry helplessly asked.

“Let him know that I’m totally ashamed to have him as my grandson and that I am beginning to believe the words of the media and doubt his sexuality.”

“Also, tell him not to bother showing his face in front of me ever again if he doesn’t resolve that public ridicule and insists on making me a laughing stock in high society.”

“Remember to inform him that a ninety-eight percent of his high school classmates are already married with children and that the two remainder of that percentage are his bratty self and his gay best friend…”

“Ahem!… sir, “ Mr. Henry coughed and stammered at the old man’s unfiltered words. “The young master is still listening…”

On the other end of the line...

Noah’s killing glance changed direction from the still-connected phone to a certain blonde young man on his leather couch. Gay best friend?

“Oh, shit!.” Tyler swore under his breath as the last of the fries in his hand dropped back into the bowl and he forced out a nervous chuckle. “You know me the best man... I’m a hot as hell, straight alpha male!.”

“I see…” Grandfather Sanchez's voice drifted through the phone once more. “Henry, tell Noah he’s the sissy then.”

Noah’s eyes darkened even more and Tyler really wanted to find a place to hide.

“Grandfather!.”Tyler grunted. “You should stop now…”

“…And tell Tyler that we will be having a friendly conversation tomorrow at the shooting range.”

“Uhm…Grandfather, I have an appointment with my dentist tomorrow… I can’t make it..” Tyler hurriedly refuted, but the line suddenly went dead. The air in the room was so thick that you could slice through it with a knife, but Tyler heaved a sigh of relief to see that Noah was back to his initial position by the window and was no longer staring daggers at him.

“How long do you think it would take for him to come around this time?.” Noah asked.

“Prolly three days max. You know your old man, he can’t stay mad at you for so long.” Tyler responded, the initial humor in his words was gone and he pushed the plate of fries away to pick up the newspaper once more. “Just know he will return with a tricky comeback.”

Noah squinted knowing this was true. His grandfather was never one to back down easily.

“So you going to the shooting range tomorrow?.”

“Hell no!.”

* * *

Lola carefully selected her words as she briefed Aria about the high-paying job the director had offered her on their drive home.

“I made a request for an advance payment but he gave me a better deal instead. See?.” She paused and waved the check in the air. “This amount is only a down payment, which means I would be getting a higher sum once the job is over tomorrow…”

“Are you referring to this same job we barely have any specific details on?.” Aria questioned with a deep frown on her face. “As much as I would not love to ruin your mood, Cherie, I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Aria…” Lola cut in desperately but her friend wasn’t done talking yet.

“One, the pay is ridiculously high which is still as suspicious as it comes and two, no further details to specify the job was delivered. I mean, do you even know this company?.”

Lola swallowed as her fingers tightened around the bag on her lap. Somewhere, deep down in her heart, she also felt it was surreal. It was a high-paying job, Miller could have chosen a good sort after dancer like Toria from The Get Lit Girls, or even masquerade-faced Chloe, his cousin, yet… he had chosen to trust her with it.

For that, she would forever be grateful.

“…Each passing minute, Mom’s condition worsens.” Lola muttered.

She knew how much Aria cared for her but it was pointless at this moment. “If there’s even the slightest chance that I could save her, of which there is now... I have to take it.” The last words came out almost breathlessly, like a silent plea.

Aria turned to stare at her friend.

Lola’s initial excitement was gone and in its place was a sad, scared expression that she hated so much to see. She dragged a long breath in and exhaled before taking Lola’s trembling hands in hers.

“Guess we could give it a try.”