I didn't need to tell Camari. She knew to follow me in my car. We could drive her back here to pick up her car. I reread my notes on my phone to help open up a conversation with my colleague. I could do that.Arriving at our destination restaurant, I let Camari lead us. She reported to the receptionist and a waiter escorted us to a reserved room. I ignored the stares of the guests in the main dining room.My heart was beating rapidly and my hands began to sweat. I started counting to ten in my head. I recalled my meeting with Carlos. This colleague I met was a good person. He would treat me nicely.“Good afternoon, Mr. Haworth. It's a pleasure to have you agree to see me,” the man inside the dining room said, welcoming us.“Good afternoon, Ronan. Just call me Otis.” I extended my hand to him.“Hi, Otis.” He shook my hand with a friendly smile. “Are you related to Angus Haworth?”“He's my father,” I admitted.“Wow!” he exclaimed as he shook my hand enthusiastically. “No wonder you look
[Camari]At lunchtime, I headed to the ground floor. Half of the teller seats were empty in the customer service section. They were taking turns eating lunch. I made my way to the back and passed booth after booth. I smiled when I saw the woman I was looking for.“Don't you know it's time to eat?” I teased.Jasmine lifted her face and looked at me with rounded eyes. “Camari!” Her eyes turned sad instead, staring at the papers on her desk. “I can't leave my work. There are many reports I need to study.”“This report can wait.” I came closer and held her hand. “You can't work with an empty stomach.”“Okay.” She relented and then stood up.We headed for a restaurant not far from the office building. The cafeteria must have been packed with our colleagues, not a suitable place to talk. After ordering our food at the cashier, we carried our trays to an empty table.“Oh, Camari.” Jasmine held my hand with her eyes sparkling with happiness. “Thank you for telling me about the vacancy. I didn'
Emily put her food bag on the table and sat beside me. “I apologize. I know I'm unforgivable, but I dared to come and ask for your forgiveness.” She looked at me sadly. “I know how it feels now, being fired and unable to get a new job.”I sighed. I wanted to get angry and yell at her. But seeing her apologize so sincerely, I didn't have the heart. After all, we were best friends for eight years. I still couldn't believe she could do such a terrible thing to me.“I misjudged Bella.” She lowered her head. “I thought she was a good person, and you were the bad one. She told me about her relationship with Farrell in college. But you ruined their wedding plans.”I closed my eyes at that. She used the same story to influence Emily. Unbelievable. I was getting curious about how I could ruin their wedding plans. I didn't know them in college. We were from different colleges.“That's why I'm helping her to get back at you. She was worried that you would snatch Farrell away again if you stayed i
The man with the ID over his chest invited Otis and me to stand at a specific spot for a photo. Otis objected to us standing together, but I took his hand. We came together. Why did he refuse to take a picture of the two of us?I smiled at every camera pointing at me. I told Otis to look in the same direction. That way, our pictures would be perfect. The organizers and reporters were enthusiastic about photographing us.After a while, I thanked and said goodbye to the photographers. They shouted our names, but I ignored them. The pictures they took were more than enough. Besides, Otis was starting to look uncomfortable.The receptionist welcomed us and put pins on our clothes. She escorted us to the table where our names were. I smiled to see Otis's name and mine on the two papers instead of Bruce's.I greeted everyone at the table before sitting down. Otis just nodded his head in a friendly manner. He must not recognize these people. I knew them because Grandpa and Farrell had introdu
[Otis]Seeing Camari greet everyone at our table, I was relieved. She knew them and chatted casually. She remembered to introduce me to them. I was happy to see the men and women being friendly to me. It was uncommon to see.The mobile product launch went smoothly. I didn't like being the center of attention, but I smiled when the CEO mentioned my name. I wasn't the only investor in his company anyway. Thankfully, I chose the right product to invest my money in.It would take some time to find out whether the product was a hit or a failure. However, I was ready for the risks I had to bear. I considered many factors every time I issued a loan or a large amount of funds. My calculations were rarely wrong."We're here," Jasper reported as we arrived near Camari's car."Thank you, Jasper," Camari said.I held her hand before she opened the door. "Are you sure you can drive like this? You're sleepy, Camari," I said worriedly."I'm not sleepy. I have Nicole looking after me." She pecked my c
Jasper knew a lot of things about me. Naturally, he could find all the data from my past easily. There was nothing I could hide from him. On the contrary, I didn't know much about him, but that didn't diminish my trust in him.However, knowing someone wouldn't enable him to read his mind. Right? I didn't understand how he could choose from the many photos that night and guess the one I wanted correctly?“You saved the photo in your work email.” He gave his phone to me.I accepted it and closed my eyes looking at the photo file on the screen. How stupid of me. How could I have put it there? I thought I put it in my personal email. Oh no. Jasper would tease me all he wanted.He smiled meaningfully as he took the phone from me. "The heart can't lie, sir.""Oh, shut up. I'll get on with my work." I walked towards my study.Even though today was Saturday, I needed to check on the state of the stocks and the progress reports of the clients' loans, especially the large ones. I noted two clien
Jasmine picked me up on time. Her car arrived moments after I reached the lobby. We went to the salon and pampered ourselves. All my muscles relaxed after enjoying the massage, skin, and hair treatment. To complete the day, we had them dress us up.“Thank you!” I gave my debit card to the cashier. “I like the result.”“You're welcome, Camari. Come again if you need our services,” she said kindly.Their services were cheaper than the previous beauty parlor when I was Farrell's wife. But the results were not far behind. My skin felt cleaner, my head felt lighter, and the makeup artist was excellent at applying makeup to Jasmine's face and mine.We stopped by a restaurant for dinner. There was still time before the club opened. We ordered food and drinks, then looked around us. The city never died even though it was late. We were grateful to still have a table."The announcement of Farrell and Bella's wedding is over the top." Jasmine rolled her eyes. "The whole city is filled with their
"Deborah?" I called."Oh, my goodness!" Deborah squealed in surprise. She almost dropped the cell phone in her hand."I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." I came closer and helped her calm down."Camari? What are you doing here?" she asked while rubbing her chest.I smiled sheepishly. "I couldn't sleep," I admitted. I sat on the chair across from her and stared at the several phones and tablets on the table. "What are you doing here?"She chuckled. "I come to this place sometimes to enjoy the night, especially when there's cool gossip. I don't want to miss the news. Oh." She glanced at the pan on the side of her gadget. "Are you hungry? I made a lot of pizza.""Thanks." I took one slice. The delicious aroma that I smelled earlier.She took my hand and looked at me with concern. "I didn't say this last Tuesday because Jasmine was there and she needed more comfort. I was sad to watch that press conference. I hope you move on soon. Forget that jerk."I smiled slightly. “Thank you, De