John walks back to the rear of the car where Octavio waits.“What’s the problem?” Octavio asked.“I think we came at the wrong time boss. There’s no response.” John responded.Octavio sighed and placed both hands on his forehead. “What was I thinking. Of course it’s work time.”“Do we wait a little or we can come back some other time.”“Let’s just go. Get in.” John said. “It might be a sign.”John nodded, got into the vehicle and then drove off.Once they were gone, Camille came out from a neighbor’s garage. She had been watching them the whole time.“I have been thinking…” Octavio said.“About what boss?” John asked.“What you said earlier… your advice.” Octavio replied. “I might just be motivated right now.”“Holy crap” John whispered.“What did you say?” Octavio asked curiously. John’s voice was so low he didn’t get to hear him.“Nothing boss.” John lied. “So what you going to do now?” he asked.“Pay someone a visit.” Octavio responded. “Let’s make this outing count.”“Okay boss.
“Where next boss?” John asked once they hit the road.Octavio went through the diary again and at the same time he seemed to be absent minded. His conversation with Mr. Martins kept replaying in his memory.“Boss?” John called out. “Do we check on the lady again? She might be back.” He suggested.“No John. Let her be. We will check in some other time.” Octavio said. Then he pulled out the diary.“He said I should go through the diary… the whole thing.” Octavio said. And although he sounded sober, he was not. “Uncle wrote quite a lot.” He said as he flipped through more pages. “Lots of stuff in here.”John kept his concentration on the road.“Did my father ever take a life… by himself?” Octavio asked.“I don’t know if I can answer that boss.” John replied, but then he looked through the rear view mirror and saw Octavio’s reaction. He realized how serious his boss was. “Not to my knowledge.” He said. “throughout the time I worked for him, I never saw him do it.”“So Mr. Martin was right
Alexander opened the door to let Kristine in. He seemed to be in a hurry and once she was in, he urged her to follow him quickly.“You should have informed me earlier.” She complained.“Well, that’s not my fault. It was unexpected.” He said.“And why this place?” She asked. “Where are we?”“My place.” He smiled. “I happened to get a visit from the four less problematic top people, so Martelli though we should deal with the issue now. According to him, the play gets a better outcome when there are less clowns.”‘Big statement' Kristine thought, “why does he refer to them as clowns anyway? Are they that bad?” She asked.“You will see.” He replied.“Of course.” She said calmly. But deep down, she was worried“Sorry I couldn’t find a better time to fix it.” Alexander said to Kristine as he walked her to his office where the others were seated.The only person she could recognize among the five was Mr. Martelli. There were three other men and there was a lady she estimated to be a little o
The sun cast its beautiful golden rays across the room, through the open window, lighting up the room and kissing Kristine’s face so that she became uncomfortable. She slid the cover sheet over her face to block out the sunlight.“Rise and shine.” Alexander said.Kristine lowered the sheet a little, enough for her to peek at him. He stood by the window, still holding unto the curtain. He was the one who had opened the windows.“It’s Saturday. And in my own calendar, I don’t work on Saturdays.“That’s true.” He said, then let the curtains free. “Is there anything I should get for you?” He asked.Kristine sat up and discovered she was naked under the sheets when she attempted to move. Immediately she was both shy and embarrassed. Alexander acted as if he didn’t notice.“Nothing really.” She said, holding tight unto the sheet which she had wrapped around herself.“I’ll just get tea then” Alexander then made for the door.“that would be fine.” She smiled faintly, still feeling embarrassed
Camille was outside having a smoke when Kristine returned. It was very unusual as she only did it when she was seriously pissed. When Camille saw Kristine and noticed the frown on her face, she remembered quite well she didn’t approve of her smoking and tossed it away after a little hesitation on her side and an upsetting look on Kristine’s.Kristine went past her, straight into the house with Camille following after. She was shocked at what she saw. It was as if a bunch of toddlers used the place for a play ground. Everything was in complete disarray, vases were shattered, the sofa was upturned, the TV was broken even the lights. She went into the room and saw they wardrobe was emptied and every stuff that used to be in it was out on the floor. Boxes were open.“You checked for your documents?” she asked Camille, who although stood there, was completely not there.“Yeah. They’re intact. “ she replied. “they did not take a thing.”“Oh thank the heavens!” Kristine exclaimed. “So why are
Octavio cared less about the commotion outside, especially when he realized it was a female’s voice. He knew it was bound to happen. Rather than go out to calm the situation, he took a bottle of wine and went to his little garden, where the noise was less effective. After a while a guard walked up to him.“Sir, a lady is here to see you. She says its urgent.” The guard said..Octavio seemed not to pay attention.“Sir?”“Is she calm now?” Octavio asked, still not paying attention. He had a magazine which he seemed to be so into at the moment.“Yes sir. She is.” The guard replied.“Okay, you can let her in.” Octavio said.The guard exited and after few minutes, returned with Kristine who looked like a mother hen about to protect her chicks from a hawk.“First of all,” Octavio said, not taking his concentration from his magazine “I won’t tolerate any uncivil attitude from you.”Kristine could clearly see he was serious, dead serious. She also needed to tell him bluntly that his action at
Two weeks passed and Kristine was yet to get anything new. Although her relationship with Alexander waxed stronger, she felt completely locked out. She realized the closer she was to Alexander, the lesser she knew.Lately, since the return of Victor they have kept most moves a secret. They just did normal jobs, planned less and stayed low. She was definitely running out of time and being pressured by Camille also posed a problem since they were staying at her place and so the reminder came daily from her friend.This Saturday morning was different. They already had breakfast and put some stuff together as well as tidied the house chores so they were kind of free. The duo sat in the living room, just staring at each other. Kristine was expecting the normal reminder.“You’re not going to see him today?” Camille asked.“No.” Kristine replied “go straight to the point.” She added.“What do you think I’m about to say?” Camille asked.“What else? I guess it has to be your normal reminder.”
Alexander showed up at the reception more often than he had been seen by some staff who worked at ARRT.“Have you seen Kristine today?” Alexander asked the receptionist. It was the eight time he was asking her and from the look on her face, she was already weary of him.“No sir.” She responded.“Called her home?” He asked.“Yes sir. No response either.” She replied.“Okay.” Alexander said, “do well to inform me when she shows up.”“Okay sir.” She replied.It was noon and Kristine had still not shown up at the office, neither was she taking calls so Alexander decided to go find out what was wrong.After knocking for close to five minutes, Alexander decided to try the door and to his surprise, it was open. He let himself in and was shocked at the scene. The place was unattended to, the living room could be said to have been in ruins and the place was stuffy.“Kristine?” Alexander called out. But there was no response.He made for the kitchen and almost passed out. It was a mess. He hurr