10.Friends

"Of course it won't happen again," Kevin had said to Bella as an evil smirk tugged at the corners of his lips,a smile so purely cold and dangerous which didn't reach his eyes.Everyone in the room trembled, anytime he would say of course it won't happen again,it was always followed with the offender being closed in at the root cellar,and there's even one moment that a guy had once freezed to death in the very same room.

"Jason, please escort miss Bella Jake out and do the necessary, she shouldn't leave until seven," Kevin said and continued with his work, just by calculating the time, it should be seven hours until then, and though Bella didn't know what was waiting ahead for her, she knew her moment to atone for sins was finally here, so she just mentally prepared for the worst.

Bella bowed respectfully to Kevin and without a word waited upon on Jason to lead her, her ego wouldn't just allow her to beg that anymore for the mistake she didn't even know,was it really her fault though.One thing she didn't know was that if she would have persisted in begging him, he would have forgiven her, but she just didn't want to give him that fulfilment.

Jason sympathized with Bella, he didn't know what was the deal between the boss and the lady as it seems like the had some beef with each other from the past, one which he wasn't aware of.

He had thought the very same since the time Kevin had declared that he would personally interview a certain lady by the name Bella Jake, something which he has never done before as he had never been part of the interview team of course he was already aware of her as just a few days ago the CEO had requested on a background check of the very same lady.

At first, Jason thought the CEO was really interested with her, which would be something unheard of, as since the time he had known Kevin, he had never seen him approaching any lady, he was always lady repelled,save for Winnie,the celebrity whom at one time rumours had that she was his girlfriend but with the several encounters between them and how Kevin treated her,he knew they were not really the truth .

At times he thought maybe his boss was really gay as the rumours had it save for the fact that he had never seen him with any guy too, so what exactly was his boss.

In the meeting room, everyone was silently praying for Bella, though most of them were not yet familiar with her, they still felt pity for her, she was still just a newbie.

Though the ladies in the room sympathized with her, on the other side they were happy as this punishment wasn't in accordance to the earlier rumours that was circulating in the company that Bella was Kevin's girlfriend, so they thought they still had a chance to be with him as this meant Kevin was still single.

Ryan and Jane felt really sad seeing their friend being escorted out of the room, they wanted to speak for her but according to the boss demeanor, they knew better than doing that, they wouldn't want to be on the bad side of the boss otherwise they too be befallen by the doom.

The meeting continued just as if nothing had earlier on happened, Kevin maintaining his cold poker face, listening to presentation and most of the criticizing them here and there of very poor work that they had done, he was really so hard to please.

<<<>>>

"I don't think I will go with you big brother, I still have got some errands to run, and thank you for coming all he way here, but don't forget I will be coming over to your place for dinner," Steve said and just before Derrick could respond, he got out of the car and walked to his car, and off he drove away.

"This boy is really something else, he didn't even bother ask me out for lunch and is now talking about coming over to my place for dinner, I wonder how can a twenty four years old man act like a two years old baby," Derrick said with a smile but when he saw that he was being watched over by his assistant, he changed his expression immediately, from jovial to gloomy.

Seeing his boss, William just smiled, he had stayed with him long enough to know how he worked, he didn't like to let his guard down in front of people, save for his brother and friends and Derrick talking about Steve acting as a kid, isn't he the one to blame for that, not once had he ever seen him as a grown up in the first place.

Thinking of friends, he most of the time wondered how can someone be your friend and enemy at the same, that was Kevin and Derrick's relationship, enemy-friend relationship, very confusing, isn't it?

"Drive to JB Inc. I want to go and see my friend let's go give him a surprise," Derrick said with a smirk. That was it, so they are really friends, William finally got the answer to his unspoken question, but still why would there actions and attitudes towards each other be more of enemies than friends?

Kevin had just entered his office from the meeting, around one hour after Bella incident when the door opened, and someone he dreaded so much to see entered, not even with a knock, and just as if he owned the office, he invited himself on the sofa and sat down, crossing his legs.

Rude!

William had remained in Jason's office, since they were both familiar with each other, to be precise they were cousins, and it wasn't bad to catch up a little since both of them were always very busy to even meet, both there bosses were inhumane, working like robots, and even at times piling their works to them, but still they loved them because they always treated them well and the salary and monthly bonuses was really worth it.

"Brother, don't you think those two guys would fight, whenever they are together the air around them is always so dense that at times I always feel pressured when in their presence," William said dreamily and he shivered as he remembered one of the encounters and they both laughed.

"Come on, let them be, they are good friends, and to add on that they grew up together and have always attended the same school, so am sure they are very familiar to each other more than we know," Jason explained from the little he knew about those two tigers two tigers.

"What do you want here, I don't remember planning a meeting with you, I am very busy at the moment, I don't have time to entertain you, so I bet it would be better if you would really leave, Kevin spoke up, showing clear resentment towards Derrick.

"Why should I leave, after all I am here to see you since I missed you so much,aren't you glad that I came to check up on you, we are friends after all, aren't we," Derrick said smirking, and he just burst laughing when he saw the ashen look that Kevin was giving him.

When Kevin and Derrick were kids, they had always played together as they were age mates and neighbors. They would share their toys, played video games and do very many sorts of things together with their younger sister, Bonita who though technically wasn't their sister but just a sweet girl from the neighborhood whom they both had sworn with their lives to protect until that fateful night that changed everything.

Both Kevin and Derrick had drifted to their thoughts, each totally unaware of the other in the room, as they sank in the sweet hidden part of their memories. They both used to love little Bonita very much, by then she was just three years old and they were already seven years old, and they even had nicknames for each other.

Bonita used to call Kevin Champ as he was always a pro at everything he did and Derrick was Bucky as he was normally the sporty kind of person. The boys used to call her munchkin.

This little memory was already enough to make them smile but as always the after math of this was they would end up getting drunk as this sweet memories was always followed by something they never wanted to recall, the most painful part of their memories that made them feel helpless, guilty and very bitter.

Kevin rose slowly from his seat and went to the wine cellar, he picked two bottles with highest alcohol content, picked up two glasses and headed to the table, sitting opposite Derrick. He opened the bottle, poured himself and Derrick the drink.

Each full of sorrow, they clanked their glasses and drowned down the liquor, they wanted to forget all this sorrow, even though it won't be long lasting but at the end of the day it would be worth it if their sorrows would be drowned.