A War

“You will start working tomorrow,” Naomi said. “But it is essential that you come here in the basement to familiarize yourself. Those boxes are full of letters to Mr. Han. You have to check every letter and arrange it by… date.” 

Fiona eyed the stack of boxes in front of her. This room was definitely a storeroom. It wasn’t dirty, but it smelled of wet paper, which wasn’t very pleasant. “There are about fifty boxes in here,” Fiona said. And what did familiarizing mean? Was she supposed to look at everything today? This woman’s scheming was a bit irritating, eh?

“Sixty-eight. There are sixty-eight boxes. Full of letters, the packages are at the back. There should be about twenty boxes of those packages,” Naomi said as she looked at her wristwatch. “I still have to attend to Mr. Han. Please feel free to stay here until you are already familiar with the job. You can start with the boxes on your left. Those are the oldest ones.”

Before she could say anything, Naomi had already left the room. Fiona eyed the boxes before she followed her out. However, when she opened the door, it was actually locked?

Fiona shook her head. Smiling, she thought of Naomi’s malicious eyes and didn’t think she would actually do something so juvenile. How could someone be so childish? “Miss Jiang? Hello? Did you forget that I was here?” Fiona said, making sure her voice was loud enough. 

Then she sighed.

It seemed that Naomi locked the door and left immediately. 

Fiona opened her phone and just as she expected, there was no reception here. Fiona calmly eyed the door. It was the kind of door that didn’t have a knob, but a metal handle that one could use to open the door. 

This door was kind of like the doors used on emergency stairs.

It was something that you can easily lock from the outside.

After a few seconds, Fiona eyed the windows. Aside from the reinforced window, there was also a stainless steel window grill that wasn’t showing any signs of corrosion. On top of this, the area was actually very far away from the parking lot. Even if she screamed her lungs out, no one would be able to hear her.

Clicking her tongue, Fiona eyed the door before shifting her gaze towards the ceiling manhole that was at least two-and-a-half meters tall—too tall for her. After a few minutes of deliberation, Fiona removed her black coat. She was thankful she was actually wearing a pantsuit instead of a pencil skirt today. 

Using five boxes that were stacked on top of each other like a pyramid, Fiona was able to reach the manhole. 

A curse left her lips when the manhole refused to open after a few punches. “Well… it seems like Naomi wants a war?” she mumbled before she curved her hand into a fist. Then using all the strength she had, she punched the manhole. Finally, it showed signs of opening. 

Using her upper body strength, she quickly climbed into the manhole and found access to the electrical of the building.

….

“Where is Miss Chen?” Luca’s face was already contorted into an ugly scowl as he walked inside Naomi’s office. He looked at the prim and proper woman with her perfect bun. “Where’s she?”

“Mr. Han… Miss Chen already left early. She said she had something to do?” Almost immediately, Naomi’s eyes reddened. “I was only telling her about the job requirements and what to do. I talked about the basement and the letters when she suddenly… raged. I— ”

“She got angry?”

“Yes, sir. I didn’t mean it. I just told her that we lack people to sort all those fan letters, and maybe she could help me one weekend to do it. She asked where it was located and when I told her it would be in the basement, she yelled at me. Mr. Han… I swear! I didn’t say anything else.”

Luca lifted an eyebrow. His office was on the top floor of the building and aside from Naomi, the people outside were two security guards who said that they didn’t see Fiona leaving the building. One of them even said that Naomi asked them to receive a delivery downstairs. It should be some food for Fiona and Naomi. “She got angry and just left?” Impossible. She would never do something like that.

“Yes, sir. She just…left.”

“What’s that red mark on your face, Miss Jiang?” Luca asked. It was clearly a handprint like someone just slapped her.

“It’s nothing, sir.”

“I am asking you… what is that?”

“I—” Naomi held her left cheek, tears filled her eyes. “She—slapped me for insulting her qualifications.” Seeing Luca’s face turned darker, she stood and approached him. “But… it’s fine. I would never tell my uncle and aunt about this. I won’t file any charges too. It’s fine. No need to worry about me.”

“I am not worried.” Luca took a step back, avoiding the woman’s hand. “And you can tell them whatever you want.” He shoved his hand into his pocket. “If I won’t find Miss Chen… I will hold you accountable for her disappearance.”

“Mr. Han—”

“Cut the bullshit,” Luca coldly said. “I know you.”

“Mr. Han… you…” Naomi staggered, her face turning paler than before. “I didn’t do anything to Miss Chen. I just told her the job—”

“Listen, Miss Jiang, the only reason why you are still here despite all the time that you attempted to scheme against me was because of my uncle. Don’t test my patience.”

Naomi’s eyes widened as she covered her mouth with her hand. “What are you—”

Luca narrowed his eyes. A dangerous glint flashed as he stared at her nervous face. “If something happens to—”

“Eh? Mr. Han… Miss Jiang? Am I disturbing something?” Fiona’s voice made the two paused. They looked at Fiona, who just walked inside Naomi’s room. Sending the thick and suffocating atmosphere, Fiona asked, “Did something happen?”