Chapter 3: Secret Passage

Tension filled the room, nobody could breathe properly until this meeting ends.

Even the executive speaking could feel his own voice shaken and hands trembling. And that’s the same for every other company executive sitting down at the meeting.

As he spoke he occasionally glanced towards the CEO who bared a deep frown on his face. He is afraid that whatever he is saying, that the CEO wasn’t pleased with it.

David has a terrible mood, that although he was paying attention to what was being said, his mind was still on Hanan. 

He is angry for two reasons. First, he is angry as to why she ran away with her family. Secondly, he is angry as to why she is so determined to leave, there is something she is not telling him and he is going to find out what that is.

"Mr Salvatore" The executive who was given a presentation called him “Do you want us to implement this?”

David stared coldly at him and the executive shivered.

Other executives looked towards David as they waited for his response.

“Make it much better, meeting is adjourned” David stood up and left the meeting room with his assistant following behind him.

The executive ran a hand in his hair in frustration, every other executive just looked at him in pity. When he thought he would have a good night's sleep today, the CEO had to make him do the work again, so now there is no way he was going to do that.

“Did you look at what I told you to?” David asked his assistant as he got into his office and sat down on.

Carlos immediately placed the files on his desk and began “She is the owner of QuickFashion and her reason for coming here was for a fashion show. Nobody apart from her fashion crew knows she is Quick Stephanie of QuickFashion. She started the company 5 years ago and it has been successfully”

“I know this already, Carlos!”

Carlow moved back in freight “ Her parents doesn’t live in L.A they live in a small city called St. Augustine. 

“What about her relationship Status!? 

David threw the files off the floor in anger, while he was speaking he was going through the files and there was no information regarding her past relationships. David robbed his back neck with his hand in frustration, he glanced at Carlos coldly.

Carlos jumped in freight “Sirr… I was not able to find information regarding her relationships. Welll…. The only thing I found out was that she is a workaholic”

David got up from his chair and walked towards Carlos whose legs where already shaken. 

He held his shirt and said “Next time if I tell you to do something and you come back to me without full results I will make sure I kill you, understood”

Carlos shaked his head as his legs trembled.

David left his shirt and went back to his seat “And what are you still doing here? Get out!!”

 Carlos turned around and ran out of his office. 

David placed a hand in his forehead as he felt a splitting headache.

“Come in” he said when he heard a knock on the door

One of his bodyguards, Don, walked into the office “Sir”

David raised his head and looked up at him “What is it”

“I went to the hotel where the lady lounge was to retrieve her stuff and I saw someone who said she was her assistant and was here to pick up her things that her madam said she was going to meet them in the airport. I told her I will be taking her things instead since she won’t be coming to the airport with them and she insisted that she had to take her things, that her madam had just called her and informed her that she should bring them to the airport”

“She contacted them, how? Her phone is with me here, so how did she contact them!!” David shouted at his bodyguard who shifted back in freight 

“I don’t know boss but her assistant was very sure she was going to meet them in the airport”

David roamed his elbow “she must have used one of the phones in the penthouse, so go up now and make sure she doesn’t leave the penthouse!”

“Yes boss” Don said and left the office in full speed

David sat back in his chair and drowned himself in work

About 20 minutes later, David had a knock on his office door and told the person to gone.

Don walked into his office with a panic look on his face, he was breathing hard which showed that he had run all the way to this place.

David looked at him from head to toe, he looked like someone in distress. He had sent him to go check up on Hanan, so if he had ran to this place in panic meaning something was wrong.

“What is it!? David asked in alarm, he hoped it isn’t what he is thinking.

“Shee….. I mean miss Hanann…”

“Miss Hanan, what!!” David banged his hand on the table as he shouted at Don to speak

“She is missing”

David went towards Don and grabbed him by the neck, his grip on his neck tightened more and Don struggled to breath it felt like he was going to die at any minute.

If his boss doesn’t release his hold on him, he might die.

“What did you just say”

“Shee…. Iss….missing” Don struggled to say

David released his grip on his neck and punched him on the face, making him to fall down.

Although Don was trained in the army, but one punch from David had sent him growling in pain on the floor.

“Now get out from here and go look for her, if y’all don’t find her then all of you are dead. She is most definitely still in this building now get going!!” David shouted at him and he got up immediately and left the office to go look for Hanan.

David removed his tie and threw it on the floor, he was agitated.

“How did shee…..?” he ran his hands on his hair in frustration.

                            ******

Back in the penthouse 

Hanan was able to find David’s spare phone in one of his office drawers and used it to contact her assistant, May.

She had told her assistant to go take her belongings in her hotel room that she was going to be on her way to the airport in 2 hours time.

After hanging up the call she went to one of the rooms, took her bath and changed into one of the clothes brought to her by the bodyguard.

There where 4 bodyguard guarding the front door into the penthouse. So there is no way she would be able to leave from the front door.

Then she began her search for a secret passage in the penthouse.

She started searching from David’s room to see if there was a secret passage.

Normally, there is always something you touch or press that would open the secret passage.

She touched and search behind everything in his room. She even checked at the back of his mirrors, his wardrobe, his side table but there was nothing.

So she left the room and to the other rooms, there was hardly anything on the other rooms so she left and went to the sitting room.

She started from the kitchen but there was nothing.

When she got to the living room she stood and thought very well about where it might be.

In her own penthouse, her secret passage was in her office, behind the shelf. She would have to bring down a book in her a shelf for the passage to open.

The architect that did it for her and said that many rich persons who have a penthouse always have a secret passage.

“Why didn’t I think about it soon” she said to herself and then headed straight to his office.

She started by removing all the books in the shelf to see if any of them will open a passage hidden somewhere,

She scattted all the book in the shelf but no passage opened.

Hanan scattered her hair in frustration “haaa, David!” she screams his name in frustration.

Since the office was sound proof there is no way anyone would have heard her when she screamed loud.

She sat on his office chair and spined it around tiredly.

As she was spinning herself with the chair, her leg hit something and she screamed in pain.

“Houch!!” She benth down and touched her foot.

Why she was tending to her food her eyes went to something red that was shining under the table.

She got down from the chair and bent down to look at it properly.

She smiled when she saw that it was a button “got you,  so this is where you have been hidden”

She didn’t waste time to press the button and a passage door behind the shelf opened.

She got up and walked to the passage it was dark, this passage would  have an elevator that would take her to the ground floor.

She turned around and looked for a torch or maybe a switch that will light up the the part.

She search and saw a light switch on the corner, when she turned the switch on, the part light up.

The passage will close soon so she quick got in before it closed.

She looked around and didn’t see any elevator but a staircase.

“Maybe there is an elevator down the first floor” she spoke to herself

She went down the stairs as she kept on looking for an elevator.

“Dame it, how come there is no elevator”

How is she going to leave this place, she was on the 88th floor now but by the time she reaches the ground floor, she would have died from exhaustion.

“Damn it damn it damn it!” She ruffled her hair in frustration 

There must be an elevator somewhere, she is sure of it.

With this in mind she went back up to the 100th floor.

By the time she got to the 100th floor she was exhausted “Climbing is more tiring down coming down” she murmured to herself.

When she got back to where she had started she took her time to look around the empty hall way, there most be an elevator.

In her own penthouse there was an elevator, so David’s own secret passage should have an elevator, just that she is not seeing it because it’s hidden.

Hanan carefully moved her hand on the walls until she suddenly touched a part of the wall that shifted and revealed a secret elevator.

“Finally” she sighed in relief

She pressed the elevator and it opened, she got in and pressed the G button (meaning ground floor)

She sighed in relief 

She had told her assistant to give her 2 hours and she was going to be in the airport but it has been 4 hours already.

She rushed out of the elevator and bombed into a hard chest.

She slowly raised her head to see who it was and widened her eyes when she saw it was David.

“Fu*k”