chapter four.

By 6:00am Elena got out of her bed grudgingly, using her hand to wipe away locks of red hair from her face she made her way to the wash room, after cleaning up she looked at herself in the mirror and said

“well, no one has to know what am going through”

she felt relieved at the image that starred back at her, her red hair was no longer scattered in her head, it was packed into a clean ponytail, her face looks fresh and her blue eyes though swollen a bit from last night crying looks much better now, she quickly dabbed her face with powder to make herself look more presentable, looking at her self one last time in the mirror she was satisfied with her look so she pulled her sneakers on and rushed out of the house.

At the training ground, the instructor walked in and saw Elena Morris already in her training kit and ready to go, he walked up to her, shock written boldly on his face as he said dragging out his words for emphasis.

“Elena Morris, on time for training and in my life time, now this must be a great day"

Mr Kings said

Elena’s dropped her head unable to look him straight in the eyes, her pale skin showing a tint of red, now that she thought about it she had indeed been behaving badly at work, her relationship with Ethan seems to have been more toxic than she realised, looking up suddenly after admitting her errors to herself, she met Mr Kings eyes and said

“I’ll do better from now onwards”

Her Blue eyes shone with determination and her sincerity, Mr Kings nodded

“I hope so"

he said and turned back to stand in front of the class as the training began.

Elena put in more effort into training, when others were done she stayed back and gave herself an extra hour of training before going back to the changing room to change into her office wear, she went back to seat at the office, just sitting there with nothing to do made her mind wander to Ethan, she grabbed her phone thinking it will be a good distraction but the moment she opened the phone using her finger print the picture of Ethan and herself was the first thing that popped up on her screen, tsking her tongue she looked at the phone in anger, how could she have forgotten about her homescreen picture display, she was looking into Ethan’s eyes in the picture and smiling sheepishly, now that she looked at it she was indeed foolish, opening her gallery she began to erase every trace of Ethan, starting with the home screen picture, when she felt she was done she heaved a sigh of relief but that seems to have come too soon as she remembered some of her post that contained Ethan on her social media account, logging into the accounts one after the other she erased him as much as she could, just as she was done with her self imposed task, her phone rang and she picked up straight away.

“Hey Elena"

Sarah said at the other end of the call

“Hey Sarah"

Elena said feeling rather better to hear Sarah’s voice, starring at Ethan’s picture had made her moody and angry

“so I was hoping we could go out tonight, that’s if you’re available”

Sarah said waiting for Elena to say something

“hmm"

Elena said not sure she was in the mood for any outing

“Am not sure about this"

Elena said

But Sarah insisted saying

“Look, we’ll go drink and dance, one to celebrate my engagement and two to make you forget your horrible break up"

Elena winced at the word Horrible but said

“Okay"

reluctantly.

“It’s not like I have any plans for the night”

she said to herself but Sarah heard her

“good, it set then, lets meet at Poley bar by 8:00pm"

Sarah said cheerfully

“Okay"

Elena said rolling her eyes as she dropped the call.

*****************************

At Poley's that night.

Elena walked into the bar dressed in her usual casual wear, she looked around scanning all the faces searching for one that looks familiar but found none, she looked over at the bar area, all the faces there, none had jet black hair like Sarah she turned her head to the right side and saw the VIP lounge, it was a bit dark in there so she couldn’t see much of the people there but she knew Sarah couldn’t be there, she couldn’t afford such lifestyle since they are both cut from the same clothe when it comes to finance, looking at the dance floor she didn’t see Sarah either, she was feeling disappointed , she pursed her lip and checked the old watch on her wrist for the time it was 8:30pm

“did she leave cause am late"

she muttered beneath her voice but just then, A lady walked in from the left side and walked straight to a stool in front of the bar man, Elena squint her eyes to look closer, the jet black hair matches that of Sarah, smiling to herself she made her way to Sarah and tapped her shoulder.

Turning back Sarah’s black eyes registered who it was and she gave a fake smile as she said

“Oh, you finally made it, I was beginning to think you bailed on me"

her lip pursed showing her displeasure

Elena scrunch her nose and said

“oh, am sorry honey, I would never bail on you, am here now, can I at least sit down before you unleash your anger"

“Sit"

Sarah said pointing to the vacant chair by her left side.

“Bar man, she needs a shot"

Sarah said calling out to the bar man

“No I don’t"

Elena said but Sarah wouldn’t have any of that

“Tonight, I’ll show them the crazy, funny Elena that I know, relax and for once let go and just enjoy yourself"

After a few shots the girls jumped to the dance floor and Elena lost, in the alcohol euphoria danced her silly dances while making funny faces, not minding who was watching her.

A pair of sharp grey eyes glanced towards the dance floor and saw a red hair dancing in a silly manner, the corner of his lip curved in a smile, the red head made silly faces that amused the man with grey eyes, raking his hand in his dark hair he took a sip of his drink and turned his gaze towards the man in front of him.

“So John, what were you saying about the investment"

John took a sip of his drink and started to talk but noticed Fred’s attention wasn’t on him but rather on the dance floor, turning his head he looked at the dance floor and smirk

“Fred, you know you can have her if you want"

John said

“Yeah"

Fred said absented minded before realising what he had said and he quickly looked at John and said

“You know am not that kind of man"

Fred as always been a firm believer that one night stands are stupid things, he wanted to court his woman, dote on her and enjoy his relationship but somehow he felt drawn to the lady on the dance floor which was unlike him.

his eyes darting back to the red head only he didn’t see her dancing anymore, he caught a glimpse of her back, heading towards the rest room.

Excusing himself Fred got up and walked in that direction. John smirked and said to himself

“yeah, indeed you’re not"

Elena was coming out of the toilet when she bumped into a hard chest, stunned she looked up into a pair of sharp grey eyes, pristine handsome face and dark hair, his thin lip perfectly curved into a slight smile

“wow"

Elena exclaimed

“You are beautiful” she said looking into his grey eyes

“Thank you"

the man responded flashing his pearly white teeth.

Elena speaking under the influence of alcohol voiced out her thought

“I really wish to kiss that perfect lip of yours"

she said letting the alcohol bring out her blunt honest nature, starring into her beautiful blue eyes that seems glassy at the moment due to her intoxication from alcohol, Fred couldn't stop himself as his head descended slowly until his lip was right on top of the red head's lip, the taste of her lip seems to intoxicate him as he kissed her passionately, making her moan quietly, people passing by glanced at them and talked in hush voices, some just simply walked away like noting was happening while some other shouted

“get a room”

drawing back from the red head Fred looked into her eyes once again and felt himself drowning in those eyes, throwing caution to the wind he asked her

“Would you like to get a room with me"

“I would but I shouldn’t”

Elena said moving back from the man.

she left Fred standing there stunned at his own words and action.

she walked back to Sarah and whispered into her ears.

“Let’s leave before I commit a crime against my moral judgement, I just kissed a total stranger"

Sarah’s eyes widen, without saying a word, she grabbed Elena by the hand and dragged her out.

Stopping a taxi, she took Elena home, after ensuring Elena was within the four walls of her house she gave the taxi man the description to her house.

Two weeks later, Elena had been consistent with work and Mr Jem was seeing obvious improvement in her skills, so when the opportunity for a new task came in, he gave it to Elena.

“This is an opportunity for you to prove your loyalty to the company and your dedication to this work"

Mr Jem said while briefing Elena about the new task.

Elena nodded and said

“Yes sir"

“It’s a mortgage bank and our client is someone who claims they have been duped by this bank, look at this" Mr Jem said pointing to a document, Elena moved closer and looked at the document

“Mrs Derek had lived in this Estate building with her husband for years, her husband passed away and she felt bored so she wanted to start a business but she needed money, she mortgaged the house for a loan from Giant’s Limited but was shocked to realise she had been duped out of her house, so now she wants us to investigate the company and bring them down"

Mr Jem explained to Elena who listened with rapt attention, nodding her head she said

“Okay sir"

“now, you’ll be the new staff, I have someone on the inside who will ensure you’re hired. Using your staff identity you’re to gather as much information and evidence as you can"

“Okay sir, when do I start work there"

Elena asked

“you’ll be going for an interview there tomorrow so dress cooperate"

Mr Jem said pointing to her dressing of blue Jean and white top.

“noted"

Elena said eager to start her new task.

That evening Elena rummaged through her wardrobe looking for clothes that fits into cooperate dressing category but all she had was the skirt she had bought when she thought she’ll be going to college, she had bought the ash skirt and a blue top then hoping to wear it for her exams all her hopes crashed when her mum told her she couldn’t gather enough money to pay for her tuition and Elena might have to wait a year to enter school, she had wept and wept but accepted her fate back then.

Looking at the clothe now she said

“perhaps you’ll bring me luck this time around”

turning away she tried on the clothe to see if it still fits and lucky for her, the skirt was made from an elastic material that made it expand enough to fit her perfectly, the skirt hugged her thin figure perfectly, she grabbed the shirt and put it on, the shirt was a bit tight but she hasn’t gained much weight over the years.

“This will do"

She muttered to herself and put her ash jacket over it, looking at herself in the mirror she muttered.

“This will do"

She removed all the clothes and ironed them out, keeping them safely in the wardrobe she grabbed her phone and surf through social media. She caught a glimpse of a familiar face and scrolled back up, looking closely realised it was Ethan’s wedding Invite.