One Million Dollars!

Sophia

The rays of morning sunlight filtering into the room bathed my face and I opened my eyes. I stared at the ceiling for a while trying to make sense of where I was and why my ceiling had a golden chandelier hanging from it. When I regained full consciousness, memories of last night came rushing into my head.

I sat up on the bed and glanced around the big room in which I now found myself. The large white-painted room was exquisitely furnished with dark oak wood paneling, dark brown billowing curtains of the finest silk and an ocean green marble floor with a tiger skin-patterned rug in the center. The light from the chandelier added more colour to the exquisite headboard of the bed upholstered in dark brown velvet material.

I reached for my bag which had been placed carefully on the polished bedside mahogany table. I took out my phone to check the time. It was a few minutes before eight in the morning.

“Oh no!”

I jumped up from the bed and glanced around, looking for my shoes, when I saw a paper on the dressing table in the room. I picked it up and realized it was a note from Dominick.

Good morning.

Hope you’re feeling better this morning.

You can take some days off to sort out your issues.

I have informed David about it.

You can also make use of the toiletries in the bathroom. Mr Jonathan would have breakfast ready for you before you go.

Dominick.

I wasn’t sure what to make of the note. I dropped it and sat back on the side of the bed, my initial haste dissipating. I casted my thoughts on last night, trying to figure out how I had ended up on a bed in one of the rooms in his mansion. It was likely a guest room from the looks of it.

I remembered being carried by him, and how I liked it so much I slept off in his arms. A blush crept up my cheek as I thought of it. Yes, the feeling was nice, but I wasn’t comfortable with the fact I made myself so vulnerable with him.

I got up after a while and after packing my things, I walked out of the room. I was heading for the door leading outside the house when I heard the butler call out to me.

“Mrs Cloveland. Good morning,” he greeted. The man looked to be a bit older than Dominick himself. The grays in his hair were more prominent than in Dominick’s, but not as stylish as his.

“Good morning,” I returned.

“I see you are on your way out. Your breakfast is waiting in the dining room.”

“Thank you, but I have to hurry out now. I have lots of business to attend to and quite a busy day ahead of me.”

“At least let me pack some of it for you. Mr Farnsworth might frown upon the fact that you didn’t touch any of the food.”

“Alright, but please hurry.”

He left the room and I sat on the same sofa on which I slept off the previous night. I could still catch a whiff of his cologne in the room. The butler arrived shortly after with a paper bag and handed it to me.

“Thank you very much,” I said, getting up.

“You’re welcome, madam.”

My stomach turned at the way he addressed me. “Please, just call me Sophia.”

“My apologies. Have a good day,” he said and I headed out.

I got into my car and took one last look at his mansion, which looked more magnificent being bathed by the morning sun.

I thought about the fact that he didn't made a move on me despite seeing how vulnerable I was the previous night. It seemed as though I could still remember the feeling of those large arms of his around me, and honestly, I wish I could feel them once more.

As I drove out of the mansion, I took out my phone and dialed John’s number. It rang repeatedly without any response. I tried several times more, before I decided to call my lawyer.

“Sophia. Good morning.”

“Good morning, Paul. Any news?” I was in no mood for pleasantries.

“Nothing, yet, but I have got the police working on finding her,” he replied.

“He called me yesterday.”

“What did you say?” His voice laced with surprise.

“He called me last night. He was making demands, saying I must fulfill them if I ever wanted to see my daughter again.”

“Is he crazy? Does he know how much trouble he’s got himself into already?”

“I recorded the call. I had a hunch he would call and installed a call recording app. I will send it to you to help in the divorce case.”

“That would indeed be useful.”

“I also want to sue the hospital, Paul. I can’t overlook the fact that their carelessness got us into this mess in the first place. How can they say they didn’t get a copy of the court order?”

“Beats me too. I spoke to the receptionist and the nurses said to have discharged her. They still stand upon the fact that since they already knew him as her father they let her take him. Also, I’m guessing seeing such a document scared them. No one wants to get involved in such cases.”

“That’s no excuse, Paul. They must admit it. They were careless, and I am suing them.”

“Alright, but for now, let’s focus on getting your daughter back.”

The call ended and I focused on getting home. I had to clean myself up and return to head over to work. It felt wrong to me to take a leave at this critical time in the organisation.

My heart jumped in anticipation when I heard my phone ring from my bag. Thinking it was John, I quickly picked it up but saw David’s name instead. I became even more tensed seeing his name. Since the announcement of the merger, I had begun attributing David’s call to trouble. I thought of ignoring it in order to get home first, thinking he wanted to tell me Dominick had informed him about my leave, but I changed my mind and answered it.

“Good morning, David.”

“Sophia!” The sound of his voice worsened my tension further.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“Where are you?” He fired.

“On my way home,” I replied.

“We need you here now.”

We?

“What’s the problem?” My heart was pounding in my ears and I thought I'd die from the whole tension.

“Your report is being reviewed by the board right now, and a big deficit was discovered. Over one million dollars unaccounted for. You need to come and explain now!”