The Crazy CEO

Lucas Quinn walked into the conference room filled with heads of departments and directors, who in turn stood up immediately after his entrance. 

Bowing their heads, he sat down and gestured for them to do the same. They had gathered up for the preparation of the mid-year appreciation party for Quinns House, a proposal which they were yet to draft out. 

Lucas had denied all of their proposal ideas for the party and everyone was drained. It was one of the many things they dreaded about him. 

His unflappable spirit. 

They had a month until the event, and they have not come up with a theme or concept for it. Knowing that kept them on edge since they knew he was going to keep them them on their toes soon. 

The conference lights went off, leaving the projector rays the only light in the room. 

He cleared his throat and all eyes were fixed on him awaiting his speech. Tired eyes and frustrated expressions laid under the guise of their focused eyes. 

" No one with any more concept for the event? " he asked mockingly, and a voice replied to him. 

" You should fire them all, they are just some bunches of lazy idiots who'd get their paychecks whether or not they do their job"

She stood across the conference room and touched the projector. Pale and white, she looked angry and unsteady as she stared at Lucas. 

" They are the same people who'd get it done, why should I fire them" Lucas concluded, and immediately he said that, his eyes flashed, realizing what had just happened. 

He looked at the faces piercing him, " No, I was just thinking to myself " and they released sighs of relief. 

" Tell them I'm here, this is unfair. You're treating me like I'm dead" She appeared beside him in a flash and wrapped her hands around his neck. 

Feeling uncomfortable, he struggled to free himself and barked at her. 

" Yes, you are. Please just shut up already, I'm trying to think straight "

Lucas looked at the faces across him once again, and he knew what today's headlines would be. Dejected, he ended the meeting and rushed out of the room to his office. 

His secretary knocked and opened the door to his office, handing over an iPad to him. He took it and dumped it on his desk in an exasperating manner after reading its contents. 

He hissed through his teeth, looked up at his secretary, and told him what step they were going to take. 

The elevator opened and Lucas walked out of it, his staffs saw him and began to whisper among themselves and his secretary provided him with a pair of sunglasses which he wore before getting to the reception, where he could make a spectacle out of himself by getting post embarrassment snaps from lurking reporters. 

" I heard he was talking to himself in the conference room"

" Is he crazy? " A voice answered

" The media is already going crazy about this, He's not even a celebrity. I wonder why they are so much interested in him" another voice expressed concern. 

The truth is that Lucas Quinn had had the eyes of the media fixed on him since he was in high school, and his father being a politician made him an interesting topic every day. 

Lucas arrived at his apartment and kicked his shoes off angrily. 

" You should also suspend whoever spreads any rumor at the office too" he glared at his secretary, who bowed, picking up his mobile and excused himself through the front door. 

He opened up his laptop, clicked on his social media page, and began to scroll through. His secretary had made a post about the earlier situation, disregarding it as thinking aloud.

The newly uploaded post had set his mind at ease. He moved to his bedroom and dumped his body on his bed in a bid to take a breather. 

.... 

He jolted from the bed, his body dripping wet with sweat. He placed his two feet on the ground, making a sitting position with his palms on his head, breathing profusely. 

His mobile vibrated, a text from Benjamin. His mouth twitched, and that was a good distraction for him as he dashed into the bathroom for a hot shower. 

He got into the car and peeped at Benjamin, who sat in the driver's seat, busy with the seat belt. Benjamin played the big role of an older brother to him, a driver, secretary, and more importantly, he always had his back. 

Knowing he was going to have a bad dream yet again, he had notified him of an available first edition comics whose abridged edition was trash. He had to get there on time. He hated the slightest touch on any book he was going to buy since he was getting it himself. He had disguised himself in such a way that no one could recognize him. 

Not even the paparazzi! 

He walked into the book store filled with the stench of old books, asking the front desk about the available first edition books. 

"Joe Robert: Duckhead" he said proudly to the receptionist, who wondered how he was able to breathe in his outfit. 

" The last shelf on your right sir"

He moved to the last shelf to pick up the book, as Benjamin had insisted on staying back in the car to avoid unruly questions. 

He picked up the book from it's shelf and proceeded to walk away when a hand stopped him. 

" Are you stalking me now? " A chubby lady questioned him, giving him death stares, which made him wonder what exactly he had done. 

Astounded, he denied stalking her and moved to walk out of her sight when she stopped him again. 

Losing his patience, he turned around to face her. 

" I won't call the police, just hand that book over" she said, sipping her coffee. 

He looked heavenward, cursing her in his mind. Never was he willing to release the book or reveal his identity either. 

" I know you picked that book mainly because of me. Hand it over nicely and I'll let you in on some information about me"

He chuckled and moved a few steps towards her, which made her take some steps backward. 

" I don't know what you want, if it's this book, you can forget about it"

She looked at him with scrutiny and thought, ' What kind of grown up man reads children comics? '

" Sure, you can have it" she walked away while Lucas took the opposite direction. His footsteps withered further and further; then she took an 180 degrees turn and ran after him, snatching the book away from his hand and stopped in front of him, jiggling it in his face. 

Lucas looked at his hands and realized that they were both holding a copy of the same book. The tbook was torn into two. His eyes popped out in dismay. While the smile on her face drowned, she dropped the torn book, running out of his store as fast as her legs could take her. 

His hanging shoulders had dropped in agony. He picked up the torn piece which the lady had dropped, and dashed out of the store. He entered the passenger seat of his car, ushering his secretary to chase after her. 

The day couldn't have been more bad. He had just missed the chance to have the first edition of a classic comic writer in his library. The joy of having it there was like no other. It boosted his self-esteem. All the books he loved did, but his perfect favorite book did get ruined by the devil. 

Yes, she was nothing but a devil who came to ruin things for him, and Benjamin had lost her during the chase. 

Lucas took out the torn book, checking out how much damage had been done to it. The book was torn into halves. He opened the first page and noticed a signature at the end. It was the author's signature. He had signed it to make the book owner a lucky person. 

He squeezed it among the other books in his library, and moved a few steps back to get a good view of it. 

The first shelf read: Joe Robert; Ghost House, Witches Lair, Lockwood, The Boy Who Saw Ghosts, Acherons Corpse and Duckhead. 

He seemed satisfied as his face-beamed with smiles, but was cut short when he noticed that the torn book had made his library ugly. He swore under his breath, picked up his mobile and dialed his secretary's number, which rang twice before he picked up. 

" What took you so long? I called you because I want you to find that girl for me, search the nook and cranny of this city. She is still out there! "

" What girl? " a sleepy voice answered, and then a voluntary cough followed. 

" You don't even know her name, just stitch it up or find a glue"

That was partially true, he didn't know her name, but then Benjamin hanged up.