7-Petty white lies

Do you know that moment when you are conscious of doing something wrong but just to see if someone else picked it up you ask them what? This was that moment.

"Did you read the whole document?" Father asked me.

I gave him my sweetest smile, feeling my heart rate settling again, "Yes, sir."

He signed his neat curly signature on the empty space and placed the pen on the paper.

"Thank you." I told him as he turned back to his waiting clients.

"Sorry about that, it's just some work was stopped because it needed my signature." I heard him say as I turned to leave.

I stood by the door and watched them turn back to my dad and nod.

"You see, that's the best thing about signing with Roseburg Advertisements. We never let anything get in the way of our productivity."

I felt guilt well up inside me, so I shut his door quietly. I felt really bad but good at the same time. If he had just read one word on that document, he was not going to sign it.

I walked past Trisha quickly as she threw me a disapproving look.

Nathan began calling again.

"Oh shoot." I picked up quickly. "Nathan!"

"Where the hell are you?" He asked me. He sounded upset.

"I'm in the office." I told him grimacing.

"The hell, you not. I'm in your office right now." He replied. "Genesis, what are you up to?"

"I am. I'm in the elevator." I told him. "I'll be there now."

He hung up.

Eish. I quickly dialled Steven's number. His line was busy.

"Hey Steven. It's Genesis Roseburg, here. We just spoke at the courthouse about Danlie Forbes. My dad agreed to drop all the charges and signed the document. Please call me as soon as you can." I left a voicemail.

I reached our floor and hurried to Penny's desk.

"How bad is it?" I asked her.

She shook her head slowly at me. "You are the worst."

"I'm sorry." I told her placing the document faced down on her desk. "Keep this here. Don't flip it over."

"O... kay." She said as the telephone rang. She picked up quickly. "Roseburg Advertisements, Labour Department."

I entered my office and found Nathan sitting at the edge of my desk with his arms crossed over his chest. He watched me enter.

"I'm so sorry, Nathan." I told him. "I swear, I didn't even hear most of your calls."

"So, you heard some of them but didn't bother to pick up?" He asked me.

"I... It's just... It was very noisy at the coffee shop."

"Really?" He asked me. Not convinced at all. "Okay..."

I stood there unsure what to say to him.

He nodded. "So, what's that you left at Penny's desk before you walked in?"

How did he...

"Uh, did I?"

"The door is basically glass, Gen."

"Oh that..." I smiled. "Nah, that's just some document that I needed her to fax to Woolworth, for their contract with us to advertise their new stock."

"Genesis, are you playing games with me?" Nathan didn't sound angry. He sounded depressed.

"Games?" I laughed. "Of cause not, which games?"

My phone began ringing. I'm sure it was Steven calling me back. I really needed to take this call. But how could I take it in front of Nathan? And if I left the office or asked him to leave so that I could pick up, he would find me suspicious as hell. But I really needed to take this call. Yoké was probably almost at the prison already.

"Uh... babe this is a very important client, can I just quickly take this call?" I told Nathan.

"Who's the client?" He asked me trying to look at my phone.

"Nathan, please." I said almost begging.

"Take the call." He shrugged. "I won’t disturb you, will I?"

I looked at my phone glaring unknown number back at me. I picked up.

"Genesis Roseburg." I answered.

"Yeah, this is Steven, I got your message."

"I'm glad." I said.

"I'm actually close to the office. You can meet me at the corner coffee shop and hand me the documents."

"Sure. Now?"

"Yes." He responded.

"Sure."

He hung up.

I returned the phone in my purse and went to sit behind my desk. Nathan got up from the table and stood behind the chair opposite me.

"That conversation didn't sound like an important client..." He told me leaning his weight on the chair.

"Nathan what is going on?" I asked him.

"I should ask you that question. What's going on with you?"

"Nothing. I'm just trying to do my work." I told him.

"Where's the coffee you went to buy?"

"I drank it on my way here." I told him. I was feeling restless. I needed to get the documents to Steven fast.

"Really?"

"Nathan please. If you know you won't believe a word, I say then why the questions?"

“Please, don’t do anything stupid..." He said. He looked so sincere. Like he knew exactly what was going on.

I got up and walked to him. "Of cause not.” I replied.

I touched his cheek and looked into his eyes, trying my best to look as convincing as possible. “But right now I really have to get busy with work. I’m really behind, babe.”

He looked at me with the corner of his eyes for a while and then nodded once. "Sure."

He turned and left my office.

I sighed heavily once he shut my door. I watched him walk over to his office slowly and enter. I grabbed my purse and went to Penny.

"Please arrange a proper non-transparent door for me." I told her taking the documents from her desk. "An office is supposed to be a private space."

She laughed. “I’m not sure that’s possible.”

“Eish.”

"Dude, where are you going now?" She asked over her specs which she only wore for style.

"I'll be back now. I'm just going to drop these documents."

"Where to?"

"I'll be back now."

"You know I'm running out of lies to tell your fiancée." She rolled her eyes at me.

***

Steven was standing in front of the coffee shop when I reached him. He looked impatient when he saw me.

"I have somewhere to be after this, you know." He told me.

"Sorry." I grimaced handing him the documents.

He ignored my apology and paged through the document very impatiently to the last page.

"So, Raphael is really agreeing to let this man free?" He asked keeping his eyes on the signature.

"Duh." I shrugged. "If he didn’t, he wouldn't have signed it.

"Why would he allow something like this?"

"Let's just say he listens to his first daughter. Besides you shouldn't worry about that, my dad approved so schedule a hearing, please."

He looked at me for a while and then looked away.

"What?" I asked him.

"Look, scheduling an appeal is not how you think it is."

"What do you mean?"

"This guy might not be set free. Sure, it can help me with the case, maybe give him less time to serve but it's not guaranteed that he will be set free."

My heart fell. I felt so disappointed in myself. What did I do? Yoké can't stay in prison. I won't be able to live with myself knowing that he is in there.

"Maybe we can propose that he be let out on bail?" I suggested. "I'd pay any amount. Please, he can't stay in there."

"Hey, that's not for me to decide. I'm just the lawyer, not the prosecutor. The states decide what happens to him now."

I clasped my hands in a plea. "Steven, I will pay you any amount you want. Please do all that you can. Fight for him."

"You don't have to pay me. The company already does. You want this guy freed, you are the company so I'll do whatever I can. Even though I don't really understand why."

"Thank you." I told him. "Thank you so much."

He nodded slowly. "I have to go now."

"Sure." I nodded.

He unlocked the silver car that I had not even noticed had been parked there on the side of the road. I watched him enter his car and drive off. For a while I just stood there looking at his car get further and further away until it turned the corner.

I got Yoké in there, it's all my fault. If only I actually came by the office on that day when Penny called me. If I saw that it was him, I wouldn't have asked them to phone the police. I would have told them right then and there that Yoké is not Danlie Forbes. He has probably already reached the prison by now. What is he thinking of me? How can I sit here when he is locked up? Steven doesn't even know when the judge will set the appeal. I guess I'll just have to wait it out no matter how much it's killing me.