2

It seems that the whole world has come to a stop and it's just her and Malik. He is holding her waist firmly, saving her from the embarrassing fall.

His beautiful face has a small smile on it and his left hand is in his pocket, he doesn't need two hands to save her - he is strong like that.

She adjusts as soon as her senses come back to her and she adjusts her skirt and pushes her bangs away from her eyes.

"Hi, Edna." He waves. He doesn't have to, she is right in front of him.

"Malik. Hi. Thank you. " That's one awkward sentence for her and she turns around and disappears through the door.

She takes her bag from Kim and walks to the elevator. Dimore is right behind her, but she hardly acknowledges his presence.

She presses the elevator buttons and impatiently waits for it to start to move. When it starts to move, she keeps tapping her feet on the ground and uncomfortably moves her weight from one leg to the next.

It's just an awkward slip and Malik happened to be the one who stepped in, she doesn't know why she is getting worked up about it, it's absolutely nothing.

But that's not what her brain is telling her, she wants to behave like it's actually nothing, but she knows that it is not true.

Maybe because Malik has been her crush all throughout her high school, but that's because every other girl was crushing on him too.

He was tall and played basketball, but unlike the typical sport boys, he didn't struggle with his grades.

Unlike Keith, Malik won everything with almost zero effort and he didn't go about the place with his shoulders up in the air, he was still down to earth and that's why everyone loved him.

He didn't notice her, not years after high school when their dad brought up the proposal of her getting married to Keith, and even with that, he is the sweetest brother-in-law. He is the only one in the family who isn't mean to her.

The elevator stops and she steps out of it and hurriedly begins to walk down the hall. This is her office floor, and she gets to her office.

Her secretary, Olivia, is admiring her afro hair on the screen of the computer when she catches the sight of her boss getting in and that makes her short up to her feet quickly.

"Good morning, ma'am. " She says as she takes her bag.

She looks at Dimore with shy eyes and looks away almost immediately. She follows her boss into the office and shut the door.

Edna walks straight into her chair and sinks right into it with a heavy sigh. She drops her head backward and wipes her brow.

It has been hectic already and not even half of the day has gone by yet. She is already exhausted, but she hasn't even started the day's work.

" You had a few calls and the Koreans want to speak directly with you. " Olivia tells her.

"Oh, God. " Edna complains. " Why do I have to suffer so much? It isn't even my dad's company. "

Olivia clears her throat and observes her feet. That's much better than commenting on a situation that is none of her business.

" The conference meeting is in an hour and you have A LOT of paperwork to go through before that. " Olivia drops the bag on the table and some files that she has been carrying too.

She pushes it towards Edna and arranges it in a straight order.

"Do you need coffee? Tea? Water?" She inquires from her boss.

" I'm fine, Olivia. " She shakes her head and begins to go through the file. " Just make sure that you remind me ten minutes before the meeting is supposed to kick off. "

"Alright. " Olivia nods and begins to leave the office. She stops halfway, she has forgotten to tell something to her boss.

She slowly turns around and begins to walk back to her boss. Given that this particular discussion is very crucial, she sits and pulls close to her boss.

Edna looks up and she knows immediately. This is one of their secret talks, their discussions that no one knows about.

"Your mum called. " Olivia tells her in a low voice. " It was late yesterday and I told her that I was not with you. "

Edna bites her lips. Her problems are without numbers and they keep slapping her right in her face.

" She needs money, right?" Edna says.

"She does. " Olivia replies. " She wants a few thousand because her " expensive car" broke and it will cost a huge amount to fix. "

Edna feels relieved. She is glad that it's just the car and it's not that her mum or dad's health is going bad again. Her brother is enough to worry for the whole family already.

" Can you please send it to her, the usual way? " Edna requests. " Also tell her that I am going to call her later today. I am going to credit your account as soon as I get my monthly allowance. "

"No problem. " Olivia stands up and begins to leave again. She gets to the door and turns the knob and leaves.

Edna sighs and grabs the files. She wants to dive Right into work because she knows that if she doesn't do that, she is going to start to think about her family situation and all her problems and she is going to start to cry and she doesn't want that.

Her father-in-law is a very clever man. The deal was he would pay off her family loans and send them monthly upkeep if she agrees to marry his son.

He would also take care of her elder brother who has been in a coma for years now. It costs a lot of money to keep him on life support and her family can't afford to do it without Mister Jackson's help.

Her family lives in luxury, and she does too, but they are broke all the time, she just can't explain it.

She has a monthly allowance too, but she is not allowed to send anything to her family, she is not even allowed to speak to them.

Her secretary is her emergency line, but the least she can do is to send them meager money and promises of a better tomorrow.

She doesn't see any light at the end of the tunnel for her. She is going to be stuck in this loveless marriage forever and she is going to die an unhappy woman.

She sniffs and continues to work. It's going to be an hour soon and she, the face of the company, is going to be addressing some pressing issues and she is going to need all the strength and sanity that she can muster.

******

" Do you need to hold my hand?" Dimore teases her. " Nervous?"

She shoots a glare at him with a smile and rolls her eyes and this makes him burst into laughter.

" I have done this many times, Dimore, I am going to be fine. " She assures him.

She has done this many times, true, but she is just as nervous as the first time.

" Do you want a piece of advice though?" Dimore comes a bit forward so that their shoulders are touching and he adjusts the security earpiece over his ear.

"Okay?"

" Just breathe. " He chuckles. " You are a boss, you have got this. "

As Short and simple as this advice is, it means the world to her and she is very grateful for it.

She nods and pats him on his shoulder and this makes him smile.

They both walk towards the conference Hall with Dimore behind her, and as soon as they get in her eyes are met with the tens of flickering lights.

She sighs and takes an awkward step back, she would have lost balance if not for Dimore who supports her.

He stands as a shield between her and the cameras so that she would see properly and she makes her way to the platform and takes a seat.

The many microphones mounted in front of her are so intimidating, but she just breathes, as Dimore told her to.

She looks at the eager journalists, their recorders thrust towards her and they have their pens against papers, fingers against keyboards of laptops, waiting for her to start speaking so that they can take down everything, word for word.

She says a short prayer and leans towards the microphones and smiles at the crowd.

"Good morning everyone, thank you for honoring our invitation today. " She says.

"Is it true that Mister Jackson cheated his partners, Daven Gold, out of his share of the new gold mine and that's why there hasn't been a word from the Jackson companies since then?"

The first journalist doesn't even let her finish speaking before firing the question at her.

She blinks a few times and begins to think of the best way to answer his question.

The truth is that she knows exactly what happened between Daven's Gold and Mister Jackson, even though she wasn't part of their business, she knows that Mister Jackson cheated them.

Her job is not to tell the whole world that her father-in-law did wrong, or is a bad person, her job is to cover up for him, and tell a lie if she has to.

"Uhm, Devan gold had a lot of problems even before approaching us for business, it's not fair of you to accuse us of cheating them and running down their business. " She says smartly.

The journalist begins to feverishly type, or write down what she has said.

"Nailed it. " She praises herself under my breath. That's why she is the trophy wife.

Just as they are getting ready to fire fresh questions at her, the door opens and someone steps into the room and causes every breath to cease, including Edna's.

It's Malik again. He hardly comes to conferences, wondering what he is doing here.

The journalists rush towards him like a give of bees and they flash and click their cameras aggressively at him.

He seems to be enjoying it very well because he adjusts his sleeves and poses for the cameras.

When he is satisfied, he walks to join her at the pavement, his two assistants are half running behind him, trying to catch up with him.

He flashes a smile at her and gives him an awkward nod to acknowledge his presence. He sits close to her and leans against his seat and proceeds to drink from the bottle of water in front of him.

He is not being nonchalant or anything. He is just being relaxed because he is going to handle this well, more than she is doing. He is not being proud or anything, he is just Malik Jackson.

" Are you guys ready?" He says in the microphones.

The eager journalists look so ready that you would think that they are eager sprinters waiting for the baton to fall into their hands so that they can show off their skills like Usain Bolt.

" The Jackson empire wants you to forget everything about Devan gold, we are not responsible for their misfortune, as my colleague has said. "

He touches her shoulder briefly and for that brief moment, she felt a jolt of electricity through her body.

" There is bigger news." He adds. " The Jackson empire is set to become close business partners with the Kim Soo family. "

The journalists begin to loudly talk amongst themselves and begin to take down notes again. They seem to be excited by the news, but she is confused, on her part.

Kim Soo family? The same family that has been rivals with the Jackson empire for decades now? The same family that Mister Jackson hates with every fiber of his being.

"In fact," Malik smiles. " I and Mrs Edna will be traveling down to Korea soon to strengthen this new bond. "

Uproar. The journalists are screaming at the top of their lungs and Edna is very confused. What a way to hear about her latest trip.