Juni Cartel made his way to the office that morning with a sad smile on his way, he wondered what his loyal secretary would react when he crashes his high hopes and expectations, he tapped his foot repeatedly against the accelerator while tapping his hands on the steering wheel as he made a turn in direction of the road that led to his adored workplace.
He alighted from the car with a sigh and checked his messages again, she saw the message alright but there was no reply forth coming, he wanted to call but he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable so he didn't. He wondered what was going on with her as he grabbed his briefcase full of dashed hopes and made his way to the doorway where he was greeted by the doorman before heading to the, he elevator where he came face to face with the fifteen year old bellboy whose dream he almost dashed and was wondering if this was how the boy felt, did it hurt this much? Juni asked himself rhetorically.
"Good morning, Mr. Cartel "The boy greeted as the elevator hummed to go up
"Morning, Sammy, is it?" Juni replied
"You still remember my name still?" the boy's face lit up as Juni smiled right back
"It's a name I can't forget, you are a determined one and I like that about you" Juni said, he didn't know why but he felt comfortable talking to the bellboy maybe because he saw his younger determined self in him. That's right, it was determination that brought the position where he was currently, with that reminder. Juni felt strength course through him
"It will be two weeks by Monday sir and it will either you get review my book or give me a thousand bucks right?" The boy reminded Juni
Right, it's been two whole weeks and it had gone by so fast that he didn't even notice, Juni kept that thought to himself and smiled as he ruffled the fifteen year old boy's hair saying "It's a deal Tommy" before stepping out just as the elevator opened on his floor leaving an astonished bellboy behind him.
The smile on his face disappeared when he saw his grinning secretary waiting for him at the door.
"Good Morning, boss" Mark said with his signature boyish grin plastered on his face
"Morning, Beyoncé " Juni said with a sad smile as he bounded into his office, dropping his briefcase on his table, he took a stance at the window with his hands in his pocket when mark came in right after him
"So...when are we moving?" Mark asked obviously grinning from ear to ear before adding "also there's an email from the headquarters, I forwarded it to your mail, and did you check yet?"
"Would it be that bad if I remained an editor for a few more years, Mark?" Juni asked without moving to face his secretary
"Wow, you called me by my name, I was almost thinking you forgot "Mark said chuckling then paused when Juni's question sinked in
"What went wrong?" He managed to croak out, when Juni didn't answer, Mark made his way over to him where he stood looking emotionless but the façade broke and mark watched as the man he had come to respect so much for many years break down and choking on his words as he replied
"Everything, mark, everything went wrong"
Juni finally turned around like in a daze and moved to his office chair where flopped down and told mark everything that had transpired between him and the young author up to the fct that she wasn't replying or contacted him at all.
When he was done, Mark moved from where he had been frozen to his boss with a focused look on his face and his comforting hand on Juni's shoulder,he said with smile shrugging "I guess its not time for Clements to lose their best editor yet."
Juni smiled and thought to himself "Thank you ,Beyonce".
After an hour since Mark and Juni had accepted the new fate given to them, Mark came in again
"Hey boss, you did not forget the meeting with the branch manager, did you?" He asked
" Oh right, you mentioned that , what time? " Juni asked
" 12pm"He answered
"Any hint on what this could be about? "The editor inquired
" I don't know but it seems to be about the competition" Mark answered slowly
Juni sighed and let out a deep breath " let me just go through some files here, remind me again when it's 11:40am"
" Okay boss"Mark replied.
******
Knock knock, Juni matched his knuckles with his Branch mangers , Clara Thomas door
"Come in" She called out and he squeeze the door handle taking a deep breath as he stepped inside
"Oh, hello Mr Cartel, it's been quite a while, please do seat down"Clara said
"Good morning ma'am"he replied as he took his seat opposite her
"It's been a long two weeks, I hope you used it well" she stated smiling
He smiled back slightly with no reply, when she saw that none was forthcoming, she continued
"So the headquarters contacted me and would like to get the review on Monday whether you were successful or not, they would be coming here personally to do that and would like you to be prepared and early"she finally concluded
" Oh okay ma'am, No problem. Thanks for passing the information along"He replied
" So how was it? Signed yet? Charles told me his went quite well"She asked smirking
Juni wondered just what the relationship was between the two and what she meant that it went well.Did Charles sign the great Mason Wood?.he thought but then rebuked himself, ofcourse he didn't choose wrongly.his role model definitely can't fail like he just did.
Juni wondered where he went wrong,his thoughts were however interrupted by Clara clearing her throat
"Ma?" He said waiting to hear what she had to say
"You didn't answer my questions. Are you okay?" She asked again
" I'm okay.Which question is that ma'am? "He inquired
" How's it going with you? "Seeing how confused he seemed, she added "the competition"
It finally dawned on him and he replied as he straightened his sleeves "It's coming along"
She frowned slightly "best of luck then, note that you only have till Sunday, make the most of it, Juni"
." Ofcourse , ma'am . thanks. "he replied smiling slightly
" Great, you can go know" she concluded
"Okay ma'am"He said and got up to leave,
He was out the door when he heard her chuckle and wondered why that was but didn't think much of it as he walked down the hallway to the elevator.
Meanwhile, Angela was on the phone with Stephen
"Damn it, I shouldn't have drank so much ,I should have been there for you, I'm so so sorry"He said over the phone
" Its fine"Angela said lowly
" You sure? He didn't hurt or try anything worse or anything? "He asked
" No, I got away before anything could happen" She replied
"I fucking knew it, his face was shady, I want to literally shove that bastard's face in a rock right now"Angela could practically hear his growling over the phone
Her manager has always been overprotective in his own way and this time, she was going to take advantage of that and put it to good use
"You don't worry, Angela, just relax and rest, I will make a few calls and let everyone see him for who he really is, with this , we can get something better out of meeting him"He finally concluded
" Okay, Stephen. You will be here soon right? "She asked
" In 10minutes,I promise"he growled over and the line went dead
Angela smiled to herself . Things were going as planned hopefully , nothing gets messed up and she would have herself an opportunity and also clear up last night's events.
****
Monday Morning couldn't be any better for the Cartel's.It was a new week and a new day.
"You sure you are going to be fine today?" Carmen asked her husband as he dressed up
" Ofcourse, mom"he replied teasing her then with his trousers worn, he went to the bed where she laid, leaned down and kissed her lightly
"Good morning babe"
"I hate when you don't let me counter your *mom* attack" She said pouting as he went back to dressing up
"Is this place noisy?" Is that why I can't hear your good morning words? "He asked pretending to try and listen over non existing noise making her laugh
"You are such a dork" She commented
"I'm your dork" he says smiling then pointed to his marriage ring which layed perfectly well on his fourth finger before adding "forever"
She laughed and made to get up then finally said "Good morning to you too, dorky"
"No,you don't" he cautioned raising up a finger at her
" Don't what?"she asked chuckling ,moving closer to him at the mirror
"Do not call me dorky" He reprimanded her
"I can call you whatever I want"
She rebelled
"Okay Mom" He said smirking as she made to knot his tie
And soon enough,he was begging her to loosen the knot as she tightened it a bit too strong
She chuckled as she loosened it and made it properly
"God,the women in my life" he thought.