Juni sat there slumped and tired.he was still there two hours later in that same position except the tears have stopped ofcourse,he just couldn't bring himself to stand up,his.thoughts were plugged,they were not coming through,he couldn't think.
He was still there right there on the floor,his sleeves rolled up when the conference door creaked open and Mark came in but couldn't see him
"Mr Cartel? ..Mr Cartel?you there?" Mark called out but got no response neither sighted his boss here but he saw the scattered documents that were in the folder on the floor in the corner of the room so he made to pick them up,he was bent on the knees,slowly and silently picking them up thinking of what happened in the room when he caught sight of a shadow,tilting his head to.the right,he saw his supposed boss looking straight at him in a daze still on the floor
"Don't pick those up.." Juni said,his voice barely audible
Mark strained to hear him but failed
"Hey..boss" Mark said inching closer to him when he saw no.reply forthcoming,he continued
"Why are you still.in here?What did those stuck -up losers have get say?"
Juni still.kept looking at him like in a daze ,Mark shook in fear
"Hey boss,you there?!you awake? Hey boss!!..bo-.." he was starting to yell.when.he heard Juni audibly "Hey there,Beyonce you shout too much plus I'm no longer your boss"
Mark sighed in relief echoing through the room "woah there,you scared me and why do you mean by your last statement,you know what,you don't have to explain,let's get out of here first"Mark concluded and made to lift Juni up who resisted and made to stand on his own
" Don't prove to be older,Beyonce "Juni said smiling slightly
Mark sighed "you are just unbelievable sometimes"
Juni chuckled and Mark made to continue picking up the documents but was stopped
"Don't pick.those up"
Juni said
Mark was just about to.question him when a voice came from the doorway
"Actually,he should.we have a meeting here in 30 minutes and I don't want to have one in an untidy room"Clara said standing there
Juni frowned then asked her "you knew,didn't you?"
" Yes.. "She answered slowly
" do you.believe that about me,for real? "Juni asked again
She sighed "I don't know what to believe,Cartel" and she was gone,her heels clicking behind her as she made her way back to her office
Juni let out a sigh of his own
"What was that all.
about?" Mark asked in confusion
"You will know soon enough for now,let's get out of here" Juni answered and walked out the big conference room with Mark trailing behind him.
Juni and Mark went down the hallway of the seventh floor to the elevator ,and seeing no glares or looks coming his way yet with his ignorant secretary. Juni knew that they really were letting him go silently. He sighed softly as the elevator hummed and made its way to the floor below
On getting off, Juni made his way as fast as he could to his office , sat on his chair , switched on his laptop and logged into his email , a part of him silently wishing this was a dream but it wasn't, because right there, at the top of his inbox list sat his electronic termination letter. He sighed once again and let out a breath
Just then, Mark came in asking
"So , Mr Cartel, what do you mean earlier? What was the meeting about? I had to come look for you when I saw them leave and you were still not back after an hour"Mark explained
Juni just kept mute but turned his laptop around to his secretary who went speechless for about 5minutes upon seeing the email
"Wait? What? Is this some kind of sick joke, Mr Cartel? This is not in the terms and conditions for the Competition, it's so wrong that you are getting fired just for not signing Angela, A woman who came on to you , the fuck! "Mark said almost yelling
" You think I don't know that?" Juni asked raising an eyebrow at his freaked out secretary
Mark calmed his voice quickly to explain
"Sorry, I just don't know how to take this. Why? What happened?" He inquired
" Angela happened"Juni replied plainly resting further in his office chair
"What do you mean by that?" Mark asked
"Well, apparently I sexually harassed her and tried to blackmail her so she's sueing the company and only agrees to the settlement that I should be fired and laid off" Juni said asked as plain as he could
" And why are you so calm about it?" Mark yelled
"Because I took 2 whole hours in there mainly to freak out,now I'm simply tired"Juni said matter of fact
" Nope,you can't be .she came on to you not the other way around,she can't be serious,did she tell you this directly?"Mark asked
" No,I heard it from the directors "Juni replied before adding shrugging " Plus,how would that help.me?I have been fired anyway"
"Not if she didn't sue you"Mark said slowly
" Well, technically her manager did that on her behalf" Juni pointed out
"Was she aware of this?"
Mark inquired
"That,I do not know but do you think he would just do this?"Juni asked but then suddenly remembered how he didn't seem to like him alll that much
"Okay..you are working an angle here, Beyonce, continue"
"First,I think you need to see and talk to Angela, Second,get your own lawyer,your wife is one for goodness sakes"Mark directed
" Look at you giving orders,you seem so smart,I guess I'm leaving a legacy behind" Juni.said chuckling
Mark sighed and said "you are leaving nothing behind just yet, I'm just protecting the company's legacy"
Juni smiled genuinely at him before asking
" What are you going to do?"
"Oh me?I'm going to go find out if there really isn't any hidden motive behind this termination of a thing"
Mark said
" When did you become so smart?"Juni inquired chuckling slightly like his termination letter wasn't right in front of him literally
"Ever since I became Juni Cartel's secretary" His ever loyal secretary replied smiling.
*****
That eveining, As Juni cruised along the road that led to Angela's hotel, he started thinking about why she would really try to sabotage him if this really was true.
He was only trying to be cheerful in the office but in fact, he was nervous deep inside about what the world held for him if this night mare really was true.
Juni let out a sigh as he parked into the hotel parking lot at around 7pm that evening and gripped the car wheel so tight his knuckles were turning white
He finally let it go with another breath and took a step forward to knowing what the future might hold as he took his phone and sent a message to the young author
"Good evening, Ms Mandela, I just received a disturbing news today and it seems it had to do with you, I just want to talk please, I'm in your hotel parking lot, can you please come out? "
He pressed send and checked it minutes later to get the same results he got during the weekend, the message was seen but there was no reply forthcoming, he tried to have faith and hope that she would come down so he waited and waited for 30minutes
Seeing that, that was not going to happen, Juni sighed and switched the ignition on to back home but then he hesitated, this was his life, why should he give up? He thought to himself as he switched off the ignition and alighted from his car, then started walking towards the doorway he had run from that fateful Friday night
As he came into view of the shining light of the door way path, he saw the smiling face of the doormen turn into a frown as they approached him
"You are Mr Juni Cartel, Correct?" One of them asked
"Yes" Juni replied in confusion
"I'm sorry but you are not allowed to come in here, orders of Ms Mandela Angela"the other explained
Juni went speechless and couldnt move a step "she restricted him from seeing her, so it really is true" he thought
"Mr Cartel? I'm sorry but if you don't leave now, I will have to call the guards, youdont want that do you? Mr Cartel? "They called out
Their words registered with Juni who slowly said a barely audible thank you and made his way back to the car
He sat down in his car and took a deep breath "okay, step one, over and conformed, Angela is well aware that he's being falsely accused by her manager, step two, to find himself a lawyer, that's the easiest part, after all his wife is a lawyer,he would explain everything to her"he thought to himself as he drove out of the hotel parking lot not knowing what was awaiting him at home.
Somewhere up in the penthouse
Angela sighed
"I feel really bad about this"
"What's done is done, going back now means a jail time, babe"Annie said
" Where's Mikasa? "Angela asked changing the subject
" She's at a bar, drinking"Annie answered
" Why? "
" She kinda likes him , you know"
And that marked the end of the conversation
Parking into his driveway at 8pm, Juni sighed and put on a smile and made his way into his house not knowing his day was about to get worse
Waiting for him in the seating room, standing with her arms around her was Carmen Cartel
"What the hell, Juni?"