"Why do you want to know?", asked Ukraine, disguising his startle with a smile.
It came as a surprise to him when Leo suddenly asked about Kro, but there seemed to be more about that question from how Leo glared at him. Ukraine knew of the closeness between Leo and Kro and thus made him wonder what Kro said to Leo to make him reach out for an interrogation.
"I have every right to be concerned about Kro because we're family." Leo explained "And I also have the right to warn you."
"Warn me? You came here to warn me?",
"Yes. I'll say it once; if you have any ulterior motives towards her, you better stop now. It's for your own good",
"Or what?",
"Oh no, no Ukraine, I won't do anything." he shook his head, "It's Kro who'd do something about it. As a person who knows Kro more than anyone in this life, I'm just hoping that you have pure, harmless intentions",
"I have to correct you, man. I don't and I'll never have feelings for Kro. I'm just a friendly person. I always want to make friends with people I like. As you said, my intention towards Kro was to make her my friend, nothing more nothing less",
Ukraine's phone started ringing, like it was on que. He shifted the bags to his left hand and fished his phone out of the jeans. It was Misaki calling.
"Excuse me", he kindly told Leo then picked up the phone, "What's up?",
"Yo, come back to the office, we have a big problem", she was whispering, and that was enough to give him a fright,
Without asking the reason, he hung up and hopped in the elevator.
Leo watched him as the doors closed, a bit curious to know what that phone call was about. But he was a busy man too, and CC's official matters were none of his concern.
....
MINISTRY OF ARCHEOLOGY
Mr. Akeshi's office
Akeshi had been waiting for one among his most efficient men to get to his office. He had a very important task that he wanted to bestow upon him. The wait wasn't too long as the guy arrived. He walked straight to the minister's desk and took a seat,
"Good afternoon, sir", the man was the first one to speak,
"Yes, afternoon. Thank you for meeting me despite your busy schedule",
"No, please. I always have time for you sir",
"I appreciate it",
Akeshi was ready to talk business,
"Misaki came to me last weekend, she talked about something very sensitive and concluded that she doesn't trust me anymore. Do you know how painful that feels, Deus?",
"I do, and I can't compare",
"There's someone who got on the wrong foot with her, her name's Karina. Misaki thinks I sent that girl to her office to cause trouble, but the truth is I've never even heard of that name before. This Karina, I want to know everything about her, you can do that for me, right?",
"Yes sir, I can",
"If Misaki says she's a red flag then it means there's something fishy about this girl",
"If I may ask, what's your aim?",
"I just want to show my daughter that I've changed, and I don't have anything to do with Karina. But I also want to make sure that this girl doesn't do anything to jeopardize my relationship with Misaki, I just want to make everything simple and clear",
"You got it sir, I won't let you down",
Deus got up and walked out of the office, leaving the minister impatient to put everything back in its place.
....
CC Marketing department
Sue's worst nightmare happened in broad day light, grabbing everybody's attention. A mature woman in a formal green suit stood before her. Her hair was grey, and despite wearing glasses, Sue could sense the sour stare from her. Every member who was inside the office maintained calmness but stayed alert. The mother-in-law didn't seem harmless, instead her presence intoxicated the atmosphere.
Sue wasn't sure how to act, her greatest enemy was her greatest weakness too. The fear in her eyes was what the mother-in-law was going for, and without a doubt, she had her answer,
"Let's talk inside my office, please. We shouldn't distract my team, as you can see, they're very busy", politely, Sue asked,
But despite that, the mother-in-law chose to ignore her. Sue's reputation was the least of her concerns,
"Where is she? Where is Zoe?", asked the mother-in-law, standing at a perfect distance to reach for Sue's neck, she was just counting the minutes before throwing a physical tantrum,
"Wh _ what are you talking about? You stayed with Zoe all this time, you even sent her to a different school, how would I know where you hid her?",
"I'll ask again, where the hell is my granddaughter? I'm not a fool you know, I know it's you who came to take her, where is she?",
"How would I know? I haven't seen my daughter in 2 years, I can't believe you lost her and then reversing the blame towards me. Now, I'll be the one to ask you, what did you do to my daughter?",
"Sue, you better listen t_",
"NO, you listen to me", now Sue was infuriated, "I'm done being your punching bag", with bitter emphasis, Sue spoke,
Nobody inside the room understood what was going on, but they were now getting the idea. Sue had tried to keep it a secret from everyone, but there was no point in doing that anymore. She started by pretending, but her emotions took over her in a second. Her fear was gone.
"You better find my daughter, because if you won't I don't know what will be left of you_",
"You're not in a position to threaten me Sue, not even an inch! So, I'll ask for the last time. Where did you hide Zoe?",
The two tense women glared at each other bitterly, each seeing the anger sparkling under each other's eyes. The distance between them was to fit a thread, and nobody between them was flinching.
The door fell open and Ukraine rushed inside, just to find that scene. He was surprised to find people calm, watching their boss being humiliated. Being the only man in the room at that time, he decided to step in and cut whatever was going on. He quickly put the lunch bags down and rushed to the ladies,
"Excuse me for interfering this but you guys should stop this. It's not the environment for this type of conversation", politely, Ukraine said, standing in between,
But not one of them wanted to do what he asked, instead, the mother-in-law shifted her glare from Sue to him,
"And who are you supposed to be? What do you know about this type of conversation? Why is a man like you so nosy?", with a raged sass, the mother-in-law questioned him,
"I'm Ukraine, and this is an office. I understand that you're going through something, but this isn't the place for it. If the president finds this scene happening, miss Sue's job will be at risk_",
"It seems you know Sue more than I do_",
"Stop this. All of you! Ma'am, let's talk in my office", Sue interrupted, "If you don't want to, you better leave!",
But it seemed the woman's attention was already fixed in Ukraine,
"I'm having a feeling that Sue and you worked together to steal my granddaughter. Is that right? Because every person in this room wasn't confident enough to walk here and interfere, but you did. What are you? Her boy-toy?",
"MA'AM, ENOUGH_",
"I guess everyone here thinks I'm the bad guy", the mother-in-law began, and from the way she started smiling suspiciously, Sue knew the bomb was about to explode, "You might think I'm the evil mother-in-law who treated Sue like shit, but you're wrong",
"Let's talk outside, please",
"You said your name is Ukraine, right? Let me ask you this question boy, what would you do to the person who killed you child?",
"Please, stop this_", begged Sue, ready to get on her knees,
"For some of you who worked with Sue for more than 3 years, you were there when her husband died. What you didn't know is why he died, and the truth is _", she pointed at Sue, "This woman right here killed my son!",
A wave of commotion and murmurs suddenly invaded the office, everyone being dumb-founded and shocked. If the ground had the habit to swallow things when it's asked, then Sue would've asked the ground to swallow her that instant.
They say enough is enough, and that was what Ukraine thought. Looking at his Sue's face, it became obvious the what the woman said was true. But at the same time, he didn't want to be like those who believed everything they heard, he still chose to take Sue's side.
To everyone's surprise, Ukraine grabbed the mother-in-law's hand and started dragging her towards the door, ready to kick her out.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? LET ME GO THIS INSTANT, LET GO OF ME!", yelled the woman furiously, but Ukraine didn't seem to care,
"We don't allow people like you in our office. Unless you learn how to be polite, you won't be treated politely too", he said to her,
He finally got to the door and opened it. He let go of the woman's hand,
"Get out!", he said, commanding,
"HOW DARE YOU",
The mother-in-law had planned it all along, that the moment Ukraine let go of her hand she was to reward him with the spiciest, most heaviest slap. She rose her hand was about to smack his face when suddenly someone caught her hand halfway to Uk's cheek.
It was Kro, grasping the woman's hand tightly in hers. She eyed the woman while maintaining her calm,
"You don't get to hit him, not on my watch", she declared,
*****