Patty had come into the penthouse some minutes past five in the morning. She had been working for Smith's family as an housekeeper since the time of his father, when the family had been a remarkable, close knit one. It was a heartbreaking experience for her when the family separated. Smith had however requested her service again eight years after. Since then, Patty became more like a family. Sundays had always been her day off, so she made sure Smith lacked nothing by storing food he could easily microwave.. Knowing how her 'young master' like she fondly address him, is almost useless in kitchen activities.
She moved around the house, cleaning up the kitchen first. She used the vacuum cleaner to dust the surfaces, applied some disinfectant in lukewarm water, as she cleaned the entire kitchen surface with it. She checked the time. She had less than an hour to prepare breakfast for the household. She felt excited knowing she would be cooking for more, now that Juliet and Ella are around. Juliet had given her a call last night, informing her of her arrival. She had always loved and respected Patty like she were her mother.
Patty set to work as she prepared scrambled eggs filled with diced bacon, onion, pepper, tomatoes and cheddar cheese. Forty minutes later, she was setting the dining table for Smith; a plate of scrambled eggs, two sausage, whole wheat bread and a cup of steaming coffee laced with cream. She proceeded up the stairs to inform Smith that his meal had been served before heading back to the kitchen to clean up the used utensils and tidy up the place. Knowing that Juliet was not an early person, she reserved her meal and Ella's in the microwave where it would be easy to heat it up later. Juliet had told her how they had stayed a bit later than Ella's bedtime last night, at their own insistence, no doubt since Patty knew how strict Smith can be when it comes to such decisions.
"Thank you Patty." Smith said on his way to the table.
He was set for work, dressed in a navy blue suit and a sky blue striped shirt. He had a navy blue tie on, a black belt riding low on his well trimmed waist and black Tom Ford shoes on. His rolex wristwatch on his left wrist, and a Louis Vuitton suitcase in hand. He came down the stairs, as he headed straight for the table. He was only able to spare five minutes for his breakfast as he quickly grabbed a bite of his meal, drank his coffee before giving James a call to be ready for him. Not that he expected anything less, since he was always active.
He picked up his suitcase once more as he took a long stride to the elevator door. He had instructed James to let the security detail remain in shadows as they used to be. He didn't want to start raising dust or cause unnecessary tension now that his family is around. As it was, Juliet was unaware of the attempted attack on Ella less than 48hours ago.
He arrived the ground floor as the elevator door slid open. He stepped out, heading straight for his Audi, when a lady bumped into him out of no where. Smith came to a halt, looking at the lady in question who immediately roll out a lengthy apology, that he had no choice but to go easy on her.
When she raised her face to meet Smith's burning gaze, she forgot all the reason to apologize as she gushed at the beauty that stood before her in great confidence. She inhaled his scent, a look of pure satisfaction evident on her face as she stretched forth her hand for an introduction.
"Hi! My name is Carmella. I presume you stay on the premises? I stay there too. So, that makes us neighbors? Right?", She said, blabbing on, not waiting for a response from Smith.
He just nodded, sidestepped her as he made for his car. James was already out, opening the door for Smith. He went in, leaving James to close the door behind him.
James roared the engine back to life, pressed the pedal, as he navigates the car to the road. It was usually a 45minutes drive to his office if there was no congestion. James could see the security team, three cars behind them. He had added to his boss' instructions, saying, though they were to remain in the shadows, he want to be able to see them not far behind.
Smith was quite eager to get to work early that morning. He had been looking forward to see Mary, since their meeting yesterday. Luckily, it was a smooth drive to work, as there was no traffic congestion that morning. He was dropped outside his magnificent building around 7:45am. He headed straight for the elevator while James drove the car to the underground garage. Smith was expecting Douglas that morning. His plane had landed around 5am earlier and he had called in to inform Smith he would join him at work as soon as possible.
Clara was already seated at her desk when Smith got to the reception. She stood up to welcome him.
"Good morning sir. You're welcome", She said with a polite smile as she made to collect the suitcase from him.
"Thank you Clara. No, it's fine. Your job does not allow you to leave here, unless for cogent reasons. Don't use me to run off your duty", he replied playfully, walking towards his office section.
Clara felt her day was already made. A good sign it would be exceptional is having her own authoritative, strict and control freak boss, play around and crack light jokes on any day at all. Now, Clara's guess would be Smith had his fair share of crazy sweet bang over the weekend. Clara smacked her lips, careful not to smear her lovely lipstick. She was a beautiful woman in her own right and could hold her fair share of men but her one true wish would be to have a marathon love making with her boss. She hoped that would cure her of her weakness where he was concerned. It would help her get over his charm quickly.
Mike immediately rose to his feet on sighting Smith. He walked to him, greeted him as he collected his suitcase.
"You are welcome sir. Good morning", Mike greeted
"Morning Mike. How are you?" Smith asked
Though unusual, Mike didn't show his surprise as he answered in affirmative that he was fine while he trailed behind Smith to his office.
"Good. Get me my coffee, then we will discuss my schedule for today"
"Right away sir" Mike responded, as he exit the room, going to do his boss' bidding.
Smith was on the phone when he came back with a cup of streaming coffee in hand. He gently placed it on his table while he took a seat opposite Smith, at his signal.
"Yes, that's fine. I'll be expecting you", Smith said before ending the call.
He had just finished speaking with Bugle who had called to inform him he would be around by 9am to have the NDA document signed by Mary.
"Okay, let's hear you. What's my schedule for today?"
Mike adjusted himself on the seat as he launched into details of Smith's tight schedule for the day; meetings, lunch date, picking his friend, Samantha from the airport, amidst others.
"That's a truckload. You know what to do. Filter the least important ones then send me a mail of the very important ones. I'll take it from there".
"Okay, I'll get right into it"
Douglas and Mike almost bumped into each other at the door as Mike opened the door to let himself out. Douglas had not expected the door would open at the exact moment he raised his knuckles to wrap on the door.
"Mike"
"Doug"
"Fuck you!" Douglas said slapping Mike's shoulder playfully.
Douglas stepped in, closing the door behind him.
"Boss"
"Welcome back Douglas. It's good to have you back home. Have your seat".
"Thanks Boss."
"So, what's the urgent matter you mentioned on phone earlier?" Smith asked, eager to get Douglas speaking.
"Sir, it's about Mrs Minali and her daughter, Miss Mary Minali"
Smith didn't know what to expect. When he had asked Douglas about the pressing need he mentioned to him.on phone when he got back that morning. He never imagined Mary's name to come up. Not with the seriousness he sensed in Douglas' voice. He immediately knew something was not right.
"Go on", Smith said forcibly, all playful tone abandoned.
"I thought I had saw that name somewhere, when you first asked me to carry out a profile check on her daughter but I wasn't sure" Douglas said, sparing a glance at Smith who kept a straight face on. His expression unreadable..
"So, I tried looking it up on our database, see if there would be a match with any of our previous assignments. Nothing came up, until two days ago when you sent a file of an ex-employee and your plan to sue her for false allegation and defamation of character, damaging company's reputation..."
"Damn it Douglas! Get to the point!" Smith said, hitting the table hard with his clenched fist.
"Okay. Sorry sir", Douglas apologized as he flushed crimson.
"I hate to break it to you that Mrs Minali, was the woman in question", Douglas said, bowing his head.
Smith didn't have enough time to digest the information when a call came in on his landline. It was Mike
"Yes?" Smith snapped
"Sir, Miss Minali is here to see you".
Smith was silent for a few seconds, not prepared for the news of her arrival, now that Douglas had revealed a very shocking fact to him.
"Keep her in my private hall" Smith said before hanging up.