Kaima had been running so fast in her heels with the determination to go into the event hall and mix with the crowd so as to lose her pursuers. She was about to make the final turn into the busy hall when they caught her.
They held her by both arms dragging her helpless body through the empty hall ways as she struggled for freedom. She screamed and shouted for help but there was no one around. They dragged her back to the male restroom where the gruesome incident occurred. They finally let her go after placing her on the pool of blood right beside the lifeless body of the man in white.
Just then the navy blue man walks up to her then directs a gun at her forehead. She begged and pleaded to him not to pull the trigger but - BANG!
Kaima gasped in fear as she threw her eyelids open. She inspected her surrounding to find out she was home. She sat up on her bed still looking around in relief. She found out it was just Kiara who had broken a vase, which had made the loud bang she heard.
Last night, after that terrible incident, she told Isa what had happened but she didn't believe her. She decided to go home earlier than usual, using a taxi since Isa had wanted to stay back.
She slowly laid back on the bed but just then she remembered she was supposed to be at work by 8:00. She checked the time on her bedside alarm clock and it was 8:30. This wasn't the first time she was late to work. Recently she had received a lot of complaint from her supervisor about her usual late coming. This was supposed to be her last chance as she had been given a written warning.
She jumped off the bed and into the shower. She did her every morning routine and in ten minutes she was fully dressed. She didn't have much time left as she still had to drop Kiara off at the dog daycare.
****************************************************
She entered into the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor. It was past nine that meant she was really late. She hoped she wouldn't bump into any supervisor or superior before she got to her table. She stepped into the general office, to her surprise it was unusually orderly. It used to be a busy place with her co-workers bustling around the office.
She hurriedly walked up to her table still confused on what was going on. She sat at her desk then turned to her colleague sitting next to her.
"Michael" she called.
He turned to her direction and answered with raised brows.
"Have they taken attendance?" she asked in fear.
"No" he replied.
She was happy but confused as the attendance were usually taken already by this time. She wondered why they decided not to.
"Why?" she asked in confusion.
"Haven't you heard?" he asked. "The CEO of Niven Enterprise, Zain Niven is right here at our firm"
"I've heard that name somewhere" she said. "Who is that?"
"Don't you know about Zain Niven" he said in disbelief. "He is the youngest, most successful and most popular businessman in Tael. He is so powerful that he is able to manipulate the city in any area. I'm sure no one wants to mess with someone like him"
She was surprised at how powerful a person could be but was confused on his unusual arrival.
"Why did he come all of a sudden?" she asked.
"No one knows, even the superior bosses were shocked at his sudden arrival." he replied.
Kaima was so happy this Zain Niven had come to save her. If he hadn't come, she was sure she would have lost her job. She was so happy that she could keep her job.
Her happiness turns to fear when a messenger tells her that she was called by the CEO. She wondered if her late coming was so serious that she was called by the CEO himself.
She slowly walked towards the large door with the words engraved on it "CEO: James Brent". She suddenly felt hot and sweats started to form on her face. The closer she was the more she was dripping. She was at the door and decided to wipe her sweat in order to look presentable.
She gave a gently knock on the door before turning the handle and slowly opening the door. She walked into the office to see him attending to two people, one sitting and the other one standing behind.
"Good Morning sir" she said.
All attention turns to her and they all turned to see who it was. She froze at a spot in horror when she saw who him- the handsome young man in navy blue last night. Behind him was another man in black wearing a dark shades probably his body guard.
"Have you guys met?" her boss asks.
"N-no, we haven't" she replied quickly while avoiding his eye contact.
She tried her best to keep a professional stance without making it look weird.
"Miss Ellis, this is Mr. Niven," he said pointing to him. "Mr. Niven, this is Miss Ellis"
She was so shocked that the famous Mr. Niven everyone talked about was the same man who heartlessly shot someone dead during the charity event. It puzzled her on how such a good looking man could be this dreadful.
"She's the right person for the job" Zain said.
"But Mr. Niven, you haven't even gone through her employee records" the CEO said.
"I don't have to," he asked. "What is her worth?"
Kaima just watched in confusion, it sounded like she was to be sold off. She felt weird, they were talking about her yet she didn't have a say in it. She decided to intervene.
"Please Sirs, don't you think my consent is needed when talking about matters like this" she interrupted.
"I'm sorry, Miss Ellis and what is your choice?" Mr. Brent asked.
"I don't want the job" she said plainly caring less that Zain was right there.
"Are you sure?" Zain asked.
"Hundred percent" she said.
For the first time, she looked him in the eyes. He gave a cold look that sent shivers down her spine but she comported herself and stared back into his eyes.
"Mr. Brent" Zain said coldly. "You do know, I do not pardon rejection"
His tone sent chills to her. She wandered if the serious looking businessman at her front was the same pervert of last night.
"Sir, I'll talk to her" Mr. Brent said.
Kaima was shocked as she had never heard Mr. Brent call someone Sir with so much respect. He was usually a proud person but now he was calling Zain Sir with respect. Mr. Brent stood up from his sit.
"Mr. Niven. Could you just give me a minute to talk to her about this?" he asked.
"Just a minute" he replied coldly.
Mr. Brent left the office with Kaima behind him like a faithful servant. They got outside the office.
"Are you out of your mind?" Mr. Brent said angrily. "Why would you talk in that way to Mr. Niven, don't you know he can determine the success and failure of this firm?"
"I'm sorry Sir, but I can't just leave my job to work in his firm. It's not proper" she said standing firm on her decision. "This is where I opted for when I decided to get a job not there"
"And do you think I care about that shit!" he shouted.
She was taken aback because she wasn't used to seeing Mr. Brent this angry. He was usually a happy person who smiled every time but now he seemed super stressed. She heaved a sigh of defeat.
"Sir, you just need to give me some time to think over it" she said.
"If it's time you want, it's time you'll get" he calmed down. "Just make sure you don't let your personal decisions affect the company I worked hard for"
He walked into the office to see Zain staring at him continuously, obviously expecting a feedback.
"So…?" he asked plainly.
"Mr. Niven, I've talked to her and she said she was going to think about it" he said.
"I'm giving you till tomorrow" he said.
Zain stood from the chair and walked out closely followed by his bodyguard. Just at the door, he met Kaima staring at him in fear. The sharp mouthed Kaima was obviously trembling. He shot her a cold look and resumed his journey.
Kaima felt relieved once he passed by her. It felt like his presence had choked the air she breathed.