The Next Day***
It was a Saturday morning and a young man who should be in his early thirties was seen staring at printed pictures of Carl. The young man's name was Seth Kennedy but he was mostly referred to as Dr. Ken by his employers and his patients. He is a professional surgeon who is very skilled at what he does.
He is lightweight but very good looking and the black suit he was wearing made him look so formal. There were two other men in the living room with him and one of the men was his bodyguard who was like his sidekick. He has worked with the surgeon for several years and the surgeon trusts him a lot. The other man in the room was a private detective.
There were lots of different pictures of Carl, scattered everywhere on his desk. One of the pictures was showing an image of Carl entering his car and there was another picture of him in a court charging a criminal. It seemed as if Carl's daily life was being displayed in pictures. However, the picture that got the surgeon's attention was the picture of Carl kissing Anne against the wall.
The surgeon dropped the picture on his desk and took another picture of Carl. In that picture, it showed him and Cassandra entering a restaurant together. The surgeon had a puzzled face as he kept staring at the two pictures.
"Are you sure these two events happened on the same day?" Dr. Ken said to the private detective who was standing next to him by his right.
The private detective who doesn't even have a license was recently employed by the surgeon. He had been discreetly following Carl for quite some time, photographing him at various locations. It was all part of the job he was hired to do.
Surprisingly, the private detective also followed Carl to the restaurant where he took Cassandra. He watched as Carl received a note and he was curious to see what was written on that note. A few moments later, he saw Carl entering the storage room. The private detective would've followed Carl to see what he was up to but he didn't want to stir up any suspicion so he ordered a meal like everyone else, meanwhile, he was a spy.
After a while, he saw Cassandra rushing to sit down on her seat and he noticed her crying no matter how hard she tried to hide it. The private detective suspected that Carl's date must've seen or heard something that broke her heart.
Out of curiosity, the private detective walked to the door of the storage room. He carefully opened the door without making any sound and then he saw Carl and Anne making out. He quickly brought out his phone and started taking pictures of them kissing. He made sure Carl and Anne's faces were vividly seen in the pictures.
The private detective closed the storage room door and suddenly, a waiter tapped him to leave the scene because he was starting to look suspicious.
"Yes sir, I am a hundred percent sure that these two events happened on the same day. The only reason why the prosecutor is not wearing his tuxedo jacket in this picture is because his date was putting it on,"
"If you say so," Dr. Ken replied with a shrug. Although, he was surprised that Carl of all people would get involved with two women at the same time. He knew Carl to be a very decent man and him being a womanizer was just too shocking. No one would ever believe that.
'Posting these pictures on social media would definitely ruin Carl's career' He thought so. It would also tarnish Carl's image and reputation.
"So, among these two women who do you think Carl is more interested in," Dr. Ken said to his bodyguard.
The bodyguard stared closely at the two pictures and said "I think it's the lady Carl took out on an official date. If he truly has a thing with the second lady, he wouldn't make her his side chick,"
"You think so?" Dr. Ken raised an eyebrow. "Ben, what do you think?" he asked the private detective.
"I think it's the lady in the second picture," the private detective said, referring to Anne. "I observed that the prosecutor left the restaurant after making out with his lover. He couldn't spend time with the first lady he took out on a date,"
"Hmm… so in essence, Carl McAlester is a naughty guy who goes out with different ladies at once" Dr. Ken laughed. "I never would have thought that I would uncover such an incredible scandal involving the chief prosecutor… Anyways, I want you to give me every single information you have about these two beautiful ladies," he said to the private detective.
"I already have the information you'll need sir." He said and Dr. Ken's face lit up with excitement. He was proud of himself for hiring such a competent private detective.
"Go on, tell me everything you know about the ladies," he said.
"The lady Mr. McAlester took out on a date is Cassandra Hills. She started working at NYPD as his substitute secretary two weeks ago and as for the lady in the second picture, her name is Anastasia Robyn Stewart. She's a baker who does homemade pastries and delivers them to her customers," the private detective briefly explained.
The surgeon gently stroked his jaw like he was thinking of a sick plan in his head. "Umm… let's see... Let's see…" He placed both pictures on the desk and pointed first to one of them and then the other, repeating the words "eeny meeny miny moe"
Unfortunately, when he said "moe" his finger stopped at the picture of Carl and Anne kissing.
Dr. Ken took the picture and delivered a wicked smirk. "We've seen our prey guys. This queen is going to be the solution to my problem," he said with a huge smile on his face.
"Keep all these pictures in my safe," he said to his private detective and he nodded.
*Ding Dong*
The doorbell rang, and the bodyguard opened the door. A young lady walked in. She was wearing a white, long-sleeved, button-down shirt tucked into a black, knee-length pencil skirt. Her professional attire was appropriate for her first day of work as Dr. Ken's new maid. She had applied for the position online and was eager to get started.
"You're Miss…" Dr. Ken said snapping his fingers, trying to remember the lady's name.
"Miss Abigail," she helped him.
"Okay, I knew that," he chuckled like he just said a funny joke. "Please have a seat," he said to the newly employed maid and she sat down on the fine couch close to her.
"First, can I get you a glass of lemonade?" Dr. Ken asked her with a friendly smile on his face.
"Sure, thanks Dr. Ken," the maid answered, smiling back. She was already intrigued by the sweet smile on her boss's face. It was her first day of work and he was already offering her a glass of lemonade. How sweet of him.
The maid took the glass of lemonade and after a sip of the lemonade, she started to feel a bit dizzy. Her vision became a bit blurry and her head started to spin. She tried to stand to her feet, but her legs felt weak and she stumbled, collapsing onto the couch. As she falls, she loses her grip on the glass of lemonade and it drops to the floor, shattering.
The sweet smile that was on the surgeon's face immediately turned into a cold scorn as the maid passed out.
"Quick! Take her to the laboratory," he said to his bodyguard and the bodyguard nodded.
Meanwhile, the private detective who watched the scene of how the maid fainted wasn't surprised at all because it wasn't the first time he had witnessed this similar incident at the surgeon's house. He already knew what would happen to the unconscious maid.
…
*** 9 pm at Anne's House***
Anne was sitting on her bed listening to Dexter who was complaining bitterly about how he had been having a hard time at work because of Audrey, his coworker. He missed the old times when they used to be best of friends but now, she barely talks to him and it makes him very uncomfortable.
However, regardless of Dexter's complaints, Anne blamed him for being too dumb not to realize that Audrey had feelings for him. If Dexter had noticed that Audrey liked him more than a friend from the beginning, he would've drawn the line. He wouldn't have let her kiss him in the first place.
"Just let her be and focus on the one person who makes your heart race and you know I'm talking about Treasure," Anne said to her brother.
Dexter smiled to himself after hearing the love of his life's name. Right now, the only reason he hasn't told Treasure that he is in love with her is because he is nervous about how Treasure would react.
What if she turns him down or what if his feelings for her ruin the great friendship they have?
Those negative thoughts in Dexter's head were why he had not asked her out yet.
"Anne, Do you think Treasure would say yes to me if I asked her to be my girlfriend? I'm asking you because I know that the both of you are becoming close so you might know something," Dexter said to his sister.
Anne laughed softly at her brother's cuteness. He looked so innocent as he talked about his crush. Dexter had grown before her very eyes, she thought.
"I might be your sister but you don't expect me to break the girl code and tell you if Treasure is interested in you. I want you to stop beating around the bush and man up. Confess to Treasure about how you feel and hear her response okay? You better don't waste any more time and ask her out before you end up like your pathetic sister who lost her true love," she sighed.
Dexter gently patted his sister on her back as he stared at her sad face. He knew that she was starting to think about Carl and whenever she thought of him, she felt sad.
"Hey, it's okay to feel sad and heartbroken, but don't forget your self-worth okay? You might be filled with regret for pushing him away but it's not the end of the world. You'll get through this and remember that you have a brother who loves you," Dexter said to her.
Anne gave a faint smile and nodded her head.
Dexter stood up and pecked his sister on her forehead "Goodnight, dummy,"
"goodnight little devil," Anne said. She adjusted herself to lie down on the bed to sleep while Dexter left her room and switched off the lights.
Anne tried to fall asleep but she couldn't. She turned to the other side of the bed and brought out her phone to explore her gallery since she was bored. She started swiping at her old pictures and then she came across a picture of Carl in Alabama. Anne grinned from ear to ear as she recalled the memory of how she took this picture of Carl back in Alabama. In the picture, Carl was sitting on the bare floor of Victoria's house.
Anne secretly took that picture of Carl without his knowledge because it was a rare chance to see such a rich and powerful man sit on the bare floor. It was supposed to be a silly picture since he was sitting on the floor but the picture appeared to be cute.
Anne zoomed in on the picture to get a better look at Carl's beautiful face. His eyes were almost shut, since it was an unaware photo yet the picture was flawless and perfect. She couldn't help but smile as she stared at his handsome face. She carefully studied the perfect arch of his brows and the subtle curve of his lips.
Her heart swelled with affection and longing and staring at his lips made her kiss the screen of her phone where his lips were located.
Anne thought of what Treasure had told her the other night which was making Carl believe that she truly cares for him. She needed to make Carl know that she was serious about him so she decided to leave him a text.
'Hey Carl, how are you doing? I know we had a little misunderstanding the last time we met and I am truly sorry for that because it was mostly my fault. I also wanna apologize for hurting you in the past. I never intended to hurt you, and I hope you know that I care about you deeply. I know that it might be hard to forgive me, but I want you to know that I'm trying to be a better person. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to regain your trust again. I hope you can give me another chance to show you how much you mean to me. Please let's start all over'
After typing everything that was on her chest, she was about to press send but she became scared of Carl's response.
What if he ignores her text or replies rudely to her?
Anne's thumb danced around the keypad feeling hesitant to press send but at the end, she cleared her text.
"It's past 9 pm Carl ought to be resting by now," She said as an excuse to justify herself for clearing the text.
'I'll tell him how I feel about him another time' She thought to herself and finally slept afterwards.
*******