On the other end, Maya listened silently listened to her best friend and gently wiped the tears that had streamed down her face using the back of her hand, thankful that Clara could not see her right now. She had been trying so had to be strong, but whenever she thought about Ken, her heart would ache painfully. " Mmm okay dear, take care of yourself too, bye, " she replied softly and cut off the call, afraid that she might suddenly burst into a sob and make Clara more worried. After putting down the phone, she looked up at the ceiling and sniffed remembering how Ken's family treated her then more tears streamed down her pale face.
After sometime, she stood up from her mini dining table leaving the food she was about to eat before Clara called behind, and sauntered towards her bedroom then slumped on the bed burying her head in the pillow.
_____
Silence enveloped Clara's cubicle and she stared absentmindedly at her phone screen for a long time with furrowed brows when she was suddenly jolted by a sound, and looking up she saw Derek standing in front of her.
" Oh it's you. " she quickly changed her expression and put on a friendly smile.
Derek adjusted his glasses which rested on his nose and replied awkwardly, " Ehm I was honestly not eavesdropping, but... I..heard everything. " he looked down seemingly embarrassed.
" huh?. " Clara was confused for a second then her eyes widened. she looked around her and realization dawned on her, Derek's cubicle was close to hers and there was no soundproof which means.. ' he did hear everything ' she gasped and looked away, feeling a little bit embarrassed.
Derek scratched his head and adjusted his glasses again. " Actually, if you're having trouble with the design, I have a friend who majored in Comic drawing.... If you don't mind I'll request his help and introduce you to him, " he slowly muttered while looking down and hiding his blushing face.
Clara suddenly looked up with sparkling eyes and smiled gratefully at his kind gesture then quickly replied, " Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it. "
" Y.. you're welcome. " He replied and quickly turned to leave then paused after taking two steps and added. " Sorry about your friend. " and he left like a flash hiding his flushed face.
Clara was flabbergasted at the guy's behavior and shook her head then smiled and thanked heavens that she had finally found a Savior.
*****
___ That Night ___
Carl was sitting on a swivel chair with his eyes narrowed on the laptop's screen in front of him, emanating a dangerous aura and the only sound that could be heard inside the large study room was the clicking of the mouse now and then.
The atmosphere was tense and his assistant who had been standing in a corner for God knows how long, was holding a pile of documents with clammy hands and sweat was trickling down his forehead. After some minutes, Carl coldly looked up in his direction and his body stiffened causing him to cower subconsciously.
" The contract. " He heard his boss said and he quickly strode forward and handed him a hardcover with the word the ' Dream Stories Home Builders ' largely engraved on it. It was the biggest construction company in country Z, with which they recently signed a contract for the new hotel construction.
Carl snatched the contract from his assistant's hands and slowly opened it then read the terms once more, he wasn't mistaken when he sensed something wrong with the blueprints that were emailed to him. " who signed it?" he asked coldly.
David wiped his sweat once more and stammered. " Th.the M. Mr. Ning. ". He thought about the financial department manager sympathetically and sighed inside. The man had really pulled it this time, he thought his boss would not notice even the tiniest fault in the contract.
" summon him tomorrow, " Carl said gravely and places the contract inside a drawer then closed the laptop in front of him.
" Y.. yes sir. " the assistant nodded his head frantically and looked up for further instructions.
" You can leave. " he heard his boss's voice after a minute then quickly scrambled out, not wanting to spend another second there.
David heaved a sigh of relief when he was finally out of his boss's condo, and wiped the sweat trickling down his head in the cold weather then looked at his wristwatch with wide eyes. " What!!!, 11 PM " ?. His wife was going to slay him, he thought with a panicked expression and strode towards the gate in a frenzied manner before he was suddenly jolted by a loud voice from the distance.
" Yo David, what's up. " he turned and looked ahead at the other side of the building and spotted Zach sauntering toward the small fence.
Before David could reply, Zach nimbly jumped through the fence and placed a hand on his shoulder with investigative eyes. " Why are you sweating like a sheep about to be slaughtered? Did something happen to big bro?. " Zach instantly activated his paparazzi mode.
David anxiously checked the time again and shrugged off Zach's hands then quickly turned and continued striding towards the gate where his car was parked outside wondering what his boss's prankish brother was doing outside at this hour of the night.
" Hey, David. wait I'm not done with you.. ". Zach shouted behind and David glanced back after walking far ahead and saw him striding toward his brother's door, his boss was in a bad mood but he couldn't care less if Zach got into trouble as he too was in bigger trouble already, imagining how angry his wife would be and quickly entered his car then zoomed off.
Carl was heading towards his bedroom and slightly frowned when he heard the doorbell ringing, wondering if it was David that came back.