"When will he be back?" Cyprian asked. She was standing with her sulky friend behind the reception desk, on the ground floor in Anderson Corporation.
She was bored staying at the 'Assistant's floor' as it had been two weeks since she last saw any of the assistants, both Raymond and the other lady; and no assignment had been given to her. There were also rumours that the CEO and Acting President wasn't around so she was basically jobless right now, while Shikera was the only one working.
For the past two weeks since they travelled, she would always come down here to the ground floor to keep her friend company. But, just like now, her friend would be sulky and would always complain about how she didn't like staying with her doctor.
"Then, why don't you stay with me?" Cyprian had asked when she said that.
And Shikera would always tell her that she was only obeying her husband's instructions. The exact reason why her friend was suddenly obedient, Cyprian didn't know, so she asked when he would be back instead.
"According to his assistant, he should be back this week. But she was not sure either." Shikera replied, bowing slightly at an employee passing by.
"You don't even know when?" Cyprian scoffed in disbelief. What the heck happened to her friend?
Shikera sighed loudly, her gaze following a group of men in suit as they walked towards the elevator.
"Let's leave that aside, Rian. Don't you think I should visit the Acting CEO?" She had not visited the top floor since her father travelled, not that she visited there frequently when he was in the country anyway. Since she would see him at home, she came there only twice or thrice a month. She continued,
"Daddy's not around but shouldn't I know the person he left behind?"
"You totally should! I didn't want to propose that before since I don't know if you already discussed with your father about that. Plus, we are here undercover so we wouldn't want to attract attention to ourselves." Cyprian agreed with her.
Shikera nodded, as she could understand things from her friend's point of view.
"Since we will be resuming back to work tomorrow, we can just visit now." Shikera suggested.
She turned to the two other receptionists at the desk.
"Can I go use the washroom real quick?" She asked, excusing herself from the desk. The ladies gave her permission and she left there together with Cyprian.
They got to the top floor and immediately they walked in, Shikera walked straight to one of the cubicles.
"Mrs Mason!" She greeted, peeking at the person sitting behind the desk.
The woman in question looked up and a smile broke out on her lips.
"Miss Anderson? I didn't expect you to come here!" She stood up from her seat and lead Shikera and Cyprian to the restroom. Not many people, even among the secretaries, knew about Shikera being Liam Anderson's daughter and that was the reason they had to leave the place.
A safe distance from the hearing of the other secretaries, she stopped walking and turned to Mrs Mason.
"I actually didn't come here to talk. I wanted to see the Acting CEO..."
Mrs Mason shook her head, looking around before talking, "He's been absent for two weeks now." She whispered.
"Why does this sound familiar?" Shikera and Cyprian chorused, looking at each other.
Mrs Mason looked between the both of them, confused.
"You girls shouldn't think he's slacking off or something. It's a miracle that he even accepted to preside over this Corporation along with his own family's." She informed them, thinking their shared glances meant they were thinking that Ethan DeLoach was slacking.
Mrs Mason did not know about the arranged marriage as it was kept confidential by both Ethan and Liam's side so she didn't think Shikera and Cyprian would know anything about Ethan DeLoach.
While Shikera was still in deep thought, thinking about why her father would put someone so irresponsible in charge of his company, Cyprian caught the keyword in Mrs Mason's sentence.
"The person's family has a corporation?" She asked, jolting Shikera out of her reverie.
Mrs Mason nodded, moving closer to the bout of them. She motioned them to bring their ears closer and they complied, like gossipy neighborhood women.
"It's Ethan DeLoach!" She informed them, expecting a look of surprise on their face and she was not dissapointed.
Both Cyprian and Shikera were surprised, each of them for different reasons. Shikera knew she should have expected it. Who else would her father be able to trust with his company when he had trusted Ethan with his daughter? Her only problem now was how she would convince the smart Cyprian, who was now staring at her suspiciously, that Ethan DeLoach wasn't the man she married.
Cyprian, on the other hand, was quick to connect two and two together and come to a final conclusion.
Only 6 families were on par with the Anderson family in their country and among the 6, the only one in the line of business and closest to the Anderson's, was the DeLoach family.
The other matter which had also been bothering her --- the matter about Shikera's husband who seemed to always disrespect her and coincidentally had also been absent for two weeks --- seemed to make more sense now. By chance, was Ethan DeLoach... Shikera's husband?!
Her eyes swerved to Shikera's and spotting a kind of guilt in her friend's eyes, she turned to Mrs Mason,
"Thanks very much for this information, Mrs Mason. We will keep this confidential!" She pulled Shikera by her hand and dragged her away, leaving a perplexed Mrs Mason.
Getting in the elevator, Cyprian released Shikera's wrist and glared at her.
"Tell me you are not married to Ethan DeLoach!" She whispered, in a threatening manner.
Shikera laughed, her voice shaky.
"What do you mean, Cyprian?" The matter was serious now so there was no time to joke, "If I was married to Ethan DeLoach, would I be in the same level as you are at work? Come on, I would have revealed Ethan DeLoach's face."
Cyprian maintained eye contact with Shikera while she talked, expecting her to falter once but when she didn't, she had to relent.
"You are sure of what you're saying?" She asked, the stern look still on her face.
"Absolutely!" Shikera exclaimed, placing her hand on her chest in a cross - my - heart manner.
***
Shikera walked into the office, the frown she had been wearing frequently this days, now more prominent on her face. It had been four weeks, good four weeks, since he travelled now and he hadn't bothered to call her.
She understood that this was a mere contract marriage but even roommates respected themselves. Why would he treat her like she was just a mere ward?
"Heyyy..." Cyprian whispered, joining in her Shikera's trail as she had just arrived the office too. She glanced at her friend's face and noticed she was wearing a frown, distorting her beautiful face and she knew the reason why.
"Your husband's still not back?" She asked, even though she knew the answer to her question already.
"Can you believe that, Rian? No message, no calls, nothing! Just nothing!" She exclaimed, bristling in annoyance, "And don't you call him my husband again because ....He. Is. Not. My. Husband!"
"I am not your husband?" A voice came from their back and the both of them turned in shock.