Hale is filled with a high dosage of serotonin. He is teary-eyed while his loving visitors approach him. He is grateful that his family is allowed to visit here even just for a short time. His tummy celebrates fiesta when he sees a vento served on the table.
To formally start their meeting with Atty. Luisa Madrigal, they exchange their introduction and do handshakes. The lawyer looks like a middle-aged woman, Hale is confident that this one is prolific and can surely defend him. He has a gut feeling that Mrs. Madrigal can prove his innocence in the trial.
"Let's be seated, everyone." The lawyer requested.
"I have a question for you, Hale. Don't hesitate to tell me something. I am all ears and will not judge you. I will accept your sentiments no matter what it is. Let us say I am your auntie and very concerned with you," Luisa started the talk with Hale with gentle opening remarks.
"What happened to you yesterday? What is your fault? Who sued you and for what grounds?"
Hale closed his eyes while reminiscing what he went through. While seeing the scenes in his mind, his eyes eventually fell some tears.
"Y-Y-Yesterday... I... I... I w-went to the... I went to the office..." He sobbed. "I am sorry..."
He tries to calm down so that he can tell his story. After a few seconds, he regained his confidence.
"I was supposed to give our boss a gift on that day. I woke up early in the morning to bake a cake. I went to the office to present what I baked as a gift. Before that day, my boss and I were trapped in the old bank when an earthquake happened. He was the one who cared for me while we were waiting for the rescue to come."
"Going back to yesterday, the boss gave me a task which is counting the money manually, working on an account reconciliation, and other business-related jobs. I was the only one inside the office, and we were just two inside the building as that was around six o'clock in the morning."
"The boss just excused for a while because he needed to accept the call because it was coming from an important client. Then after a few moments, he came back to the office with the police officers. And that was the time I was arrested."
The narrative that came from him is quite lengthy, however, the lawyer still has a question.
"Why did your boss let you be arrested?"
Hale deeply sighed. "Because he assumed that I was the one who stole the money from the office. They saw the money and the receipts in my bag. It looks like they framed me and they successfully made a good tactic so that they have strong evidence."
The conversation between him and the lawyer ends here. Armando volunteered that he would find evidence inside the office that would prove Hale's innocence.
"Don't be sad, Hale. Huh? I am your ace card. I won't let you down. We can do this, I will make sure we can win in the trial. The first one would be the last."
They hugged each other and then had a goodbye French kiss.
"I love you, Armando. I am proud of your efforts. Thank you so much."
~~~
The atmosphere of the training room is not like before full of joy and inspiration. Now, the trainees have negative auras on their faces. They really miss Hale. Some of them miss the competition every time there is a workshop.
Armando is like a peaceful bluest sea, his mind is overflowing with worries, upsetness, and sadness. But he needs to be strong so that he can do his job with a good flow.
Even though he is possessed with negatives, he is still optimistic. He prayed that everything would be fine in God's grace. He is just waiting for the right time to do his secret agenda.
On his first attempt, he failed. The boss didn't leave the office. Next attempt, he was nearly caught. It took a week before he finally had the right time when he was a free venue to access the administration database of the Fuentabella Company.
However, he realized that he must not do it by himself. He would be suspected easily and have a bigger chance that he was going to be caught.
Meanwhile, he asked for help from his IT friend.
[Flashback]
The Fuentabella Company is hiring new sets of janitors. Some are the former janitors in the said company who renewed their contracts. Armando's friend is one of the applicants.
"Tell me about yourself," Harrison asked a common interview question to the third applicant.
"I am Johnny Portales, I graduated with a Business Management degree. I don't have a good connection with other employees so it gives me a hard time applying for a job related to my degree. I'm a trustworthy, responsible, and hardworking person."
As Johnny expected, he passed the interview. He directly started his job in the afternoon which is just after the hiring time which happened in the morning.
The office is quite empty during lunch break as there is a lunch meeting happening in the conference room which is located on the 5th floor.
While he was cleaning the room, he received a text message from an unknown number. He already knew where the message came from and he didn't want to save the phone number with his friend's name for safety purposes.
He was given a GO to start the agenda. So he tried to open the PC by cracking the password. He did cyber activities using advanced programming to copy all the contents of the PC. In just a minute, he successfully got the data.
He safely closed the PC leaving no marks that he used and reached the sensitive files. Before he started his deed, he wore a fake face on his head and sprayed the CCTV Camera. Therefore, he played the game safe and he won after the game was over.
[End of Flashback]
Armando received a message from his friend. They agreed to meet at his boarding house to hand him the hard drive which consists of the whole files of the Fuentabella Company.
~~~
Hale falls asleep while waiting for the new updates from his boyfriend. Just after a few moments, his cellmate who is his friend during his first day here shook his arms to wake him.
"Friend, you have a visitor, it's your boyfriend."
He heard the keyword and his energy formed in his body which made him move fast. He just saw Armando in front of the visiting room and he hugged him so tight. It has been a while since they last met. He is hoping his wait will be worth it.
"How are you, my dear?"
"I am fine. Nothing bad happened here inside the cell. I am happy that I am not alone here. To be honest, I have a friend here. He is also a victim of frame-up like me."
"I am glad you have another person to talk to. God is really giving you a lucky charm."
"Exactly. I can't feel that I was being punished. I didn't experience being bullied physically unlike what I was seeing on TV."
"Thank God you are staying here safely. Well, I have good news."
"Really? Have you made it?"
"Uhhhmm..."
"Don't cut my excitement, please."
"Hhhmmm..."
Armando's girlfriend is almost crying to hear the good news. He is nervous and can't wait for it.
Just a few seconds later, Armando picked something in his pocket. Guess what? It is the precious hard drive that was given by his IT friend earlier.
Hale grinned and felt festive when he saw that thing. He cannot explain what he is feeling right now.
"At last! Bravo, Armando! Bravo!"
"Finally, you are going to be free in just a few hours. Tomorrow is your first court trial. May God bless us and give us good luck."
"I am certain that we can win it. I have full trust in our lawyer. You are the one who contacted her and you are such an amazing person I have ever known."
"That is the good fighting spirit, Hale! Aja! Aja! Fighting!"
"Fighting!"
While they are having a happy conversation, Atty. Madrigal just arrived at their station.
"Good day, attorney. We are happy to have you today," Hale greeted.
They took their refreshments first before starting the meeting for their plans for tomorrow's court trial for Hale.
"So how was it, Armando?"
"I already have the sole evidence. Here, is the hard drive. It contains the CCTV clips, the company's financial reports, and the CEO's files. I just watched all of it, and I think that would be enough to win the case."
"Hhhmm... Good job, dear. I am a h
hundred percent sure, we can win the case."
The lawyer holds Hale's hands. "The time has come that justice will be served."