Audrey and Rosa breathed a sigh of relief when the person banging at the door finally spoke up.
"Ma'am, are you okay?"
It was the security man.
Audrey marched forward in fury and peeled the door open, ready to unleash her madness on the poor man for scaring her but hesitated when she saw the worried look on his face.
"Why wouldn't I be okay Jonathan, what happened?" Audrey asked.
"Sorry ma'am, I thought I saw someone sneaking towards your office because I'm positive everyone else has left except for the two of you," Jonathan said worriedly.
"No one came in here," Rosa said, peeking through.
"Are you sure you saw someone?" Audrey asked as she started to get worried but the security man shook his head.
"I'm sorry ma'am, it could just be my imagination. I was worried about you being here so late." He responded.
"Thanks for your concern. We're leaving now." Audrey said as she turned back to park her stuff.
The girls left with the security guard following behind them. Constantly checking his back to see if he really did see someone. The ageing man silently prayed it was just his imagination.
As soon as they stepped outside, Jonathan locked the facility door while Audrey and Rosa made their ways to the parking lot.
"Jonathan creeped me out, I mean, what was that." Rosa said between laughs.
"You know that Jonathan is ageing, besides, he is a very caring old man. He has known me for a while, so he is worried for me." Audrey said, as she pulled her car keys out of her bag.
"I guess he learned that from godmother." She added as she remembered the good old days when godmother would scold her for staying late at the office.
Rosa whistled and Audrey giggled.
"No, no Rosa, not again." She said as they neared her red G-wagon.
"She gets prettier each time I see her, damn." Rosa praised the brand new car that godmother got just two days ago for Audrey as birthday gift.
"And each time, you overreact as if you were just seeing it for the first time." Audrey said between laughs as she slipped into her car. Rosa skipped into the passenger seat and they drove off.
At Audrey's office, someone has a smirk on their face as they watched the red G-wagon drive away. They now had enough time to carry out their assignment, they thought. Luckily for them and unfortunately for Audrey, she had left her computer unlocked. Audrey has never been so careless but what could be done now that her project is being copied by her competitors into a flash drive. It turned out, Jonathan was right when he said he saw someone sneak in.
Another person stood at the door with the keys which used to belong to Jonathan. However they got their hand on those keys was unknown but one thing is sure, Jonathan was not okay.
*****
At PK & sons, Miguel signed the last paper on his table and pushed it over to his assistant before rubbing his face with his palms. It was a busy day as they had plenty of investors to deal with. And it was only the beginning. It would not have been that stressful for him if his older brother was competent. He left the family business over an argument with their father. Since then, Miguel had been handling the business all by himself. Although sometimes, their father would visit the company to see how things were going and he would sometimes attend the meeting that required his presence.
Knowing that his work for that day was done, he stood up and proceeded out. The place was empty, everyone had gone home except for him and his assistant. His assistant did not need to be told to take his boss's suitcase and escort him to his car. They said their goodnight and parted.
As if the stress was not enough, Miguel got home only to be welcomed by Betty's excited scream, he rolled his eyes in anticipation. Clearly, she had come to visit alongside her parents. God knew what they were discussing but Miguel knew he was in trouble now, he had no plans of being a husband let alone a father.
"What are you doing here?" Miguel asked betty, sounding a bit harsher than intended. He got out of his car and slammed the door harder than usual and Betty jumped. She had gone to fetch him from their outdoor parking lot. She stood there wide-eyed like a little girl and Miguel felt sorry for scaring her.
"Good evening to you too, dear." Betty chirped. Miguel cringed at the word "dear".
As there was no response from him, Betty added.
"Actually, I wanted to tell you earlier at your company that my parents were going to visit. I know that you hate surprises but you were not picking my calls, so I followed you there." Betty paused to get his reply but there was none so she added.
"Sorry if I bothered you."
"It's okay Betty. Sorry I yelled at you." He finally responded and Betty was over the moon.
They walked together side by side and Miguel pushed the large wooden door so the lady could go in first.
"He is such a gentleman." She thought. At this point, Betty was convinced that Miguel had fallen in love with her.
After a long talk on their business matters, Mr Parker, Betty's father, almost gave Miguel a heart attack with a devastating question. Not that he was not expecting it though.
"So, Miguel, any plans for your wedding?" Mr Parker asked, but before anyone could answer, Anna, Miguel's mother, interfered to save her son.
"You must be very tired son, you work so hard. You should rest" Anna knew her son better than he knew himself. She knew he did not like the idea of getting married. But what could they do when the decision had already been made. Miguel was happy that his mom saved him and nodded towards her in gratitude.
"You are right. We should also go, I mean, who stays for a visit at midnight." Betty's mother agreed and they got up to leave.
Miguel saw his future in-laws out and finally excused himself to retire for the night, it was almost midnight and he had no intention of getting late for tomorrow's business meeting. They will be holding a campaign where companies will compete for the contract.
Miguel shivered as the cold wind hit his tanned skin the moment he stepped out of the shower. Finally, he dozed off under his blue duvet.
*****
Audrey could not help but worry for Jonathan. He has gotten so old that he began to see things. She kept in mind to discuss with godmother about his retirement.
Audrey dropped Rosa off at her house before proceeding to hers. She had a lot to discuss with godmother but it looked like she would have to leave it till morning. Godmother was already soundly asleep on the couch. She dozed off while waiting for her daughter. It was already midnight.
Audrey hated to wake her up but sleeping on the couch would hurt her neck. She woke her up by gently touching her hand. Godmother was about to start scolding her for not picking her calls but Audrey spoke up.
"Forgive me mother. I won't do it again." The two smiled at each other. Audrey took her godmother to her room and left to hers after seeing that she had fallen asleep. She took a relaxing hot bath to soothe her disturbing muscle pains. In the bathtub, her mind wandered again to the incident back at the office. 'Or was it just Jonathan's imagination?'
It was a cold night and the crescent moon was very bright. The cold wind gently kissed her skin as she slipped into her pyjamas. She pounced on her queen sized bed and pulled her red duvet cover to her chest.
"Tomorrow will be a long day." She thought as she mentally prepared herself for the campaign that will be held by PK&sons. It was one of the biggest projects she's ever done, godmother was counting on her to handle it well. It will add reputation to their company and grant them more visibility in the business world.
She was positive about her project, she knew she killed it and everyone else liked it. And she knew she would impress the investors. Audrey closed her eyes for a moment and could imagine herself up there, confidently giving her speech about how she came up with her ideas and how it boosted the company and then godmother will look at her with pride.
"I will make you proud momma." Audrey said silently.
After twisting and turning as the thoughts of the campaign lingered in her mind, she finally dozed off with a smile. The weather was on her side that night.
If only she knew what was to come...
*****