Nicolas had a quick bath and left the house. He took his earpiece with him and called Camilo while was driving.
"C'mon Camilo, answer the call!" He said anxiously with his hands on the steering wheel.
"Hello,Nick!" Camilo said once the call got connected.
"Camilo,I got your message. Are you sure she was the woman who found Ivan?" Nicolas asked curiously as he turned on the indicator.
"Yes,she is! She does look familiar though." Camilo said.
Nicolas recalled the way he treated her.
"You look perfectly fine to me..."
"Nick? Nicolas? Are you still there?" Camilo asked
"Yes-yes,I am! I just wanted to clarify something." He replied, parking in front of a restaurant.
Nicolas parked at the restaurant's designated car park.
"Okay! Hey,Nick..."
Nicolas didn't wait for him to finish and hung up immediately. He put it in park and turned off the ignition. He disconnected the earpiece from the phone and left it in the car. He had his phone in his hand and got out of the car. He pressed a button on his car key and locked the car.
He pulled open the door and went into the restaurant. He scanned through the place and found an empty table next to the wall. He walked to the table and pulled out a chair.
Nicolas signalled a waiter and placed his order. He didn't have a decent breakfast at home and took the advantage. The waiter returned with his order and placed his food in front of him. When he was done eating,he signalled the waiter again.
"Bill, please!" Nicolas said, dropping the serviette he had placed on his lap on the table.
The waiter nodded and carried his place back to the kitchen. He returned with Nicolas' bill and kept it next to the glass of water. Nicolas opened it and placed it back on the table. He brought out his wallet,counted a few notes and put it in the bill.
"Here!" He said, giving the waiter back the bill,
"Keep the change!"
The waiter left and Nicolas sat down alone. He had sent David,the man who he had called last night,the name of the restaurant he was and waited for him.
David opened the door and spotted Nicolas at the table he sat and walked to him.
"Nicolas!" David said jovially and stretched his hand to shake his.
"David!" Nicolas said plainly, standing up and shook hands with him,
"Have a seat!"
Nicolas offered and sat down. David pulled out a chair opposite of him and sat down. He picked up the menu on the table and glanced through the content. He kept it the way he had saw it earlier.
"So,who is the new target?" David said as he went straight to the point,
"Your business rival or...?"
If you needed to know about someone,then David del Monte was the guy. He was a private detective who used to work for the police and decided to go solo. He monitors the prey given to him by his clients and gives valuable information about them as feedback.
He had dug out some buried bones of Nicolas' preys and had been loyal to him ever since. Nicolas unlocked his phone using his password and showed him Alejandra's picture. David collected the phone from him. His jaw dropped when he saw her picture.
"Wow, Nicolas! She is pretty!" David said,still looking at the picture,
"Is she your new rival?"
"No,she isn't!" Nicolas replied airily and collected his phone from him,
"I need you to find out everything about her."
"Hm! New rival's wife, I guess!" David assumed.
"She has nothing to do with business." Nicolas said candidly.
David was surprised. Nicolas usually had him to research top businessmen and work related things. He had never gone beyond that field,not until that day.
"Are you sure she has nothing to do with...?" David asked curiously about his latest target.
"She has not! I want everything about her by the end of the week." Nicolas cut him off.
"Okay,sir!" David replied.
"I've sent you her picture. I'm growing impatient with my mother's nagging." Nicolas said flatly.
"Anything you say,boss!" David responded formally.
<
Mady was sitting at her desk,with her fists folded on both cheeks and was daydreaming. She had always thought of Nicolas and what being his wife would be like.
In her fantasy,they were both on the beach, dressed in summer outfits. She wore a silk orange dress which was short-sleeved and had a sun hat on. Nicolas had a palm tree-themed shirt on with the two buttons close to the collar undone, exposing his hairless chest a bit and both were barefooted.
The palm trees swayed in the breeze,the tide swashed in on the shore, leaving shells on the sandbank. Nicolas looked at the surfers surfing under the waves and on top of it.
"Looks interesting, doesn't it?" He asked,still looking at them.
"Yes,it does. Maybe we should do it someday." Mady replied with a grin on her face.
"You know, what Mady;" Nicolas said as they held hands and walked down the beach,
"I never thought I would ever find someone who would love me as much as you do. After Agnes died, my life has been a can of worms. I vented all my frustrations and anger on everyone. I thought I would spend the rest of my life alone until you came in and fixed me."
Nicolas stopped and looked at her.
"I'm grateful and will be forever indebted to you." Nicolas said sincerely.
"Oh,Nick! You don't owe me anything. Your love is enough for me. I couldn't have wished for something better than being your wife." Mady said sweetly.
"Mady!" Nicolas called.
"MATILDA!" A voice yelled.
Mady snapped out of the thoughts and realized she was still in her office.
"Uh! Beatrice!" Mady said as she glanced at the person.
"I've been at the door, calling your name. Didn't you hear me?" Beatrice asked as she closed the glass door.
"You were?" Mady asked confusingly.
"Yeah! It looks like you were daydreaming again." Beatrice suspected, standing in front of her desk.
"No,I wasn't!" Mady denied, arranging the files in her desk and stacked them on top of each other.
"Hm! Whatever you say!" Beatrice said with a shrug,
"I came to see how you were doing and drop this file."
She placed the folder she had brought with her on the desk. Mady glanced at it and continued with what she was doing.
"Mady," Beatrice called.
"Mm!" Mady hummed.
"What is your relationship with Mr Nicolas?" Beatrice asked curiously.
"Our relationship is strictly professional." Mady said confidently in a nervous tone, diverting her attention to the door.
"Are you sure?" Beatrice asked with her brow furrowed.
"Yes! Why do you ask?" Mady asked eagerly.
"I don't know. I was just curious. You know how news flies around here. One minute you're on Mr Nicolas' bad side and the next,he is giving a lift home." Beatrice said,
"And I thought you had taken a taxi home."
Mady became nervous when she heard the last sentence. She had goose pimples all over her body.
"Well,since you say your relationship with the boss is 'strictly professional'," Beatrice said using air quotes to emphasize her words,
"I'll go and tell all the others and clear their doubts."
She walked to the door and held it open. She was about to leave but remembered something.
"Oh! That reminds me! We'll be going to the bar down the block to drink after closing hours. Do you want to come?" Beatrice asked.
"What is the occasion?" Mady said, hiding her fear from her.
"Constanza just got engaged and invited us to celebrate with her. She wanted to know if you're willing to join us." Beatrice said.
"Yeah! Sure! I'll be glad to join you guys." Mady replied, forcing a smile on her smile.
"Okay! See you later!" Beatrice said and walked through the door.
She closed the door behind and left her office. Mady watched her leave entirely through the glass walls. She heaved a sigh of relief and had her hand on her chest.
"This office and their gossips!" Mady said with a scowl on her face.
<
Nicolas stopped at a pharmacy on his way home. He had a hard time sleeping without his medication. He went in and met the chemist in charge at the counter.
"Good evening,sir! How may I help you?" The chemist asked.
He placed his prescription on the counter and moved it closer to the chemist. The chemist picked up the paper and looked at what was written on it. He nodded and returned the paper to Nicolas.
He searched his shelves and picked out the medicines that were on the paper. He walked back to the counter and scanned the prices of the medicines and checked the total on his computer.
"Your total comes to about $900.00,sir." The chemist said, packing the medicines in a carrier bag with his pharmacy's logo on it.
Nicolas brought out his credit card and inserted it in the point-of-sale the chemist had given him. He keyed in his passcode and waited for the transaction to be complete. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he took it out. He was debited.
"The payment is successful,sir." The chemist said and handed the bag to him.
Nicolas simply nodded and kept his phone back in his pocket. He picked up the bag from the counter and left. He walked back to his car and got in. He turned on his ignition and drove off. He arrived at the house and sounded his horn at the gate.
The gate-keeper heard his car horn and quickly opened the gate. Nicolas drove in and stopped at the garage. He parked his car and locked it with the car key. He walked to the main building with the carrier bag in his hand. He rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer.
"Good evening,sir!" Sofia greeted when she answered the door.
Nicolas turned deaf ears to her greetings and walked straight to the living room. He saw Patricia sitting down on the armchair and ignored her. He walked passed her and went to the staircase. He was about to climb up the stairs when Patricia spoke.
"Where have you been?" Patricia asked, reading the open magazine in hands.
"I went out." Nicolas replied curtly and glanced at her,
"Do you have any problem with that?"
"No,I just wanted to know." She said, closing the magazine and took a sip from the glass of wine on the wooden stool beside the chair.
"If you're here to remind me of what happened earlier,then I'm not interested." Nicolas said flatly and climbed up the stairs.