THE FLOWER NOTE

He didn’t take quite notice of what the boy was doing and stood to leave but Gwen, reading his movements, spoke first.

“What do we do now that she’s exposed?”

She asked looking straight at Damon who wasn’t paying attention to her.

“Let me think about what to do”

“We have to act fast because this news was streamed online two days ago”

Another beta named Adrian retorted his opinion but all seem too gloomy for Damon to decipher.

“It is quite clear that she didn’t heed to your warning”

“I know that, Lucas. Just allow me to think of the next possible solution”

Damon replied and strolled out of their midst. Then he went upstairs. The young kid thought of something for a while and followed behind him to the room upstairs. There Damon went close to the window to have some fresh air while the kid went straight to the desk computer on a table next to the closet near the door. As he stood by the window, he suddenly got curious about what the Kid was doing and saw that he was jotting down some details of the woman he had just seen on the news channel with the reporter in the sketchpad he brought into the room with him from the computer. He was perplexed as to why the boy was doing so and after some thought, he left the room with his jacket and climbed downstairs to the living room.

There he met Gwen and Lucas talking to the themselves about what they just saw on the news but Adrian was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Adrian?”

“He left to handle issues”

Lucas responded as soon as they felt his presence in the room. Gwen sensed he had returned back with a solution and wasted no time to inquire about it.

“So, what is your decision about this?”

“I came up with an idea to buy me some time. You’ll send that kid to Isabelle and you guys will watch his every move secretly without Isabelle knowing that you are there ”

“Fine. We’ll do that”

“When do we leave?”

“Two days will suffice while I go check on something”

“You aren’t coming with us?”

“Yeah”

Damon said checking his trousers for the keys to his car.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll let you know when the time is right. For now, do what I tell you to do”

He said and walked towards the door. Then he opened it and went out of the house.

Two days after the interview, I arrived at work on Monday morning. The weekend had been quite hectic for me at home after getting some unfinished files relating to another story that could make the headlines for the week, halfway complete and I was ready to face another day with a renewed strength I derived from eating Marshmallows and salad for breakfast. I hadn’t fully settled down at my desk to get the other paperwork done for the day when the boss came to me with a letter. Paul was rather sumptuous in his natty black suit than usual when I saw him but his face was a stark contrast to his fancy outfit. He came to me when there was barely anyone else in the office since quite a few of the workers had resumed early for the first work day of the new week. Running errands himself was unlike him in every aspect of his personality and I was a bit taken aback when he gave me the letter himself instead of sending his secretary as he often does.

“Isabelle, this was delivered to my desk this morning”

He said giving me the letter embodied in a brown envelope.

“Who’s it from?

“No idea”

I took the letter from him and glanced at the name that was scribbled on the envelope. The scribbled italic inscription mentioned Damon’s name. The letter turned out to have a single message which read "Just because I love you". At once, I felt irritably angry. I tore the letter in front of Paul and tossed the pieces of shredded paper into the trashcan next to the desk below., Then I gently took my seat to begin work but I decided to appreciate Paul for his help which was suprising.

“Uhh… Thanks”

I replied not too sure of what to say. He noticed the surprised look on my face and shoved his left hand into his pocket in a gusto show of manliness.

“Don’t get your head wrapped up in nonsense. Giving you this letter in person doesn’t mean a thing”

“I didn’t think of anything else”

“But your face says otherwise”

He said with more conviction and adjusted his collar.

“I’m...just surprised that you had to give me this without sending someone as usual”

“Well, consider this as a reward for your last interview. It was a huge success and our sales has increased tremendously because of it”

“Is the sales report out already?”

I inquired in amazement.

“Nope but I have seen the stats and it was really good. You haven’t touched your letter since I gave you”

“No, I haven’t. I’ll take a look at it when I’m done settling down”

I said and dropped my handbag on the desk beside some neatly arranged files.

“Well..Take your time. I’ll be taking my leave then….”

He said and turned to leave but he stopped abruptly.

“but before I go...There’s someone you got to meet at my office”

“Wait, ain’t you going to the office”

“No, I got something to take care of outside. The big boss is probably waiting for you”

He said and walked out of the departmental office leaving me puzzled as to who the big boss is. After he had left, I took out some of the files remaining to review from the drawers of my desk and placed them on the opposite side of the desk. I took a red file out of the bunch and flipping the pages one after the other. There were plenty of papers to be read and I felt a bit tired looking at the pages. Then it occurred to me to read the letter. I knew it came from Damon since he had his name scribbled on it. A change of heart prompted me to drop it back thinking that the big boss could be Damon judging by the circumstances of how the letter came to me. I felt angry when my speculations seems plausible in all respect and decided to see the culprit instead of reading his letter and right there, a vengeful thought came to mind. I had taken a dress with me which I had planned to wear for a night party at one of the worker’s houses after the day's work and it was a gorgeous skimpy outfit that possess a lot of attractiveness and I thought it best to show the damn man what he had missed after all these years.

I took my handbag and brought the dress out. Then I got up when I saw that no one was watching and headed straight to the restroom. It took me a few minutes to change my outfit into the red blouse and I had to braid my hair to fit the new outfit I wore with the help of the mirror at the washbasin. I had no makeup on but I was satisfied that the outfit was skimpy enough to make me look attractive even though my heels weren’t that high to match up the outfit completely and I was ready to face the man who had caused me pain. I left the restroom with enough satisfaction of what I was going to do and I headed straight out of the office not too mindful of the lustful eyes of the men that were captivated as I walked out of the department into the hallway. The boss’s office was at the very summit of the building, the last floor before the rooftop. And the elevator took me there in less than five minutes. I felt nervous while I was inside the elevator. The very thought of seeing Damon again scared me and I felt anxious as well as curious of how he would react when he saw me in this outfit but making him regret abandoning me was all I could think of at that moment and it was an effective tool to keep my nervousness in check. When I got to the boss’s office, not only did my speculation turn out to be wrong but it was someone else different from his pack that had been waiting all along.