Chapter 8: Banters

Calian sighed when he was done reading. She took her notebook from him.

There was silence, but not for long.

"The first hearing is on the sixteenth of March," Cassidy announced.

"But we are in March," he replied, wondering what she was getting at.

"My point exactly. We have only ten days from today to come up with a solid case and fix all the paperwork," she explained. "I'll need to question everyone who was involved in the packing and delivery of the furniture. Who's the manufacturer?"

"He's in the woodwork department on the other side of the building," Calian replied.

"I'll need to speak to him too but that will be after we've paid your client a visit," Cassidy said.

Calian raised a blonde eyebrow. "Why?"

"I'd like to see the furniture with my own eyes. You'll give me a picture of it so I'll be sure she's showing me the real stuff," she explained.

"Fine. You'll get everything you need."

"Great. I'll be here tomorrow after court. You can have Mirabella take me to the client," she went on. "And another thing. You haven't paid your deposit."

"Ever thinking about money," he said with a mirthless chuckle.

She rolled her eyes. "I thought we agreed the past has nothing to do with this job. Well, since you must know why I'm asking for a deposit you know you should have paid, let me inform you," she said and adjusted herself in her seat. "As we know, paper will be involved and last I checked, I don't pluck paper like leaves.

"I also use a car to come here and I'll be using a car to visit your client tomorrow. The gas doesn't get into the car like air otherwise maybe our lives would be better. The ink that'll be used to print your work is bought with money as well. Do you want me to go on?"

Already annoyed with her rambling, he shook his head. "Tell Mirabella to get you a check from the financial department," he said, his voice laced with annoyance.

"I'm not your worker so I doubt it's in my place to give your assistant any message from you," she snapped.

'What's this woman trying to do?' he wondered. Her presence was irritating him at that point.

He called the assistant through the telephone and she was there in a second.

"You called for me, sir," she said as soon as she came in.

"Yes, I did. Go to finance and get a check for five hundred thousand dollars," he ordered and she nodded.

Cassidy ignored both of them as she was engrossed in her notes. She began to lay out the people she needed to question the next day.

"Why are you still here?" Calian asked her when they were left alone.

"You know, Mr. Woods, I don't think you need to b rude," she replied calmly.

"Take it as me settling scores for your insolence today," he replied.

Cassidy chuckled. "Quite petty. That's cute."

"Indeed."

"We might be dealing with a case of fraud on this woman's part so we need to be very careful. Please, if anyone asks you anything on this, don't tell them anything unless I'm there," she warned him.

"Even a child would know that," he said with a scoff.

"No, I'm serious. I'll be going to ask her a few things tomorrow and I know her lawyer will be there. He'll take the same initiative."

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard you," he said with a wave of the hand.

Mirabella soon came back with the check. She handed it to him and left. He slid it across the table to Cassidy.

"Will that be all, Miss Bryan?" he asked her.

"I believe so. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, Mr. Woods," she replied then took her bag to leave. Mirabella bade her goodbye as she left.

~~~

Evan poured some wine into each glass. "You seem angrier than usual," he commented as he took a seat. The office was as quiet as ever, but this quietness was choking even him.

"Did you call me here to sulk throughout?" he asked when Calian remained silent.

Still no response.

Evan facepalmed and stupid up. "Well, I'll be leaving. You can call me when you're-"

"I don't think I can keep up with this, Evan," Calian said abruptly.

"Oh, so now you decide to speak," his friend grumbled while resuming his seat. "You don't think you can keep up with what?"

"This," Calian answered, waving his hands wildly around the table.

Evan raised an eyebrow. "Er...does this have anything to do with Cassidy? Because you're not making any sense right now."

"Of course, it has something to do with her! He has everything to do with her!" Calian cried.

"I'd advise you to keep your voice down, Woody. I don't think your employees would appreciate finding out that their boss is just a bag of unreleased emotions," Evan said with a serious expression.

Realizing he was right, Calian just pursed his lips.

"Anyway, I think I know what you're getting at. You find it difficult to see her on a daily basis," Evan summarized.

"Yes, I can't. Seeing her just paralyzes me," Calian complained.

His friend arched an eyebrow. "Paralyzes you in a good or bad way?"

"Can you be serious for once? At this point, you're the cause of my immediate frustration."

"Quit whining. I just wanted to be sure. I'll let you in on this, Woody. You don't know what you want," Evan said. Calian looked at him sharply. "Hear me out first. I've seen the way you looked at her this morning. You might try to deny it but you miss her. Another thing is that the majority of you want her to pay for what she did to you. Unfortunately, you can't do that."

A sudden smile spread over Calian's face. Evan was puzzled. "Why are you smiling? See what I mean when I say you don't know what you want?"

"You've given me a great idea. Why don't I make her pay for what she did?"