Chapter 4 The white disaster

• From the door to the bed.
• Back to the door from the bed.
• I paced, my body ached to rest after such torture at work, but my mind stayed restless. I did finish the rest of the task, staying late in the office without another word after I heard that name.
• He had begun.
• And I was the cause.
• I had given him the final straw to get to the Kingstons.
• Criminal. All I felt like was a criminal.
• My pacing stopped, and I leaned my head against the wall, and a strangled cry left my mouth as I drove my fist on the wall repeatedly. "Why...why, just WHY?"
• Moments passed before a loud ringing snapped me to reality. My hand lifted, wiping my tears, and I reached for my phone, smiling at the caller ID of Jane, my attorney and good friend. Hopefully she'd have some good news to enlighten my messed-up world.
• "Hey, J," I answered, my voice coming out hoarse.
• "Hazie..." her voice trailed, giving me a frown.
• "Is everything alright?"
• "Yeah, yeah. Don't get so worked up you. I'm just sorry for not being able to do anything yet," she stated, but I didn't fail to catch the slight hesitancy behind the disappointment in her voice.
• "That doesn't sound like all. What're you hiding?" Jane was one of the best lawyers in the city, yet she couldn't do a thing on this case.
• "Um... I don't wanna add to your tension."
• "You know I'll be even more if you don't tell me."
• "Yeah, I know. Alright, there's two pieces of news: one good and one bad. Which one do you wanna know first?"
• "The good news?"
• "Ryan got whooped by his wife." She let out a laugh, eliciting a similar one from me.
• But then my smile faltered. "And the bad news?"
• "Well..." She stayed silent for a moment. Just when I thought the call was cut, she spoke again, "Montero has them guarded like prisoners."
• "What?" My world seemed to stop.
• "They can't go out nor do anything freely. He even limited my visiting time to zero."
• I felt anger generating in my very core and slowly pulsating through my veins like berserk snakes towards my head. Everything around me was silent, the only thing piercing the darkness of the night was my heavy, ragged breathing. "I'll talk to you later, Jane. Take care."
• "Haze, don't do an-"
• I ended the call before she could finish her sentence. All I saw was red. Bloody scarlet red. How could he, even after I did exactly what he asked? Raising the mobile, I dialed his number and waited as it slowly, agonizingly rang.
• No answer.
• I dialed again with the same outcome and again till my patience ran out and threw the phone on the mattress with all my force. It was late. That rascal had probably gone to sleep. Sleeping peacefully when those elderly people struggled, and I descended into madness.
• Several curses imprecated in my mind for him before sleep consumed me, too.
• ***
• Warmth caressed its gentle touch across my face as the darkness began lightening. I fluttered my eyes open, immediately putting up a hand between the direct sunlight and my face. It was bright outside. Too bright.
• Wait! What time was it again?
• I peered at the clock on my bedside table, and my body jolted upwards and out of the bed at a flashing speed. It was only twenty minutes before my office time and the IL project meeting. Fucking hell! The next ten minutes went in a blur as I finished my morning activities, showered and wiggled into whatever clothes met my clutch first which consisted of a V-neck blouse with a pencil skirt. If monitored, I was sure I would make it into the Guinness world record.
• My phone rang as I stepped into my car. It was Mr. Cortez.
• "Ms Green, where're you? The meeting starts in seven minutes."
• "I'm almost there," was my lie, and that's what everyone did, right? Lie about their pinpoint location of their journey. Hopefully, I'd be able to make it on time, so I speeded forward, breaking how many rules only God knew.
• By the time my heels clicked on the marble floor of the Vancouver CO., the hour hand hit nine on the clock. Before a girl could step into the awaiting elevator, I barged in, giving her an apologetic smile and pushed on the button. Leaning against the golden wall of the enclosed compartment, I tried to even my breathing and watched as the numbers grew higher.
• Just as the door opened up to the nineteenth floor, my horse race began again, before meeting those piercing gray eyes, but it was too late to stop myself. A gasp left my mouth as my body collided into his, and my face flattened against his stone-hard chest, a shooting pain going through my nose.
• Great Caesar's ghost!
• I straightened myself, and my hand shot to my throbbing nose, rubbing it until I realized the accidental incident just took place. My eyes widened as I slowly looked up. His eyes were narrowed in an icy glare under his knitted brows and jaw set firmly. He didn't even move an inch from the impact, but his temper definitely did.
• "Sorry!" I yelped.
• His mouth stayed shut in a thin line while his glare shouted the warning sign crystal-clear, making me gulp in trepidation. Before I was blown to bits, the door beside us opened, and Mr Cortez appeared. "Ms Green, you're here." Then his attention moved to Mr. Kingston, and he widened the door, stepping aside. "Sir, everyone's waiting for you."
• Giving a nod of his head, he stalked inside, and I followed behind. As I looked up, my breathing stopped and every pain and thoughts flew out the window, replacing them with fear and anger. There stood Mr Montero across the conference table along with his officials. My eyes hustled to Mr Kingston who was shaking hands with Mr Vancouver, completely disregarding his rival.
• A smirk played on Montero's lips on noticing me. He was definitely here to take away what Mr Kingston desired. Before anyone regarded my change in behavior, I got myself together and sat beside Mr Cortez, my heart pounding in my chest, but more than that, my fists itched to contact his face. The glare I sent his way hopefully apprised him of that.
• Clearing his throat, Mr Vancouver looked at Dimitri. "Mr Kingston, you may know Mr Montero. He also showed interest in working on the deal."
• In utter nonchalance, Mr. Kingston only gave a small nod of his head towards Montero, apparently, infuriating him.
• "Then let's begin. Mr Kingston, you're up first."
• On cue, I stood up, grabbing my laptop and walked to the front of the room with full confidence. It wasn't the first time I was doing it, and it wouldn't be the last either, but I'd make damn sure I made it a memorable one.
• Montero, you better watch out.
• Attaching the laptop to the projector, I put on the slides when the lighting dimmed and introduced myself. For the next ten minutes, I gave out my presentation, and when the lights turned on again, the impressed expressions on the most spectator's faces made my spirit summersault in bliss; even surprisingly, a tiny, very tiny upward curve could be sighted on Dimitri Kingston's physiognomy while the one on Montero's went downwards.
• "Excellent!" Mr Vancouver clapped.
• Thanking him, I sat down and grabbed the glass of water, hydrating my dried throat while the assistant of Montero approached the front. As she passed me, a sudden jerk on my chair sent the glass flying from my hand, and cold water splashed all over my blouse. What the hell!
• "Oh Gosh, I'm so sorry, Ms Green! I didn't mean to," she apologized in her high-pitched voice, but I didn't fail to catch the mocking vibe in that.
• Bitch.
• "It's ok." I dismissed her and wiped myself with tissues, Mr Cortez extended my way. I'd absolutely love the look on her and her entire team's faces when we owned the deal.
• But it seemed fate hated me to the core as Mr Kingston opened his mouth, "Ms Green, you may wait outside."
• But why? "Sir-"
• "Leave," he cut me off, his voice commanding, leaving no room for argument.
• I bit my lip from embarrassment, not letting the hurt show in front of everyone and exited the room, leaving two infuriatingly smirking faces behind. How could he do that? He was no better than Montero. Ungrateful jerk!
• Blessing him with several curses, I headed to the washroom after asking a passing employee who somehow found me very interesting, staring shamelessly. Slamming the door shut, I turned to the mirror and gasped, my body freezing. I had radically forgotten that my blouse was white which now turned into see-through from getting soaked, putting my red bra on full display.
• My cheeks reddened and ears warmed from the immense embarrassment. How the hell did I not notice that before? This was the reason Mr Kingston kicked me out of the room, and that guy stared like that. I wanted to jump out of the window or hide myself in the deepest pit.
• Quickly grabbing more tissues, I tried patting the cloth dry, but the heat of the summer wasn't helping. When I was somewhat satisfied with the condition of my dress, I got out of the bathroom and started walking back. I was late. The meeting most definitely had ended already.
• Suddenly someone grabbed my arm, pulling me behind a wall. I glanced up, gritting my teeth. "Montero, you b-"
• "Looks like you don't love your poor friends as much."
• "What do you know about love?" I spat.
• "I know enough! That's why I'm willing to do what it takes to bring my business to the throne which you don't."
• "After what I've done, you still dare say that? What did you do then? You imprisoned the elder home after promising you wouldn't harm them." My blood boiled like molten lava.
• "And I kept my promise. I didn't lay a single finger on them, but-" he paused, putting emphasis on the last word, "-if you keep going the way you're right now, I'll suggest you kiss them goodbye soon," saying that he left, leaving me, terrorized.
• I clenched my trembling fists, sweat dripping down my forehead. Why didn't I understand that I was the weak end here? If anything happened, it'd harm my people, not Montero's. Why couldn't I just keep my idiotic temper in check? My fist drove backwards, hitting the wall with force.
• Moments later, hearing a set of footsteps coming this way, I composed myself and walked out, coming face-to-face with the towering build of my boss, his mesmerizing gray eyes observing my state. With a swift motion of his hands, he freed himself of his coat and draped it around me, drawing both ends together and buttoning in the middle.
• My breath hitched as he leaned forward and spoke, "Next time, remember not to wear white at working hours," then strode away, leaving my heart a quick-beating mess.