Chapter 8 Call For Help

• Aspen Mckinney idled with his phone in his limousine's comfort. His hands never stopped visiting every major news site that was in the country. In fact,he had gone through all the major news sites and was searching for the slightest bit of light that shines towards a certain headline about a billionaire or Chief Executive Officer of a certain prestigious enterprise who was caught having an affair with a certain lady .
• He smirked at the thought of it. Shortly after he left the motel, he vowed to himself that if that God forsaken manager of his motel did not do what was right for the damn news not to go out, that he was going to do everything in his power to pull them down. As a matter of fact, he had placed certain important calls .
• He called his lawyers to keep their eyes on the wheels. Whenever a certain strange article about his personal life popped out, they should take very drastic measures to pull down the stronghold of the supposed prestigious hotel. It was not far from his reach. Just a matter of minutes was more than enough for him to do the harm he wanted to do to anyone so far it was strictly related to this line of business. But he would prefer to hold his peace until he found a very good reason to do so.
• Not only was he going to pull down the hotel, he was equally going to make sure every site or media outlet that let out such an expensive joke out would pay dearly till they went bankrupt. Yes! That was how much power Aspen Mckinney held in his hands. The industry he ran was a high quality one that could only be challenged by one foe. And that damn foe was no other person than that man called Mr Theodore Florencia. Another reputable business operator in the country.
• The both of them had been in the competition for a very long time. Even though Aspen was only twenty-four years of age, he had experience when it came to important matters like the one that involved running of the business. That was the major reason his father had to let him take the lead at such a young age. A twenty-four year old going head on with a man who was forty-eight years of age was absurd. Theodore Florencia was exactly double his age. Some newspaper articles in times past had published articles about how a certain young business brain has stepped up to challenge the mighty Theodore Florencia.
• Well, considering how far he had taken the industry, he would definitely beat his chest and swear he was doing very well for someone that took over not so long ago. This was more reason for him to be scared of the media. Though his personal life principles were set in a way that he had nothing to do with women in the manner of love or lust , he was still afraid of what the media could write at any point in time. The only moment he got into a deep or better relationship with women was in the line of business.
• One of the secrets he had learnt from his father was that women played a very decisive role when it came to running the affairs of any business. He had learnt this the hard way. Because of his good looks, every lady would want him to be theirs , including her employees. That marveled him greatly. His black hair and caramel eyes were nothing to imagine. If not, it would send the person to a world of imagination and continued fantasy over what would never happen. He had to get rid of almost every woman in his enterprise in a bid to secure his spot in his personal life. But damn! It struck the stock price of the enterprise.
• Since then, he had learnt to be more careful with the way he allowed his personal life to get in the way of his business life. Business would always remain business. That's it!
• " Hmm. " He exhaled tiredly and stole a glance at his Rolex wristwatch: 8:45 am.
• " Fifteen minutes to nine. " He muttered to himself and sighed. " What a full morning. " He peered through the glass of his vehicle to see the hustles and bustle of the city.
• While certain people had to struggle to earn the least amount for a meal, he had it in abundance. That was Aspen for you. The only son of the popular Mckinney. His father handed over the business of their family to him at quite a young age. But he was doing well, nevertheless.
• " How close are we to the office?" He asked the bald guy that was driving him.
• The bald guy was just going to drive him for a couple of days. In fact, the morning had to be the last time the dude would drive him. Hagar was going to return. Probably, with news that his ears ached so much to hear. He had let Hagar take a couple of days off . Though, the days were not meant for him to rest. The days were for him to locate the mystery girl that he had the one night stand with.
• It was more shocking to him that till this moment, there was still no news from Hagar. It clearly spelt bad news. But he did not want to accept it. With the level of influence and affluence he had , finding anyone was not a big deal for him to do. It was just a pain in the ass that he had not received any information from Hagar till now. If Hagar already found something tangible, he would have called his attention. But it seemed there was nothing yet.
• " Just five minutes away. " The bald guy replied.
• " Five minutes. " He repeated. " Are you certain about that? It feels like an hour already. "
• " Five minutes, Sir. "
• " Well, it was five minutes then. " Aspen reminded him. " Right now, it is less than five minutes. "
• " We will be there soon enough. "
• It took an extra five minutes for them to arrive. Aspen cursed under his breath. Anyway, it would definitely be the last time that bald headed man was going to drive him.
• " You said five minutes. We spent more than ten minutes. "
• " Sorry, sir. I must have made the wrong calculations. "
• " Like you have always done. " Aspen sighed heavily and stepped out of his limousine's comfort, clutching his briefcase in his hand. He strode towards the elevator that led straight to his office floor.
• A few moments later, he was walking into his office and dropping the briefcase right on the table. Flipping out his phone from his pocket, he searched for a particular contact. It was Hagar. He needed to call Hagar and figure out how far he had gone with the little assignment, which was not little, that he had given him to do .
• " Alright. Here we go. " He dialed the contact that stared at him. One ring. Two rings. Three rings.
• " Hello, Sir. Good morning. "
• " Good morning?" Aspen asked with his brows arched. " Is there any good thing about the damn morning?"
• " Sorry, sir. I had to dig up more before I would contact you. "
• " It has been a couple of days already since I gave you the task . I need to see you right now. "
• " You will see me now, sir. "
• Aspen dropped the call and heaved a deep breath. He could not help his curiosity which in turn made him a little bit tensed up. His office telephone rang.
• Who could that be? He was in no.mood to take up any office calls. The mystery lady had been occupying his mind for a while now. And that was more reason for him to locate her as soon as possible. He walked to the telephone and picked the call. " Hello. "
• " Sir, " the voice of his secretary said, " Hagar us here to see you. "
• " Send him in. " He dropped the call with immediate effect and walked straight to his swivel chair and sank in The office doors parted ways and Hagar walked in, looking messed up. " Good morning, boss. ". Hagar greeted him.
• " Cut to the chase. You have greeted me already. "Hmm. " Hagar exhaled and stroked his hair. " I asked you to cut to the chase and not exhale loudly. What have you got on your hands?"
• " That's the problem, sir." Hagar replied.
• " What do you mean to say? That is the problem. What does that even mean?"
• Aspen asked, trying not to lose hope . The way Hagar was looking and sounding was not in any form encouraging for him. He still hoped it was negative news that was coming.
• " The girl you told me to dig up is more mysterious than I had thought. "
• " What are you even driving at, Hagar? What are you trying to say right now? She is more mysterious than you thought. That does not make a single sense to me. Start saying the things that I can flow with. "
• Hagar took a little pause. He did not know how to break the news to him. It was the first time he was disappointing Aspen since he started working for him.
• " I was not able to find her. "
• " What the hell? You were not able to find her. But why?"
• " There has been no single trace of her since the event. No one knows anything. Even if they do know, they are all refusing to say anything concerning the issue. "
• Aspen stroked his hair. Was his mother right all along ? Could it really be that he was busy searching for a person that might not really exist? There was no way that was possible. He knew what he felt that night. He recalled the actions that had ensued through the night . The moment was glorious indeed. But what was this all about? First, he woke up to no one being beside him. After such a night, the least that could have happened was for the both of them to get along better from that moment onwards.
• It had been a very long time since he really had anything to do with a wish. Why? That was simply because he did not give a fuck about any woman except his mother. There were too many bitches out there that he would not want to have a single thing to do with. Though what happened between him and the stranger was an accident, he still fantasized over every but of it. Besides, the lady was surely proving to be with class. She had class, definitely.
• If it were some cheap slut, she would want to hang around him for some days. But no! The lady disappeared from him without a trace. Instead of the girl coming after him, it was the other way round. He was the one left with no other choice than to go after the lady. And now, he is hearing some mind boggling gibberish. The lady was nowhere to be found.
• " I really hoped you would do this job neatly without having me worry about it. "
• " Sorry, Sir." Hagar said and bowed his head. " I was unable to get anything. But I will keep searching."
• " No. You are relieved of that task. It's obvious it's above you."
• " Sir, I can still—"
• " I said you are relieved of the task. You may leave now."
• Hagar stood for a while before turning and walking out of the office. Aspen sighed in disappointment. He had high hopes when he was giving Hagar the task to find her. But he failed. On another thought, he smiled to himself. There might still be hope left.
• Derek. He needed to contact Derek immediately.