Apollo's 11

by Anna Collins

  "Ask the channel and the reporter for a public apology. That's all I want for now. And no prosecuting" I stated in my rigid authoritative tone and ended the call.

  Freya

  "How could you be so careless? Anyone will give anything to you and you will just publish it? You didn't even spare a second to justify the evidence. Ahh, shame on you" I ranted fearlessly in front of Brad Kent, who had a rather confused expression on his face and was wiping his face continuously with his white handkerchief. Apparently, the fully functional air condition was unable to help him.

  I looked at Rick, who was sitting right next to me. He had an expression of awe on his face. I was clutching the knitted end of my white scarf, it was taking a lot of courage to act all ‘innocent' when deep down inside I knew that I was the sole reason behind all this mess. It was my ‘daredevil' acts that led us in this position in the first place. God! Why didn't you stop me from going after Joe Hudson? I frowned inwardly keeping the challenging expression constant on my face.

  "Why are you silent now? When I made a tiny-tiny mistake, that too unknowingly, you didn't hesitate to fire me. Now fire yourself, you crazy channel head" I leaned on the table, practically quarreling with him.

  "Freya, don't blame me for this. I was out of town for a vacation. My only mistake was to make an inexperienced person sit on this chair. I shouldn't have fallen for the emotional blackmail of my cousin" he lowered his head.

  "Your cousin? But he is just an intern. Shucks! You assigned an intern to be the channel head for 2 days?" my jaw fell open.

  "Yes, and someone offered him $20,000 to publish the fake news, and he greedily accepted the offer. Now I don't know what to do. Robert Hudson will not leave us alive after this. And what will happen to the channel's reputation if people came to know that the channel head is worthless? Freya, can you think of anything to handle the situation? My mind is just hammered" he sounded like he could cry at any moment.

  Man! Kent was so damn right. I had clearly seen the angst in his eyes.

  "I guess there is no other way left but to apologize. Tell the truth to everyone. Confess that you were on leave and you trusted a young guy with the responsibility. Omit the money portion, hmm…say that the acting channel head was blackmailed by an unknown person, let's say a rival of Robert Hudson, and the poor guy felt so stressed out that he aired the news without justifying it.

  This will gain us sympathy plus it also can save the channel and me. However, Robert Hudson is going to sue anyway, because that guy never forgives but probably you might be saved from the criminal charges" I sighed, making the saddest ever possible face.

  It took him a few seconds to understand my fast flying words "well…this is not a complete solution, but it can take us somewhere. I have another addition. I will call Robert Hudson personally after this to apologize" he said.

  Ya, like the monster, will listen to your useless blabbering. He will never receive your call and even if he received it, he will not give you the chance to speak a word. I knew his meanness had reached the highest peak at this moment.

  "Cool. Then I will leave now." I said and stood up, but Kent stopped me

  "Where are you going? Don't leave me alone in this mess, your name is also involved in it. So let's try to fix it together?" he asked. His tone seemed more of a request.

  "Umm…how can I stay here? Remember you were the one to fire me" I said innocently.

  He shrugged "Ah! Just forget it. You can have the job back, just save the channel" he said.

  I so wanted to jump in joy at that moment, but then remembered that I was no laughter in a situation to jump or feel joyful so I flopped my face instead, cursing my bad luck.

  "Sis, the apology statement was so heart touching, with the tears and all. It felt like you were totally…. umm…what to say, yes, honest. And I saw some of the reviews online, it's true that lots of people are cursing the channel, calling the staff unprofessional, reckless etc but many soft-hearted people are on our side too. They are saying that everyone makes mistakes out of pressure." Rick informed.

  Well, he need not inform me actually, I was sitting right there on my desk, reading all the comments of people. Since the news had been telecasted and uploaded online, I have never stopped checking for the updates.

  "Hmm…any news on the monster? Is he done charging his weapons?" I frowned.

  "No, not yet. Maybe Kent knows something, let's go to him" he suggested.

  I nodded, and before we could reach his office, he showed up.

  "Why is he looking so happy?" Rick whispered.

  "Mental imbalance" I smirked.

  "Will it be soon to call 911?" Rick mocked.

  "Hush! Let's hear him out first" I scolded.

  "Okay, enough with the whispering and making presumptions. My dear staff members, may I have your undivided attention" he spoke and everyone out there in the hall room became still and totally alert.

  "Good. Now for the news, Robert Hudson is satisfied with our apology, he understood our problems and has decided not to prosecute us" he said with the broadest possible smile, showing all of his yellow teeth.

  "What? How is this even possible? That guy doesn't understand anything. He is a monster and can forgive, no one, no one" I yelled loudly and was in the middle of a panic attack. Rick held me by the shoulders and asked me to calm down.

  "Freya, I know you are overwhelmed, this is unexpected news for all of us. But it's true, sometimes people can act nice, accept it. And everyone get to work" Kent stated and went back to his office.

  I fell down on the floor "this is not good news. This is the calm before the storm. I'm going to be a dead girl"

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Freya

  It was unbelievable, obnoxious, impossible and everything else. Everyone else could believe that the news was fake and someone was using my name but Robert Hudson, huh, never. He knew that the news was absolutely true and he also knew that I was the one to click the pictures. His uncle was in his good books, but I certainly wasn't and I was the one who had a motive behind this. The motive was pure and unadulterated revenge. Think Freya, Think, what could be his next move, what could he be planning right now?

  I kept biting my nails and pacing around my room. It was 4:39 am of the morning and still there was not even a bit of sleep in my eyes. How could I sleep when there was a knife hanging around on my neck.

  I jumped out when my phone buzzed. "Relax, Freya it's just the phone. Stop panicking over pretty things" I scolded myself and went for the phone. It looked like an international number, but I picked it up anyways.

  "Hello"

  "Am I talking to Freya Lawrence?"

  "Yes, may I know who is it on the other side?"

  "Freya, it's me, Ben Wyatt"

  "Oh, is everything okay? I mean you are calling in such an odd hour"

  "I am sorry for that. Actually, I am in the UK right now. So I kinda, mixed up the hours. Is it a bad time dear? I can always call later"

  "No, No, it's fine. It must be something important, otherwise, you wouldn't have called me. So please go ahead"

  "Dear, I want to discuss something important with you, can you come to my office after 2 days?"

  "Umm…. okay…I guess I can make that. But at what time?"

  "I will message you the details. Good Night dear" and he ended the call.

  I itched my forehead, Oh God! Am I up for another drama? And why did he call me Freya Lawrence? He always called me Mrs. Hudson. What will happen to me? And I fell down on the bed thinking about all the problems that were ever ready to bite me in the ass.

  Robert

  "Can you please let me live in peace?" I said while going through the latest issue of the Forbes magazine. They had published an article about Hudson Industries.

  "How can you be so calm about it? There you are sitting in your living room, wearing your baggy shorts and loose fitting T-shirt, sipping coffee and reading a magazine, doing absolutely nothing about that girl who had planne
d to ruin you" Uncle Joe snapped.

  Liam, who was busy in playing racing games in his tab, looked up at his dad in alarm. Maybe he was surprised because like I had also had never seen his father speaking in such a desperate tone, that too in front of me.

  "Uncle, why are you stressing so much? Come sit here, drink this glass of water" I said calmly.

  His eyes raised to his forehead "You are not acting like the Robert I knew" he shook his head and went away.

  Liam blinked his eyes "bro, what's up with dad? Is he having a seizure?" he asked.

  "No, he is just shocked. There is nothing to worry" I assured.

  "I know. You can handle everything. You are a superhero" he smiled and went to his room.

  "Excuse me, Sir, some two guys are creating a chaos outside our gate. They are calling your name. Can you please check if you know them? If you don't know them I will ask the security guard to throw them out" the servant informed humbly.

  "I'm checking," I said and went to the balcony to see it for myself.

  There were two young guys, wait...I recognized them. They were Rick and Danny; Freya's friends. But what the hell were they doing in front of my house?

  "Robert Hudson, you can't hold her at hostage like this. Release her, or we will call the police?" Danny yelled as he saw me peeking through the balcony.

  My forehead creased, what was he talking about? Did I kidnap someone? Ahh, they had lost it.

  "If you are out of your mind, go and at the mental hospital. What are you doing at my house?" I asked.

  "Stop it. We know you have kidnapped Freya. She has been missing for three days" Danny yelled.

  "Guards, let them come inside" I ordered.

  I sat on the leather lounge chair of the living room, crossing my legs, while Rick and Danny were standing across me. They looked nervous now, all their courageous shouts were long gone. They were Freya's best friends, and Freya used to talk about them all the time, that causing their names to fed in my memory.

  "What's with all the drama? Did Freya send you to create a scene? As far as I know, you two act as her accessory" I snapped.

  "We are not creating a scene; we are telling the truth. Maybe we overreacted but we are very concerned about our friend. She has not returned home since two days" said the big bulky guy, yes Danny that was his name. He looked very worried.

  "You kidnapped her because you are jealous of her" snapped the short, brown guy, Rick.

  His scrambled words made me laugh "jealous? Of Freya? What does she have? The Kohinoor?" I smirked.

  "Yes, you are because Ben Wyatt gave away 70% of the shares of Wyatt telecommunications to Freya Lawrence. She went to sign the official papers and has not returned home since then. I doubt...no don't doubt, I know that you kidnapped her so that she cannot sign the papers" Rick said.

  "Are you for real? Do you expect me to believe your crap? Why will Ben Wyatt give his valuable shares to someone like Freya? She can't even spell business" I shrugged and turned away.

  "Let's go, Rick. There is no use in talking to a ruthless person like him. He will never tell us about her. Why will he care if something happens to her? In fact, he will be happy if she dies" Danny said and I could hear them walking away.

  Ben Wyatt was a person who valued emotions more than business and Freya had risked her life to save him so maybe he....ahno way. He could never chooseFreya over me. He knew how efficient and capable I was.

  The thought that I might have lost the shares and Freya getting missing was not letting me breathe in peace. I immediately needed to get to the root of it.

  Without calculating anything I dialed the personal number of Ben Wyatt.

  "Good evening Mr. Wyatt, hope you are doing good. I heard a rumor and just wanted to check with you. Are you giving away the shares of Wyatt telecommunications to Freya?" I asked and his answer gave me the biggest shock ever. It turned out that Rick and Danny were saying the truth.

  But that raised another question, was Freya really missing?

  There was no way they could make up such a thing.

  I began to perspire, what if Freya was struck in some kind if trouble? What if someone had really kidnapped her.

  "Damn it. What the hell am I supposed to do now?" I cried feeling trapped by my own emotions. I wanted to hate her but I also wanted her to be safe.

  Why would someone try to harm her? Who could be her enemy? I began to think, churning up my brain cells.

  "God just keep her safe, don't let her over active and over curious brain do something that could actually harm her" I closed my eyes for a silent prayer and her smiling face appeared in front of my eyes. Soon I realized what was I doing?

  "What's wrong with me? Why am I praying for the girl who was and maybe still trying to destroy me?" I shook my head, feeling hammered.

  Freya

  My eyes were soaked in the blur of darkness and something was buzzing inside my head. My head felt heavy like it happened when one drank too much wine, but I was certain that I was not drunk.

  On top of that, my head was paining uncontrollably. I tried to open my eyes but all I could see was darkness. For the moment I felt that I was blind, but no, that was not true. In fact, I was blindfolded!

  Soon I figured out that I was lying horizontally on an uneven rough surface. It was very uncomfortable and was pinching my backbone. When I tried to move my legs, I encountered an obstacle, shit! My legs were tied. Then I tried to move my hands and got the same answer, they were tied too.

  Out of frustration, I began yelling and crying "where am I? And why did you tie me up?"

  Followed by my words there was a long trail of silence. I was frustrated with the darkness and the silence.

  "Are you mute? Why don't you speak up?" I yelled again and again yet there was no answer. Then I began to think that maybe no one was present there.

  There was that smell of burning, what? God! Was I on the verge of death? Were they planning to burn me down? I shook in panic as my defenseless body tried its best to break free, but all I could do was to wiggle a bit.

  Tears of pain from my eyes had dampened the cloth that was tied around my eyes. And I could see something, my vision was unclear but I could see the light of some flames, the flames were coming out of...what seemed like black candles. There were thousands of black candles lined up there and that's when I remembered that I had been to this place before. It was the same bungalow where I had seen that weird painting, it was the bungalow of Joe Hudson's creepy girlfriend. That meant that he had kidnapped me. Jeez! Why didn't I think about this earlier?

  His men kidnapped me when I was going to Ben Wyatt's office. They hit my head from behind, I passed out and they carried me here. What a great plan!

  I sighed deeply and began weeping, feeling trapped and extremely helpless.

  "Stop crying and yelling. No one is going to help you" a sharp female voice taunted me.

  "Please let me go. I am harmless" I pleaded.

  I had not even finished my sentence when I heard a loud laugh that made me shook.

  "Harm? No one in this world has the ability to harm me. You can't even imagine what I do to people who try to get in my way. You are here because I am interested in knowing about you. Tell me about your powers" she demanded.

  Her heavy words made me chuckle "powers? What powers? I have nothing"

  "Don't dare to lie? I have practiced black magic for ages, don't try to fool me" she snapped.

  "Trust me please, I even don't know what black magic means. I'm a simple girl. Yes, I admit that I entered into your place but trust me I meant to do nothing. I have nothing against you, let me go please" I pleaded, pouring out the emotions of my heart.

  I felt her touching my hand, the touch of her cold hand made me squeak.

  "Then why did you stole my ring?" she charged me and tried to pull out the ring but it refused to come off.

  "Ouch. You are pulling it too roughly; open my hands I will take it out for you. And I had no idea it was yours. Someon
e slipped it inside my jacket. I had no idea it was a magical ring until it showed me…." I stopped.

  Damn you Freya, what was the need of blabbering so much? Now this witch will kill you for sure. I was crying again.

  "It's not a magical ring. It just has an emotional connection. However, I left it long ago" she sighed and I could feel a hint of hidden pain in her tone.

  I wanted to shout what I doubted, I wanted to let her know that maybe Joe Hudson had slipped that ring but clearly that would not have made any sense. So I decided to plead again "mam, please let me go, for God's sake," I said in my weak voice and now my head was spinning.

  "God?! You believe in Him?" her voice sounded like she was in a deep shock.

  "I sure do. Everyone does" I replied confidently.

  "That means there is no way you could practice black magic, then how did you achieve those powers to outdo my spell?" she demanded.

  "Mam, trust me I don't know a thing about the black magic thingy that you are talking about and I have never outdone a spell in my whole life. Maybe you got the wrong girl. I am a very simple person. You have to believe me. Why are you wasting your time and energy on a useless person like me? I think you are smart enough to get it that I wouldn't have been lying and pleading here if I had those damn magical powers and these ties and folds wouldn't have stopped me. Ouch, my head is paining so hard." I blurted out with all my strength.

  "Don't act smart with me, I know you are the same girl that made my master bleed. You should be grateful that I haven't killed you till now. Joseph is searching for you like a mad bull and if he gets you he will kill you for ruining his business. Now be a smart girl and hand over all your magical powers to me and I promise, I will let you go. I don't like to kill people" her voice was stern yet promising, and I could smell a strange kind of perfume, which told me that she was standing or sitting right next to me.