by Carter Blake
Ring, ring.
I answer my car phone quickly, as it shakes me from my thoughts, instantly noticing that it’s Amber calling. I feel a little bad because I’ve not even thought about her since she’s been gone.
“Hi, Amber, are you okay?”
“Yes, everything is fine. I’ve just been doing some research on the foundings of the company, and I think there’s something you should know about.” She talks rapidly, as if she’s absolutely desperate to get the next words out of her mouth, and even though I suspect what she might be about to tell me, I know that I can’t stop her. Not when she’s on such a roll. “It’s Naomi’s Dad, he was the one who started the company with John. I knew there was something suspicious about her, I could tell that she didn’t care about the business. She’s here to tear it apart.”
My chest tightens.
“Okay, thank you Amber, I have been informed of this already,” I interrupt calmly, needing to shut this down.
“So, you’ve fired her? She’s gone?”
“I don’t think you should be worrying about the business at the moment, I think you need to concentrate on your brother. How is he?”
“He’s going to be fine, he just needs to get stabilized before they let him go.”
“Okay, well please let me know if you need anything, and take all the time you need. Things are running fine without you at the moment, so there’s absolutely nothing for you to worry about.”
It’s all going to work out alright. I just know it. It’s just going to be a little harder to make other people understand that.
However, that doesn’t stop me from actually wanting to get into the office, just to check on all of the security measures. I do trust Naomi, I really do, but at the same time it can’t hurt to be too safe. Even if it’s just to get everyone else off my back. If I can just confirm to everyone that I’m totally on top of things, then I’m sure that they will eventually start to relax.
As I walk through the doors, expecting to be greeted with silence, I find that there are actually a few people here, working away as if I haven’t told them to take the day off.
“What are you doing?” I ask the receptionist bemusedly. “Didn’t Chris tell you to take the day off?”
“He did, but a lot of us have too much to do. That’s why we didn’t drink too much last night.”
There’s a part of me that is super proud of my work force, and the environment that I’ve created, which makes people want to work when they don’t have to, but another part of my brain is wondering if Naomi is here, and if I can confront her right now.
With that thought in my mind, I stalk to my office with determination in my step. If I can just ask Naomi, if I can get to the bottom of it, then it’ll all be put to bed where it belongs. She isn’t there, of course she isn’t because I have the only key, but with a racing heart I put a call in to her work phone, and relief floods through me when she answers on the first ring.
“If you have a second, can you come to my office?”
“Of course.” Is everything all right?”
“I thinks it’s better if we talk in person.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in a moment.”
While I wait for her get here, I grip onto the side of my desk, trying to prepare myself for what is about to happen. This moment could change absolutely everything, and I can admit it to myself just how scared I truly am.
“Hi,” she steps into my office, brows draw down, a small frown tugging at her lips, as if she isn’t quite sure what to expect from me. “Is everything okay?”
I suck in a deep breath, wanting to find the right way to form this question, but it spills from my mouth regardless, in possibly the hardest way. “Are you Michael Norton’s daughter?”
She looks so stunned that it quickly becomes obvious that it’s the truth, but for a horrible heart wrenching second I fear that she might be about to lie.
“I… I am,” she stammers. “Yes.”
Her expression is hollow, her face is pale, but I decide to take it as a good sign that she’s confessed it to me.
“The company’s future is strong at the moment, but it wouldn’t take a lot to endanger it,” I tell her, with just a slight warning to my tone. I need her understand that while I accept her, I won’t take any funny business. “I just don’t want anything to cause an imbalance.”
“No, of…of course not,” she stutters. “I… I…”
“I trust you,” I reassure her, causing my voice to go as warm as it can. “It just threw me a little bit, that’s all.”
“It doesn’t matter who I am, or who my parents are, it doesn’t change anything about how I feel when it comes to you or the company.”
I slide out from behind my desk to where she’s sitting to place a kiss on her lips.
“It’s going to be fine, as long as we’re honest with each other.” I feel good about it all now, certain that she’s trustworthy, and that’s what I’ll tell anyone that challenges me again.
“Okay,” she nods slowly, allowing my acceptance of her to finally be processed. “Thank you. You’re a good man, Wesley.”
Chapter 17
Naomi
Ever since Wesley confronted me about who I am, I have been holding back on the plan, doing what I can to blend in and to look like my sole intention is to grow the company. I’m terrified that I’m being watched now, from every single angle, and it’s causing me to hold back.
I guess it doesn’t help that I really don’t know what to do anymore. A big part of me wants to just grab the fucking formula and to get out of here, but another part of me wants to call my Dad and ask him why he lied to me.
Ever since meeting Madeline, small sparks of memories have been slowly creeping back in, and they don’t make for pleasant thinking. Dad might not have mentioned what happened with the business for a very long time, but it’s all he used to speak about when I was young, even more so than what happened to my poor Mom, and now I’m starting to wonder if this was his plan all along.
The day he stopped going on about it nonstop, was the day I told him that I would get revenge for him. I was only young then, a kid, which is why I’ve mostly forgotten it, but now that it’s in my brain it’s all that I can think about.
He never stopped me, he never encouraged me, he never told me to get my own life rather than worrying about all of this madness. He might have seemed like he was trying to put me off when I was older, but that may have been because my mind was already set. I had already chosen my path in life, and I stubbornly took it no matter what.
All of that might seem like paranoia, like I’m thinking into things far too deeply, but then there’s the fact that he’s seemingly had Oliver as an inside man for far too long. Maybe he was the person that he originally wanted to carry this plan on with, but he needed to wait for the formula to be perfected. Maybe by that time he realized that Oliver was a loose cannon, a bumbling idiot, so he dragged me in to it all. And of course, there I was ready and willing to do it.
But should all of that be enough to put me off, after all this time? Even if I have been a pawn, maybe that’s because the end goal is such a noble one – maybe I need to concentrate on that rather than worrying about anything else.
Urgh, God this is so hard.
“Naomi?” Oliver’s voice breaks into my office, making me jump from your thoughts. “Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you?”
I want to say no, to turn him away, but I can’t. There’s a seriousness to his expression that I’ve never seen before, and that has me intrigued despite myself.
“Come in, shut the door behind you,” I hiss. “Now what is it?”
“Your Dad is getting worried,” he informs me in a hushed tone of voice. “He thinks that we’re leaving things too late, and that we’ll end up screwing things up. He told me that he tried to call you, but you didn’t answer.”
I didn’t, because I wasn’t quite ready for this exact lecture. “So I think we really need to start ta
lking about progressing.”
Shit, I’m not ready for this, I don’t know how to deal with it, I’m still undecided, but how can I express this to Oliver? If m suspicions are correct, then he’s been working with my father for a very long time, and he undoubtedly has his own agenda here. I doubt that there’s anything that I can do to change his mind, and that’s even if I wanted to.
“I think we need to do it today.” He leans in closer. “Wesley is becoming increasingly suspicious, the nearer the release gets, which means his security will be much higher. Plus, we need to get this done quick enough for your Dad to do whatever it is that he needs to do as well.” He sits back and regards me curiously, waiting for a response. “So from all the calculations I’ve been doing it needs to be today.”
This is it, now or never, no more going back and forth, no more doubting myself. I need to make my choice, do I pick my Dad – the man who raised me, who loved me, who deserves some recognition of his contribution, or do I pick the man that I might just be falling in love with, despite everything that he represents?
When I consider it like that, there really is only one option, however much I don’t like it.
“Okay,” I whisper sadly. “Let’s do it today.”
“Great.” He snaps into action. “I will set the fire alarms in about an hour. I have smoke machines installed secretly in the walls, so it will seem more believable too. I will ensure that the security cameras are down seconds before everything starts.” Finally, his knowledge is coming in handy. “While everyone files outside, you head into Wesley’s office.” With that he hands me a key, cut specially for me. “And get the document. I will arrange for your father to meet you nearby.”
“Do you know what happened?” I suddenly jump in, needing to fully get where Oliver is coming from. At the beginning. “We’re you there? With…Madeline?”
His facial expression hardens, but he doesn’t seem to be swayed at all. “Whatever happened back then, it doesn’t matter. It isn’t fair for someone to get nothing for what they created.”
“So this is all about money?” I ask curiously. “You think that’s the only end goal here?”
“Of course,” he shrugs casually. “What else would it be about?”
I don’t want to answer that, because it puts my whole background in jeopardy, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s more to do with love. Madeline was obviously the love of Dad’s life, and my Mom was just some woman he knocked up to get revenge over her, or to get over her, I don’t know. The end result of that was me. But if Dad never loved my Mom, did he love me? I’ve always thought so, but maybe I’ve spent my entire life being naïve.
“Okay, well let’s just do this.” I need an end now.
I need to be away from all of this.
***
The hour passes in a haze, but by the time the smoke alarms start ringing out, I feel ready for it. I am so ready to be away from all these people now, so I’m actually kind of glad that the time is here. While the bells ring, I wait a few minutes for everyone else to leave, the entire time my heart pounding in my chest, and as soon as I feel like the coat might be clear, I peek my head out of my door to find the hallways empty.
“Let’s just do this,” I mutter to myself. “Get in, get out, get it done.”
I run quickly, my emotions floating everywhere, and by the time I reach Wesley’s office door, everything inside of me is shaking, which of course has my hands trembling too. It takes me far too many times to slide my key into the lock, and by the time I actually manage it I think I might be sick.
This is too much, it’s too intense, I never should have assumed that this was something I could do. A part of me is even hoping that this key is a dud and that Oliver has let me down once more.
But nope, he’s actually managed to pull through, the door swings open quickly.
“Fuck,” I mutter to myself. “Fucking hell, okay… let’s just do this.”
I glance everywhere, not seeing any sign of a safe, before I start tapping my fingers on the walls to see if there’s something there. I should have got this information before I started on this crazy mission, what the hell was I thinking? Why am I so unprepared? Oh yeah, because that asshole Oliver decided to try it today.
The painting! Of course. I already realized that it was a ridiculous size when I first laid eyes on it, and now I know why. It’s covering something up, it has to be, and as I tug it, and it swings open like a door, I realize that I’m right. Now I just need to figure out the code. Shit, of course, I have no idea about that, and why the hell would I?
I grab Wesley’s diary, tugging through the pages to look for any important dates, and I type them all in as quickly as I can, hoping and praying that each one will be right.
‘Dad’s Birthday’ I see written, with a heart next to it, so I type that in quickly. Of course, as well as I know Wesley right now, I should have guessed that it would be this very date. Of course, he loves his Dad, he doesn’t understand fully what he did.
With that, I grab all the paperwork that’s inside, no longer caring about being smart and picking only one, and I tuck it all under my arm. It’s going to be obvious what I’ve done, right away, especially considering I have a note confessing everything, which I’m going to leave on Wesley’s desk, so I can’t see any point in being sensible anymore.
I just want out.
Then I race down the hallway, towards the fire exit, which I’m sure will lead me into the dark alleyway where Oliver has informed me that Dad will be waiting with a car.
“Did you get it?” Oliver hisses, catching up with me. “Did you get the formula?”
“I assume it’s in here somewhere,” I gasp to him. “Now let’s get the fuck out of here.”
We race until we see an old banger parked up, where we jump into it rapidly. As Dad pulls away, grinning proudly at me as if I’ve done him a great service, I can’t stop the sinking sensation in my chest. Not only am I leaving Future Pharmaceuticals behind, and the only job that I’ve ever been good at, but I’m losing the only shot at real love that I ever think I’ve had.
While Dad and Oliver congratulate one another, as if they have pulled off a serious criminal heist, I regret everything, but of course there’s nothing I can do now. It’s far too late. I wish I could turn back time, to never do any of this, but that’s impossible. I think now, to get over this, I’m going to have to move away, to leave all of this life behind. I don’t think I can stay here and live with what I’ve done, however much it helps my Dad.
I’m sorry, Wesley, I think sadly to myself. I’m sorry for what I’ve done to you. I never meant to hurt you directly, I just wanted to make my Dad happy. I never meant to get mixed up in this. I hope that one day you can forgive me, even if I never will.
“So, what now?” I finally ask my Dad coldly. “What is your plan for what happens next?”
I know for a fact that if he answers this, he has known what he wants all along, and that I really have just been a game piece.
“Ah, you’ll see, my sweet little Naomi, don’t you worry about that. The world is my oyster now, as it is for all of us.”
As they both laugh I allow anger to bubble up inside of me. For him, and Oliver too. I feel like I have nothing left inside me. But that’s what you get for allowing revenge and anger to dictate your life, I suppose. You end up like this, like me, with nothing.
Chapter 18
Wesley
This is bad… this is really bad…
Ever since the fire alarm first went off, my head has been all over the place. I just have this horrible feeling that something is up, and now that I can’t see even one flame flickering up from the building, that feeling is confirmed. This is a plot, this is part of a plan, and I’ve walked right into their hands.
“Is everyone here?” I yell over the mass hysteria that has gathered in the car park. “Is anyone missing?”
People look among themselves, trying to scan for any faces that might not be ther
e, while I do the same.
“Amber,” someone yells. “She isn’t here.”
“She’s off work,” I reply quietly, already spotting something suspicious.
Naomi is nowhere to be seen.
Where is she? why can’t I see her? Was I wrong to trust her all this time?
“Oliver…he’s not here, definitely, and I saw him earlier today,” someone says beside me.
“Naomi,” I scream loudly. “Naomi, where is she?”
When no one answers me, I take off, tearing back inside, shoving the fireman out the way. One of them yells at me, tells me to remain outside until they can confirm that there is no fire, but I pay no attention. I already know that there isn’t one. Something has happened, my business is in jeopardy, and that’s all there is to it.
I tear through the hallways, knowing there’s only one place she will go, and although I’m pretty sure I left it locked, I might have forgotten to do so in all the chaos. Or maybe, if this has been a plan, there was a way to get in whether I locked it or not. Maybe, if this has been going on for a long while, I never stood a chance.
Why did I trust her? Why didn’t I listen to my mother, and to Amber, the people who have been in my life for years? Why did I allow my heart to rule my heart? I just feel so fucking stupid.
The one person that I have ever let into my heart, has back stabbed me. How will I ever be able to trust my own judgment again?
Of course, my office door is swung open, and as I skate inside, moving my body faster than I ever have done before, I notice that the safe is open too – the place I keep all sensitive information, past projects, current formulas, future endeavors…everything.
All of Future Pharmaceuticals is in that safe, and if it’s gone, I find myself left with nothing. I will have let my father down, my mother down, never mind myself and all of my staff members. This really could ruin everything, and I feel sick to think that if I’d just listened, I could have prevented this.
