The next day, Alex sat in his living room, contemplating whether to follow Christian’s advice or just let things be. His mind was a whirl of thoughts and emotions. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that he needed to check on Claire. Something inside him urged him to visit her, to make sure she was okay.
Deciding to act on his instincts, Alex got ready and headed out. He stopped by a flower shop and picked out a bouquet of Claire’s favorite flowers. Then, he went to the pharmacist to buy some medicine and ointment for her bruises. He didn’t stop there; he also swung by a bakery to get her some fresh bread and coffee.
Once he had everything, Alex drove back to Metacortex. As he stepped out of his car and walked inside the building, some employees gave him curious looks and whispered among themselves. Ignoring them, Alex headed to the receptionist to ask for a guest card. This time, it wasn’t as difficult as yesterday since she already knew who Alex was.
“Good morning, Mr. Alex,” the receptionist greeted with a smile. “Here’s your guest card.”
“Thank you,” Alex replied, taking the card and heading to the lift.
Inside the lift, he pressed the button for Claire’s floor. He hoped to get to her office before she arrived so he could leave the items without causing a scene. However, as the lift stopped and the doors opened, Alex made his way to Claire’s office and knocked on the door, hearing her soft voice inviting him in.
Alex stepped inside, and Claire looked up curiously. “Alex? What are you doing here this morning?”
Alex cleared his throat. “I wanted to give you these,” he said, placing the flowers, medicine, and the coffee and bread on her desk.
Claire looked slightly surprised. “Wow, thank you, Alex,” she said, though her tone lacked much emotion.
Alex shifted nervously. “How’s your neck?” he asked, noticing she was still wearing a turtleneck.
Claire answered, slightly uncomfortable. “It’s still the same.”
Alex nodded, concern in his eyes. “I bought some ointment for the bruises. It should help.”
Claire nodded, looking around awkwardly. “Thanks, Alex.”
There was an awkward silence between them. Alex finally spoke up. “I’ll take my leave now.”
Claire only nodded, unsure what else to say. “Okay. Thanks again, Alex.”
Alex couldn’t help but wonder why things are so awkward between them when they are both not talking about work. He blame himself for creating the mess in the first place.
As he closed Claire office, Matthew appear, and he narrowed his eyes at Alex. “Mr. Harris, fancy seeing you here in the morning. What are you doing in Claire office?” he crossed his arms as he stared at Alex with much dislike.
Alex rolled his eyes. “Relax, Mr. Advisor. I was just stopping by to give her medicine. Besides, is not your business what I am doing here,”
Matthew took a step forward his gaze didn’t falter, and so did Alex. “Anything that involved Claire is my business.”
Alex threw him a glared. “You can’t even take of her. Easily believe that your boss is alright just because she said she is fine.”
“I trust her. That’s why I will believe everything she said.”
Alex let out a scoffed. “Well, you’re an idiot then.”
“We can take this outside, you know.” Matthew suggested and Alex smirked at the suggestion. “Sure, this time I will go first.”
But then Claire’s office door burst open. Claire stood there staring at these two grown up men arguing over stupid stuff.
“What are you two doing?” Claire crossed her arms over her chest.
“Um…we were just talking.” Said Matthew who shoot her a smile. Alex on the other hand rolled his eyes.
“Don’t believe him, Claire. He started it.” Matthew glared at him, but Alex could care less. “Anyway, I’ll get going.” He turned to Claire and gave her a small smile. “One more thing, please don’t let your dog roam free, I worried he will bite innocent people.” With that Alex left her office and Matthew just realized what Alex meant. “Oh, that piece of shit, I will-“
Claire quickly cut him off while shaking her head. “You’re not going to do anything, Matthew. Come inside.”
Matthew frowned, muttering to himself about how he was going to teach Alex a lesson the next time he saw him. He entered Claire’s office and took a seat across from her desk. Claire sat down behind her desk and looked at him seriously. “Why did you punch him, Matthew?” she asked.
Matthew was slightly confused. “I didn’t punch Alex this morning, even though I wanted to.”
Claire sighed. “I saw the camera footage. Yesterday, you lunged at him out of the blue.” Matthew sighed deeply, realizing she had caught him. “I did it out of anger because you fainted.” Claire’s expression softened. “Matthew, it wasn’t Alex’s fault. It was Lisa’s.”
Matthew clenched his fists. “I know, but every time I see Lisa, I can’t help but think about Alex. He defended
her a few times and accused you
instead.”
Claire nodded in understanding. “I appreciate that you’re looking out for me, but I don’t condone violence.”
Matthew looked down, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry, Claire.”
Claire smiled gently. “It’s fine, but the one you should be sorry to is Alex, not me.”
Matthew rolled his eyes. “Fine, I will talk to him as long as he didn’t act like a jackass.”
Claire switched the topic, her tone serious but tired. “Due to Lisa’s actions yesterday, Metacortex got dragged again.”
Matthew frowned. “How bad is it?”
“The media thought Lisa is one of our employees so they made theories about working in Metacortex can make them crazy until you want to kill yourself.”
“Did the stock market go down?” Matthew asked, worried.
Claire shook her head. “Thankfully, it didn’t get affected. We’re lucky this time.”
Matthew let out a breath of relief. “That’s good news, at least.”
“Yeah, but in a few minutes, I will have an online meeting with the shareholders.”
I.ne
Back at the police station, Lisa sat in her cell, feeling the weight of her frustration and anger. She had tried calling her mother the previous night, but there had been no answer, leaving her to spend the night alone in the cold, hard cell.
She couldn’t stop thinking about how her mother had let her down, not being there when she needed her the most.
A police officer approached her cell, his face stern. “You want to make another phone call?”
Lisa nodded, her expression tense. “Yes, please. I need to try again.”
The officer’s serious face didn’t soften. “You only have one more chance to make a call. Make it count.”
He unlocked the cell door and
escorted Lisa to the phone. She picked up the receiver with a
shaking hand, dialing her mother’s number once more. This time, to her surprise, her mother answered on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Mom, it’s Lisa,” she said quickly. “I’m in jail. You have to get me out of here.”
There was a stunned silence on the other end of the line. “You’re in jail?” her mother finally replied, her tone a mix of shock and disbelief. “Yes, Mom. I need you to bail me out,” Lisa said, trying to keep the urgency out of her voice.
Her mother sighed deeply. “Lisa, I can’t. I don’t have the money to bail you out.”
Lisa clenched her fist in irritation, her knuckles turning white. “What do you mean you don’t have the money? I saw you buy a new bag last week!”
Her mother’s voice hardened. “That bag didn’t cost nearly as much as your bail. And besides, this is your fault, Lisa. You got yourself into this mess.”
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