CHAPTER TWENTY -EIGHT

Nicholas sat alone in his office hitting his pen on his text slowly, he was cooking up a plan in his head, one that would involve Sarah and Theo. It would be perfect to make Astra jealous, now the thing was to convince Sarah. Nicholas took a deep breath and rang Sarah.
'Hey, Nicky," she said as she picked up the call.
'Hi, Sarah. Can you come up to my office?" He asked.
'Of course, sure. There are a few things I wanted us to discuss about the shareholders. I also found someone perfect for your jealousy scheme," Sarah said. He could hear some background noises. He knew she was already getting up from her desk. She would be at his office in no time.
Nicholas suddenly didn't want her to come anymore. Convincing her to do the jealousy plan would be so much harder. She already said she had someone else for him.
Before long his secretary called him that Sarah was at his door and he reluctantly told him to let her in.
'So, I met with some of the shareholders already. I didn't get much information from them though. I even went to an art exhibition, I saw Astra there, with Jared," Sarah started before she even sat down. That was not the information he wanted to hear.
'Relax," Nicholas said.
'You can start from the beginning," he continued. Sarah chuckled.
'Okay, okay. I went to meet three people from the list last week. Lady Osborne, Mr. Princeton, and Mr. Bernard. Lady Osborne simply refused to speak about you, and frankly, she was very vile. Mr. Princeton said he would never do business with you again, and that was all he managed to say. Whatever made them leave was bad. Mr. Bernard who I met at his art exhibition simply said you were a thief, so we know it had to do with fraud," Sarah said and Nicholas nodded. Fraud. It was at the top of his mind, one of the most common reasons why people leave companies. Nobody wants to be stolen from.
'You said something about seeing Astra?" Nicholas asked and Sarah chuckled.
'You couldn't just forget that," Sarah said.
'Well, she has kind of been missing, so," Nicholas said. He had been out of his mind with worry about Astra. It was not until he heard that she went to work that morning that he became calm enough to plot the jealousy routine.
'Of course, that's the reason," Sarah said sarcastically and Nicholas shook his head at her.
'She came to the art exhibition and Jared was her date," Sarah said. He heard it the first time, but the second time it made him even more angry.
'Does this mean they went on a getaway together?" Nicholas asked. He could not even fathom the amount of jealousy he was feeling. He was too angry to even think. Nicholas did not even know what Astra saw in the man.
'I don't think so. Jared was at work the days Astra wasn't. Maybe she came back on Saturday and went on a date with him, it was that simple," Sarah said. Sarah's opinion seemed to quell his anger a little bit, but he was still pissed. She still went out with him at the end and he was not in the position to ask her where she had been.
'Okay, then. Anything suspicious about Thompson's movements yet?" Nicholas asked her. He was drawing out when he would ask her to help with the scheme.
'Nothing much. I have a gut feeling that he is planning to move though. He is selling some things, but he is being very discreet about it," Sarah said.
'Okay, we have to keep an eye on him then," Nicholas said.
Before Sarah could reply to his earlier statement, he asked, 'How is Theo doing? Is he okay yet?" Theo was down with fever over the weekend and Nicholas had even gone to visit them then.
'Theo is fine. If he wasn't, I wouldn't have come to work. He was all up and bubbly when I left him with his nanny," she said.
'Is something wrong?" She asked Nicholas, suspicion showing in her features. Sarah knew him too well.
'No, nothing," Nicholas replied. He would have to tell her sooner or later. Sarah did look like she believed him, but she went on to say, 'I found an actress that would be perfect for the role of your girlfriend," Sarah said, bursting his bubble.
'Her name is Angelica, but you can call her anything you want. She is not very popular, but she is good and willing to do quite a lot for money. She is even willing to fake a marriage," Sarah said and showed him a picture of a slim and beautiful brunette on her phone. Nicholas was barely listening to anything Sarah was saying because he wanted her to Angelica or whatever her name was.
The lady was pretty enough and he knew that she would even nail the job, but he had his reasons for wanting Sarah instead.
'I don't like her," Nicholas said. Sarah seemed shocked at that.
'But why not? You don't have to be in love with her. She is pretty, willing to work, I am pretty sure she will tolerable, and she will sign a contract too," Sarah said and he shook his head.
'This might take a while, I think I do need to like the person," Nicholas said, and Sarah sighed.
'Fine, we will get someone else. Or better still, we will do auditions. The best girl will win," Sarah said and Nicholas shook his head. Sarah was clearly willing to take this very far.
'I don't want auditions. I am sure I won't like any of them," Nicholas said. Sarah glared at him then, he clearly wasn't being funny.
'I want you to be the actress. To act as my girlfriend instead," Nicholas asked. The look on anger shock and disgust on Sarah's face made him wish he had kept his mouth shut.
'You what?" Sarah asked, her face was red with anger. Nicholas expected many things but he did not expect this. She was so angry that he hoped she would just say no and leave.
'Why would you even say that?" Sarah asked.
'We are cousins for God's sake. Don't just talk to me. You are so selfish," Sarah said and walked out of his office.
Nicholas put both his hands over his head after his cousin walked out. He had done it again and fucked up. He should not have asked. Making Astra jealous was not so important. He could do without that. He could not begin to lose all those whom he loved just because of Astra.
Nicholas thought about what he was going to do with Sarah while he worked that day. He attended his meetings bored and uninterested. It occurred to Nicholas at the end of the day that he had come to love his cousin. He felt like he had familial responsibility to her at the beginning that was why he gave her a job at all. Later on, he realized that she was very efficient and trustworthy too. He worked with her so much, was there when she gave birth to her son, over time loved the boy as his own, and he didn't know that he cared for her too. Not in the way that he loved Astra, that was different. He loved her in the way of a little sister.
That evening, he drove to Sarah's home while practicing the apology he formed in his head.
Her house was in the outskirts of the city. Nicholas always wondered why she wanted to stay far. He loved the city personally. Sarah had said she had enough of cities. She needed the quiet to raise her child.
The drive to her place was a long one but he got there after a while.
Nicholas was already knocking on her door when it occurred to him that Sarah might not be home. He should have called her before he came, but then he didn't call her because he was scared that she would tell him not to come.
'Coming," Nicholas heard and he became calmer. He settled the bouquet of dandelions on his arm and practiced his speech one more time.
Sarah looked surprised to see him in front of her door. Nicholas smiled and stretched forth the flowers. When she did not do anything, he said, 'I am really, sorry."
Sarah smiled at that, extracted the flowers from his hands, and stepped aside for him to enter into the house.
She was looking very homey, in sweat pants and a big t-shirt. It made Nicholas feel over dressed in his suit and tie. Her homey place did not help either. Sarah's house reminded him of their grandmother's cottage. It was comforting.
He followed her into the living room and saw Theo sitting on the rug and playing with his toys.
'I see this little bugger is up and back in business," Nicholas said and picked Theo up. His nephew let out a squeak and slapped both his chubby hands In his face. Nicholas laughed and swung him around. The cute smile and noises Theo made was enough to make his day.
'Your mom is mad at me you see. I was very very very stupid, and I said some stupid things, and I am so sorry," Nicholas said to Theo, well to Sarah.
'Actually, I think maybe I overreacted," Sarah said, walking up to him.
'There is no way it would work out. We have the same surname. Everyone in the company knows we are cousins. I should have just told you that instead of storming off," Sarah said as she sat down on the couch.
'Well, Astra doesn't know we are cousins," Nicholas pointed out as he sat down besides her. He did not expect that she would no longer be angry, but thank God for small mercies. He figured he would have to grovel more than that, but it seemed not.
'And Astra is the only person I want to think we are dating. It doesn't have to last long. Even if she finds out we are cousins, the purpose has been achieved," Nicholas pointed out and Sarah nodded. It was still shocking to him how calm she was.
'There is also the fact that she is probably seen the both of us together, so it's not something new. And then the baby," Nicholas said and Sarah frowned.
'Don't bring my son into this," she said. Okay, that was a boundary.
'Of course, it's not so necessary. We don't have to kiss or anything odd like that. We just have to be together and see her. And maybe just saw we are together, yeah," Nicholas said and Sarah stared at him.
'And Astra would just assume that we are dating?" She asked.
'Well, yes. Astra can actually be very dramatic and jealous too. It will work, trust me," Nicholas said. Sarah sighed at that.
'Nick. Do you want to get her back or do you want her to pay?" Sarah asked. It was a very valid question, one that he asked himself over and over again. He still didn't have an answer. He wanted both, but he had to chose one, so what would he choose?
'I don't know, Sarah, I don't know," he told his cousin. Love seemed to do stupid things to you.