Chapter 22

**James pov**

James has never been this scared until that moment. He preferred that hoax bomb threat to be real than to this. Agatha... the only woman to show him a mother's love and he was not there when she needed him. James threw his phone in anger across the room. His senses returned two seconds late when he heard the crash. Oh no! Oh no! What has he done!

James scrambled to assemble the broken pieces of his phone but it's no use. It's well and truly broken. He threw the pieces he gathered once more with all his might.

"Mr. McKenzie?”, Tank walked to where he was kneeling on the floor and enquired about his sudden outburst.

"Ready the jet Tank. We are leaving. Do as fast as you can. It's Agatha", James ordered as he stood and tread past him.

"Right away sir", Tank gathered the broken pieces in his pocket and ran past him to follow through with his orders.

"Give me your phone", James asked his other bodyguard as he waited for the jet to be fueled and checked by the maintenance.

James called 911. He knew he was in a different state and the dispatch could only try to contact Atlanta's 911 through a phone number. But he has to do something. All his contacts are in his phone which he carelessly threw on the floor. Fuck! He doesn't even know Max's number. For the first time, James felt what a helpless man with no contacts feels.

"911, state your emergency", said the dispatcher.

"My housekeeper called me just now that she was feeling pain and her voice got cut off in the middle. I think she may have fainted", James recited.

"Ok. Can you tell me the address of your housekeeper sir?", the dispatcher posed pen and paper within reach to take note of the address.

James rattled the Atlanta address of Agatha's home as he felt the anxiety building up inside him.

"Sir, this comes under different states. I would connect you through their dispatcher. Hold on a minute", the dispatcher said in her robotic voice.

James checked his watch while he waited for the call to get connected. James felt restless. Dangerous thoughts circled in his mind bringing an unconscious Agatha lying on her floor to the forefront. If something happens to Agatha because of his carelessness, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

"Hello! How long does it take to connect a goddamn phone call?", James voiced his frustration.

"Sir, shouting or cursing will not help to speed the process. I request you to stay calm and let us do our work", the dispatcher said firmly.

"Listen, lady, the only woman I cared about is lying unconscious a state away. And I'm unable to do a goddamn thing about it. I need you to do fast whatever you are doing! Life is dependent on it"

"Yes sir. Just two more minutes. The lines are very busy right now. I'm doing all I can. Hold on for a moment".

James curbed the urge to throw this phone too. He wished he left behind a part of his security team. Every disaster known to mankind must strike him today itself. His secretaries are down, the temp is a nightmare, some idiot called a hoax bomb threat on one of his planes, he flew for 5 and 1/2 hours, traveling to a different state and was awake for almost 20 hrs. now. God must have thought it is not enough and dumped this new calamity on him. Only it's a person's life. A person who stood by him when he needed most. "Really! Do you have any more surprises left? My day hasn't ended yet!", James wanted to shout out at the sky.

"Sir, there seem to be tornado warnings going on in Atlanta. I'm sorry to say but all the phone lines are down due to the wind. I will try to call five minutes later and will connect to you once they pick up", the dispatcher apologised, unable to do more than that.

"Fucking hell! What are you saying, woman? I need that ambulance at her home right now!", James pulled his hair with his other hand as he thundered the importance of the situation. Fucking tornado! James thought he shouldn't have taunted god about his day. Only a tornado was left to be checked in his disastrous day of life and god seems to tick that off too.

"Sir, please. Language. I could have done it if it's in my hands. I will keep on trying. Until then, please keep this contact number close at hand. I'm sorry I couldn't do more. Are there any relatives who live near her home and can assist her?", the dispatcher asked to curb her troubled conscience. In her line of work, these things happen regularly but it was never the same for her.

Relatives? That's a foreign word to him. Sure, he has people leeching off of him. But help? He has yet to meet someone who would help him without expecting anything in return.

"No. No relatives. She lives alone", James sounded defeated. A new thing for him.

"In that case, I'm truly sorry sir. I will pray for her", the dispatcher disconnected the call and started trying for the line just as she informed.

He needs to do something, otherwise, he may go mad. He suddenly remembered the mail id of his temp. He wouldn't have noticed it if not for the fact that it is something to do with "Fifi". What was it? What was it? Was it "iamfifi@gmail.com”? James' only hope lies on Melanie now unless the dispatcher helped him through. His temp. The irony is not lost on him. The woman who did everything but work on her first day must help him. James prayed, "Please God, let her do this one thing to him and he will hire her as his permanent assistant. Please god, let Agatha live and out of danger. She is a good soul, not like his".

James googled the Gmail id he thought belonged to his temp Melanie. James couldn't find the Gmail id. What exactly was she thinking when she created this id? He scanned through the search results as he searched for anything that resembles close to "iamfifi@gmail.com".

James found a Gmail id that was the closest to what he is guessing, on Pinterest. It has some cupcakes and recipes tagged to it. Hoping he is correct and this is the mail id Melanie messaged him, James typed the email.

Tank approached him just as he was about to send the mail.

"Yes Tank, is the jet ready?", James asked as he started walking.

"The jet is ready Mr. McKenzie. Unfortunately, the captain says he couldn't maneuver it in the upcoming weather. The storm may hit any moment and the wind is packing there. It's better to take off once the storm clears", Tank said.

"I will kill that bastard if something happens to Agatha because of his selfishness", James burst out.

"How long will it take?"

"4-5 hours as per the weather report"

That long! Add the traveling time to it and he is looking at 11 long hours before he could reach Agatha. James looked at the phone he clutched in his hand. He prayed with all his might that the receiver of this mail will do something where he couldn't. Don't fuck this Melanie, James thought as he pressed the send button.

Not in the mood to take the extra time to reach a hotel, check-in, and then later check out, James rested his head on the back of the chair and closed his eyes as he waited for the storm to clear. Sleep came sooner than he thought.