Chapter 19: In which she gets disillusioned.

It was Monday, and I was running late...again!
I swear all this secrecy is making me tired and clumsy. I really need to talk to Sam, but I can't since I know he's planning to overthrow our father from his own company by slowly and steadily buying out the other shareholders and I don't want to disturb him right now. My brother has a very bad temper when he is interrupted.
Reaching Synclair Inc. a good 45 minutes later that normal, I was literally jumping up and down (my imaginary way of making an elevator work faster), when the doors opened to Nate’s floor on a scene that I had never expected to find.
There was a huge crowd in the lobby, which parted a bit to let me through as I stepped forward, and right in the middle of the crowd was Nathan in a navy blue pin striped business suit and a crisp white shirt, his expression that of a caged lion about to pounce, while two guards stood on either side of a man kneeling in front of him, crying for mercy. The entire lobby was dead quite except for the sobs of the man at his feet, as if waiting for a knell to sound.
I took a step forward in his direction when two hands grabbed mine and dragged me back. "Don't!"
It was a quite whisper as I turned to rip my hand away from the person, but something in Tina's eyes made me freeze. She wasn't looking at me but her expression was panicked.
I followed her gaze back to Nathan and was surprised at how expressionless it had become. Uh oh! This only happened when he was extremely pissed off. What on earth did the guy do to make him this mad?
Nate looked at the man for some time, as if deriving pleasure in the man's pain. His voice when he spoke, was cold and calm, with just the right amount of menace to send a shiver of fear down my spine.
"You, are fired. I'll give you exactly two hours to collect all your belongings and get out of the worker's quarters with your family, or I'll drag out all of you and throw you out on the streets myself. And then you’ll have exactly twenty four hours to return everything to the company before the cops lock you up for good.” The man fell to the floor while repeating 'forgive me', over and over. “Am I clear, Mr. Stevens?"
"Mr. Stevens? Isn't he the Accounts Manager?" I whispered to Tina, who stood looking at the scene with an emotionless expression.
"Yes. And apparently, he thought using his position to steal from the company's profit fund was no big deal at all. He started off small, but then he got greedy. He got caught by Mr. Synclair when he tried to transfer 3M to an offshore account in his wife's name." Tina replied just as quietly.
Any sympathy I had for the pathetic whimpering man at Nate's feet disappeared immediately.
I had met Richard Stevens occasionally, had thought of him as a kind man...too kind now that I think about it. But never in a million years had I thought he would steal from the company that provided him ample for him and his wife. He was about 29 years old with dirty blonde hair and sky blue eyes, kinda good looking, but not the raw masculinity that was Nathan. But right now, I only saw a traitor. I can only imagine what Nate was feeling at being betrayed by a close associate.
Millions! Damnit! The guy had stolen millions of dollars of hard earned money!
I stood there with Tina and watched as the guard’s grabbed one arm each and dragged him off to the elevator. It wasn't until the doors had closed that he spoke again.
"As you all know what had just happened, I hate to tell you that salary will be a bit delayed this month, until we've extracted everything that was stolen. Everyone please go back to your desks. Tina, help me sort out the accounts."
With that, he turned and entered his office, slamming the door shut, without so much as a glance in my direction.
Feeling confused and a bit left out, I strode towards his door and again, found myself being held back by Tina.
"Let go, I need to help him sort this out!" I snapped at her. Honestly, it wasn’t Tina that I was mad at but she just happened to get the raw end of my anger.
To say that I was mad was a false assumption. I was terrified. I had never seen Nate like this before and all my guilt just came rushing back at me. If he was like this with a man who he had worked with for the last four years…what would happen to me when he found out I was using him too? What would happen to us? I couldn’t even fathom the extent to which he would go to hurt me if he finds out the truth…
"Savannah!" Tina snapped back at me. "Trust me, you don't want to go in there right now. You haven't seen him like this before, you wouldn't know how to handle him."
Her words made me furious. Exactly what did she mean by handle him? I know she's his secretary, but how could she just say something like this so casually? Did she not know about my relationship with him?
"Tina, I think I know exactly how to handle my boyfriend, thank you very much!" I know I was being extremely rude and bitchy, but I needed to get to Nate right now to judge his reaction and she was in my way.
"Exactly, you know how to handle your boyfriend when he's mad, but you don't know how to handle your boss." She said calmly, no hint of surprise when I told her that Nathan was my boyfriend.
That felt like a slap to my face. But it did help me see things clearly. Nate wasn't the person I knew back in high school. He had changed too, a lot more than I could have imagined, just like I have. And right now, I truly didn't know what to do. I didn't know how he would react if I went into his office. He wouldn't hurt me, of that I was sure, but he might end up saying something that both of us would regret. And I also realized…I wasn’t qualified enough to handle such a big company crisis. So I backed down and let Tina pass.
She straitened her light blue shirt and steel coloured pencil skirt and gathered the necessary folders from her desk. But she stopped beside me before she entered his office, a good few inches taller than me in her steel high heels. When she spoke next, her voice was gentle.
"I know you're worried about him, but trust me, he'll come to you when he's found a solution to all this chaos. If it makes you feel any better, then I'll tell you one little secret. You're the only one who gets the special treatment; you are the only one he can be himself with. And trust me, he hasn't been that way ever since Mr. and Mrs. Synclair passed away."
With that she entered his office and I stayed hidden in the shadows.
Nathan Synclair, was no longer the person I knew.
*
*
It was about 10pm and everyone had already left for home, office hours having ended at 6.30. Everyone but me and Nate.
Tina had left a bit over twenty minutes ago, having sorted out most of the problems. The overseas bank was located in Turkey, Mrs. Stevens’ homeland and it had taken a good deal of time trying to find the bank and finally getting them to agree to provide client information. But they couldn’t deny anything when Nate had provided the correct documents to prove that the money belongs to the company and not won by a lottery as the Stevens' had claimed.
Nate, on the other hand, hasn't come out of his office since he went in this morning. He had continued to work non-stop, hissing and barking at anyone who went inside his cabin. He hadn't even eaten lunch...and neither had I.
It had been a stressful day. With Nate busy about the extraction, I had to attend all three meetings that were had scheduled for Nate. With Tina and Nate both occupied, I had taken as many notes as possible to report back to Nate. Thankfully there were no big client meet-ups lined for today, only small company matters and corrections to legal documents that needed a signature or two by the CEO. Once I came back to my cabin, I had noted down the corrections and arranged the files accordingly on my desk so I could present them to either Tina or Nate when need be.
As I was waiting around for him to come out, my stomach gave an angry growl once more, reminding me of the first night that I'd spend at Nate's apartment....come to think of it...it was Monday.
Getting up from my chair, after I'd double checked my desk to see that I hadn’t missed anything, I made my way to the cafeteria. Luckily, the cook, Johan Berkshire, lived at the servant’s quarters on the second last floor of the building along with a few security guards and the electric guy.
"Is the Boss ready for dinner yet, Miss. Tresscot?" Johan asked me politely, looking tired and weary.
"Johan! It's Savannah for you and no. He hasn't come out of his office yet, so I was thinking of taking dinner to him." I came to stand next to him on the huge counter, where he was packing leftovers. "What's on the menu chef?"
"Grilled chicken and veggies," he said, showing me the leftovers. "Want me to put something together?"
"No, but do you mind if I cook something instead?" I asked him. I often chat with him during lunch so he knows exactly how picky I am with food, so he always asks me first. In fact, some of the dishes I prefer have become quite famous with the staff.
"Go ahead, but don't make a mess, I'll stay and help," he teased, but did help me make a meal super quick.
Fifteen minutes later, I was standing in front of Nate's cabin door, tray in hand and ready to knock.
Well...it's time to face the music.