| |
H
aywire Industries was the company that practically owned over half the stocks in the country. Built from the ground up by one man, the company rose to fame in no time, and soon it had taken over some of the largest industries in the United States. It was a matter of time for it to become completely powerful in all factors; it was an empire of billions, a huge machine of success only going higher with the speed of a hundred miles an hour.
At first, Angela had mistaken everything as some sort of a joke, the typical Sandra trying to teach her a lesson for starting to get lazy, but the minute she figured out that this could very much be a reality, she felt her heart starting to beat a little faster. She turned to look at Sandra, but the woman was having too much fun. She gestured towards the door, and then the two of them were alone in the room before she spoke up with the same hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Well, I guess my work here is done. I'll be leaving the two of you to deal with this rather interesting case while handling the ones outside."
Before Angela even had the chance to protest or stop the woman from leaving, it was already too late. The door was slammed shut, and silence spilled into the room. Angela gulped. She knew that she had to say something, or the silence would end up swallowing the them both whole. She cleared her throat and politely gestured towards the chair at the end of the table right across from her as she spoke up.
"So...Toby, why don't you take a seat, and we can talk about exactly what brings you here."
She noticed a change in his attitude; he finally looked up from the ground, and his eyes met hers for a moment before they darted away instantly. He pulled the chair out and sat down. He still didn't look at her, but he began to speak, which was still some sort of progress in her eyes. She waited patiently for him to say whatever was on his mind.
"I know that this seems very sudden, but you're the only person I can trust with what I know. You have a policy that you never say no to those in need, right?"
Angela knew what policy it was that he was referring to, and she was obliged to agree with it. She nodded her head even though he didn't really wait for a reply from her; he just went on anyway, and Angela listened.
"Look, I know that this seems like a lot, but you have to believe that David Haywire is into some messed-up things; I have proof, and I need to bring him down."
Angela gulped; she didn't know what was going on, but the kid's eyes were wide open; he was full of energy suddenly, and she knew that this wasn't a good sign. She had seen clients like these before they would watch one television show and think that they could bring down some of the strongest and most influential people in the country. She rubbed the top of her forehead with her fingers as she tried her best to be polite with the words that left her mouth.
"Look, Toby, I can certainly sympathize with you, but I'm really not sure if you know what you want to be getting into...Haywire Industries is one of the largest companies in the world; you can't just get up and sue them. I'm sure that it seems good from far away, but this is real life, Toby; we can't just go head-to-head against something like that."
Before she could even go on, she noticed the way his head dropped to the ground once again. He blinked a couple of times, and Angela was almost afraid that she had made him cry. She paused, and as soon as she did so, his eyes shot up, and he spoke up right away.
"You don't take me seriously? Don't you think that I'm aware of what a big risk I'm taking when it comes to a case like this? Believe me, if I could, I would have fought this war all on my own, but the truth is that I can't. I need you, and the reason I chose you to take my side was that you're the only person in this godforsaken city that is actually honest.”
She could tell that he was about to break down, but he was trying his best to hold in tears; he was really trying to pull out his strongest side. She stayed silent as the boy before her took a moment to breathe; he didn't wait for too long before he spoke up once again with the same look of pain in his eyes.
"I have proof, and all I need is for you to take a chance on me...."
He turned away when he saw the look on her face; as much as the boy was pleading, she had seen too many cases like this before, and she couldn't be responsible for letting him down. So she took a deep breath as she spoke up with her voice falling low until it was almost a whisper.
"I'm sorry, Toby, but this is out of my hands. I simply cannot take on a case of such magnitude. I can ask my assistant to forward you the names of some private lawyers, and they may be able to handle your case better and help you out."
She watched as the light and excitement in his eyes just drained out of his body, and she felt the sharp pinch in her chest. She wanted to say yes, but she knew deep down that she was not one to make promises that she couldn't keep. She carefully gestured towards the door, and the boy shook his head at first.
She was about to say something, but he stood up. Just when Angela thought that he would leave without more of a fight, she watched as he slowly turned back to face her. He was moments away from the door when he spoke, and this time, the words that left his mouth made her freeze in her place, and she felt her blood running cold.
“I really thought that we could work together. I didn’t know that you changed. From the woman who helped Jennie Warlow to the one who refuses to take a risk? I hope you have fun playing it safe in your little bubble of happiness.”
The name replayed in the back of her head and, her heart dropped down to her feet. And She felt her whole body going numb in an instant. She didn't say anything; she didn't think she had it in her to even speak. She watched with shock spreading over her whole face as the boy made his way out of the office without another word; he had just walked into her life on a normal Wednesday and completely flipped over every aspect of her routine. She didn't take long; she instantly jumped to her feet and ran towards the door. She needed to speak to him once; she just needed to know how he knew the name. Angela ran into the reception room, and the first face she saw was Sandra's; she didn't even wait for the woman to pass a sarcastic comment like she usually did; instead, Angela spoke up right away with her chest still heavy as the words fell from her mouth in a hurry trampling over each other.
"The boy who was in there, Toby, did he leave?"
Sandra instantly knew by the look on Angela's face that the jokes were over, and this was something serious. She shook her head as she gestured towards the door leading to the elevator, and Angela's shoulders slumped right away; she knew that nothing could be done now. She was about to rush towards the elevator and still try to find him, but deep down, she knew that it was too late.
He was probably already drowning among the sea of people in the city paired with the cabs and countless cars. It was a losing game to go forth and look for him now. She was so distracted doing the math in her mind that she almost missed what Sandra had said from behind her.
“Can you calm down? The boy left a number with an address behind."
Angela took a breath of relief; she felt as if she could finally feel the ground beneath her feet again. She took a few deep breaths as she reached her hand out to get the information the boy had left behind, but Sandra raised an eyebrow. The woman took a step backward as she spoke.
"Wait, you're not actually considering whatever the kid from the loony bin wanted you to do, right? Come on, Angela, I did it as a joke. I was going to send him back to wherever he came from anyway."
The sarcasm was back, but at this point, Angela didn't care. She completely ignored the woman as she turned around to face the people waiting in the reception area; they were all eyeing her up and down, and some were even staring at her like she was some sort of a hero. She ignored the looks she was getting as she raised her voice in the open area, knowing very well that it would echo on to be even louder.
"I'm sorry, but the company will be taking a slight break effective immediately. You need not worry as the lovely Sandra will forward you details of some of the best lawyers who will work for you based on my referral without charging you a penny. I promise you that your cases will be solved, and these people will not rest until that happens."
Sandra's jaw practically dropped; she had no idea what was going on; she was left in complete shock; she grabbed Angela by the arm and pulled her to the side with her eyes still wide as she spoke.
"Angela, what the hell is wrong with you?"
The woman was furious, but Angela couldn't care less; she shook her head as she gestured towards the people in the waiting room. Only a few of them had protested, while the others were happy with the concept of free service existing in the first place. She spoke up without any remorse in her voice; she still had her palm held out towards Sandra for the address.
"I don't know what I’m doing yet, but I need these people gone. You're more than welcome to help them on your own if you want, but for now, I need to step away."
Sandra seemed to be a little off. The woman wanted to say a lot, but instead, she turned around and reached for the piece of paper neatly folded at the corner of the reception desk. She carefully handed it to Angela. It was obvious that the woman was waiting for something to be said, but instead, there was complete silence. Angela didn't even wait to say goodbye; she just ran out of the room without looking back once; she just needed to get to the kid.
The clouds had started to get heavier outside; she could hear them roaring. As soon as she stepped out on the pavement, she was once again met with the heavy droplets of water landing directly on to her skin, but this time she didn't really care. She crossed the alleyway onto the main street without looking twice and crossed the street, holding her hand out for the first empty cab she saw.
As soon as she jumped into the cab, she unfolded the piece of paper; she ignored the number at the top of the page; instead, her eyes darted towards the address on the page, and she immediately spoke it out loud. Once the words left her mouth and reached the taxi driver’s ears, she realized that the street was less than two blocks from her office. She cursed under her breath, wondering why she didn't just get up and run down the street herself.
The cab didn't take long to arrive, but she knew in the back of her mind that she would have gotten there sooner if she had just read the address and walked all the way there. The streetlights were glimmering past the roads in the distance, and her head was full of all sorts of thoughts; the name the boy had said was circling her mind, and she knew that it wasn't going to go anywhere.
She was shaken out of her thoughts when the car came to a halt, and she knew it was time for her to get out. She found herself standing before multiple, red-bricked buildings in a rather narrow street. She took a deep breath, the paper with the address was now scrunched up in her hand and building number seven stood before her. The raindrops were still falling from the sky; she pushed herself to take a few steps forward and squeezed into the elevator with three rather old-looking women.
All of them eyed the girl drenched in rainwater, breathing as if she had just been running a marathon. She ignored them, and instead, she focused on the number of floors on the side. As soon as the number hit five and the metal doors of the elevator opened, she made her way outside in a hurry. She found herself walking into a quiet hallway with doors leading to apartments on both sides.
The hallway was narrow; her feet sank into the carpet as she made her way to the fourth door on the right. As she stared at the door number before her, she took a deep breath. She knew that she still had the option to turn around and pretend that she didn't care, but she knew herself better than that.
Angela could practically feel her heart thumping against her chest, she raised her fist to knock on the door, and she knew there was no going back; as her knuckles made contact with the wooden surface of the door, the sound echoed into the hallway. She waited, and when a few minutes passed, she told herself maybe it was all a long shot. As soon as Angela took a step away from the door, she heard the lock twisting, and she felt the same sense of anxiety spreading through her body. She didn't have the time to turn and run anymore, and before she knew it; the door was pushed open, and there he was. He wasn't in the attire and the layers of clothes she had last seen him in; this time around, a loose tee was hanging from his back paired with shorts.
His hair was a mess of curls falling into his face, and she could tell that his eyes widened when he saw her on the other side of the door. She didn't wait for him to say anything; she couldn't wait another moment. Instead, she blurted out what was on her mind and what she needed to say as she ignored the look on his face.
“Jennie Warlow? How did you know about her? Who told you about her?”
She saw the look on his face; he opened the main door to the apartment a little wider as he spoke to her in a gentler and calm tone.
"I'm sorry I sprung that on to you. I didn't want to; I was just angry. If you've come all this way, can I offer you a cup of coffee, and maybe you can get the answers you're looking for and consider helping me out?"
She could sense the fear in his eyes; he paused as he went on.
“Please? I really have no one.”
His voice trailed off at the end, and Angela rolled her eyes, knowing very well that was not going to be good, as she looked up at him and spoke in a firm tone.
"One cup of coffee, that's it."
