Chapter 1

"Get the information needed Lucy, Edmund would be here within this week. That's the news reaching us." Olivia, the manager in charge of the Research Department in Illuminex notified me.

"Which day to be precise?" I asked.

"Care about that? I don't think that's necessary Lucy. All you need to do is to get the results of your research on the topic we assigned to you within three hours. It must be ready within three hours," she repeated with a stern face. "I can't risk facing Edmund's anger." Olivia turned and walked off briskly, looking the perfect office woman in her black suit, white shirt underneath and pencil black skirt with shoulder length wavy hair and black heel shoe.

I watched as she moved out of the staff pace out and into the elevator. The staff pace was kind of a large office with different partitions like a library. I was the researcher of the company, my office was located far away from the other staff that occupied the office on the fiftieth floor. If compared to the library, I'd be taking the seat position of the librarian.

I loved my position anyway, right from childhood I had always loved seclusion. I preferred to be alone most of the time than being in the company of people. I think this' one of the major reasons I was assigned a secluded place from the rest of my colleagues coupled with the fact that my work needed calm and focus.

Most would disagree with my character and call me cold but I was diligent in my work. I was the type of person that didn't give anyone any reason to complain or criticize. That's what I loved about myself and I didn't give a damn to the negative criticisms people made about my reserved attitude.

"Hello Lucy," Emma walked in carrying some files.

"What's that?" I was curious to know if it was more work. I was already exhausted with the topics given to me to make research on.

"I know you're tired, can you help me complete these tasks?" I stared at her with bloodshot eyes.

"What?" She stepped back with a weird smile. Emma already knew I didn't like what she was doing.

"Why can't you take up responsibilities? Why can't you do your work? You're always bringing works assigned to you to me, do you think I'd tolerate such any longer." My face and gaze grew stern. Emma was my friend outside the office but inside we needed to stick to duties and avoid unnecessary sociality.

"I'm sorry but just help me with these?" She seemed terror-strickened perhaps at how she was scolded. I felt I could do that anyway after all, wasn't I her superior? Emma was my assistant, the assistant researcher in the company.

"Can you tell me why you can't handle these tasks?" I stood up from my desk and walked towards my assistant inspecting the files on her hands carefully. "What're these for?"

Emma stared at me with discouraged eyes, reluctant to speak for some brief moment. "They're research topics, five precisely here. There were seven but I have completed two." She replied in a confident tone particularly as she reached the point where she claimed to complete the two.

"That's a sense of achievement to you right?" I said in my mind but with the look on my face and how our eyes met, Emma guessed what I thought. I believe that.

Taking the files from her hands, I exhaled heavily, I was really exhausted. Had it been that Emma was my friend I wouldn't give her a face. Her shoulders dropped in relief as Lucy moved towards her desk. "Come here Emma." Being the superior I commanded in a bossy voice. She needed help so she had to obey.

"What are the topics about? You know the multiple jobs I'd been into since morning, look at the time," I gestured my hand to the gray clock that hung on the world. "This' 12:00," I repeated as if she couldn't see the time. "I'm supposed to have lunch now but you came to add more burdens to me."

Emma felt a bit guilty from her swollen face which went with her pride, her palms cuddled up in front of her. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

"Well, I'll help you but may this be the first and the last. Is that clear?" I wasn't shouting but I was sternly serious.

Since morning, I'd completed about eleven topics and seven were left which Olivia said must be ready in the next three hours. Here Emma was adding five more making it twelve. Twelve in the next four hours. What a great stress that can pull life's breath away!

"Anyway, you can go." I dismissed her without even raising my head to gaze at her. "What a lazy fellow," I said in my mind.

Twenty minutes later, Albert walked in. At the sight of him, I was shocked. 'This meant trouble' but I wasn't afraid either, it was a decision I had made to show an attitude not affected by any challenge or difficulty and this had been maintained for years now.

Albert was the younger cousin of the real CEO of Illuminex, the Edtech company I was working for as a researcher. The company was in charge of delivering educational tutoring, coaching and practical lesson exercises to pupils and students all over the world, including adults and aged people. Most individuals turned up to us for their educational needs and we give them what they need, even more. With this, Illuminex is always top on the list every year.

Albert was in his early twenties, you could guess from his appearance. He is tall but not so tall, and has a cute baby-face. It's assumed he will never grow old. His eyes are charming blue, pointed nose and a great body structure. He is the dream of every girl but I had no such time, I wasn't the type of girl that's moved by a man's charms. In his bone straight black suit, he looked the perfect CEO. She wondered how his cousin, the real CEO, would look.

Albert always kept a friendly face, lackadaisical attitudes that would annoy other CEOs didn't annoy him. Not like he didn't manage Edmund's business well, he managed it well and good but wasn't the bossy CEO. He was friendly when most CEOs were strict with their staff. Though I liked it that way, if I was the CEO, I'd be very strict.

I thought he was never angry for once but why would he look one now and with me? I wondered. "Did I do anything wrong, what was going on?" I asked myself. I didn't get a clue but waited for him to say what was wrong. I was more than earnest to know what was going on.