12 The Day After (1)

At the Hotel

Clara got up from bed and went to the bathroom. She needed to change into something more comfortable. Her brothers let her go to bed with her party clothes on. Probably because she had already passed out by the time they got back and did not want to wake her again.

They took turns watching her throughout the night, knowing this was going to be rough on her. Because of her constant nightmares, she didn’t stop crying until she ensured that both of them were near.

She looked at her brothers lovingly at the foot of the bed. ‘What would my life have been without these two? I’m thankful those assholes dumped me in that orphanage. I think this time we will find our closure. Celine is holding our key. I hope next time we find ourselves together, it will be because all of us are happy. I’m sick and tired of being a burden to you both,’ she said to herself.

She changed her clothes into sweats and a tank top and headed to the gym. She needed to exorcise her demons as she hatched out her plan.

It was 10 am, by the time the SST team re-surfaced and made their way to Navio’s headquarters. All they needed to do was iron out any loose ends, and answer any questions.

Sebastian was relieved when they finally showed up. He desperately wanted to know how she was doing without appearing too nosey. Max and Jeremy just texted him she was okay and wouldn’t tell him anything more.

He carefully observes her as soon as she walks into his office. ‘She looks like she has recovered. Her eyes look a little puffy, and she seems a bit sad, but she looks okay.

Was it really food poisoning, though? She had tears coming from her eyes, and what does Celine have to do with it?’

He was investigating the trio and Celine this morning. All Sebastian uncovered was that the Johnson trio were siblings, not by birth but by association. They came from the same orphanage, and they adopted one another by choice. They all changed their last names to Johnson so they could claim to be related. The business was legit and an extension of an old security company, established in the ’80s, nothing he didn't already know from his initial investigation.

Celine, on the other hand, had something interesting in her background. A news article about her family 20 years ago showed that Nathan Jacobs, her father, managed his own firm before joining Navio. This was something he never knew. He always thought Nathan had always been part of their company. He was 15 at that time, so he didn’t really pay any attention to it.

Upon further investigation, he learned that according to the Navio employee records, Nathan just joined their company within the last 15 years without any interviews or recommendations. And this raised a red flag.

One of the news articles talked about the sudden change of CEOs at Nathan’s old company, “Welcoming the new and saying goodbye to the old,” said the article. What caught his eye was the article that read, “Financial Mogul’s eldest daughter dies in a car accident.”

The article had a picture of Celine’s sister, and as he stared at Clara’s picture on his phone, he could see some resemblance to how her eyes crinkled and her smile. Was he imagining things, grasping for straws, maybe, or could there be a connection?

The Johnson siblings talked about the rest of the project, what they could expect when they used it, and all its limits and possibilities. Max did most of the talking. Clara didn’t look like she was up to it, spacing out most of the time and working on her laptop. He let her be, hoping that she would warm up to him after the unusual events of the previous evening.

He invited them to lunch before they left for San Jose, but Max declined, saying he had something he needed to take care of. Clara and Jeremy, on the other hand, accepted. They were too chagrined to say no after what happened last night, hoping this would be an opportunity to clear the air.

Jeremy excused himself to go to the restroom. Max followed him, saying he needed to make an important phone call. Since Sebastian seemed a little calmer this morning, they decided it was okay to leave her alone with him.

He really wanted to connect with her privately, knowing her brothers might interrupt them. He was concerned his questioning would be too intrusive, with all three of them in the same room.

She was thinking about Celine when he sat beside her. ‘How are you feeling? Are you okay?’ he asked. She closed her laptop before he could see what she was searching for. “She’s fast,” he didn’t even get to catch anything important, so he wondered what it was that she was hiding from him.

‘Yeah, about last night. I’m sorry if I freaked you out. I had a severe case of food poisoning, but I feel better now. All ready for lunch,’ she fibbed, and he caught himself looking at her with a penetrating gaze, wondering if she was being truthful.

Outside the Restroom

Max scrolled through his contacts and could not find Celine’s number anywhere. He remembered hearing her phone ring when she dialed her number and was sure about that. When he looked at his recently called list, it all said Lana. ‘That sneaky little cheat,’ he thought, then he recalled her parting words, ‘...if you can find me…’

‘Huh! You think you’re so smart, but I’m smarter than you,’ he sneered as he walked towards the receptionist’s desk.

He asked the secretary to call Celine Jacobs from the Accounting Department and have her report to the President’s office immediately.

Celine nervously walked towards Sebastian’s office, thinking that she was in trouble.

She has never been summoned on this floor before. ‘Maybe it had something to do with last night. Did I say anything inappropriate? Is the president interested in me?

Nah, that can’t be. I’m not interested in him, or am I? He is handsome, after all.’ She shook her head to brush away her thoughts.

She almost ran into Max because she hadn’t been paying attention. He was grinning at her like a cat who ate a mouse. ‘He looks even more handsome in the daylight,’ she thought as she kept her cool, totally forgetting the trick she played on him.

‘So I found you. Are you ready for lunch?’ He said in a low voice. Whispering close to her ear.

She was confused. ‘The president called me here. Do you know what he needs from me?’ she asked Max.

‘The President didn’t call you here. I did. I couldn’t find the phone number you added to my phone, even though I remember your phone ringing. I know it was there, I just couldn’t find it. So Miss Smartypants, what name did you put it under?’ he asked smugly.

It finally occurred to her. She laughed at him. ‘Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about that,’ she said. ‘You are pretty smart, though. I’ll give you that much. Calling me here pretending to be the President,’ she grinned, ‘I deserved that.’

‘So as your punishment, you are having lunch with me,’ he said.

Celine thought she was being called to the president's office because of two things, either getting promoted or finally getting canned. Her manager wasn’t really the nicest person, so she expected nothing good. For lunch, she feigned going with someone else, so if she got canned, nobody would be there to witness her walk of shame. But that opened up her schedule to have lunch with Max.

Celine’s hesitation did not stem from dislike. She was actually very attracted to him, but she had a problem that he came from out of town. He won’t be in the same city all the time, which meant dating him would definitely be a bad idea.