Chapter Four

My alarm rang 5am the next morning signalling the start to the chore of a day. I groaned. Maybe I should just call in sick, you would be surprised how many times I've done that. My phone dinged with a notification. I typed in my password and April's message was glaring at me.

"Don't even think about it." It read.

I sighed. Seems like the universe is hell bent on screwing up my day.

Three hours later, I strolled into my office's lobby munching on a donut. "Good morning, Ms West." The receptionist greeted. Talking over the donut in my mouth was a hazard in itself so I simply nodded at her.

I ran into April on my way to my private elevator and gave her a one sided hug. "Morning, bestie."

"And here I thought I would have to come drag you out of bed."

I pouted. "I'm a fully grown adult perfectly capable of waking myself up in the morning."

"If you say so." The elevator dinged, signifying our arrival at the top floor of the building, where my office was situated.

April glanced disapprovingly at my chocolate coated donut. "You continue stuffing yourself with junk like that, you're on your way to diabetes."

I gasped. "How dare you call donuts junk food."

April simply raised her eyebrows till I shrugged. "Well, the daily two hours workout has got to count for something."

April facepalmed.

"Hi Summer." Summer is my second secretary. When you run a huge company like mine, the workload gets a bit depressing. She waved at us.

I opened the doors to my office and inhaled deeply. "Boy, do I love the smell of success." I settled into my office chair. "Anything for today?"

April occupied one of the seats across the mahogany desk in front of me and pulled out her tablet. At this rate, I won't be surprised if she announces her plans to get married to the device.

"You've got a meeting with the staff of the Tokyo branch."

"When did they arrive again?"

"Yesterday morning."

"And their accommodations?"

"Stellar."

"Good."

This is how things are between me and April. We joke, play and have fun but when it comes to business, we're laser focused.

"Anything else?"

She tapped on her screen. "We are expecting a visit from the mayor today and oh, your appointment with Cole….. and three days worth of paper work."

"Is it to late to jump out of a window now?"

"Very funny. I also sent you a file containing the details of yesterday's meeting which you apparently weren't paying attention to."

"Thanks April."

"Always welcome, cuz."

She got up and left for her own office while I settled into the excruciating pain known as paper work. Makes me wish things were back to how they were when I first started the business. Then it was more hands on work than paperworks, now its clearly the opposite.

A couple hours later, I left for the Tokyo staff meeting with Summer where we addressed some issues they'd been having over there. The meeting came to an end after two hours when April announced the arrival of the mayor. I joined the mayor and his cabinet on a tour of the premises, took some pictures and returned to my office, drained to the bone.

None the less, I pulled up my laptop and was busy going through the files April sent me when someone barged into my office.

"Sam." He exclaimed in that ridiculous voice of his.

"Cole." If I were a cat, I'd be hissing at him by now.

"Aw come on. Don't be like that."

I sighed and massaged my temple. "Just sit and let's get this over with."

"As you wish, milady." He settled into a chair opposite me. "So, what trouble did you get yourself in this time."

"Cut to the chase, Cole. You know why you're here."

"You're no fun."

"I'm not here to be fun. What can we do to remedy the situation?"

"It's done."

I frowned. "What do you mean its done?"

"When April called yesterday, I did a bit of digging and I must admit, you are one lucky woman, Sam."

"How so?"

"There were at least three buildings around the area the incident took place that caught it on CCTV."

Relief crashed into me like a boulder. "So its over?"

"Not yet but it'll soon be. In about two hours from now, four fairly prominent social media accounts will post the original footage online with proper explanation. After that, all you need to do is donate to charity, orphanages, that kinda stuff and you should be good."

I sighed in relief. "That's great."

He propped his elbows on my desk, smiling like a Cheshire cat. This can't be good. "Sooo, are you officially a Newcastle public relations Ltd client?"

"Nope, this is just a one time thing."

"Oh come on. What if another scandal comes up?"

"Then I'll deal with it. You're every bit as annoying as you were five years ago."

"Five years ago? You haven't gotten over that?"

"You broke up with me."

"You locked my sister in a closet."

"You left her with me knowing full well that I hate kids."

"She was eight."

"I could have sworn that you guys are both adults." April walked in.

"Very funny, April." I deadpanned.

"Hi, April." Oh good, he's back to his annoyingly cheerful self.

Hola Cole. So, we done here?"

He pouted. "Sam refused to join my firm."

"Don't worry, I'll talk to her about it."

He brightened up like a light bulb. "That's why you're the best, April. Ladies, I shall now take my leave."

April waited until the door closed after him before turning to me. "Sam…..."

"Don't wanna talk about it." I huffed, crossing my arms. I probably look like a chipmunk right now but I don't care.

"Actually, I was about to say you missed lunch so I brought you some."

"Oh."

"Yeah, so how did it go?"

I pulled out a peanut and jelly sandwich from the lunch April packed. "CCTV footage of the incident will be posted online in a few hours. A few charity donations after and I should be fine."

"Okay. I'll pull up some fundraising and such you can attend."

"About that, isn't it suspicious that the video jerkules posted was taken on phone? Why was the camera so conveniently focused on me at that point in time? Why did the person taking the video not alert me about the pickpocket?"

April frowned. "I dismissed it earlier because you were walking in public with some prominent figures in South Africa. I mean people are bound to take videos. But when you put it like that, it does get a bit fishy. No worries, I'll get someone to check it out."

I struggled to talk around the food in my mouth and came up with something that sounded like: "Mmmph you, Amfril."

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

I chewed and swallowed. "Sure, mom."