The Tale Of The Missing Brother (1)

"Your brother has been missing for over three days now."

Nita had heard something similar to this just last evening when she was enjoying her time with her friends.

Excusing herself from the event, she had stepped out to hear the reason why her father had called her out of nowhere.

It was then that she had heard about her elder brother's sudden disappearance which had baffled the entire city.

Detrim Valken, the present CEO and heir of the Valken family business was someone who most did not mess with.

Not only was he the son of a business tycoon but he had also made a name for himself after entering this industry.

He was respected by many and admired by most because he always wore a pleasant smile on his face unlike the other cold and rigid-faced CEOs out there.

He was kind to his employees and friendly with everyone he met.

His amicable nature had brought him into the limelight of the media as the 'Prince Charming' of the business world.

Always with a smile and never being rude to anyone.

This was the image Detrim Valken, her elder brother had among the masses.

Despite staying in a whole other country, Nita would often hear from him as he made it a point to check in with her every now and then.

It had been a few weeks since they last spoke and she never would have imagined that the reason for her return to Teluson would be related to his sudden disappearance.

Uri Valken was ignorant of his daughter's reminiscent thoughts as he continued revealing the details of the issue at hand.

Three days ago, Detrim had a meeting scheduled in a different city, Metro V, where he would discuss the advancement of a new project with a big conglomerate there.

Since there were a huge amount of pending tasks, the assistant, Milo Gavin, could not accompany his Boss and was forced to stay back and monitor these tasks in the absence of the CEO.

On Gavin's advice, a liaison from the conglomerate would be responsible for escorting the CEO of Valken Industries while he was in Metro V.

The date and time were set and Detrim was supposed to board a flight in the morning, reaching Metro V in a couple of hours which would allow him to freshen up and meet the CEO of the other company at lunch.

Whenever Detrim went on such trips or was focused on his task, he would not attend to any calls during this period until he had completed his work.

Everyone close to him knew of this quirk of his and would often try not to disturb him when he was busy.

The morning that he had left for the airport, the assistant and the rest did the same.

He would be on the flight for a couple of hours then rest at the hotel before meeting the other CEO at lunch.

There was no time or requirement for them to call and disturb him while he was dealing with this matter.

Thus, they had all given him his space as they were sure that he would be the first to contact them.

Only then would they know the outcome of the CEO's meeting, whether it was good or bad news concerning the progress of their latest project.

"But he never checked back in with his assistant even after the entire day had come to an end." Uri Valken grimaced while rubbing the wrinkled space between his brows.

Nita knew bits and pieces of what had taken place due to the sudden and urgent phone call she had received last evening so she nodded, asking him to continue.

Uri did not stop and went on to narrate the remaining events that had taken place.

After receiving no news from his Boss, Milo Gavin had finally attempted to contact him first.

The CEO should have called them after lunch or even after dinner but nothing of that sort had happened which made the assistant anxious to hear of the progress of their project.

However, no matter how many times he tried to call his Boss, the call never connected.

This lack of communication prompted Milo to get in touch with the liaison from the other company in order to inquire what might have taken place.

Sadly he met another dead end as the liaison's phone too was disconnected.

It was only the next morning that the liaison had answered his call.

"That was when we realized that Detrim never reached Metro V." Uri sighed while moving forward with what they had discovered after this phone call with the liaison.

The previous day, the liaison had arrived at the airport to pick CEO Valken up but even after waiting for hours, no one appeared.

The man then informed his superior who asked him to return to the Office and wait there for him as they had assumed that CEO Valken had decided to board another flight.

However, the CEO of the other company and the liaison waited for the entire day but there was no sign of Detrim Valken showing up.

This made the CEO furious as the Valken Industries had been the one to stretch out their hand first to initiate this talk of a new collaborative project.

Yet their CEO had been so disrespectful and had not even informed them in advance that he would not be coming to Metro V to meet them.

Neither did CEO Valken appear nor did his assistant try to contact them and explain the reason for this inconvenience they had caused them.

With an entire day wasted in waiting for someone who never appeared, the frustrated men had gone back home without caring for the CEO who might have come by later on.

The next day, they forgot about this incident and went on with their daily routine.

It was then that Assistant Milo Gavin had called the liaison with the request of contacting CEO Valken for him.

"Imagine the surprise Milo got when he heard that Detrim never showed up." The old patriarch of the Valken family was disgruntled at how late they had realized that something had gone wrong.