Negotiating

Trisha eventually went out of sight. Absentmindedly, John still had his gaze at the direction she went through. He didn't even realize he had attracted the attention of Jacob who stared at him confusingly.

"You're not actually suspecting Trisha, are you?" Jacob declared, drawing back his attention. "The poor lady's got nothing to do with this so don't even go there,"

John gave no reply to his older brother. In response, he adjusted his sitting position, relaxing his back that way.

Jacob scoffed. "So much for trust,"

"Don't try to teach me how to handle my relationship when you have nothing to show for it." John rebuffed.

With a keen and intense stare, Jacob placed both palms together. "Remember the coach never plays in a game of a sport." He gave a philosophical reply.

"Why didn't you just hand over the problem to my company? The hacking team would have perfected the tracking down the address of the account involved," John switched back to the initial conversation, unwilling to drag on the seeming relationship argument.

"As a matter of fact, I did." Jacob replied. "But guess what? The team couldn't track down the address of whoever's involved in it. Strange, isn't it?"

John's expression twitched in confusion. This was the first time he was hearing such. The hacking team couldn't track down an address? How can that be possible? The team was actually made up of the best IT specialists in the country so why couldn't they possible hack into the address's server?

"Did they give you the reason for their inability in doing such?" He inquired.

"They mentioned something about a blockage from gaining access to the address..."

"A blockage?"

"Yes, and this makes it more certain that the security access was handled by an insider, someone that has the ability to override the program. Or how else could an IP address be so secured that even a top class hacking team couldn't even break down, if it wasn't truly instigated by a mole?"

"There are other options and possible happenings. It could be a rival company or something. Titan Technology isn't the only leading technological company in the country..."

"Such humility," Jacob sarcastically stated. "But is that what you truly think? I'd suggest you look into it, John. And need I forget, about your director, I think you need to keep him in check,"

John arched his brows. "Why?"

"He initially denied the team access from tracking down the IP address, going as far as challenging my authority, not until I threatened him. These days, I feel like I'm warning people a lot without taking any reasonable action." A sigh escaped his lips.

"Don't you dare lay a hand, not even a finger, on my director. I will handle him myself," John warned him. If he didn't know his brother too well, he probably would have turned deaf ears to his threat-like statement.

Jacob sat upright and gave him a tricky look. "Haven't you thought of a possibility that your director has a hand in this?"

John's eyes immediately went bloodshot. "He wouldn't dare..."

"Don't bet on it," Jacob stood up immediately. "It's best if you look properly into it before the whole thing gets out of hand. I'll be taking my leave now,"

He stared angrily as Jacob walked out the door. Truthfully, his mind was in a mess at the moment. Who would dare do such to him? It couldn't be the director, could it? Or one of the staffs? He needed to find out soon enough.

[I would have loved to help you look into whoever is involved in the issue at hand, but it is definitely not something I should meddle with. I was not assigned for such.]

Rasmus telepathically spoke to him. For a moment, he had forgotten about the being. He got up from the sofa, heading towards the staircase that leads to the top floor.

"I can handle it myself,"

He took the first step up and halted immediately, recollecting something.

"Trisha," he called out in a loud voice to his fiancée in the kitchen. "I'll be in the study if you're looking for me,"

.....

Sounds of fingers smashing into keyboards could be heard at the moment inside the Editorial office. The atmosphere was serene, the air chilly but was being tackled by the heater. But at the head's section, only one member of staff was actually focusing on typing.

"Why the hell would you even do such, Ryan?" Matthew raised a hand to his face as he groaned. He didn't know if he should perhaps cry or simply lament. He just received probably the worst news from Ryan but he didn't know how to even react to it. Not being able to take it anymore, he stood up from his seat, his hand still on his face.

"Relax, Matthew." Ryan replied calmly. "You should know I never take any action without having a justifiable reason,"

Matthew took his hand off his face, turning to look down at Ryan with a glare. "There's no justifiable reason to what you did. I believe you only went to that meeting to run your mouth. Gosh! I knew it. I had that gut feeling that something was going to go wrong just before you left for the meeting. Now see..."

"Have this," Megan raised up a mug which was emitting lines of steam into the air, revealing the hotness of whatever was in it. The mug was stretched towards Matthew. "You'll need it,"

"Thank you, Meg," Matthew stated as he collected the mug from her, not bothering to look at the content before taking a sip from it.

"Geez! What is this?" He almost spilled the content out of his mouth while revealing a displeased look.

Megan smiled, a wicked intention behind it. "A cup of tea, with lemon juice and ginger as the main ingredients."

Matthew widened his eyes in surprise. "Ginger? Screw you Meg! Why would you give me something with ginger in it?"

"You needed to cool off so I nicely gave you something hot. Aren't you supposed to be grateful?" Megan sneered at him.

"First Ryan, now you. Did you guys actually plan to frustrate me today? What type of beings are you both?" He lashed out.

"The best you'll ever meet..." Megan cocked up an eyebrow.

He shook his head, dropping the cup on the desk in the process and turned to look at Ryan. "Now explain yourself mister."

"Sit down first,"

Hesitantly, he sat, making sure not to take his eyes off the other man. "I'm seated. Now talk!"

"I have a plan," Ryan began while intertwining his fingers, keeping his voice low to make the matter out of hearing to any third party. "I need firsthand information about the whole thing and that's why I recommended you to the director,"

"Firsthand information? What for?" Matthew whispered in return.

"You see, I'm interested in whoever has the ability to have access to the movement of John Ruben. There's something I need the person for,"

"Are you trying to dig out more information on him?"

"Get it done first and I'll spill out the rest,"

Matthew eyed him up and down. "Do you expect me to just accept what you said without knowing the full details. I'm not a fool okay? Spill out the rest this instance!"

"It's best if you don't know everything now," Ryan tried assuring him not to bother.

"Well then, don't expect any information from me." Matthew casually stated.

"I need you to trust me, Matthew."

"I've made my stand,"

Ryan sighed. "Is there anything I can bribe you with? Just mention it,"

"A bribe sounds good. Hmph, let me think about it first." Matthew stated. "Ah ah, what about dinner at Helen's tonight?"

Ryan looked at him suspiciously as he thought it through for a while. "Hmmm, my mom's place? That's a nice bribe, for real, but No! You have to think of something else."

"Hold on there!" Matthew raised up a hand. "There are no negotiations in this. You simply have to be willing to do it,"

"And who says I'll be willing?" Ryan said as he scoffed.

"Take it or leave it!"

"I can't take you over to my mom's place at all. Can't allow you go running your mouth like the last time,"

"I've made my decision already though. It's left for you to decide whether or not you agree. And basically, I don't care if you don't," Matthew remained adamant.

"Fine, I'll do it. But you have to make sure you keep your mouth shut when we're over there." Ryan warned him.

"Trust me on that," Matthew revealed a smile.

Ryan shot him a glare. "Never can, never will."