Irene Hated Being Left Out

When Irene went to work early the next morning, she had only items that a normal office lady would have. Her only weapon was pepper spray and her only gadget was her smartphone.

Since Damian did not come before 8, Irene took the opportunity to tidy up his desk and at the same time checked out the room using her special lenses.

If she were a police detective with knowledge about spying gadgets, she would vamp her living and office area full of those tiny useful things. Or that was what Irene hoped to find. Since she was unable to use her own, she might as well tap into one of Damian's.

Unfortunately, the office had nothing. Not even a hidden camera at the corners of the ceiling. She needed to find a way to collect information from Damian, one way or another. Dejected, Irene left the office to grind some coffee beans.

Damian came close before 8. As soon as he stepped into the floor, he was greeted by the overwhelming fragrance of coffee.

"Good morning, Mr. Henderson," Irene poked her head out of the coffee corner and greeted him with a smile. "I will bring you a cup of coffee soon."

"Bring two," a female voice behind him announced.

Irene raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Damian was not alone. He brought a beautiful, voluptuous brunette with him.

The lady pressed a hand against Damian's arm and gave Irene a gracious smile.

"Can we go and sit in your office?"

"Sure," Damian patted the lady's hand. "Let's go. Two coffees please, Irene."

"Right away, Sir!"

Now, who was this enchanting lady?

Irene was curious about her, but she was also curious about Irene.

She only spent around ten minutes in Damian's office before she went out to sit on one of the comfortable lounge chairs in the office lounge.

Her eyes watched Irene's every movement while she prepared two cups of coffee.

Good that she brought nothing today, she thought incessantly.

Although the brunette was not clothed in any kind of uniform, it was easy to see that she was not feeling comfortable with her current attire.

The way she walked in those high heels was too stiff, and the tight dress did not at all compliment her rather muscular build.

She was a cop, no doubt about it.

Cops or not, Irene was not about to cave in.

"Here you go, Miss...?"

"Thank you," the brunette took the cup of coffee from Irene's hands without responding to her indirect query.

Irene then took the other cup of coffee to Damian. Just then, another person came to visit the otherwise deserted CEO's floor.

Silas Wilkins, the conscientious Internal Audit Manager, strode across the floor with a grim expression and a stack of papers in his hand.

"I have an appointment with Mr. Henderson at nine," he told Irene.

Irene nodded. "Please wait a moment."

She walked to her working station and made a call to Damian.

"Mr. Henderson, Mr. Wilkins from the Internal Audit Department is here."

"Send him in," came the answer.

Silas hurried into the CEO's office, closing the doors behind him.

Irene had just taken a seat behind her desk when the brunette came over, slightly swaying in her high heels.

"Your name is Irene Gallagher, right?"

"Yes," Irene replied.

"How long have you worked in this company?"

"Almost a month now."

"Ah. And how is it, working in a world-renowned perfume company?"

"It's great."

The brunette lady nodded at Irene apprehensively.

"I heard that you worked for the general manager, Chris Henderson before."

"That is correct."

"How was it? How was he?"

"He is alright, I guess."

"Well, you have not worked for him for a long time so maybe you don't know him that well."

Irene beamed at the lady cop. Oh, if she only knew how well Irene knew Chris, she would be stunned.

"Exactly."

"Still, did you notice anything amiss in the week that you worked for him?"

Ah.

Suddenly it dawned on Irene why the lady cop was even there.

Damian had accidentally discovered that someone was monitoring Chris Henderson's movement. If Damian connected it to the recent incident where Chris got beaten up... it was easy to guess Damian's train of thought.

Did he think that Chris was in danger?

That Garrett Davies possibly planned to kill him?

"No, but Mr. Chris Henderson went missing for a few days this week."

Irene had to give her something. The whole Primavera knew about Chris' injuries, even the cleaning ladies gossiped about it in the restrooms. Irene just needed to be careful to only reveal tidbits of information that everyone else also knew.

The lady narrowed her eyes at Irene.

"Why?"

"He said he fell from the stairs."

"And what do you think about it?"

Irene shrugged.

"I don't particularly care about it."

"You don't?"

"Yes, I would rather keep to myself."

The lady fingered an overlarge earring and smiled at Irene.

"That is a very commendable attitude. It is important to know when to be nosy and when not."

It almost sounded like advice.

"I agree," Irene remarked.

The phone on Irene's desk rang, startling her.

It was Damian.

"Get Mr. Young and Mr. Elliott here."

The first one was the accounting manager while the second one was the R&D manager.

When both of them appeared on the floor, they were pale with fright.

Damian did not take long to make the decision to fire them. Irene didn't even need to eavesdrop to find out. Four burly security guards came up the CEO floor soon after to drag the ex-managers out and threw them out unceremoniously.

After Mr. Young and Mr. Elliott were fired for corruption, it was the general manager Chris Henderson's turn.

When Chris Henderson showed up, the brunette lady went with him to the CEO's office.

Irene was dying to know what was happening inside, but she could not risk trying anything.

Not with two police officers present in the room.

It was time to tap into other resources.