TORMENTED

CHAPTER 6

Cassandra abruptly stood up with trembling lips. She roved her eyes around the office and darted her gaze to the phone that just slipped off her grasp. She bent over and grabbed the phone from the floor. She flipped the device and dropped it on her table with a sigh. Luckily, it had not sustained scratches from the fall.

She slumped on the chair and threw her head back. Did Mr Briggs just threaten her? Did he have a hand in the disappearance of her colleagues or was he just blabbering?

Cassandra shook her head in disagreement. Her father is a rigid man and bluffing wasn't his thing. His warning echoed in her ear. She either comes home or her mentor disappears like her other colleagues.

"Ferguson!" Cassandra gasped as her eyes widened in horror.

Ferguson wasn't just her mentor but is her boss at GRAVIA LAW FIRM AND ASSOCIATES.

Cassandra wiped the sweat banded on her forehead and took her head in her hands. The air conditioner was on yet she couldn't stop sweating. If Ferguson goes missing then it's all on her.

She positioned her hands on the table. After all those times of searching for legal employment, she finally got one and then her father decided to phone her out of the blue moon demanding that she abandons her career when she was getting to her peak.

"No way." Cassandra blurted with a smirk.

She worked hard for this. She earned this spotlight and now her father wants to ruin her life? Cassandra tightened her jaw and clenched her fists as flashbacks of the day her father sent her out of the mansion came fluttering into her mind.

She recounted how Mr Briggs threw her out like a piece of trash and now that she's about to make a name for herself in the legal profession he suddenly comes up with demands. Cassandra couldn't help but wonder.

If Mr Briggs had prevented her from gaining employment in Florida, then she wouldn't be shocked if he had a hand in the disappearance of her colleagues.

Cassandra cast her gaze on the white ceiling and fell back on her chair. There was one name in her mind and now his fate depends on her.

Ferguson.

When she relocated to Miami and started job hunting, she almost gave up and nearly settled on becoming a waitress when her job hunting proved abortive.

Some of the firms she went to turn her down because she was freshly baked and had no experience. Others wanted her to work below the line which she didn't accept. She graduated with a first-class honour and will not settle as a court clerk. Cassandra considered the offer as an insult to her certificate until Ferguson gave her the job she deserved.

It was Ferguson who interviewed her when the GRAVIA law firm considered her application. That was a few months ago.

Cassandra began rubbing her palms against each other vigorously as she recalled all that happened that day as if it occurred yesterday.

Ferguson had asked her. "Why do you want to work here?"

Cassandra was straight with the middle-aged professional. She looked straight into his brown eyes and said. "I want to prove to my father that I am worthy."

Cassandra saw the shock on Ferguson's face when she gave the reply. Her interview then transcended to a pep talk. It still astonishes her now that she opened up to Ferguson a few minutes after she just met him during her interview that day.

She told him about her woes, sparing no detail. She told him how her dad sent her out of the house when she switched from Business to law. Cassandra told Ferguson how obsessed her father is with his business and how he wanted to make her CEO but couldn't because she violated his expectation.

Ferguson commended her for her bravery and praised her for beating the odds. She got the job.

Ferguson had requested that Cassandra be placed under him. He had monitored her keenly. She blew his mind when she won her first case and the recent child custody cases she had been winning. He had told her that he sees himself in her and then offered to be her mentor.

She was stars truck when Ferguson asked to be her mentor. Who gets to be mentored by the Boss of GRAVIA LAW FIRM? she couldn't help but feel lucky.

Cassandra cast her gaze on the Chinese bowl on her table. How on earth did her father find out about her mentor? Had he been watching her? Was he aware that she had been in Miami all this while?

The slightly shut door to Cassandra's office was pushed open. A middle-aged man smartly dressed in a black tuxedo walked in.

"Cassandra!" he called out to her.

Cassandra sprung out of the chair. "Mr Ferguson." she gasped wondering when he stepped in.

Ferguson pressed the file he was holding with both hands to his chest and turned to stare at the open door.

"Are you okay?" he asked Cassandra after darting his gaze back to her.

Cassandra swallowed some air and snatched her bag from the table. "I need to go, sir...I need to get somewhere. I" she stammered and pulled her chair back.

"You want to leave?" Ferguson pointed out and glanced at his wristwatch. "But Cassandra you just got here."

He was still speaking when she walked past him like lightning.

"Are you sure you are okay?"

"Yes. Sir. Just an emergency." Cassandra replied with a fake smile and hurried out of her office, leaving Ferguson confused.

Cassandra hurried out of the building. She sighed when she saw a cab drop someone at the gate. She hurried toward it and settled next to the driver.

"Sycamore Street," she told the driver and turned her face away from him.

"Are you okay?" the nosy driver demanded.

"Just shut up and drive." Cassandra thundered.

The driver drove Cassandra to her street in silence. She directed him with her hand to her apartment. He pulled the car to a halt beside a lawn. Cassandra dipped her hand in her bag and pulled out some dollar notes. She threw the fare at the driver and jumped out.

"Crazy bitch!" the driver cussed and sped off.

Cassandra unlocked her door and hurried into her apartment. She turned on the lights, took off her heels and sunk onto the couch. She dumped her bag beside her.

She quickly pulled out her phone and dialled Ruby's number.

"Pick up the phone Ruby." Cassandra cried out. She was supporting the phone with both hands.

Cassandra sighed in relief when a 'Hello' finally came from Ruby's end.

"My dad called me today?" There was no time to exchange pleasantries.

"What?" Ruby yelled.

Cassandra shut her eyes, imagining the surprised expression on Ruby's face.

"He wants me to come home." She told Ruby.

"I'm confused, Cassandra. Why would Mr Briggs suddenly ask you to come home? I thought he disowned you?"

Cassandra sighed and rose to her feet. She began to pace back and forth. "That man has his eyes on me, Ruby. Two of my colleagues in the firm are missing and guess what?"

"You, tell me." Ruby encouraged.

"My dad claims to have a hand in it. He even threatened to get rid of my mentor if I don't come home."

Cassandra heard Ruby's gasp.

"He said he was going to hurt Ferguson."

Cassandra confirmed with a nod as if Ruby was beside her, watching.

"He told me that the next person that will go missing if I don't come home is my mentor. I told you, Ruby. That man has his eyes on me." Cassandra said.

"But why will he suddenly want you to come home?"

"That's the problem, Ruby. Whatever his reason is, I'm sure it's not good and right now, I'll have nothing to do with that man."

"Could he be bluffing?"

"I'm not sure Ruby," responded Casandra.

"Well, maybe he learnt that your colleagues from work are missing so he decided to use their absence to scare you." Ruby pointed out.

"So you are saying this whole thing and his threat might be a coincidence?"

"I don't know Cassandra," Ruby replied.

Cassandra sighed and rested her back against the wall. "If anything happens to Ferguson, I won't forgive myself."

"I understand."

"Or maybe you are right. Maybe he just used the disappearance of my colleagues to scare the hell out of me. Whatever his reason for asking me to come home is, I don't want to know. He's out of my life." Cassandra said.

"I have to go how. I'll call you later." Ruby said and hung up.

Cassandra sighed and returned to the couch. She was about to sit when her phone began to ring. She glanced at the screen and her eyes widened in horror.

She answered the call with trembling hands. It was the phone number Mr Briggs used in contacting her a while ago.

"When are you coming home?" Mr Briggs's voice came after she placed the phone on her left ear.

"I'm not coming home and I don't want anything to do with you." Cassandra fired and hung up.