It's been two hours when Lisa decided to go back to the office. She went directly to her desk without seeing Aisha. She decided to focus on her work since she had to do a lot of things since Caleb has been in the hospital for days now. She covered her eye bags with concealer so Aisha wouldn't notice her paleness. She was sure that her friend would pester her once she noticed her feeble look.
Lisa simply hated that man! Why should she bother to look after him anyway? Caleb had been a pain in the ass. There was never a day where he didn't annoy or insult her. She hated it but she kinda missed it too. But why bother to think about such a dumbass guy! He didn't even care about her. She paused when she recalled the scene in the hospital.
She looked for her cell-phone. She remembered that it was dead since she went out of the office. She was thinking to plug it when she reached the hospital but unexpected things happened.
"Lisa! You're back so soon. How's Caleb?" Aisha came out holding a stack of folders.
"Oh, he was doing just fine. I came back early since I still have a lot of things to do." Lisa simply perfected her lies earlier. She didn't dare to look at her friend as she continued to face the monitor.
"Ohd I see. I'm sorry that you have to do Caleb's job for the meantime but don't overwork yourself, okay?" Aisha told her. Lisa chuckled.
"Of course. I work to live and not to die." Then they both laughed. After a minute, Aisha placed the folders onto her desk.
"By the way, I already reviewed all these documents. They're good to go." She smiled at Lisa.
"Sure!" She exclaimed. Aisha was about to return to her office when Lisa suddenly remembered something.
"Aisha, I received a message from Mr. Salemander's secretary. He sent an invitation for the masquerade ball this coming Friday. I'll send you the details."
"Masquerade ball?" Aisha cringes her forehead. Why did she have to attend such a ball? It was never her thing! Guess it couldn't be helped.
"Sure. Thanks Lisa." She sighed as she entered her office.
She was fixing her table when her phone rang. 'Eli?' She saw the caller ID. Why did he call all of a sudden? Was he at Ethan's office?
"Hi sweetheart! How are you?" Aisha greeted him cheerfully.
"Mom! Come home early, okay?" She heard Eli on the other line. He sounded ecstatic.
"Ohh, Mom has a lot of things to do today, I might come home late sweetheart." She tried to explain.
"Mom, please! Just for now." Eli begged softly.
"Okay dear, I will try to come home early for you." She smiled.
"Yehey!" She heard Eli's overjoyed voice over the phone and smiled. "Mom, please be here for dinner. I will wait for you!" Then Eli hung up.
Dinner? But she was planning to go home by eight in the evening. Well, she still had some time to finish some of her work before dinner. Guess she needed to do the others the next day.
*** At the Lockwood residence, Angel threw everything that she touched when she heard what happened to the men that she sent to dispatch Stacy. She was told that they were beaten badly and that the police got them.
"How dare you send some dummies that can't even catch a mere weak woman!" She shouted at the middle age man before her. "Didn't you tell me that your men were as skilled as you are?" She was aggravated.
"I'm truly sorry Miss Angel, I'll make sure to get all the best men that we have next time." The man answered.
"This is your last chance to prove your skills, or I will definitely fire you all!" she yelled.
"Yes Miss." The guy sighed in relief as soon as he got out from Angel's presence. That woman, she was not like that before. She looked so innocent and kind that everyone thought that her name suits her very well, but what was he seeing right now? She looked like the opposite! The man was puzzled.
And who was this Stacy who beat his men? Did she really handle them all? All five of them? If yes, then she was not an ordinary woman then, he thought. He must see her personally.
*** Lisa went to see Aisha in her office to bid goodbye since Eli informed her about their plan to surprise her for her birthday. She must go home ahead of her.
"Oh, why don't you wait for me? I'm about to finish this one then we can go home together." Aisha proposed. Lisa thought of an excuse.
"I'm sorry Aisha but I need to send some money to my sister right now. She really needs to pay her school fees as soon as tomorrow." She partly lied. Well it was true that she was going to send her sister some money, but it was not actually an urgent one.
"Oh is that so? Okay then. Just call me if you want me to pick you up."
"Sure I will." Then Lisa set off. Aisha was left alone in the office.
Lisa was about to exit the building premises when someone called her. She looked back only to see a man whom she just met earlier.
"Kian?"
"Hey! You were walking fast! I had a hard time catching up!" He was exhausted.
"I'm sorry I was rushing."
"Busy?"
"Uhm, something like that? I need to get home as soon as possible. We are actually preparing a surprise birthday celebration for my friend." She chuckled.
"Oh, I see. I could lend a hand." He offered.
"It's not actually necessary. Everything is set; I just need to be home before her." She kindly declined.
"How about a ride?" Kian insisted.
"Oh it's okay I can manage. I have to drop somewhere first before going home." She resisted. She couldn't possibly reveal where she was staying right now to a stranger whom she just met. Kian was about to speak when someone called from behind.
"Lisa! You're still here?" The woman asked in surprise.
"Aisha!? Are you going home already?" Lisa tensed a little when she saw Aisha approaching them.
"Yes. Who are you talki ----" Aisha paused in shocked when the man suddenly faced her.
"K-Kian?!" She exclaimed.
"Aisha, this is ----" Lisa was about to introduce Kian but she halted.
"Stacy?!" Kian gave the impression that he was also surprise to see her.
"You know each other?" Lisa was puzzled.
"Yes! We were friends before. We both worked at the White Lotus department store as salesperson!" Kian explained. Aisha faked a smile and Lisa was anxious since she called Aisha by her real name.
"Did you just call her Aisha?" Kian asked unbelievingly. The women held their breaths as they stared at each other as if doing mental telepathy.
“If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” – Steve Jobs
Kudos!