Chapter 29: Trouble
Ever since Kathe arrived in the office, she was buried in tons of work. Since she was Jark’s personal assistant, she took half of Thompson’s work. She couldn’t help but wonder if this is how hard they always work each day, and she finally understood why they always arrived home late at night. But with her help, some of the work lessened little by little, but that didn’t stop Jark from working late at home at times.
Kathe was busy sorting out the files that Thompson had given to her when her office door was pushed open and Rhea walked in.
Kathe wasn’t expecting to see Rhea, which made Kathe curious to see what Rhea was up to. She dropped her pen and leaned back as Rhea walked up to her table and dropped a large amount of files on the table.
"What is this?" Kathe raised her right eyebrow while the left one went down, with folded arms.
"I need you to print the files. Each single one should be fifty copies in the next twenty minutes," Rhea said as she lifted her chin up in a challenging manner.
"Why can’t you do it?" Kathe frowned.
"I’m busy," Rhea retorted.
"So am I." Kathe nodded towards her files on the table.
"Aren’t you Jark’s PA?" Rhea questioned as she came up with a new strategy. Knowing that Kathe wouldn’t agree to what she asked of her, she decided to use Jark’s name.
"So..." Kathe asked, raising her eyebrow in a questioning manner.
"He needs this, and he asked me to give it to you to make the copies, for easy access as his PA."
"Oh, he said that?" Kathe lifted her lips to the side in a thoughtful manner.
"Yes. You know Jark hates disobedience." Her words were meant to be a threat to Kathe.
"Who said I was going to disobey?" Kathe raised her eyebrow slowly at Rhea.
"Are you saying you will do it?" Rhea was surprised that Kathe agreed so easily.
"Of course. Since it’s Jark that wants it, I will do it," Kathe said with a smile on her face.
Rhea couldn’t make out if the smile was cunning or real.
"Since you are willing, don’t forget that you have to make fifty copies out of each of them, and it should be ready in the next twenty minutes. I’m coming to check on it."
Kathe nodded at her.
Rhea gave Kathe a look for a second before walking out of the office. The moment she stepped out of the office, she assigned a spy to monitor Kathe’s movement.
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The sun hit through the glass house, the soft wind blowing through the flowers. The old lady was seated in the middle of the room painting, her hands moving around the portrait in the right rhythm when she heard footsteps behind her. She paused for a second before continuing her drawing without turning her back to look at who it was.
"Mother, I think we need to talk," Shashe said, knowing that the old lady had already taken notice of her presence.
"Okay," the old lady replied.
"Not here. I think somewhere more private," Shashe said as she looked around.
"You can say it here. It’s safe. Already, no one is going to eavesdrop," the old lady said, still focused on her drawing.
"Isn’t Jacklyn part of the family?"
"I never said he was not part of the family."
"Why can’t he be part of the company?"
"I never said he can’t be part of the office work." The old lady gave the portrait a look before dipping her brush into the paint again.
"But he’s not working," Shashe said, displeased.
"I need to see potential first, and if he gets accepted by the board, then..." The old lady stopped on her words as she noticed a slight mistake in her work, which made her frown before using her brush to correct it again.
"How will you see his potential when he isn’t given a chance?"
"The board will decide on the next board meeting."
"Jark won’t interfere, right?" Shashe said.
The old lady stopped her work as she glared at Shashe.
"What do you mean?"
Knowing that the old lady was displeased, Shashe had to change her tone. "I mean it should be true and fair."
The old lady waved her hand. "I need a quiet room to concentrate. You can leave."
Shashe nodded as she walked out of the room. The old lady sighed as her eyes narrowed slightly.
’I knew his return was for trouble. How much trouble will the mother and son keep stirring?’
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Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!
Jark looked at the table and smirked after seeing the number being displayed on his screen before answering the call.
"Don’t tell me you are obsessed with hearing my voice," Jark teased.
"I don’t flirt with married men," the masked woman’s voice came through the phone, displeased.
"Oh." Jark said, pushing his lips backward.
"I’ve been silent for a while now. Aren’t you scared that I might be up to something?"
"I can’t be scared." Jark paused as he twisted his pen on the table, making it spin, "because a rat will always try to come out of its hole, but will always return back to the hole, and that’s where you belong." He stopped the pen from spinning.
There was a chuckle from the other end.
"J’espère que tu sais que chaque fois qu’une souris sort de son trou, elle finit par détruire beaucoup de choses avant de retourner dans son trou, et cette fois-ci, je risque de détruire quelques choses."
["I hope you know that whenever a mouse comes out of its hole, it ends up destroying a lot of things before it returns to its hole, and this time, I might end up destroying a few things."]
"That voice..." Kathe’s voice sounded from the door, making Jark drop his phone from his ear as he turned to the door only to find Kathe standing with some files in her hand, her face white like she had seen a ghost.
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