“I am not—” she wanted to say but paused her lips, she was indeed poor and crazy.
Crazy to think she would come in here looking for Cainan and she will easily find him. He was a busy businessman and had a lot of people under him.
“Listen,” she glanced down and saw a name tag of Sadiq Othman on his desk, “Sadiq, if your boss finds out you kept me waiting, he would definitely fire you, so I advise you to get off your seat and come show me to his office.”
Her voice didn’t possess the authority it needed to make a conviction because the man just stared at her like she just did the Gangnam style move before him.
“Okay, you need to leave now or I’ll call security,” he said, getting up to his feet and beckoning to two security guards at the door and they walked up towards her.
“Ma’am, we are going to need you to leave please.” The guard whose name was Amobi Spencer spoke softly, pointing to the door.
She couldn’t believe they didn’t recognize her either. “Well, I am not leaving here till I speak to your boss!” She shook her head and folded her arms across her chest.
These men were very tall, she could say around seven feet, and they could easily lift her out if she proved stubborn, but she had no other choice.
“What’s going on here?” A strange deep Irish-accented voice asked from beside where she and the men were and they turned in the direction to see a man standing there.
“This lady wants to see Mr Inferno, sir.” The other security guard named John Kadiri replied.
The man in grey long sleeve and black trousers, who just interrupted them looked down at her with curiosity and his grey eyes dimmed, “Do you have an appointment?”
“I doubt she does.” Sadiq hissed out, glaring at her like they had met and fallen out in the past.
“Let her speak!” The man snapped at Sadiq before turning to Jasmin and offering her a small smile, causing the dimple on his face to show.
Even though the man wasn’t the owner of the company, he asserted much authority and she wondered if he was maybe friends with Cainan, maybe he could take her to his office.
“I don’t have an appointment with him, I came to see him.” She spoke up, finding her voice sharper than ever.
His brow rose with interest, “Does he know you?”
She nodded with honesty in her eyes, “Yes, but he isn’t expecting me and I do not want to call him.”
Without hesitation, “Fine, come with me,” the man said and began to walk on.
Jasmin was sceptical about following because although kind, she didn’t know who he was, but no other choice was available. Sadiq didn’t look like he was going to help her and the guards wanted her gone as well.
The man got to the elevator and pressed the button and once it opened, he entered but Jasmin didn’t follow and taking notice of her hesitation, his eyes squinted.
“How do I trust you?” She asked with her brow raised.
He put his hand out to stop the elevator’s doors from closing up, “You don’t, but I’m Cainan’s friend and I’m taking you to him, if he knows you like you claim he does, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but if he doesn’t,” he stepped back and stuffed his hands into his pocket. “You will be in trouble, Ms.”
The only trouble she was getting into was the trouble of showing up unannounced.
They both stepped out of the elevator and the man whose name Jasmin was yet to ask, walked on. His legs covered much space on the ground and Jasmin quickly followed behind. She didn’t miss the eyes of the idle staff as she walked past them but she kept her focus on the man leading her and the task at hand.
They finally reached one of the offices with tainted glass walls and Jasmin saw the name written on it was Cainan Inferno, CEO and she took a deep breath. This was his office and she would finally get to do what she came for and she mentally and physically prepared herself.
A young woman who seemed to have noticed them, approached. She looked familiar but Jasmin couldn’t place where it was she’d seen her.
She stopped walking when she got to where they were, “Good day, Mr, O’Conner.”
“Good day, Wura, is Cainan in his office?”
Wura! The name clicked in Jasmin’s brain. She saw her many weeks ago, the first time she met Cainan.
“He stepped out a few minutes ago but you could wait for him in his office.” Wura replied before noticing Jasmin beside him and curiously asking, “And she?”
“She’s with me.” He simply replied, clearing her curiosity up.
Wura didn’t object and she nodded her head before walking away to her seat and Anthony opened the glass door and entered the office.
Jasmin dragged a shaky breath at the sight that consumed her. Cainan office represented the kind of man he was; neat, sophisticated and complex with the interior designs of the office paying attention to the littlest details and highlighting them. The walls to the left and right were coloured with grey and strips of black, the wall before and behind (which she came in through) was a see-through, one-way glass wall. There was a large grey couch close to the left side of the room and a brown footstool in front of it. A long shelf close to the shelf which had different varieties of books sorted in them and although not a reader, she wanted to open one and get lost in it.
“Cainan isn’t here,” Anthony informed Jasmin as if she wasn’t beside him when Wura replied to him a moment ago.
“Yes, I heard.”
“How do you know Cainan again?”
This man seemed to be close friends with Cainan and yet he didn’t know about her and Cainan’s relationship. Maybe Cainan was trying to be as secretive as he could with what they both had and they had to be a reason.
She had to keep in line with that and not cause herself any more trouble. If Cainan was silent so would she.
Damn! Cainan was slowly grooming her into the girlfriend he wanted. She thought.
“I’ll say we are friends,” she replied, it was the closest she was going to go with telling him about them.
The nice man didn’t push further as he turned from her and began to speak, “I just got back here, I have been away for the last three months.”
Jasmin paid him no mind as she stared at Cainan’s wide cream coloured desk with a see-through glass top, looking at how well arranged and sorted it was. There was a globe on the right side of the desk and a black ceramic mug close to it and a few files and documents on the left side of the desk. There was an apple laptop at the centre of the desk and beside it was a desk phone. Cainan adjustable chair was at the centre and two other were beside her.
She noticed a small frame at the other side of the desk and it was a picture of Cainan and another woman, probably his late wife but before she could reach for it, the door opened and she turned around to see Cainan standing in the room, wearing a blue, three pieces suit and a red tie.
His eyes landed on Anthony who was somewhat standing and covering up Jasmin with his well-built body.
“Anthony freaking O’Conner!” He exclaimed with a cheerful manner and he sounded surprised.
“Cainan freaking Inferno!” Anthony laughed and they threw their arms around each other for a tight hug and they stayed that way for a few seconds before pulling apart.
“Are you back to stay or are you going to leave again?” His voice came out eager.
Anthony ran a hand through his hair, “I wish I could stay for as long as I used to, but Gina needs me, my home is with her and leaving her hurts every time.”
Cainan nodded and patted his shoulder, “I know, I can see it in the way you talk about her, I just miss you, the whole squad does.”
“I know, and I miss you all. Oh, less I forget, someone’s here waiting for you, she says she is your friend.” Anthony informed and stepped away from before Jasmin and as Cainan’s eyes landed on her, the cheerfulness in him faded away and a different emotion set in, “she said she’s a friend and though I wasn’t sure about her, she sounded genuine.”
They remained silent as they stared at each other and Anthony was forced to speak up, “You do know her, right?”
Cainan eye was hard on Jasmin and he replied, “Yes, I know her.”
She didn’t miss the swift change of mood at the sight of her in his office and she held her head up proud to meet his gaze. She was his mood killer and that would have sounded horrible thinking about it any other day but not today.
She wondered if he had anticipated her arrival or if he thought she wouldn’t have the guts to come, considering the fact that she hadn’t been here before. The look on his face showed he did, and underestimating her was his first downfall.
Picking up the tension as well as bad blood that seemed to exist between them Anthony spoke up, “I will take my leave now, still need to pay a visit to Rogue and see Laré, it’s still a surprise that I missed Laré of all people while I was away.”
Cainan didn’t respond to his sarcastic remark and Antony felt the tension rising higher and he moved closer to him, whispering, “Don’t do anything stupid.” into his ears before tapping his shoulder and walking out of the office.
