“Hi Damien,” Craig said with a grin.

“What brings you here?” Damien asked with a dry smile.

“Huh… can’t I come to visit a friend of mine?” Craig replied as he sat down.

“Come on… I know you don’t usually leave your side of the town for no reason,” Damien chuckled dryly.

“True… I came to discuss business,” Craig said with a small smile.

“Oh… that’s interesting,” Damien replied, raising an eyebrow.

“So… what is the business about,” he added.

“Well, you know my company has been expanding in logistics lately. So, we’ve managed to secure distribution rights for a number of manufacturers and I know your company has one of the most efficient supply networks in the region”, Craig started with all seriousness.

“That sounds like a great deal… What exactly are you proposing?” Damien asked.

“A joint contract,” Craig started.

“You handle the transportation and storage while we bring in the product flow… and about the profit… we will share it proportionally, based on investment and operational inputs,” he added.

“That sounds clean on paper… but what’s in it for me apart from the profit share? My trucks are already running and my warehouses are full,” Damien stated, leaning forward.

“I present to you growth without extra scouting,” Craig chuckled.

“You won’t need to spend months negotiating with suppliers… I… will bring them to the table. Also, your unit goes down with higher volume which means more efficiency and higher margins,” he added with a little bit of sassiness.

“You make it sound like I would be a big fool to refuse,” Damien smirked.

“I wouldn’t put it that way… but I think this is a rare opportunity where both of us win big,” Craig grinned.

“We will see how that goes… but for now do you want coffee?” Damien asked.

“Yeah yeah,” Craig said playfully.

“Alright,” Damien retorted.

Then he picked up the intercom to place a call to Vanessa.

“I’ve not seen Emerald… how’s he?” Craig asked, leaning forward.

“He’s probably busy in his office,” Damien replied, now typing on his laptop.

“Oh… I’ve been in this part of the town for a while now. We should catch up sometimes before I leave,” Craig said and smiled.

“No problem,” Damien replied.

At that moment, the picture of Craig and Mira seeped into his mind and he just wanted to blow Craig’s face but he had to keep his cool and act as if all was cool.

“So… how’s Mira? When are you guys planning to get married?” Craig chuckled, breaking the silence.

“Mira? Oh… she’s… she’s good,” Damien stuttered.

He was astonished by how two-faced he was.

“Let’s calm down, Damien,” he thought to himself.

“Are you okay?” Craig asked, studying his face.

“Oh yes,” Damien replied, jerking back to the present.

“You look…”, Craig wanted to talk, but the sound of his phone cut him off.

He looked at his phone’s screen and it was a message from Mira.

“What the hell, Craig? I’ve been trying to reach you… Damien saw us that night!”

“What!”

Just then, Vanessa walked in with a cup of coffee in her hand.

“I’m so sorry this came late,” she said, dropping the cup on the table.

“I need to take my leave now,” Craig said, hurrying to get up.

“Take your coffee at least,” Damien said.

“I’m sorry… I need to run along,” Craig retorted and walked towards the door.

“We will catch up later, Damien… my regards to Emerald,” he added and left.

“Take that back,” Damien said to Vanessa after following Craig with his eyes.

“Alright sir,” Vanessa replied, picked up the cup, and left the office.

“Craig… that sly! I could have just landed a few blows on his face,” Damien muttered under his breath.

A few minutes later, Emerald walked in with a file in his hand.

“Hey boy, what’s up?” he said with a bright smile as he sat down.

“Craig was here,” Damien said, looking up from his laptop.

“Craig? Is he crazy?” Emerald said, his blood boiling.

“I might have lost my cool if I’d seen him when he came,” he added.

“Actually he brought a business proposal… he doesn’t seem to know that I saw them that night… he also talked about hooking up with us,” Damien smirked.

“What do you want to do? Take it?” Emerald asked.

“Of course… I can’t mix business with my personal life,” Damien chuckled dryly.

“Fair enough,” Emerald retorted.

“I’m telling my parents that I am calling off the engagement today,” Damien muttered.

“And you think they will accept it just like that? I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Emerald retorted.

“I don’t care… they can marry her themselves if they won’t accept my decision,” he said firmly.

“I think you should slow things down a bit… You know how your parents can be,” Emerald continued.

“Especially when you have no evidence to prove your point.”

“I don’t give a damn, guy,” Damien said, his face expressionless.

Soon, it was time to close. Vanessa was busy rearranging her desk when Lilian and Flora approached her.

“Hey girl,” Flora said smiling.

“What’s up, girls?” Vanessa smiled back as she packed her bag.

“I heard there was a bit of trouble here this morning… is that true?” Lilian whispered, looking around to make sure nobody was around.

“What did you hear and where did you hear it from?” Vanessa smirked.

“Come on… we heard the rude princess was here to cause trouble for your boss,” Flora butted in.

“You should have asked the person carrying the fake news up and down,” Vanessa replied without looking up.

“I told you she won’t tell us,” Lilian said, facing Flora.

Just then, Damien walked out of his office.

“Good evening, Mr. Damien,” Flora and Lilian chorused.

“Good evening,” Damien replied.

“You can go home, Vanessa… I will find my way home too,” he said and walked towards the exit.

“Yayy… you will hang out with us tonight right?” Flora asked, holding Vanessa’s hand playfully.

“You don’t ever give up, do you?” Vanessa smirked.

The three of them grabbed their bags and headed out of the office.

As they waited for their taxi, a car pulled up beside them.

“Who uses a black SUV as a taxi?” Flora scoffed.

“This is not the taxi I ordered,” Lilian replied.

The car waited for a while with nobody coming out or rolling down the window.

“I think we should walk away from here… this car seems suspicious,” Lilian whispered.

Vanessa gripped her bag tightly, while Flora tugged at Lilian’s sleeve, urging her to keep walking.

But the car moved with them, inch for inch, shadowing their steps.

Suddenly, the car stopped and the back door creaked open.

Three of them froze, their hearts hammering in their ears.

And then…