Chapter 6. Findings
Leo returned back to his office, his shoulder tensed as his grandfather had almost fallen into a panic attack over himself and Laura's divorce. Fortunately for them all, it didn't escalate to a worse stage as he had eventually calmed down.
It has barely been 2 weeks since himself and Laura's divorce and she already seemed to have blocked him and disappeared without any single trace? The nerve of that woman
"Darling!" The high key voice immediately jerked him out of thought as his attention moved towards Rachel who didn't waste time to fling herself on leo
"Oh, you're here." Leo said after pulling her away lightly from the hug
"I was expecting to see you waiting for me when I got here. " She said, feigning a small frown, "where were you?"
Leo pulled onto her hand lightly as he led her towards the couch she had just gotten up from, "Grandpa called for me immediately after our call ended." He said
"Oh." She moved closer to him, holding onto his hands in a tight grip, "Did something happen? Is grandpa okay?" She stared at Leo with her glassy hazel eyes
It's nothing, only that he flew off the handle and was this close to meeting his ancestors all because of my divorce.
"Yeah, everything is fine." He said instead. There was really no need in him admitting his grandfather's high disapproval in their relationship. It'll only complicate things more for him
"So why are you here?"
"Oh sweetheart, didn't u tell you over the phone?" She turned to pick up a brown woven basket in her hands, "I told you I brought you dessert."
"Oh, that." He said, pulling off a tight smile on his lips as he watched her unbox the basket, "You know I'm really not a fan of sweets."
Rachel nodded, her attention still fixed on the box, "I know, but I made these ones specially for your satisfaction. You're going to love it." She beamed at him
He wished he was able to resonate the bright feeling she was giving at that moment, but his mind was just too distracted for any of that. As much as he didn't like the fact that he was thinking of his ex wife, he just couldn't push the thought of Laura out of his head. Everything around her disappearance just didn't sit right with him and he wasn't going to stop until he has figured out the truth behind the woman he was married to
"Sweetheart, Leo." Rachel tapped his shoulders, pulling his attention back to her
"Huh?, I'm sorry. I was just thinking." He apologized, finally looking down at the various desserts she had come with. It looked as if she had made it for more than just one person.
"Are you okay? You seemed rather disturbed about something." She pointed out, putting down the basket, "is there something you're not telling me?"
"It's nothing Rachel." He said, leaning backwards to rest his against the couch, "you don't need to overthink anything."
She stared at him, suspicion written on her face at Leo sudden behavior, "this isn't about your lost cause ex wife is it?"
Leo sighed, using his fingers to ruffle through his once neate hair, "what did I say about not overthinking it?" He asked
"You didn't deny it." She pointed out, her hands now folded across her chest
"Because there's nothing to deny." He said, "I'm just thinking about work and alot of stuff I have to take care of for grandpa. So can you just stop all this Laura talk now? Unless your plan is to bore me to death."
Finally, Rachel regained her smile and she leaned closer to him to plant a kiss on his cheeks, "I'm sorry my love. I guess I was overthinking it."
With that, she pulled the table where she had placed the various desserts closer to where we sat, "let's focus on just us shall we." She smiled brightly and I returned it with a smaller one
If only it were that easy
Meanwhile, far away from the company and across the city at Liberty World Hotel, Laura had eventually settled in her office, flipping and ransacking through the pile of files that had already been given to her on her first day there.
Her attention is then darted away as someone knocked from the other side of the door.
"Come in." She said, trying to gather the files together. Then her brother Victor walked into the office, putting her movement to a stop
"You're still here?" She asked while she watched him come settle himself in the seat in front of her table
"Well, I don't know why you're so quickly to get rid of me." He said, rolling the chair around
"Well yes I am." She said, which earned her a chuckle from her brother, "some of th executives already believe that I wouldn't be able to manage this hotel well because I'm a female. I'd consider that as a really high rate if discrimination for us ladies."
"Come on Laura, you shouldn't let what anyone say about you to get to you. They're just talking because they don't know you yet, neither do they know your strength." Victor said, moving his chair closer to the table, "it's only going to be for a little while until they're able to trust your capabilities."
"Yeah yeah. I'm sure the case would be totally different if it was a man in power." She rolled her eyes and Victor just let out a hearty laugh
"You keep grudges alot." He pointed out
"They're not considered as grudges. I'd say more of long lasting memories." She corrected, moving her attention back to the documents scattered before her.
Silence filled up the office, something that Laura found not too normal. She looked up at her brother who's attention was locked somewhere else while she watched his fingers tao gently against her desk.
"Okay, spill it." She said, suddenly redirecting his attention back to her
"What?"
"Your silence is far from normal and you know it." She said, leaning her back to rest against her chair. "Tell me , what's on your mind all of a suddenly?"
"You always see true everything don't you." She shrugged at his words. "Well, I got some calls." He said
"Ohkay, what kind of calls are we talking about?"
"Calls from where you used to work and live." At his words, she seemed to be frozen in her movement, not saying anything and this urged her brother to keep talking, "apparently, it seems like someone has been trying to get to you, or probably find out more info about you." He dropped the news on her
She didn't say anything, not immediately at least. "What exactly did you find out?" She pulled her chair closer to her desk
"Well, the landlord at your old side said someone has been trying to get to you and asked about your new address, even back at your former work, it's the same news." He said
Laura on the other hand set her lips in a thin line, as she tried to understand why someone would be looking for her
"Did you at least find out who the person is?" She asked, "I mean, it's not like I knew anyone else besides Leo and his family—
Unless...
I stared back at Victor who seemed to have caught up with the words that I hadn't uttered out yet
"We can't be certain for now. I mean, why would he be searching for you after he was the one who filed for a divorce?"
She let out a huff, folding her hands across her chest, "that bastard." She scoffed, "he sure would have lots of guts if he were the one searching around for me."
"As I said—we can't be certain. We just have to wait and see if more calls would come in." Victor said, twirling a pen in between his finger
"Does Wilson or dad know about this yet?"
"Nope. Wasn't going to say anything, at least not yet." He said and Laura let out a heavy breath
"It's better we don't say anything, at least not for now."
Until we're sure exactly what's playing out here
