It was her first day at work in Crete Inc. Granted, she was nervous. More than a little nervous, she was slightly terrified.
Hunt had mentioned something about running a background check on her fake name Candy Holmes and she had been a little concerned. Although Aidas had assured her that he wouldn't be able to find anything on her, for some reason she still doubted him.
But she carried on.
She had spent the evening to the early hours of the morning setting up her new apartment. It was beautiful. It was also in the wealthier parts of Aron City and a ten minutes drive from her work place. That was how close it was to Crete Inc.
She arrived bright and early at Crete Inc and met with the receptionist named Donna for a few minutes.
"Welcome Candy. Mr Adler has an early board meeting. You have to attend and take notes."
She said as she passed her a personal tab.
"This is your personal tab, it has already been updated with everything about the company and Mr Adler's schedule for the month. Same with your personal computer. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me."
Donna said in a refreshing and accommodating voice. Lacey felt very relieved. She had been scared about a lot of things and one of them was being a personal assistant. She didn't have that much experience working a desk job, but she was ready to learn.
"Thank you so much Donna."
She walked towards Hunt's office with a confident smile on her face. The soft click of her heels on the marbled floor was the only sound she could hear in the 44th floor, compared to other departments in Crete Inc, it really was the one with less executives.
"Mr Adler?"
Lacey asked as she silently tapped on the transparent glass door and Hunt looked up. He beckoned her in with a look and she slowly walked in.
He looked impeccable in his charcoal grey suit.
"You're here. Good. Please just call me Hunt."
He said softly and Lacey raised her eyebrows but didn't make a comment.
Hunt was staring at her closely and she suddenly felt very self conscious. Maybe it was her dressing. She had taken Aidas's advice and gone a little bold with her style. A form fitting black top with a low neckline and a short emerald green skirt paired with low heels. Her hair was in a high ponytail, she didn't like it that way but Aidas had made it a point that she looked a lot more like Lila in a ponytail
No wonder Hunt was staring at her painfully. She thought as she suddenly felt horrible for poking his old wounds. He must really miss her.
"Anything wrong sir?"
Hunt shook his head wearily.
"Oh nothing. We leave in a few minutes for the board meeting. After that I'm meeting with some business partners at Transcorp hotel. Why don't you prepare a reservation at the restaurant?"
"Sure. How many business partners are you expecting?"
"Two. But make a reservation for four."
"Right away sir."
Lacey said as she pinned it down in her head mentally.
"Anything else?"
Hunt looked at her wearily, he looked like he was going to say something to her but he paused. It looked like he was finding it hard to find the right words.
A few seconds later he sighed.
"Nothing. That'll be all."
He replied in dismissively.
"Alright then. If you need anything else I'll be in my office Sir."
Candy said as she turned to leave.
"Candy?"
Hunt called out as she reached for the glass door. She turned slowly, her ponytail swishing in the process.
"You look nice."
He simply said and Candy's cheek warmed. She was not expecting the compliment. And for a few seconds she was tongue tied as she blinked rapidly and tried to find the words to say.
"Thank you... Sir."
She finally said as she hurried out of his office.
For the first time in Hunt Adler's life, he slept and woke up without nightmares. Every night he grew used to seeing Lila's dead body staring at him, he had grown used to the nightmares. They didn't hurt or bother him as much as they did before. But for the first time since Lila had died, he woke up without a nightmare.
He wondered if it had anything to do with Candy. He knew it did. It had everything to do with her. He was still waiting for his brother to complete his background check on her. Still waiting to see if there was a connection.
But he didn't want to over think things, he already had a lot on his mind, with the candidacy that was recently announced and him finding out that he had to go head to head with Aidas Vladimir, he had to be alert.
If he ever hoped of winning the election or beating Aidas at his own game.
Aidas was not to be trusted.
He was still mulling over Candy and Lila's unmistakable appearance when his vibrating phone caught his attention.
It was his brother. Perhaps he had news for him.
"Anything?"
He asked as he picked up the call.
There was a sigh at the other end of the line. Hunt's heart sank.
"There is no link. Everything about her checks out. All her document seems legit but I can't find anything about her from last year. No jobs, no family, it's weird."
"So there's a possibility?"
Hunt asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not exactly. I wouldn't say there's one. I'd just say it's weird no one really knows her. She also has no social media accounts. I'd need more time to do a thorough check."
"I don't have more time. I need to know now Ruhn."
Hunt begged with desperation in his voice.
"Well, you don't want us to involve Lila's family. There's no way we would know. Unless you do some digging yourself."
"How so?"
"She works for you Hunt. Get to know her. She might tell you something."
That wasn't a bad idea. Hunt mused as he stroked his chin.
"I'll think about it. Talk to you later."
"Good. Don't forget tonight."
Ruhn said grimly and Hunt looked straight at his office view.
"How would I? Is everything ready?"
"Yes it is."
"Good. See you then brother."
Candy had never been to Transcorp hotel, mainly because she had never had reason to. It was an exclusive hotel for the elites. And they had a specific list of people who they didn't want to let in. For poor and average folks like Candy, they could only dream of what went on behind the hotel doors. It wasn't as if they actually knew what was inside.
They could only imagine, Candy was curious as well as giddy with excitement to finally see what it looked like.
The floor of the hotel was tiled in fine marble, which made every step echo. A chandelier made rainbow colors dance across the luxurious lobby. Embroidered silk sofas surrounded a large, flat-screen television. The twin doors that led into the lobby were a pristine white with golden handles. The desk was made of amber-colored wood and a green granite top.
Exquisite paintings of famous artistes hung from the rich, red walls. Even the door hinges were engraved with swirls and elegant designs. The domed ceiling rose at least 100 feet high. Candy gaped at the splendid sight as she walked next to Hunt who walked in with his eyes glued to his phone.
He must have been so used to the place that he didn't have to admire the decor.
So far Candy's first day at work was going smoother than she expected, Hunt had been nothing but nice and warm to her and she was beginning to think Aidas just hated him out of jealously or competition.
After the two hour-long board meeting where the board members chose to fight back and forth on useless and insignificant things, Lacey could only hope that she wouldn't have to endure more of such torture.
The hotel restaurant was hard to miss, from the wealthy opulence and soft piano music she already spotted it. She could already see a part of the entire wall covered in a large Picasso painting. It was magnificent.
When she had made the reservation, she didn't know she was going to go with Hunt. The minute she mentioned Hint Adler to the restaurant they didn't even bother asking for the business partners, they only replied a cheerfully saying they were expecting him.
"Mr Kim is running a little late. He'll join us in thirty minutes."
Hunt replied with a frown in his face.
"Oh! Sorry about that. What happened?"
Lacey asked carefully and Hunt shrugged as he ran a hand through his hair. He looked frustrated.
"Well, Something about his flight being delayed and traffic on Helm street."
"Helm street? That's about an hour and a half away from here."
Lacey exclaimed. A waiter smiled at them an escorted them to their table.
"I'm sending the company's helicopter to pick them up, Transcorp hotel has an helipad. Hopefully they'll be here in less than thirty minutes."
"Okay. What will you do till then?"
She asked nervously and Hunt shrugged as he looked into her eyes.
"We'll wait."
He said as he drew up a seat for her to seat.
He sat across from her and Lacey shifted uncomfortably in her seat as he watched her.
"Would you like anything Sir?"
The waiter came over as he waited patiently to take their order.
"A glass of your finest Cabernet Sauvignon please."
The waiter nodded and turned to Lacey looking at her expectantly.
"Oh I'm fine. I don't want anything."
She replied hastily as she rubbed her fingers nervously.
Hunt raised his eyebrow.
"Don't be shy. You can't make me drink alone."
He replied and Lacey chuckled.
"I don't really want to drink. But a glass of water would be fine."
She said. The waiter seemed to look at her with a disapproving look before walking away.
"So, we have thirty minutes. Tell me more about you Candy."
"There isn't much to know Sir."
Lacey answered and Hunt rolled his eyes.
"Please, stop with the formalities. They make me feel so old."
"But you're my boss."
"Yes, I am. And there are other ways to respect me instead of making me feel old. Just call me Hunt."
Lacey nodded.
"It'll take a while to get used to."
"I'll appreciate the effort."
"So, Candy. Where are you from?"
Lacey smiled gently, trying to remember the place of birth on her fake ID. It was definitely Aron City.
"Well, I'm from here. I grew up around here."
"That's nice. What part of the city."
"Laxville. But we moved around a lot."
"Oh. Any family around?"
Lacey twisted her hands at the question. She generally didn't like talking about her family.
There wasn't much to talk about, her father was in the hospital, getting better but he wasn't out of danger yet.
And her mother, well she never met her mother, so there wasn't much she could do.
"Yea. They're around."
She answered with a tight smile. Hunt seemed to get the feeling that she didn't want to talk about her family so he dropped it. But he tucked the little piece of information away. If she didn't want to talk about it then it was certainly worth talking about it.
"Where did you work before here?"
"A bar. I waited tables for a while."
Lacey answered with growing suspicion. Hunt was interrogating her, she couldn't really blame him. If a woman who looked exactly like his ex girlfriend showed up if she was in his place she would be curious too.
The waiter arrived with their drink and Hunt took a tiny sip out of his wine.
"I didn't include it in my resume. I felt it wasn't necessary."
She added and Hunt nodded.
"Oh, no worries about that. Your records and references were good enough."
Lacey smiled tightly.
But that wasn't the reason he employed her.
The only reason he employed her was because she reminded him of his ex girlfriend. Lacey had to try and squeeze out something out of him.
Aidas would be asking her questions at the end of the day.
"Can I ask you a question?"
Hunt nodded.
"Sure. Ask anything."
The first day we met... You asked if I knew someone named Lila..."
"I'm sorry I don't remember her last name..."
Hunt's face changed quickly. His face went from relaxed to tense as he sat up quickly.
Lacey went on with her question.
"You asked if I knew her, I'm just really curious as to why you thought of that."
There was a brief silence as Hunt looked lost in his thoughts for a while.
"You just reminded me of someone I used to know."