Chapter 29

Freshia Ava's POV

After yesterday's final exam, the next step I have to prepare for is my graduation ceremony. I had to register for the graduation ceremony in the building which was intended to handle lecture administration. I, who had completed the required documents for graduation, was sitting waiting in line for my turn.

A few minutes later, my name was called. At the same time, my cell phone rang and Martin's name appeared on the display. Nearly twenty minutes passed for me to complete the administrative paperwork related to my graduation registration and I immediately went to the park near the administration building and sat on one of the long benches there.

I opened my cell phone and saw a short message notification from Martin, saying that he asked me to contact him immediately if my condition allowed me to make a telephone call. After reading the message, I immediately called him.

"What's wrong, Martin?" I said when Martin's voice was heard on the other side of the phone.

“Freshia, I want to tell you something very important. Are you free tonight?”

“What do you want to say, Martin? Can't you just do it over the phone?”

"No. This isn't something I can tell you over the phone, Freshia. I beg you to ask for your time. I want to explain everything.” He said while begging.

"Okay then, you can meet me in the campus dormitory garden at seven in the evening."

As previously agreed, Martin was seen sitting on one of the benches in the park near my campus dormitory. Actually, I no longer wanted to deal with the things I had previously given up on and my feelings told me that Martin had met me for that.

“Martin.” I greeted him when I arrived near him and he, who was previously staring at his cellphone screen, immediately turned to me, then smiled.

“Freshia, please sit down.” He said while patting the empty space beside him. I immediately sat there.

“What exactly do you want to tell me, Martin?” I said.

Martin was silent for a moment. I saw the doubt on his face at that moment. "To be honest, at first I didn't want to tell you this. But after I thought about it again, I changed my mind and I don't want you to misunderstand and suspect me all the time. I want to tell you the truth about the incident that happened that night, Freshia.”

And finally, Martin told me everything. Starting from him actually coming to my apartment that night, then someone hitting him on the back of the neck until he fainted, until he knocked on the door of my apartment unit in the morning to look for me but didn't find me until he came down to the lobby to ask about my condition.

“And you should know who I saw in front of your apartment unit that night before the incident happened, Freshia.” I turned towards him, but Martin instead looked away from me.

“Eros.” He spoke softly but I could still hear him.

I tried to remain calm and not be affected by Martin's words just now. Of course, I won't just believe it considering what Eros has been doing to me. Besides, what was his motive for doing that to me? So, I can only remain silent. Didn't expect that Martin would talk to me like that.

"I know I don't have any proof, that's why I was hesitant to tell you. But in the end, I chose to tell you so that I could calm down because at least I had told you the truth. Whether you believe it or not, it comes back to you. I just want to remind you to be careful, Freshia. You can be careful with me to the point of being suspicious of me, then I hope you can also act like that with Eros. Don't easily trust anyone before you really know the truth, Freshia.” Martin said again. He knew that I didn't believe his words.

“Thank you for your explanation, Martin. But as you said, I shouldn't just trust anyone before I really know the truth. Therefore, I am also still trying to digest what you just said." I said to Martin.

"It doesn't matter, the important thing is that I told you the truth. I just want to remind you that Eros is not someone who can be predicted and he is someone you should watch out for, Freshia." Martin said and I just fell silent, unable to say anything else to him.

***

Friday morning, where I have to meet Mrs. Haidee to talk about my internship program at White Stone. I've returned to my apartment and will go to the office from here. Before leaving, I tidied up the contents of my bag which looked messy, and took out all the contents first.

I also tidied up the scattered banknotes to keep them in my wallet. After arranging them in my wallet, I closed my wallet and put it back in my bag. However, something seemed to be blocking my wallet, making it unable to close completely. When I looked for something that was blocking it, I found a small, round, black object. After looking carefully at it, I realized that it was a listening device.

I'm very surprised. Since when did someone put a bug in my wallet? I thought. Then after that, without thinking again, I immediately took the object to the sink to soak it and then I put the object in my trouser pocket so that I could throw it in the public trash later.

On the way to the office, my mind kept wondering who might have put the listening device in my wallet. But just thinking about it is enough to make my whole body shiver. Maybe it's better if I don't tell anyone about this. I have to find out for myself who actually did this to me.

A few minutes later, I arrived at the office and immediately walked towards Mrs. Haidee. He was focused on his computer when he invited me into his room. “Just a moment, Freshia. I have to send a very important email first. Please sit down first.” He said when I was in his room. I immediately followed his orders and sat in front of him.

After waiting a few minutes, Mrs. Haidee started to open a conversation between us. "Freshia, as we all know, your internship contract here will be completed in three months, okay? Apart from that, after careful consideration from me and Mrs. Abigail, we agree to extend your internship contract for three months so that we can re-evaluate whether after you are suitable to be appointed as an employee at White Stone. It's not in vain that the people who recommended you to this place because your performance is that good, Freshia."

I was so shocked when I heard the last sentence spoken by Mrs. Haidee. Am I recommended? By whom? I said to myself. “Sorry, ma'am. But I just found out that I came here based on someone's recommendation. May I know who he is?”

“Sorry, Freshia. If that's the case, we don't have the right to tell you because apart from the office's procedures like that, it's also because the person who recommended you doesn't want you to know that he did it."

I was silent for a moment while thinking. "Sorry ma'am, then I don't think I can continue my internship contract here because I don't want to enter a company because of someone's connections. Even though I can prove that my performance was good, I will continue to feel indebted to that person. Moreover, I don't know who the person who recommended me was, ma'am. So with a heavy heart, I apologize that I cannot continue to extend my internship contract at White Stone."

Mrs. Haidee really regrets my decision. However, she still appreciated it and wrote me a letter of recommendation with good grades so that I could continue my career wherever in the future. I thanked her and said goodbye to her, Mrs. Abigail, and all my teammates during my internship there.

On the way back to the apartment, I thought again about who the person who recommended me at White Stone was. Suddenly the name Simon came to mind, which seemed like he had the potential to do it. I'll ask Simon right away. I thought.