Fifteen- Sarah's ex
NATHANIEL STORM
“We are done with the meetings,” Amir announced as we bounced out of the conference room. “Flamez will start their world tour tomorrow. The girl group, Gnarly, is debuting in two days.”
“Good. And my trip to Barbadon?”
“Ticket purchased. Amazing seat,” he said, his voice lacking its usual thrill
“Keep up the sass, Amir. It will go a long way.”
“Sorry,” he grumbled.
“What happens between me and Sarah is none of your business,” I remind him. “Be careful with your attitude.”
“I just feel that-”
“Huh uh.” I shook my head, halted my quick steps, and faced him. “Don’t feel. Don’t think. Just shut up.”
“Okay, sir,” Amir muttered, eyes narrowing with unspoken words.
“The videos and photos from the day Sarah came?”
“Taken care of,” he replied rapidly, the way a secretary working for me should.
“Am I done for the day?” I asked, my feet resuming the journey to my office.
“Almost. We-”
“Nathaniel!” Rosaline’s voice interrupted our discussion, her hand waving with too much excitement.
While resisting the urge to groan, I glanced at the blue file jacket pressed to her stomach, and I became a little unsettled. But I pushed that feeling aside before it could drive my soul and affect the words of my mouth.
“You may come in,” I said to her.
“You won’t offer me tea?” she pouted, her eyes trying to look cute.
“Don’t you prefer cigars?” I rebutted and walked in, heading straight to my desk. With my normal expression set in place, I faced the woman who sat as though she was about to be pampered in her favourite salon. “I don’t have all day.”
Rosaline rolled her eyes. “I don’t understand why you are always in a hurry. Take a chill pill sometimes, Nathaniel.”
I responded with silence.
“Here,” she finally pushed the file in her hand onto the desk, “The soft copy is in the flash drive, in case you want to stare at it at night.”
Amir took the jacket, opened it and gave the papers inside to me, setting the mentioned flash drive next to the keyboard monitor, hedged to the left side of my custom-made desk.
The details of the papers were clear. But something felt wrong. The image of Sarah’s ex staring at me was… weird?
“Is something wrong, sir?” Amir asked.
I looked at him, then the paper, then Miss Rosaline, who could not hide her prideful smile.
“This…” I shook the paper. “... is Sarah’s ex?”
“Yes.”
“This scruffy-looking man?”
“Nathaniel,” she chuckled, “my sister does not have standards when it comes to men. I am surprised her daughter came out looking fine. Her genes must have been strong.”
I scoffed and looked at the image again. The big-headed man looked super homeless, with his scattered, unkempt beard matching the knots of hair on his head. The only good thing about his look was his eyes- piercing blue in a compelling way.
I flipped to the front page. “Shaw Clawford?”
“That’s his name,” Rosaline replied.
“Ugh…” Amir almost barfed when he came to look at what I was seeing. “You sure this is Sarah’s ex? No offence to this man, but Sarah will never be blind enough to be with someone like this.”
“And how would you know that?” she retorted, her voice hardening as though someone was about to pick a fight with her. “You don’t know my sister like I do. You don’t even know her at all.”
“Really?” Amir eagerly picked up on the heavy vibe between them. “Do you have the right to call yourself her sister? After you starved her and Raya for days?”
“I…” Rosaline faced me and the dead expression in my eyes startled her. “That was…”
“What? Are you going to deny it?” Amir pushed. “I need you to come clean. This report is fabricated, isn’t it?”
“Nathaniel, warn your minion to stop haggling me.”
“I am not his minion. I am his secretary.”
“Nathaniel!” she cried.
Before I could step in to aggravate her, a knock came from outside, and Mr. Ray stepped in.
“Mr. Ray,” I greeted. “Why are you-?” I saw the tablet device in his hand and had an idea. “The report is ready?”
“Yes sir.” He walked closer and shadowed Rosaline’s presence.
“Good.” As I wondered if he timed his perfect entrance, I looked forward to destroying the ego in Rosaline’s eyes. Without hesitating, I would trust Mr. Ray’s report over hers. He handed me the device, and I scrolled through the report. “Uhm,” I questioned what I was looking at, “this is up to date?”
“Yes sir. Confirmed.”
“But…” I glimpsed at the ex’s picture on Rosaline’s report. It was the same with Mr. Ray’s. “This is her ex?”
“A convicted criminal who has a high chance of returning to jail,” the bodyguard replied.
“You should learn to trust me, Nathaniel,” Rosaline jumped in, her clouded voice from earlier nowhere to be found. “I am the only one who looks out for you, yet you treat me like a fraud.”
“What? Really?” Amir leaned closer. He also compared the evidence presented by Ray and Rosaline. “They are the same person.”
“Unbelievable. Shaw Clawford is Sarah’s ex,” Rosaline mocked. “Now that the truth is established, how about we continue talking business? And potentially discuss dating again. I would prefer if you divorce her before we date, but anything you decide is fine.”
I only heard bits of her statements. I was too focused on comparing the reports because a nagging feeling kept telling me that Shaw Clawford wasn’t Miss Sarah’s ex.
“It makes no sense,” Amir spoke out my mind.
“It doesn’t,” I muttered. “But we have evidence. We have to respect the evidence.”
“But…” Amir sighed. “Evidence can be faked. Don’t you think so?”
“Mr. Ray would not bring a fake report to me, you know that,” I whispered back. “Just… Let us accept this for now. We can address this later.”
“How about you ask Miss Sarah to confirm it?” Amir eagerly suggested. “Or we…”
“Not now,” I replied. After the delicate atmosphere I created, I cannot confront Sarah with this.
“But…”
“Stop feeding him ideas, Mr. Minion,” Rosaline warned. “My evidence has spoken.”
“Miss Rosaline, thank you for bringing this to my notice.” I switched to my super professional mode. “We will contact you later for further discussions.”
“Oh.” Her thick lashes danced with subtle sensuality. “I was hoping we could have an early dinner together.”
“I already had dinner,” I sharply replied.
She glanced at the majestic wall clock on the right wall of the office. “It’s one-thirty. How do you-?”
“Amir, walk her out.”
Rosaline tried to refuse to leave, but she eventually did when Mr. Ray turned to her and scared her with his eyes.
Once that mass of trouble was far away, I questioned Mr. Ray again. “Are you certain this report is not fake?”
“Certainly not, Mr. Storm. My sources are verified, and I can always cite them for your vetting.”
“No. Don’t bother.”
“What are you thinking?” Amir asked.
“Nothing.”
That was a lie. I was considering approaching my father to help confirm if Shaw Clawford is Sarah’s ex. But approaching him would mean going back to that house to face my parents’ scrutiny of my impromptu marriage and certain business moves I have made in the past three weeks.
I should think things over before I take a step.
Yes. For now, heading home to sort out the building guilt in my soul will be a better option.
\~~~
ROSALINE PIERCE
Why is Nathaniel not fuming? I have given him the proof he asked for. He has seen with his eyes, the kind of man Sarah was involved with. That other man, the huge, somewhat scary man, even came with his own report, exactly like mine!
Seriously, why is Nathaniel Storm acting like a sissy, doubting evidence that can never lie?
Don’t tell me Sarah has dug her tiny claws into him.
I bet she used her body to seduce him. I won’t be surprised if they’ve had sex.
Well, whatever. No matter how many times they’ve slept together, I am getting my man back and also the financial growth my company needs.
While trying not to be obvious with my fury in case one of those jobless paparazzi was on my tail, I took out my phone and dialled Dad’s number.
‘Princess, how did it go?’
“Nathaniel is stubborn. We should take the next step now.”
‘Sure. Just relax, okay? This win is certain.'
“Whatever, Dad. Just make sure that ex shows up before next week.”
I ended the call, tried to keep my anger from soaring and headed to my car, my mind dancing with expectation of what the coming days would bring.