Oddly Similar (Complete)

Chapter- XXXII

If it were anatomically possible for a human jaw to hit the floor, it would have for Rose!!

Being stunned was an understatement!!

The moment she heard Ryan's voice being played on loop, she turned to him with evidently a lot of effort for it was unclear, if there were any emotions other than shock going through her mind.

Ryan had already motioned his staff to stop the display and the recording broadcasting to all in the Town Hall.

"It's all a smear campaign!! Who would I ever address such a statement to?! It's obviously voice phishing created from snippets of my previous interviews." Ryan addressed the crowd with his strong as a rock confidence, the same he was known and voted for every year.

Rose blinked her eyes, as if trying to snap out of this illusion the display and recording had created.

"I have been in Boston all my life.

I have grown up in front of the very eyes of my constituency who are seeing this. They know me!!

Whoever is behind this, should really have dug deeper. If they did, they would never find anything worthy of smearing the Rutherford name.

Am sure they didn't find anything and hence had to resort to such tactics!!"

"Your new lover's dogs have been chasing me and this is the best I could come up with"-- what kind of a person says something like this!!" Ryan continued with much ridicule on his face.

"I'll make sure the person responsible for this is found and brought to justice!!"

The crowd present at the Town Hall were not privy to what had been happening since it was an ongoing investigation which had all happened on private properties and was all hush-hush so they didn't think much about it. Some even laughed out when Ryan explained cause they really trusted him whole-heartedly.

Seeing the reaction of the crowd, Ryan excused himself and moved to his office grabbing Rose's wrist and whispering, "Care to join me in my office?!"

It was as much a request as a non-negotiable command.

Rose quietly followed too surprised to react yet.

Boston mayor's office was a tasteful mix of vintage and modern. The wooden wall panels, his work desk, the sofa and chairs were all original teak. The fireplace too was authentic. Fresh-cut flowers from the gardens surrounding the Town Hall were tastefully decorated on the vases. The walls were decorated with various documents of historical importance and memorabilia related to Boston.

Once Rose had followed him into his office, Ryan closed the door with as much restraint as possible so as not to bang it close. It was very evident from his face that he wanted to.

Motioning Rose towards one of the chairs, he started pacing the room with much agitation. Massaging his neck and shoulders with his hands while pacing, he tried to condense his anger into civil words.

After a couple of rounds and much fuming he finally spoke, "So I am the new victim in the list of people this Pete-guy is harassing? Did I sum it right?" he questioned looking up at Rose.

Rose could barely manage a nod seeing Ryan's face all red.

"And why is that?"

"What have I done to grab his particular attention?!"

"Did he hate the fact that I visited you guys?! Or that the police are looking into him?! Does he want to ruin my name for that?!"

Rose barely nodded a i-don't-know expression with concerned eyes.