The Watch

He Knows Something You Don't Know

Payne finished up the meeting in a matter of hours and prepared to go to lunch. He needed to call Genevieve to make sure Nisha was still at the house. He couldn't have her running off again while he was at work. Payne knew it wasn't ideal to have the both of them in the same house, but he knew they were bound to work out their differences. They didn't hate each other, but he always feared they would never be ok with the relationships he'd had with the both of them.

"How's it going?" Payne exclaimed.

"How's it going? How's it going?!" Nisha seethed. "You left me under the care of your ex-wife and you ask how's it's going! Listen here, mister, don't you ever leave me under anyone's care under the impression of me needing company. I can take care of myself and I don't need anyone."

"So...it's going well?"

"Yeah, yeah. She and I just had some tea and talked crap about you." She said it like it was the most normal thing in the world. Did she really sit and talk crap about me with his ex-wife? he thought. "Anyway, when are you going to be back? I kind of want to hang with Genevieve tonight."

"Seriously? I thought we could go out again."

Nisha scoffed like it was the most absurd suggestion ever. Payne did want to hang out with her, because he wanted to sleep with her again. Honestly, he loved the relationship they had now. No strings attached. They weren't friends, but they weren't enemies. Just mutuals who wanted to have a good time every once in a while.

"You just want to have sex with me again," she said. "But...if you can make it here by seven, then I'll go with you. Promise me you won't be a minute late, Julius."

"Promise." Payne chuckled and asked her to put Genevieve on the phone. "Vivi, querida, how are you this lovely afternoon?"

"...I don't know. You asked me to babysit your toy. I don't know how I feel about that," she said.

"She's not my toy, Vivi."

"Well, whatever she is, I want to hang out with her."

"Are you guys really ditching me to hang out? What did I miss?"

"You didn't miss anything!" Genevieve laughed. "Even if we did do anything you would never approve of, we wouldn't tell you. Goodbye, Julius. I'll see you later."

"LUNCH TIME, MR. PAYNE!" Marie yelled outside Payne's office door. He looked at the watch on his arm and smiled. All he had to do was wait for tomorrow, and he wouldn't have to hide it from Josué anymore.

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"WHERE IS IT?" Payne roared. Papers and pens flew across his office as he opened and closed drawers, tossing everything out of my path. How did the ring go missing? It was in the drawer when he left, so why isn't it there now?

Marie stepped into his office with a bored look on her face. She easily dodged the stapler coming her way, but her expression didn't change. Either she was tired of Payne's tantrums or she really wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of scaring her.

"What?" he barked.

"I thought you'd like to see the recordings from yesterday," she said. "I don't like that you've been yelling for the past half hour about the ring."

"...Well, it's missing and no one seems to know where it is or who might have come in here."

"Sir, I did notice someone, but he didn't come anywhere near your office. He actually went the opposite way and left before your meeting was over."

"So, you saw him when the lights came back on?"

"Yes. He told me he'd be back and he did come back. Sir, I don't think he did it even if he was paid to. Now are you going to come look at the footage or not?"

Payne really didn't want to, but it would put me one step closer to figuring out what really happened. He seriously doubted he'd get to fire anyone today, but it was worth a shot.

And the footage told him nothing! How is it that he worked with thieves, but he can't even find them? There are two ways on and off this floor, and he could see the logs, so who would dare play games with him? Marie was adamant on keeping to her story and what she's seen earlier. This is why Payne needed to get better security.

"Wait...what's that?" They rewound the footage and Payne pointed at the time. "Even you know someone tampered with that. Have the techs send me the raw footage."

"Sir...they said this was the only footage they had. I even went to check myself, and it seems like that's all that's there."

Oh? he thought. So, someone has been sneaking around?

"You know what, I think I know what's happening here," Payne said with a chuckle. "Why don't you head on home? Come in early tomorrow, but enjoy the rest of your day."

"Really, sir?" Marie frowned at the request.

"I assure you that you do not want to be here when I find out what I know is already true."

Marie didn't ask anymore questions. She watched as Payne left to go back to his office. She was really regretting not looking at the tape closely. They could avoid what was to come. She would have to warn Josué before it was too late. Marie was glad she lived close to where he was residing. It wouldn't take her long to tell him everything he needed to know.

Payne sat at his office desk, the image of the ring he'd given Genevieve flashed across his mind. He didn't want to believe it, but it seemed like he had gotten fooled. More than once.

He logged into his computer and pulled up the footage from when he'd arrived at the company. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but he wanted to double check. He continuously rewound the tape, not really knowing what he was looking for. That's when he saw him. The man he'd been hunting for as soon as he'd arrived in Paraguay.

"Oh, so you are here..." he muttered to himself. "It's about time I caught you following me. You had someone lie to me, because you wanted to fly under the radar. You sneak into my company and steal my things. I have something for you. Just you wait."

Payne gathered all of his things and stormed from his office. He was fuming about the missing ring. He was fuming about being lied to. Who did Josué think he was? He couldn't just do whatever he wanted to without any consequences. Payne had something for Josué and no one was going to stop him from getting what he wanted.

"Bianca, where in Hell are you and Mr. Young?" he crowed.

"...I'm eating lunch with one of his employees," she said. "The last I heard from Mr. Young, he was in a meeting at the hotel."

"And you believe him?"

"Not really, sir. He's been doing a lot to keep me away from him when he's discussing the watch. I think he has someone watching you, but I can't be too sure."

"What about his stupid friends?" Payne barked. "That Shayne guy? Where is he?"

"He's with Mr. Young. They sent his bodyguard with me to make sure I didn't run off. I'm in the bathroom right now, so no one can hear me."

Payne groaned and ran a hand across his face. He wasn't getting anywhere. Where was Josué hiding Bianca? How was she so clueless about everything happening in Paraguay? There's no way she was being fooled by him.

"Call me the moment you sense a big change."

"Yes, sir. I did hear he's going to visit someone you know, though."

Oh, really?