His Locked Soul

Part 2

Lucian

I blared horn at the truck in front of me. Everything was worse from morning. My sleep was disturbed with the old memories and woke up late. I had already sent James to office with all necessary documents. I had to be at my office in another 30 minutes for a cross continental meeting with my Japan office. We recently acquired a Heavy Industry and some issues prevailed still on the merger. We were one of the top manufactures in Air Crafts and recently stepped into Helicopters. This was Jack's idea.

Thinking of Jack made me zone out and I came back with a start when I heard someone honking at the back. The truck was nowhere seen now and I cursed myself getting distracted. That's when, I saw her smiling and waving at me. The same one from the restaurant yesterday. She was wearing a oversize sweatshirt and stone washed denim. The sweat shirt was literally over-sized. She does not look like those skinny females. Why can't she dress properly?

I saw her running towards my car. Ha, another Gold Digger trying to catch me. No my girl, this direct approach would never work. I rolled down my window to tell her to find someone else, but she crossed me and went to the vehicle behind me. I turned back to see her hopping in that car. She was smiling at the guy in the other car. How stupid of me! Oh God, this could have been embarrassing. But I was surprised to feel the pang of jealousy that shook me seeing her laughing with other guy.

I eased my car inside the parking lot. My driver was waiting ready to take over the car to my private parking lot. I loved driving. Recently that was the only way to ease away my worries and tension. So I started to drive to office in the morning and made my driver to wait in my office to pick up the car once I reached office.

James was already in my room. He looked serious and mouthed that it was 10 already. I nod my understanding and reached my seat. My phone rang as soon as I sat on my desk. I signalled James to do the usual and pressed to answer.

"Lucian Alastair." I snapped.

"Good morning Luc baby. I know it is you. Did you dream about me? I know you were. You were zoned out for whole ten minutes in middle of traffic. Don't worry darling, your dream will come true soon" she cooed in the phone.

How the hell did she know? Was she watching us the whole time? James alert eyes was on me immediately. I understood that he was also thinking on the same line.

"Who the hell are you?" I shouted at her.

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Do you still want to provoke me even after seeing the picture?"

James mouthed me to continue the call as he needed more time to trace it.

I mentally counted to ten to calm myself.

"What do you want?" I asked in a controlled tone.

"Sweetheart, I told you already. I want you. Let's meet Thursday evening 8:00 at Mandarin. Book us a Suite like a sweetie, will you?"

I crushed the phone hard that it hurt my palm. One more squeeze and it might break.

"And Lucian, don't you dare to act at my back. All the magazines are eagerly expecting for my next hint. I hope you are smart to understand. Tell James not to sweat on finding me. Coz, you cannot."

And suddenly the line was disconnected. I kept staring back at the phone when James stood in front of me. I looked at him but already got the answer in his expression. No luck.

"She is watching us the whole time. She should have been near us in the restaurant too. How the hell did she know my schedule?" I questioned James knowing he was also equally puzzled as me.

I saw James booking a Suite in Mandarin. "What the hell are you doing?" I shouted at him realizing his actions.

"Luc, we have to be careful. Since this female knows all our actions, she might also check if we are complying her demands. We cannot risk her taking serious actions. I don't want to risk, in case of she is checking with Mandarin if any Suite is booked."

I slumped in my seat understanding that he was correct. Who was it? Why is she suddenly coming into picture after 2 years? How did she know about Jack and Diaz? Most important, is there any mole inside my office?

James shook his head gravely when I asked the same to him. "I too am equally puzzled like you Luc. But, I will try to break this puzzle. You meeting with Japan team is in another ten minutes. You go ahead for the meeting. Let me dig into this issue."

I nodded and left to the conference room where my board was waiting for me. I felt that I got up on the wrong side of bed. It was going to be long day.

Three hours later....

"How was the meeting? Were they able to accept to your demands?" James queried mildly.

"Negotiations completed. Our Eurasian COO is travelling tomorrow for final agreement. All set to go." I smirked back. For me it was always either my may or none. No adjustments ever. But I should say I was slightly worried as I was not completely into the meeting today.

My thoughts were zoned out towards the call today, but mainly on one specific smile. Was it coincidence that I saw her twice consecutively? I was intrigued to find about her, but how? What will James think if I instruct him to find about her. He would probably think that apocalypse was near because I asked to find about two females in two days, especially when I did not know one thing about them. I chuckled thinking about his reaction.

Coming back to reality, "Any progress from your side?" I asked in a serious tone.

James hesitated a second too long for me to guess the answer. "No luck so far. You have to go ahead with her demands on meeting her on Thursday"

"Cut it. I am not going to dance on some cheap *****'s tune." I barked back.

"Just listen out" James sighed. "We still don't have an idea on what kind of data she is having with her. I am not asking you to comply her demands. We need to catch her in person and so we need to act as if we are accepting her demands. More than that, we don't know if it is a single female or a group acting on our back. And don't forget about the mole. Else how come she knows so much about you?"

I shook my head still not able to accept on his words.

"Think about your parents and Thea. They have just recovered from Jake's death. I don't think they can face another controversy soon."

God! My parents and my little sister Thea. I have distanced from them since Jake's death. I know they didn't blame me for that, but I could not tackle my own conscience. The least I could do was not disturbing their peace of mind.

Mitchel entered the room with a tap on the door. She was my chief assistant for my father the past ten years and now mine.

"Mr. Alastair, you need to check on the final list of gear box manufacturers for the next two years of contract. Our old alliance 'Worth Manufacturers' is also in the list."

"Thanks Mitch. I will look into it."

"Yes Sir. Just to remind you that our next batch starts in another 20 days and we need to finalize the contract by Monday." Mitch left the room immediately. She was always like that. Be specific on your point and no nonsense was her motto.

"Why are you looking for new one? We never had any issue with our old suppliers. They are supplying gearboxes for past 6 years. "James asked in a curious tone.

"I know. It's not I am unhappy with them. But there is no harm in checking on new alliances."

"Ifyou say so." James knew when to close the conversation. "And, Luc Iwill be your chauffeur till Thursday as I cannot rule out anyone in benefit ofdoubt." James left the room with a nod.