The Fire Within

Chapter 9 - Sleepless in Seattle

Kevin crossed the almost deserted road and walked towards the huge building that was Harper Inc. It was dark and the lights inside the building were dimmed, which meant that his uncle had already left. He was about to enter inside when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and groaned when he saw the caller ID.

Reluctantly, he pressed the answer button for the second time.

"Hey, it's me again", said the dreamy voice of Natalie Adams. "You forgot your coat."

Kevin sighed. "Its fine, Natalie."

"Aren't you going to come back to get it?"

"No, I have work to do. You can keep it."

"Oh, okay", he could hear the disappointment in her voice. "I thought you'd want it back."

"No, I don't", he said impatiently. "Is there anything else?"

"No. Well, yes, there is. I was wondering if you could come to my house tomorrow. A few of my friends wanted to meet you and I told them you'll be there."

What little patience he had seemed to be slipping away. "Natalie, I've already told you that I'm busy with some really important work tomorrow. So please don't make me say this again."

"Yeah, but – "

"I've got to go, Natalie. I'll call you later." Without giving her a chance to talk, he hung up.

I probably sounded like a jerk, but she deserved it.

Kevin had had enough for the day. On Natalie's insistence, he had taken some time off of his work that evening to meet her in the cafe down the building. When she was persistent on staying for longer than an hour, he'd had a hard time convincing her to let him go. And now she wanted him to meet her again tomorrow.

Geez, what an annoying woman, he thought as he pressed the button on the elevator.

When he had first met Natalie, he was blinded by her elegance and beauty, and they'd hit it off instantly. It was blissful at first but as the days went by, the spark between them had faded. She was becoming too clingy and it annoyed him when she cancelled his business appointments without even asking him once about it. He was especially put off when he realized that she was not in love with him; but instead in love with the power that came with their relationship – by dating the heir of Harper Inc. To her, he was just a priced possession; one that was meant to show off to the world.

Exhausted, he stepped out of the elevator onto the last floor of the building and dragged his way to the office. The entire floor was empty, everybody having left for the day. As instructed, Cole had left the door to his office unlocked. He went in and switched on the lights, thinking about the delivery report which had to be done by now, and wondering if that assistant of his uncle had done her job.

He didn't know why, but every single time he saw Sarah, it ticked him off. There was something about the shade of green in her eye that he didn't trust. Hailey's abrupt departure had already upset his uncle. But the next week, he'd already hired Sarah after just an hour of talking, something which he'd never done before. Sure, Sarah had proven herself as a reasonable worker in the few days she'd been here, but there was still something nagging at the back of his mind.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid.

He sighed and set out to work on his laptop. He had barely gone through the first page of the report when he felt his eyes drooping. Shaking his head to get rid of the sleep, he got up to get some coffee.

And that's when he heard it. A loud slamming noise in the deathly silence of the night. It seemed to be coming from the far east end of the building. Even though the sound came from a long way, the ground beneath him shook from the sudden intensity of it.