Chasing the nerd ✓

Chapter 44| Noah

Everyone seem to be rushing today at work. People going in and out of offices, exhaling frustrated with big frowns on their faces.

Couple of girls were freaking out in the kitchen while others tried to consult them failing miserably.

I can't help my own frown forming in my face the moment I step inside the building, letting the ominous mood swallow me whole.

I rush to my office,much like my colleagues, and look around to see if she is here but to my disappointment there is no sign of her anywhere.

I still have the tightening around my heart, like I did in my dream, and a feeling that something bad is going to happen. I don't know why I suddenly believe I'm some kind of an oracle that can predict what's coming but I trust my gut. And it's screaming at me, danger!

I saw Dan and he looked like someone died. He told me that he was there when his father got arrested, explaining how shocked he was when the feds grabbed him and cuffed him. He didn't resist though which was a good thing.

"She's not here by the way."

"Huh?" I say distracted.

"Rachel. I see you looking around. She's not here."

I can't help my face falling even though deep down I knew I wasn't going to see her.

"That's ok." I clear my throat and look at him.

"She didn't mean what she said, she is just hurt. You gotta know dad is her everything." Dan says trying to comfort me and I shrug.

"No need for that. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." He crooks his head to his side to look at me and I raise my brows. "Yeah, well I'm not fine either. I'm sleep deprived and really stressed. What's your excuse?" He answers to my unspoken question and I drop my head defeated.

"Late night drinking."

"Welcome to the club pal. Hang in there. She'll come around." He squeezes my shoulder comforting and I nod.

When I'm in my office I start working right away. They might have my laptop but I'm a nerdy high maintenance guy that has everything backed up. So I fire up the desktop and load all the information I have so I can check them again. Sadly my notes are missing, cursing myself for being so detailed on them, but I'll make do.

Hours are passing by like minutes and I'm not further away than when I started with the search. I'm trying, God, I'm really trying but I can't seem to find anything to prove that this wasn't Brody's doing.

I search for the recipient of the money. No luck there as well. It's a fake name of an offshore company abroad and I'm not as a skilled hacker as I want to believe. So nothing on that front.

I tag the roots of my hair frustrated while groaning out loud. I exhale deeply and turn my chair away from my desk to take a break.

Wait, is it night already? How long I'm I sitting here?

Everything look so peaceful outside while there is such a shitstorm inside and I'm swirling in that whirlpool uncontrollably. I miss the old days, when I didn't care about anyone but myself.

Yeah, what a great life that was.

My conscious remarks ironically and I remove my glasses to rub my eyes. I feel tired. Tired from all the work I'm doing, tired from the lack of sleep, tired from pretending I don't care that I haven't heard from her since yesterday.

The last one sucked the most. Do you know how hard it is to pretend you don't have a wound when it's constantly bleeding?

"My God you are still here?" I hear Dan and I turn around to see him standing in my door.

"I have to see this through." I say to him as I place my glasses back to my face.

"Are trying to wear yourself out? Take a break man." He says shaking his head.

"Did you had any luck?" I ask looking at him expectantly but his frown tells me everything I need to know.

"No, not really. I was talking to uncle Jeffrey and he is as devastated and surprised as are we."

Uncle Jeffrey.

Jeffrey Novak.

The crow and the ring.

That's where I've seen that fucking ring before!

The wires in my head clicked finally in the right places and my face instantly lit up. Dan seems confused with the way that I'm looking at him but I'm playing all the possible scenarios in my head right now.

"I'm gonna need to you to forward me all the stock percentages of the company right away." I say without looking at him typing hard on my keyboard.

"Ok. Why?"

"I might have a theory but before I can't say anything, I need to find proof. And I'm gonna need to see the books from past years and all the bank documents between the shareholders and your father."

"The books were taken but dad has a record at home. You can swing by the place tomorrow and look at them. You found something?" He looks at me filled with hope, literally hanging by my lips. I frown a bit and I notice his expression changes immediately.

"I have a hunch. But until I have solid proof it's just that, a hunch. I just think it's worth checking it out."

He nods and puts his hands in his pockets.

"I'm forwarding you that email right away. I trust you man."

With that he steps out and closes the door behind him. I wanna pat myself on the back for thinking it but also slap me for not thinking it sooner. That's the piece that I'm missing. Where is mr. Jeffrey Novak in all this? Where has he been for the past few days? Why isn't he here fighting for the company? I mean I believe at least half of this it's his, isn't it?

I'll be more certain when I see the stocks percentages but my gut tells me I'm finally looking at it the right way.

My phones buzzes and I'm startled by it. A part of me wishes that's Rachel finally reaching out to me. Imagine my disappointment when I see Mark's name on my messenger app.

I scoff out loud but open the message anyway.

Mark Ruffalo: Dude! You gotta see this 😮

I scroll down to see that he attached a video on the message.

I play the video, and from the looks of it it's another college party with drunk people dancing around frantically. I'm about to stop when I get a glimpse of her.

Hell no.

There she is, dancing with some dude, practically on that dude, in a very close proximity. Their noses practically touch while she sways her body seductively looking at him with hooded eyes. And the guy can't keep his hands off of her, touching her all over.

I feel like someone punched a hole in my chest and took my lungs out. I literally can't breath.

One..

Two..

Three..

Breathe..

But after the initial shock I feel my blood rush to my brain and I only see red.

Noah Cooper: Where. the fuck. are you?

A/N: Hello my loved ones!!! See? It didn't took me that long to write this one! (Mini wave celebration to me 🎉)
Buckle up guys!! It's gonna get bumpy...
And as always don't forget too click the little star below ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Do it for Noah, he needs your support right now!!
See you in the next one!♥️♥️♥️