Given half a chance

Chapter 3

Sebastian

I stare unblinkingly at my hands. Unpredictable right ? I needed my life to be unpredictable. Here it is.

Anna Delaney is back . Who predicted that about her ? She is now the marketing head of my small insurance company. Who predicted that about my life ?

There is a difference between a person's absence and elimination . Anna was absent from my life in the last three years but I have never been able to eliminate her from my life.

Every time me and Catherine fought , I recalled her . Every time I went or returned from my father's house , I yearned for her. Every time I read an article about how my company is a hoax and I am a thief , I remembered her. Every time I failed , I closed my eyes and searched for her in my memories.

And surprisingly the last three years , my life has been nothing but routine fights with Catherine , endless visits to my father , reading articles and failing unabashedly and nothing else .

If she knew how much I have recalled her in the last three years that I have forgot to miss her absence , she will laugh at me . I will never risk telling her about this.

A knock interrupts my thoughts and George enters. He always does that. Knocks and then enters without waiting for permission. He looks cheerful for some reason .

" Anna found out who were writing this blind articles about us. " He says poking his head inside the room through the gap between the door and the frame.

I leap out of my chair. " What?"

" Yeah. It's not even a day since she has joined the company and she already found out. Can you believe that. " My heart lurches and that numbness I feel from nervousness is back.

George didn't say it but I can see it clearly on his face. Anna just did what I have not been able to do in more than six months. But has it crossed her mind even for once that perhaps I doesn't want to bring the person who wrote those false articles in front of the world ?

Maybe not. Apparently she has been so busy about proving her supremacy that she hasn't even thought about the fact that I am aware who possibly could write these articles and I intentionally didn't reveal them .

George leaves and I follow him to Anna's chamber. She is sitting behind her desk , half hidden by the giant monitor on the table , burying her face in a sheet of paper.

She looks up as she hears us walking in . George is the first one to speak. " Who is it ?" Anna briefly looks at me as she stands up and holds the paper out for George. I reach out to grab the paper before George but he is closer to it than me.

He snatches the paper from Anna. Anna looks at me questioningly like I should give her an explanation or an apology or something . But for what ? It's her , who just decide to enter into my already flipped world like a whirlwind and mess it up more than I can handle.

" How did you find them ?" George is still going through the paper like it's the map to treasure island .

" I called the headquarters and asked for the writers who wrote them. "

George stares at me perplexed . " It's that simple ?" I have no idea who is he asking that . Me or Anna. Without waiting for Anna to reply to him , I snatch the paper from his hands.

" If it's that simple then why didn't you call the headquarters of the magazine publisher and ask for the names ?" George looks agitated . And I am perfectly aware of Anna's gaze trying to read my thoughts by stripping me layer by layer.

First I need to get George out of here. Then I'll deal with you Anna. George has no idea about Catherine. Our relationship was over before I joined the company.