Chapter 217 - Mole(2)

By the time they got back to Preston and Fort Group, Zaria felt as though she had done an entire day's worth of work. Her mind was all over the place and she felt so lazy it was unbelievable. In the afternoon, she was almost dragging, which is why she went to the pantry for a drink.

She had just finished making her coffee and pouring it into her cup when Natalie grabbed it out of her hand.

"Don't."

"Natalie?" She was surprised that the latter was here.

"I tried to call you a few times but you were too focused on making your coffee." Natalie smiled subtly. "But you shouldn't drink more of it. I have a feeling that you are so tired lately because of the amount of caffeine you had in a short period."

Stating her hypothesis, Natalie disposed of the coffee.

"You could be right." Zaria thought about it. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm seeing Lucy in a few minutes." Natalie responded, resting her back against the refrigerator. "Do you want to watch a movie with me this evening?"

"I don't know about that. If Devonte is among the cast, it's a hard pass." She spat out, making the latter laugh.

"You hate him so much, don't you?"

"I can never forgive an asshole for ruining my friend's life." She felt less aggressive after taking it out on Devonte even in his absence, so she patted Natalie on the shoulder on her way out. "We should get going."

Natalie grabbed a blueberry muffin from the refrigerator, which she knew would be there from her knowledge of Desmond. She gave it to Zaria before they each went their way.

…

Lucy joined the impromptu executive meeting with Natalie in tow, making a few heads turn in surprise.

"This is Natalie Sparks, a new partner of Preston and Fort Group." Lucy introduced her, before Natalie waved and briefly said hello.

"What's the meaning of this?" Zeus couldn't keep himself as calm as everyone else. "The Sparks family are our biggest competitors. What are you doing, bringing their heiress to our private meeting?"

Lucy pulled out a chair for Natalie before she sat next to her instead of on Desmond's right, on the spot labelled COO. She looked at her son with a gentle smile. "If you don't know the meaning of the word partner and what they represent in Preston and Fort Group, you can look it up after the meeting." She then glanced at Desmond who was now opposite her. "Des, shall we?"

He couldn't get what Lucy was up to either, but since he trusted Natalie and the latter was bound by the partnership contract, he ran his eyes among the attendees and started the meeting.

He had brought a team of private investigators to look into the odd occurrences at the company. He did not explain to them the details of the leaked information but gave them a brief explanation.

"We are going to introduce them as employees transferred from another branch." He explained, and it finally made sense to Zaria what Liam had told her in the elevator earlier.

The investigators introduced themselves as Jameson, Audrey and Dimitri.

"I hope the three of you get answers soon, and have fun during your stay here." Desmond said, trying neither sounding stern nor friendly.

As soon as the meeting ended, Zaria was the first to leave and she did so unusually fast, as if her chair was on fire.

"You're in a hurry." Someone spoke beside her. She turned to the side and smiled subtly at one of the investigators who had caught up to her. "Jameson, is it?"

"I can't believe you like his name more." He teased with way too much ease. "I'm Dimitri." He offered his hand for a shake.

"Oh, sorry. I got a little mixed up." She walked slower, letting him walk beside her towards the elevator.

"I'd excuse you for murder." He humorously expressed that he was not offended, trying to focus ahead of him. "You know, I was beside myself with joy when I was summoned here. I've always wanted to work with Preston and Fort Group. But now I'm glad I don't."

"Why not?" She frowned.

"I wouldn't get any work done if I had to see your face every day. It's so beautiful it should be illegal." He flirted, making Zaria speechless in awkwardness.

Behind them, Natalie couldn't help throwing a teasing look in Desmond's way. Dimitri was having a little too much fun.

Before she could roast him, he quickened his footsteps and grabbed Zaria just as she made a step into the elevator. He held her protectively and glared daggers at Dimitri who had stopped, baffled, at the door.

"When I allowed you to have fun, that did not include hitting on my woman. Keep your claws off." He roared.

Dimitri held his hands up slightly in surrender. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know she was taken." He averted his gaze back to Zaria. "See you later, beautiful."

He was definitely not about to give up.

"I will gouge his eyes out if he dares to look at you." He growled.

"What was that?" She pulled away from his arms. The elevator had left without her and she wanted to get to the office as soon as possible. She was annoyed.

He cupped her face, still puzzled by her mood. "Baby, what's going on? Is everything alright?"

"I just need some time alone. See you later." She hopped into the elevator that Natalie had taken and since he was going down while they went up, he couldn't follow her.

…

At first, she thought she was just annoyed because she had been tired lately but it didn't take long to realize that all the annoyance she felt was aimed towards Desmond. She didn't have any qualms interacting with other people and her mood would make a turn for the worst if he appeared in her vicinity.

She couldn't figure it out so she decided to sleep it off, but not before cooking hers and Theodore's favorite meal at home.

Like all the other times, they prepared the ingredients side by side and engaged in idle chat.

"What do you mean there's a mole?" He asked when she explained the matter to him.

"That's what we all think of the information that is somehow leaked to the Su Conglomerate. There is no way it's a coincidence. Anyway, Desmond brought investigators." The name rolled off her tongue and tasted bitter as it left. She ignored it.

"What's wrong with them?" He asked, because they had dived into the topic when she stated that she needed F&P Media's private investigators to help her with a task.

"There's nothing wrong with them. I know it's just the first day and I have not even given them a chance but I think it's going to rile them into completing the job fast if they realize that they are not the only team on the job."

"I'll have a word with them." He promised, pouring oil over the dough he had just kneaded. "Just so you know, I would advise you to give it a week before throwing in another team." He added.

"Okay." She looked over at the dough he was slapping for no apparent reason. "Is that part of the recipe?" She chuckled, going over to slap it with him for fun. They both laughed, making a game out of it.

It was all fun and games until Desmond called.

She grabbed her vibrating phone from the pocket of her apron and flung it against the wall.

Theodore was speechless for a moment.

"Okay, there has to be a reason for that. Why would you break your phone over a phone call? Who was calling?"

She buried her face in her hands as she shook her head. "It's Desmond. I don't know, dad. He didn't do anything wrong but I just… I can't stand him for a second."

Theodore searched for the pieces of her phone and when he glanced at them, he realized that it was ruined so he disposed of them and turned back to her. "When did this start?"

"A few days ago. Give or take, three?" She counted them on her fingers.

Theodore was silent for a while as if he was deep in thought. A smile formed on his lips and disappeared just as first. He was acting odd, making her frown.

"What are you thinking about?" She prompted.

He cleared his throat and turned serious. "You know, when your mother was pregnant with you, she couldn't stand me."

She laughed it off. "What's that got to do with anything? Wait. No way.. No."