Chapter 217 - Suspicious

Lair thought he hasn't seen well, but no matter how he looked at it, it was truly his mother standing there with an unknown man. it wasn't odd finding his mother talking with a stranger because of her profession, but something was off about the certain man she was talking to. But that was not just the only thing that caught his attention. The brown envelope which the man was also passing to her got his interest.

He noticed the way she reacted after opening the envelope. She looked shocked after skimming through the document in her hand. She had a dumbfounded look on her face and she shot her head up to look at the man, with a disbelieving look in her eyes.

He noticed the way the man shook his head after she said something, it seemed like she asked a question. Her countenance was crest fallen when the man shook his head in response. It was all suspicious.

She had a disappointed look, and from the way her countenance kept changing from bad to worse, making her look like her world was about crumbling, Lair had a foreboding about things.

He had a feeling this was about what they had all been waiting for all week. It had to be related to Micheal.

His mother was one tough woman who knew to hide her feelings well except when it came to her family. And seeing the way she was reacting to whatever they were talking about definitely had to do with her response to them tonight.

'It wasn't good, and if it wasn't good, —he turned his head to look at the direction his sister had just walked into— then his sister was going to have another major break down, maybe even worse.

He can't let that happen. But what should he do?

.....

Xenox Inc

Jade had not been able to keep her cool since she heard about Jake's ordeal. Her worries grew worse when she reconfirmed with her team leader, Simon. She didn't know what to do.

She was both worried and angry. Worried because this problem wasn't a slight problem. She had weighed how this would affect Jake's company and even Jake himself. Angry because Jake was hiding his problems from her. No matter how she tried to understand with him, she still didn't know why he'd lie to her. She had sensed something was wrong with him, and when she asked he said everything was fine.

She knew he was trying not to bother her, but they were together and she should know when he has a problem, and not find bout from other sources. If this was a life threatening situation, then at what stage would she had found out? When it was probably too late?

She was mad at him, but the fact that she still couldn't reach him, made her madder.

Calling Amy was out of it, she'd probably or definitely get worried about work when she gets the news of this. She kept looking at the time, It was no where lunch time talk more of closing.

Why was the day suddenly passing by slowly.

Jade looked at the time once again, it was just 10:30 am; two hours more before lunch time. She didn't know if she could wait that long before seeing him. Two hours to her right now seemed like two decades.

Jade was too lost in thought that she didn't notice Sara's scrutinizing look. She even didn't notice her leave the desk, it wasn't until she returned and her attention was called in, that she noticed that not only was Sara staring at her, but also was Julius with his usual cup of coffee.

"I heard you're not okay" Julius said with a concern as Jade looked up at him. She turned her gaze to Sara and the simply shrugged.

"You're acting strange" Sara said. Though Jade didn't talk much while at work, because that was all her mind was always occupied with, work; but Jade hasn't even done a thing since she resumed work this morning and her mood worsened after talking about the software, and Sara found that strange. That wasn't the Jade she knew.

Jade didn't know what to say to her, she knew Sara was worried, and it was all her fault for making her worry. She sighed and apologized to her, "I'm sorry if i scared you with my attitude. I just have a lot on my mind"

"Is it serious? Do you want to talk about it? A problem shared is said to be half solved right?" Julius asked. He didn't like seeing Jade like this, seemed off.

Jade scoffed inwardly when she heard that. If only Jake knew that.

She shook her head and said, "It's fine and i—"

"Well it's not fine and I just spoke to Simon about it and he wants you in his office" She paused and placed her hand on Jade's hand. "I don't know what's stressing you today, and I know you won't ask for a day off, but if Simon offers you a day off please take it and go home, fix whatever is boggling your mind and come back tomorrow in the familiar workaholic Jade mood. I like her more than this one..... she's depressing" Sara added, with a serious look on her face, telling Jade she wasn't joking.

Jade looked at her without knowing what to say. She simply nodded her head, muttered a thank you, left for Simon's office, again.

She knocked on the transparent glass door, and Simon who could already see her said, "Jade come in, take a seat" He dropped his own, and looked at her. Jade did exactly as she was told.

Simon intently looked at her for some minutes. "I heard you're a bit off today, I also noticed when you were here earlier. I know you wouldn't like to talk about it with me, and I don't want to pry. So I want you take the day off and handle whatsoever is bothering you. And if by chance it's about the software, don't feel bad it. I know it was your first project but don't feel bad about it. The company is on it and the problem would be fixed soon. So I just wanted to say that to you" He wasn't used to giving pep talks, but he admired Jade, so trying to have one with her wasn't that bad.

Jade didn't know what to say. She didn't want to say she was feeling downcast because the software which she had helped the company sign a contract for was currently bringing the company issues– okay she was a bit bothered about that, but she also knew she wasn't at fault. The major problem it was her boyfriend's software, and was worried about him.

Nodding her head, she said, "Thank you sir," while Simon nodded his head too.

"Alright get that sullen look out of here and bring a happy one back" Simon said with a small smile. Jade nodded her head as she flashed an appreciative smile at him, before thanking him again.

She felt grateful for the care and concern her colleagues and boss had towards her. She was happy to have them.. She got back to her desk, picked up her stuff, thanked Sara before hurrying off to check up on Jake.