Chapter 2 After That

Chapter 2

​My hands stuffed the last of the clothes I brought into my suitcase, then closed it. My flight leaves in three hours, which means I have to be at the airport in an hour and a half. I opened my suitcase again and threw a book inside.

​"I've already called a taxi." A blonde head appeared from behind the door. I smiled while zipping up my suitcase. "Thanks, Lana."

​She came into my room and jumped onto my bed, her long legs dangling gracefully off the edge. "Are you sure all of that is enough for two weeks?" she asked, staring at my small suitcase.

​I shrugged. "I'll be back on the weekend." Even though it was exhausting, I didn't want to spend two weeks alone in a city I didn't know.

​I plopped down next to Lana. We share a two-bedroom apartment. I've known Lana since the beginning of college; even though we work at different companies now, we still rent together. She's 23, a year younger than me, though we graduated at the same time.

​Lana comes from a wealthy family-very wealthy. In college, she lived with her father and a stepmother who changed every five years. Her biological mother passed away long ago, and Lana has no other siblings. As for me, well, I have no parents or siblings left. I guess that's what has made us as close as sisters all this time; we are both lonely. Lana has never gone home once since we started renting together; she has a bad relationship with her father.

​"You can take mine, Ella. All of that won't be enough," she muttered, pointing at my suitcase. She stood up and disappeared through the door.

​Lana always said her father was the reason her mother died. Because I didn't want to make her sadder, I never asked what she meant.

​Maybe Lana knew I still had to pay off my expensive tuition loans-which I have to pay for another year-so she gave me full access to her closet. Since then, I haven't bought clothes anymore. Not because I couldn't afford it, but because Lana would get mad at me if I bought new clothes. If she caught me staring at a new blouse or dress in front of a boutique, the next day she would buy it and give it to me.

​If I refused, Lana would use all sorts of excuses until I accepted. Since then, I've tried to train my eyes not to stare randomly into boutique windows whenever I'm with her.

​"Is this enough?" Lana asked herself as she moved my clothes into her suitcase. Satisfied, she nodded to herself and closed the suitcase. "I put some of my heels in there; yours are almost broken," she grumbled, folding her arms across her chest.

​I looked at her and smiled. "Okay, Mom."

​Lana just responded by rolling her bright blue eyes. "So you're going to audit Shaw & Partner?" she asked suddenly before plopping down beside me, her eyes staring at the ceiling.

​"You know about that company?" I asked. Lana's family has incredible connections in the business world; almost all CEOs and company leaders know her father. Even before Lana went to college, her father tried to set her up with his acquaintances.

​"I've met one of them." Lana's voice sounded a bit choked, and she swallowed hard before continuing, "Gregory Shaw... I met him once."

​"Oh? Your father set you up with him?" I asked, starting to get interested.

​Lana laughed softly and shook her head. "My father? No, I met Gregory Shaw at a conference. Remember that conference I attended back in college?"

​"I met him there. Only for a moment," she continued, shrugging indifferently. But the distant look in her eyes said otherwise.

​"Is he that handsome?" Christine had the same look when she mentioned the Shaw brothers.

​Lana turned and laughed again. "Well, he's decent. But not my type."

​I've known Lana long enough to know she was lying, but before I could ask further, a car horn sounded from outside.

​"Taxi!" Lana shouted.

​We both jumped off the bed. I grabbed my suitcase and my shoes from under the bed and followed Lana, who had already walked out ahead.

​The first thing I realized upon stepping foot in the Manhattan airport was that I didn't bring my phone. After fifteen full minutes of tearing through my handbag three times, I gave up.

​Dragging my suitcase, I walked to the nearest payphone booth and called Lana to tell her I could only contact her after I bought a new phone.

​The trip to the hotel took over an hour due to traffic. Even though my flight was only two hours, exhaustion hit me as soon as I reached the airport. Partly because I didn't want to be here, partly because I had worked overtime the night before.

​After checking in, I closed my hotel room door tight and spent the rest of the day sleeping.

​The street in the business center was filled with shop buildings ranging from Starbucks and Ladurée to designer boutiques. Almost everyone walking on this block wore the same thing I did-formal work attire and a grumpy face. Ha. It seemed I wasn't the only one who hated Manhattan.

​After walking for five full minutes, I realized I didn't know which direction the Shaw & Partner building was, or the bagel shop I was headed to. I stopped next to a black SUV parked on the side of the road, looking around for a street sign. Should I use GPS? Oh damn, I didn't bring my phone.

​My eyes were still searching for a street sign when I caught my reflection in the window of the SUV next to me. The glass was pitch black so I couldn't see inside, but parked cars are usually empty, right?

​I checked my hair tie in the reflection and wiped some lipstick from the corner of my lip with my finger. I stared at my serious reflection for a moment. My reflection looked quite plain; the only thing I could be proud of were my amber eyes. Lana said the first thing she remembered about me were my eyes, which are quite rare.

​The rest... if compared to Lana, maybe a score of 7/10?

​Feeling silly for comparing myself to my best friend, I smiled at my reflection and checked my watch. There were still about 35 minutes to find that bagel shop. I continued walking past the long row of shops.

​Ten minutes later, I found it: a small blue restaurant that sold bagels, exactly as Lana described. The place didn't even have a name. I stepped inside, read the menu, and ordered Avocado Salmon and coffee. A few minutes later, a man delivered my order, placing it on my table with a smile. I thanked him and smiled back. It was these little things I liked about visiting small shops compared to fancy restaurants.

​"I'll give you an extra for free next time, Miss...?"

​I reached out my hand to him. "Eleanor."

​"Ah, a beautiful name for a beautiful woman." He wiped his hands on his apron before shaking mine. "You can call me Julio."

​I nodded. "Thanks for the bagel, Julio. Is this place yours?"

​"Mine and my wife's. Well, enjoy, Eleanor," he replied before moving to greet other customers.

​I unwrapped the bagel; the smell of smoked salmon and seasoning filled the air, making me even hungrier. I hadn't eaten since arriving in Manhattan yesterday afternoon.

​I finished my bagel while looking out the window, and my eyes caught that same SUV. The SUV stopped at an office building not far from the bagel restaurant.

​A man got out of the back passenger door and walked into the building; I could only see his back from this distance. Seconds later, the car drove away and disappeared around a corner. I checked my watch; I had 15 minutes to find the Shaw & Partner building.

​After asking Julio, it turned out that building was the one the man from the SUV had entered.

​The building security gave me a guest tag and let me go up to the 15th floor. He told me I would meet Mrs. Lynch in finance and Dave in HR to get a temporary employee tag.

​Although Shaw & Partner owned the building, they only occupied the top 5 floors; the rest were leased to other companies. I couldn't imagine how wealthy the Shaw brothers were to own an office building in the center of Manhattan's business district.

​A minute later, the elevator stopped on the 15th floor and opened. The Shaw & Partner logo was clearly engraved near the reception desk.

​"Welcome to Shaw & Partner," I muttered to myself as I stepped out.

​It turned out all my initial assumptions were wrong. Mrs. Lynch, the head of finance, only asked me to audit the finances from the last 6 months. She thought there was a slight markup being done by her staff, but she didn't have time to prove it because it was close to the year-end audit. So she hired an independent accountant.

​I didn't understand why she didn't just let it go rather than bothering to hire an outside accountant; usually, leaks like this aren't that big.

​Mrs. Lynch gave me a temporary office; although small, at least I had privacy.

​My spirit returned in an instant seeing my new desk; I figured I could finish this in a week if I worked late almost every night. I put down my bag and turned on the laptop.

​"Miss Heather?" Mrs. Lynch's voice caught my attention.

​"Yes?" I looked up.

​Mrs. Lynch walked in, her brown bob swaying slightly. Her face reminded me of Anna Wintour, complete with a cold expression.

​"Before you start further, I want you to detail the cash inflows received from Bank Rotterdam." Her eyes stared straight at me. "And you must report it directly to me."

​I nodded, trying to smile. "Just Bank Rotterdam?"

​She nodded once before turning back. I checked my calendar, marking exactly one week from now as the deadline, then continued my work.

​In the end, I was forced to skip lunch to meet today's deadline. Besides, I had no lunch companions since I didn't know anyone here yet. The only person I knew was Mrs. Lynch. And auditors aren't always welcomed by a client's employees, which is why I preferred working in a team.

​But fortunately, I liked my job, and before I knew it, the clock on the wall showed 5:30 PM. I decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel; I still had to buy a new phone and contact Lana immediately.

​I packed my things and walked toward the elevator. By the time I got out, some employees had already left, and the elevator was quieter than this morning.

​Only a few meters away from the Shaw & Partner building, I remembered my flash drive was still plugged into the office laptop. I turned around and crossed back while the light was still red.

​Of course, one stroke of bad luck wasn't enough for me; one of my heels got stuck in a drainage grate on the street next to the sidewalk.

​"Oh damn," I muttered, trying to pull my foot. The light turned green as I bent down to pull my shoe; several cars passed me closely while others just honked.

​The heels I wore today belonged to Lana, so I couldn't just leave it stuck there. Lana's cheapest shoes could equal my salary for a month, and I didn't know how much these cost.

​I tried to pull again with all my strength, but the more I moved, the deeper the heel got stuck.

​Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a silver car speeding toward me, and it hadn't slowed down at all. I could see the driver looking at a phone in his hand, unaware of me.

​My body froze, too panicked to move. It seemed I wouldn't be able to dodge it. My brain felt as frozen as my body.

​When it was only a few meters away, suddenly a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me. A split second later, the car crushed one of Lana's shoes and sped away.

​My heart beat a hundred times faster; I could hear it thumping in my ears. My eyes stared straight at the white shirt inches from my face, my body still tense from shock.

​"Are you okay?" a deep, soothing baritone voice whispered in my ear. His voice was punctuated by his heavy breathing, as if he had just been running.

​I looked up at my savior. A pair of the darkest, bluest eyes were looking at me, clear worry visible in his gaze.

​I nodded slightly, my brain still too shocked to answer. The man was still holding my waist, and I was still clinging to him. One of my hands gripped his shirt tightly, while the other held his firm shoulder.

​"Are you sure?" he repeated after observing my face, dropping his formal tone. I could smell musk and mint from this close, a pleasant scent that made my brain thaw. His dark brown, slightly arrogant eyebrows furrowed.

​I still hadn't answered, but my gaze hadn't shifted from his face. His dark brown hair was combed back, though a few strands were messy. I could see the strength in his face, his sharp jawline...

​Awkwardly, I released one hand from him. But being on one foot made me lose balance; the man's hands immediately went back to my waist.

​"I-" I swallowed to wet my dry throat, "I'm okay. Thank you for..." My next sentence stopped in my throat as his deep blue eyes stared at me with an intensity that made my heart race again, as if he were studying me intently, as if I wasn't the only one currently entranced.

​After a few long seconds, I looked away at our surroundings to hide my heating face. Several people were watching us as they walked by.

​Slowly, as if he didn't want to let go, he pulled his hands away. I stood awkwardly and took off the remaining heel so I could stand more balanced.

​"I saw the license plate; you can report him to the police after this." His deep voice made my stomach feel strange.

​I smiled at him. "No need, that was my fault." I replied, pointing to Lana's shoe now stuck deeper in the grate.

​Oh, damn it. I'd have to drain my savings to replace it.

​"I'll report it anyway. He was driving while using a phone," he said, pulling the corners of his mouth down before scanning me from my face down to my feet, making me feel even more awkward. "Your foot is injured, Miss...?"

​"Eleanor... Heather," I answered. He looked at me again, a faint smile gracing his handsome face.

​"Queen Eleanor." Gumamnya pada dirinya sendiri.

​Some of my professors used to call me Queen Eleanor when they first heard my name. My name is a bit old-fashioned.

​"Erik." The man next to me replied, then opened the passenger door of an SUV. "I won't be able to sleep peacefully until I make sure you're okay, Miss Heather." He said, gesturing for me to get in. I looked at him in surprise.

​"I-I'm fine. Just a little scratch." I replied.

​His intense blue eyes met mine. "Erik akan mengantarmu pulang." His commanding voice left no room for argument.

​The man named Erik glanced at us and smiled at me before looking forward again.

​I looked at my scratched foot and then back at the man. "Okay." I nodded and got into the SUV. He closed the door before I could even thank him, and the car drove off, leaving him standing on the sidewalk.

​His gaze followed the car until we turned a corner.

​I hadn't even asked his name.

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