Chapter 5 Five

ARIA

I stood in the jetport lobby, too troubled to sit down. The previous night, I had a dream, one in which I saw Mr Walters. Logically, I had been thinking about it so it was not a surprise that I had dreamt of him but the manner of dream it was was unnerving. I was also looking out for Madelyn who had said she would be at the airport waiting for us. My earpods were soothing my ruffled nerves and I tried to key in to the emotions the music smoothly brought with it.

"Thinking of me, munchkin?" Madelyn suddenly butted in, appearing from thin air. Her aura made my team straighten their backs in unusual respect for her professionalism. I felt it too but I was already on my feet so I only had to turn my neck around to see her sauntering towards me in glorious confidence. "Hi, Maddie."

"Hi, munchkin. Where is my favourite male?" Iggy.

I gestured towards the front desk with my hand and she looked towards the direction. She nodded towards the rest of the security team and they greeted her in unison. She smiled and winked at them, her emerald eyes sparkling with mischievous delight.

"Good boys, good boys," she hummed in satisfaction, circling us articulatedly. She was immaculately dressed, in a ochre sleeveless blouse and dark blue slimfitted jeans, her red Jimmy Choos adding to her fascinating Amazon height. Her red hair spilled over her shoulders, the corners tucked behind her ears and it framed her beautiful face so much.

"I need to check on Ignatius. I hate New Mexico and I can't wait to be on that jet back to jolly old England. Do you have everything you need?"

I nodded in the affirmative and watched her eyes roam around the airport premises, in search of something my own eyes could not see. She walked away eventually to the front desk, her shoes hitting the floor almost silently, like a panther stalking its prey. I saw her tap Iggy on the shoulder to get his attention and he turned around, happy to see her apparently. They hugged briefly, more like Maddie had enveloped him in between her long arms. Iggy and Maddie returned together, laughing and discussing something known only to them.

My phone suddenly rang out and everyone turned to me. I fished blindly in my bag for my phone, still holding everybody's attention. On the screen was an unknown string of numbers.

"I don't know who it is," I declared, prompting Ignatius to cease the phone from my grasp. He stalked off with Maddie hot on his heels and I stood on my toes, trying to know what was going on. Seconds later, he returned with my phone.

"It's for you. It's Mr Walters." I took an unconscious step backwards, my eyes glued on the phone in his hand. And it all falls down, Alan Walker's lyrics blared into my ear.

CALVIN

"Hello? Mr Walters?" I heard her uncertain voice and tried to hold back a laugh, a roguish smile simply laying on my lips. I was supposed to be at a meeting and my secretary, Miss Cathy was slowly losing my patience, her heels clicking a rhythm on the tiles noisily.

"Good day, Miss Rodriguez. I believe you have received my gift."

There was a brief pause on the other side like she was conversing with someone. I could hear another woman talking, a mature voice I recognized but could not immediately pin on a face.

"Sir? Sir!" Cathy called out and I thrust a finger in the air, silencing her at once. Unfortunately, the other voice had moved away from the phone, Cathy having distracted my discerning skills, the silly woman.

"Miss Cathy! Go to the conference room and wait for me there." My deceptive cool voice was barely concealing the mild provocation she had caused with her incessant pestering. She sped off like the wind and I returned to my phone.

"Mr Walters?" She was back on, her voice less shaky.

"I'm here. Is someone there with you?" I was curious to know who the other woman was.

"Yeah. I'm with my security team and my agent. We are about to board the jet. I wanted...to..to.." The tremours were back even worse than before. Pathetic, I scoffed in pity.

"You don't need to thank me, Miss Rodriguez. It's just my little way of welcoming you to my part of the world. I promise you an adventure-filled stay," I said and I meant it in all ways possible, all puns intended.

"Thank you anyways, sir. I don't deserve your kindness," she replied, regaining her lost confidence somehow.

"No, don't say that. You deserve so much more like that. I have to get to a meeting. Have a nice flight." I did not allow her put in another word, cutting the call immediately I dropped my last words. Her agent...who was her agent? My meeting could wait but this couldn't. I made a call across to Harris and he picked up like he had been sitting with his phone pressed against his ear.

"Sir?"

"Find out who is Ariana Rodriguez's agent. I need an answer now." My phone went dead and I paced the room, trying to predict his answer. I thought I had all the information about A.I.R but I might have skipped that info, probably deeming it irrelevant. But that voice was too familiar to overlook. A beep was heard and I rushed to my laptop; Harris had sent me an internet search link. I clicked on it and it led me to a page and a picture popped up along with a name that stunned me.

Madelyn Guerrero. The bitch worked for no one, was on nobody's side and not even the offer of money could sway her. Unlike other women, unlike Jessy, the self-serving woman actually had some morals and principles which she consistently lived by. She only looked out for herself and nobody else. She was the only formidable person who stood in my way. Anyone who knew her past could testify that she was a lot deadlier than Ignatius and his entire team. She had connection with the highfalutin class, all the way up to the White House.

I could easily accomplish what I had in mind without her but having Madelyn on my side would smoothen over certain rough patches and make my work a whole lot easier. No one could put a price tag on her so it was up to me to find out what she held dear to her in a station far above monetary gain.