Chapter 5 APOLOGIZE RIGHT NOW!

Joseph has been staying in Dubai for over three years and refused to stay home after his graduation. He would always argue about how he was still small to work at the company.

"I want to enjoy my twenties a little bit because once I start working I won't have the time for that anymore" he argued whenever their father brought up the topic of him coming back home.

He finally came home that afternoon, and he didn't even let Tom know, just to surprise him.

"You came this afternoon? How come I was not informed?" Tom questioned.

"Because I wanted to surprise you. Look at how shocked you are right now" he replied with a chuckle, and Tom sighed.

"Do you like making a fool out of people?" Tom slammed him and he raised his eyebrows.

"What do you mean by making a fool out of people?" he asked.

"You said you would not be coming home anytime soon, so why are you here?" Tom questioned.

"Oh that? I realized that there was no fun for me anymore in Dubai because I had visited every place for the three years I was there and now that I am getting older, I should start taking my life seriously, you know", he responded with a wink and Tom eyed him.

"Moreover, I miss this house's food" he added as he leaned on the wall.

"I can't help but wonder whatever this art is. You have the same at your office and at home too. These things are freaking expensive, and they have no meaning for me. I don't understand why people spend tons of money just to hang them on the wall", Joseph remarked, looking at the artwork hung on the wall.

"Are you going to stay here forever? Won't you go out anymore?" Tom said to make him leave.

"What? Are you uncomfortable with me here? We will be spending so much time together from now though, so I think it's better you start getting comfortable with me because I will be sticking to you like a leech", he told him and walked out of the room while leaving the door open.

"That pest" he muttered as he saw what he did

He was about to close the door when Joseph yelled from the back, making him jump in fear.

"I got you again this time", Joseph cackled, and Tom chased after him in anger.

He had forgotten all about the text he received earlier, so he didn't reply to her and just went to join the family for dinner. He apologized to his father for the ruckus at the company earlier when he couldn't tender the report at the appropriate time.

"You always ruin your efforts with small mistakes and these small mistakes, if continuous, can ruin one's hard work", his father, Steve scolded.

"I will make sure it doesn't repeat itself anymore", he apologized once again.

"How about the contract with Dave Lin? Have you still not been able to secure that too?" Steve asked

"I got it signed last weekend, but you were not around, so I couldn't show you", he responded immediately.

"You could have texted me if you got it signed, we are now a step ahead of our competitors with that now", Steve remarked and resumed his food.

"You got Dave Lin to sign the contract? Wow, you are really incredible Tom!" Joseph clapped

"You should complement him in times like this. Dave Lin is not an easy fish, he's so difficult to meet, and he only signs contracts physically. This is worth celebrating", Joseph added, and chuckled.

"You should just shut your mouth and eat before I throw you out", Steve growled at him.

"This is exactly the reason why I didn't want to come in the first place. You are making me lose my appetite already, but I cannot leave this delicious food that was thoroughly, carefully and beautifully cooked by mother" he said, and laughed for a bit before reaching for his cup of water.

***

Amber went back to work the next day and resumed her work like nothing had happened. Everything was still the same, just like before except the fact that she was always anxious about when he would call her in relation to their contracts.

She submitted the report to his table the first thing in the morning and was working away on her system when he called her through the intercom. She marched quickly to his office in her high-waist white skirt and wine bow blouse to answer his call.

"The CEO of MG Pharmaceutical's daughter is getting married, and they requested a special tour by one of the employees of the company to shop for the dress. Since you are a lady, you might be able to pick out something good, so help them out", he instructed, and she input it in her tablet.

"What time is that sir?" she asked

"They will be coming over by three in the afternoon, so get ready by two forty-five" he responded with his eyes glued to the book.

"Noted sir" she said and turned to leave

"You should get me some coffee", he added, and she left to get his coffee ready just as his phone rang.

"What do you want?" he asked as he picked up the call.

"You always make it obvious that you don't want to talk to me. Anyway, guess where I am right now", Joseph said over the phone.

"Do I look like I have time for that right now?" he slammed, trying not to get angry.

"I am at that restaurant, the one where we went to on your twenty-fifth birthday. They still have the killer food and guess what? They have new menus that are to die for. You should come over with me when you are free", Joseph said with a little laugh, and Tom loosened his tie a bit.

"You should seriously stop disturbing me, I am so busy here" he warned.

"Don't worry about being too busy, I am back now. So will I be helping you out in the future, or will you be helping me out? Anyway, time will tell. I wanted to tell you more about the restaurant but since you are busy, I will just leave you alone", Joseph said and disconnected the call before he could even reply.

She brought the coffee to him, and he took a sip immediately to cool his burning anger, but the sugar was way too much so he spat it out with immediate effect.

"What is this nonsense? Are you planning to kill me with sugar?" he yelled at her and that made her afraid for some minutes because that would be the first time he would ever yell that loudly at work.

"I am sorry sir, I will prepare another one" she said, and picked up the cup.

"Don't bother, I will get one myself" he remarked, and left the room to cool down at the café down the mall.

He was sitting at the café looking at the people passing by while calming his anger when he overheard some women talking behind him.

"Why is she staying this long in the restroom? We are not here to spend all day", One of them lamented.

"She's absolutely slow in all things and that is why she doesn't even take the hint that we don't like to hang out with her" the other woman remarked.

"I know right! We tried so hard to make her know that we didn't want her in our circle, but she kept forcing herself on us", the first one supported

"Well, it's her loss. At least when we get here, we get discounts because of her status", the second one said, and they both chuckled before they saw the person they were talking about coming from the restroom.

"I'm sorry, I made you wait for this long" the person said with an apologetic tone.

"Well it's not like we have anything doing, so it's fine" one of the friends replied.

"Let's go for the shopping since I am done now" the person stated, and he turned to look at the familiar voice to see that it was his mom.

He quickly looked forward and stood up before they realize that he was the one and walked back to his office.

"She's always moving out with people who have no manners" he muttered to himself in anger, and walked back to the payment counter.

"You see those three women there? Make sure there is no discount on whatever they buy and when asked, you should tell it's an order from the management", he instructed, and the employee bowed a bit in understanding.

"You are nothing but money-sucking demons", he said angrily, and shut down his phone to prevent any calls from his mother.

The women finished buying and were expecting a discount as usual, but the employee did exactly as he was told.

"Why is there no discount today? We are regulars here, you know", one of them asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I am sorry, ma'am, but the management that there should not be any discount as from now on", she answered politely,

"Who is the management? Is it not your son? Why not give him a call?" the second woman suggested, and Anita took out her phone to call Tom, but his number was switched off.

"His phone is off, maybe he is in a meeting" she said to them, and they rolled their eyes.

"You might be able to get through to his secretary. Why not call her?" the first friend suggested.

"I don't have his secretary's number. Was I supposed to have it?" she answered, and they couldn't hide their shock.

"Why wouldn't you have his secretary's number? That is the most important thing, because how will you get updates about him?" the second woman stated.

"I never felt the need to get updates about him though", she muttered, and they shook their heads.

"Can we get the CEO Secretary's number?" one of them asked, turning to the lady at the counter.

"I am sorry, ma'am, but I don't have it. You might be able to get it at the reception though" she replied politely once again.

"You are all so complicated! Let's just pay for it and go", the second woman snapped, and finally they paid for their goods without any discount, which made them edgy towards her for the rest of the hangout.

*****

Amber checked the time and got ready for the arrival of the said guests coming from MG Pharmaceutical. Just as she finished touching her makeup in the restroom, a call came through from the mall that they were around, and she went immediately to attend to them.

"Welcome ma'am, I am Amber, and I am here to help you out as per CEO Tom's order" she said with a small smile.

"I am so sorry for requesting this and taking your time when you should be doing other things", the bride apologized.

"You don't have to apologize, this is part of my job too", Amber remarked.

"This is my fiancé, Charles. He decided to come along with me, and you can just call me Joy", she introduced him.

"You are both welcome" Amber said to them and stretched her hand forward.

"Shall we go now?" she said and led the way.

They walked for a bit deeper into the left wing of the clothing section till they got to the bridal section. Amber pushed the door open and waited for them to enter before she went in too and closed the door behind her.

"What exactly do you have in mind?" she asked with her hands placed neatly around her lower abdomen.

"I want something simple yet elegant and classy", Joy replied instantly.

"I will get them for you right now" she said, and went to handpick the gowns that were in the category she mentioned.

After ten minutes, she pushed the cloth hanger out and showed her the dresses on the hanger.

"Will you try them on now?" she asked, and Joy nodded.

Joy started trying out the clothes in the small changing room around the corner of the room while the employees helped her out. Amber stood beside the door waiting for her to finish up when Charles dropped his cup of water on the floor.

She ran to his side to quickly help him out with cleaning of the shattered glass and spilled water, since the employees were working for Joy at the moment. She bent down a bit to gather the pieces of cup after guarding her hand with wipes wrapped around it to avoid getting a cut. She was halfway done when she felt a hand on her behind, but it was very brief.

She thought it was a mistake and continued her work until she felt the hand groping her again and this time it was longer. She could not take it anymore and stood up to confront Charles, who quickly played dumb.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"What do you mean by that?" Charles remarked, feigning innocence.

"Apologize right now!" she demanded and Charles scoffed.

"What did you just say?" he asked with an evil grin.

"I said you should apologize right now!" She demanded once again and a voice stepped in

"What do you think you are doing right now?" Tom asked as he walked into the room.