บท 21: Mrs. Zuresh.
Ethan's eyes snapped open, adjusting themselves to the bright light as they did. He squinted slightly as he stood up from the chair he had slept on, a few hours ago.
"Fucking hate this nightmares!" He growled, a deep frown on his face. How he wished he had not watched that News Presentation that night. Then all this wouldn't be happening.
He heard the sign of a phone ringing on his bedside table and he walked towards it, picking the phone up as soon as he got there.
It was his father, so he picked the call, placing the phone on his ear.
"Ethan?" His father voice sounded from the other side of the line.
Ethan sighed. From his father's tone, he knew what the man wanted to talk about.
"Father." He greeted. He walked towards the window and stared outside, his eyes taking in the morning's beautiful scenery. The window was facing the back of the Villa which had the actual beautiful landscape, unlike the front which was simple so as not to attract attention to the Villa.
He heard his father sigh from the other side of the phone and he chuckled, a forced one, "I am okay, Father." He assured.
"That is not where my curiosity lies, Ethan. Why did they come back?"
"I watched the News Presentation from a Billboard by mistake. I should be okay in a few weeks."
"You aren't one to make that kind of mistake, Ethan. And if the nightmares didn't go for a month, what makes you sure it will go anytime soon?"
"I will find a way." Ethan deadpanned, before hanging up on the call. The nightmares already turned him to a vulnerable little boy, he wouldn't allow others know that or treat him like a boy.
He walked to his bathroom and washed his face to clean off the sweat which had formed as a result of the nightmare, before walking out of his room to his study.
He picked up their wedding gift which his mother sent a week ago; a portrait of the both of them, and took it out to hang on the hallway.
No sooner had he finished cleaning it, when he heard a door open. He presumed it was Shikera's so he turned, prepared to greet her.
"You came back, huh?!" And some blurry objects flew towards him.
He was able to dodge the first one, while the second one hit him on his chest, making him look down as the slippers fell to the ground.
"What's the meaning of this?" He asked, walking towards her. His nightmare already put him in a bad temper and she wanted to add her own show? If only he could retain his angry mood because as he moved closer to her, and her face became clearer to him, his anger melted.
"What's the meaning of what?" Shikera asked back, her glare challenging him to repeat his question.
Ethan sighed inwardly, "It's nothing. How was your night?" He asked.
Shikera was shocked, her jaw falling open as evidence. This man left her a month ago and suddenly came back, then he simply asked how was her night?
"Bad! I wondered why but it turned out it's because of where I slept. Why did you bring me back here?"
"Because this is your husband's house," His face was expressionless as he spoke, making Shikera scoff, "How was your stay at your doctor's place?"
"Wonderful! That's why I'm wondering why you had to come and ruin my fun. Hmph!" She walked back into her room, leaving him standing. After all, she still had to go to work while he could go to...
She stopped dead in her tracks, remembering something, before walking back to the door. He was still standing in where she left him when she opened the door.
"Hey, did you take over Anderson Corporation too?" She asked, watching as he shrugged before her eyes widened.
"It was part of the conditions." He stated. His sculpted face was blank as if presiding over a whole corporation wasn't a big deal.
"Part of the what?! Tell me, what exactly is your gain in this deal?" Shikera asked. She was determined to know this time around. What would make Ethan DeLoach be like a slave to a family whose status was onpar with theirs?
"None of your business, Shikera. You wouldn't want to know." He said, turning to walk back to the portrait he had been cleaning earlier.
"He just called me Shikera, right?" She murmured under her breath. Why did it look like this man had many shades of character?
She turned and hurried to the bathroom, as she was not ready to disgrace herself in the presence of the new employees who would be coming in today.
★★★
Shikera stood along with her other teammates, Cyprian, Josh, Vicky and Atlas, at the conference room at the top floor of Preston TV.
Their CEO was sitting at the head of the table, while their Team Leader was sitting right beside him. The others who were sitting, were the new employees who would be joining Shikera and the others in their team.
Shikera watched as the new employees were being oriented by her Team Leader, who was pretending to be nice. Somehow, she could feel that something was wrong with the arrangement in the room. It was not her Team Leader acting that bothered her, but the fact that all the new employees were in her department and also in her team.
She tried to shake off the odd feeling but when she glanced at Cyprian, she could see the same confused feeling she had, mirrored in Cyprian's eyes.
She turned to the Team Leader, who was now concluding the orientation.
"Ma'am, can I ask a question?" She asked, faking a smile while hoping that her Team Leader would not be annoyed.
The Team Leader scoffed, rolling her eyes as she tried to maintain her nice image in front of the new employees.
"You're asking a question already, Anderson." She said.
Shikera noticed how her surname made all the new employees turn to stare at her, their eyes shining in recognition. They wouldn't know her, would they?
"Is this Shikera Anderson?" One of them asked, looking to her for confirmation.
"Yes..." Shikera replied, trailing off at her Team Leader's interruption.
"What's wrong?" The woman asked, "How did you know Reporter Anderson's name?"
It was not the one who first asked if she was Shikera Anderson, who answered, but another one,
"Reporter Anderson is a very popular reporter! We heard that she almost caught Ethan DeLoach many times." The person said.
The Team Leader chuckled, glancing at Shikera before speaking, "She's not as skillful as the rumors say. All I can tell you is that, she's clumsy and a little bit stupid and that's why she let go of the chances to catch Ethan DeLoach, times without number."
Andrew Lane frowned at the words he just heard. Earlier this morning, he had asked the Team Leader of the Team 1, in the entertainment department to give him a review on all the employees in her team and the review she gave him was the exact opposite of what he was hearing now. The review she gave him contained hefty praises on Shikera Anderson so why was she saying a completely different thing now?
"Mrs Zuresh, can I have a minute of your time while the employees get acquainted with each other?" He asked, standing up from his seat. He spared a glance at Shikera and noticed that she did not seem affected at all by her Team Leader's words. All this seemed to be a common incident.
He walked out of the room, followed closely by the Team Leader, whom Shikera's eyes was following.
Why did her name seem familiar? She turned to Cyprian and found her staring at her; it seemed she was not the only one who found this woman familiar.
"We should introduce ourselves now, right?" One of the newbies said, and Shikera nodded.
They all stood up, five in all as they faced Shikera and her teammates.
The youngest among them made her way, to Shikera's front and extended her hand for a handshake, a bright smile on her face.
"Hello,Miss Anderson. I am Erica Jordan."
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