Chương 18: Casey: The First Complication
What woke me up that morning was the annoying sound of my phone buzzing so close to my ear. The vibration was loud enough that it could as well serve as the ringtone. I hated the sound because it was ruining my sleep, but I couldn't even lift a finger to put an end to it.
Soon, the ringing stopped and resumed shortly after. With a sigh of displeasure, I turned in the bed and began to feel my way around, searching blindly for my phone. I didn't even bother to open my eyes. That was how badly I wanted to remain in bed. Soon, the buzzing stopped and my movements stopped well. Praying that it was finally over.
Now that I was half awake, I was finding it hard to fully return to sleep. I was in a suspended state, I wasn't fully asleep, but I wasn't fully awake either. I was in that sweet spot where I knew any little thing could kick me off it and I didn't want that at all. I still wanted to return to sleep, even though the morning sun had filled up the room and the day was beckoning to me to get productive. Yet, I just wanted to remain curled up in bed, wrapped around my pillow, snug in my nighties.
I knew that waking up would force me to think about Jace and I just wasn't in the right state of mind for that. Ever since I left his hotel room, I had been unable to take him off my mind. I cursed myself for cutting him off my life so abruptly and not spending some more time with him. After all, the deed was done already and nothing would change if we went a few more rounds.
And yet, in the same breath, I found myself appreciating the fact that I found the strength to end it. I couldn't be doing such a thing to Kira and if it was going to place her company in danger, then I didn't want that. Jace and I had taken a major risk yesterday, and it wasn't going to happen again.
However, when I thought about it, I realized that I didn't regret any part of last night. I enjoyed myself immensely. Having Jace make love to me and then fuck my brains out had been one of the best nights of my life. Thinking that I would never get to experience having him inside me ever again was painful. How the hell would I cope?
"Please Casey," Jace's voice resounded in my head, reminding me of his plea to stay. "Don't leave."
Just remembering his voice sent shivers down my spine and I felt a tingle between my legs. I wanted him to fuck me some more. I wanted to kiss him all over again. I wanted him to feast on my breasts like his life depended on them. I wanted him to pin me to the wall with his cock. There were so many things I wanted and it was just depressing that I had to give it all up for my friend. But I knew that the best time to stop it all was now when everything was still fairly new. Because if we went any deeper, leaving him would be much harder.
Just then, the phone began to buzz yet again. With an angry sigh, I opened my eyes and looked around. The phone was just on the edge of the bed, vibrating angrily as if it was infuriated by my refusal to answer the call. I took it and the moment I saw the caller ID, I froze. It was Jace. He was the one that had been calling all morning, burning my damn phone up.
No! I told myself, there was no way I could answer the call. It looked like a can of worms, and opening it would lead me right back into doing the one thing I didn't want to. So, I turned the phone upside down, silencing it at once.
Now that I was fully awake, I knew that there was no going back to sleep for me. With a yawn, I got off the bed, my silk nightgown swaying with the rhythm of my movements. I was about to freshen up in the restroom when the phone began to vibrate yet again. I stared at it with an exasperated breath. Why the fuck was Jace making this harder than it had to be? I considered ignoring the call altogether, but then I had a feeling he was always going to call back and keep pestering me. If there was one thing I knew about Jace, he could be extremely stubborn.
I picked up the phone and was about to answer the call when I stopped, it wasn't Jace at all, it was Joan; an executive of Royale Hotel and Holdings, she was also the manager of the Hall where the rehearsal dinner had taken place.
"What the fuck…" I muttered as I wondered why she was calling me so early in the morning. My workers had cleaned up the hall after we were done, or maybe something had been left undone. I cleared my throat before picking up the call, I didn't want to sound like I was just waking up from a deep slumber. "Hello, Joan."
When she spoke, it had a hint of bass in it and it was flat as she went straight to the point, no greeting at all, "Casey, you need to come to the hall right now. I think we have a problem."
"Oh fuck…" I gasped as the phone went dead in my hands even before I could say anything else. That was just like Joan.
I rushed to the restroom to clean up and I threw myself into a fresh set of yoga pants, I didn't wear a hoodie this time, but I had on a big shirt that fell easily over my frame. Gripping my phone hard, I hurried out of my hotel room and made my way to the hall. I was directed to where Joan was and I found her at one of the back exits of the hall.
She was an elderly woman in her mid-fifties. She looked like a no-nonsense woman who had climbed her way to the top with an attitude of one who never took no for an answer. As always, she was dressed in crisp suits that clung snugly to her lanky frame. She and some workers were standing at one of the exits, the door looked like it had been jimmied, and the lock lay wasted on the floor.
I felt a sinking feeling hit me as I realized what it was, "please don't tell me this is what I think it is."
She nodded, confirming my suspicions, "someone snuck in here last night. I'm suspecting the press, one of those you refused to allow to cover the occasion."
"I didn't refuse them," I rebutted. "Leo did. He gave me a list of who and what he wanted at the dinner, what was I supposed to do?"
"I'm not blaming you for this, but you might have to brace yourself for some heat."
"Heat?" I chuckled uncertainly. "What are you talking about? If they did get in, all they would have gotten were pictures of the dinner, just like everyone else. What's the big deal? It's more publicity."
I was only trying to make light of the situation, but it was worse than that. If an unsanctioned member of the press or a blogger had managed to be at the dinner, they could easily have written their articles any way they wanted without bothering about how it affected the two companies. This was the reason Leo had been strict with who he accepted. However, I wasn't willing to think about all that just yet. There would always be ways to deal with stubborn members of the press.
"Actually, it could be quite a big deal," Joan replied to my question. "It all depends on you though."
I stared at her, "wait, there's more?"
Without another word, she led me out of the hall and into the security outpost. This was where all matters of security concerning the hotel and the hall were handled. It was also where all the CCTV fed their data to. She led me to a room filed with screens where some officers were watching them eagerly, combing through tons of footage.
She took me to a desk where she picked up an object that looked like a clip, but also had a USB bus attached at end.
"This is a buffer," Joan explained. "We found this lodged into our database here."
I didn't know much in cyber lingua, but I was smart enough to put two and two together when it was laid out in front of me. "Hold on, are you saying you guys were hacked?"
Joan nodded, "this buffer has been transmitting live data to whoever planted it here. We have hackers of our own trying to find out where it's transmitting to. They're the best in the game, it's only a matter of time before we find who did this."
"Your hackers can't be all that, can they? If they couldn't protect you from getting hacked."
"I'm not telling you all this so you can mock me," Joan said sternly.
"Don't you get what's going on here?" I replied. "You have the runners of the two most powerful media companies in your premises and that's when you decide to get hacked? Do you know what this could do to them?"
"We're working on fixing that. You have my word, it won't escalate."
"Your word? You gave me your word when you promised that we'd have privacy in your hotel and your hall. Well, guess what, you failed! What do you think will happen when Jace or Leo learns about this?"
"They're not going to find out, you cannot tell them."
I stepped back from her, "what the fuck are you saying?"
"We're working on this internally, okay? There's no need to blow this out of proportion by telling them that footage of their time at the hotel and the dinner are in the hands of people we don't know. Just give us time."
"Time…" I echoed dully, but I didn't even hear my own words. Her words were ringing shrilly in my head and all I could think of was the fact that someone had the footage with them. What if they saw Jace coming into my hotel room? What if they saw him come in with me at the hall? He had spent quite some time there and anybody who bothered to think deep would figure it out.
"Holy shit!" I gasped, this was a major fuck up. Royale Hotel had fucked up big time. It was a major loss, and as a customer, it's surprising that they were divulging it all to me. This caused me to stop as I turned back to Joan, "Why are you telling me all this?"
Joan glanced at me for a while, then said quietly, "Because it gets worse."
She nodded at one of the officials and with a few keystrokes, one of the screens came to life. I watched as Jace stepped out of the hall. I could remember that moment vividly, it was right after he reminded me to come see him. I watched him leave and enter his car with Ethan. The convoy slowly drove off.
I glanced at Joan, wondering what she wanted me to see, but she kept her eyes peeled to the screen. Seconds later, I felt a deep thud in my chest as a bike, whose rider had on a helmet, slowly drove into view and began to follow the convoy.
"Holy shit…" I gasped in shock. The official switched to different cameras until the convoy left the premises of the Royale Hotel, and all through them, the mysterious bike followed. "No…"
With another nod from Joan, the official put up another footage showing Kira and I leaving the hall together. We had also been followed by someone.
"This is why I'm telling you," Joan said. "These guys are going to great lengths to look into Jace and Kira, so you have to be prepared for the fact that some unwanted people know the real reasons behind this marriage. And they might use it to hurt the companies."
"Holy fuck…" I muttered, pinching my forehead as I staggered backward. The events of last night replayed in my head and I felt dizzy, almost swooning.
If those guys had followed Jace, did they also follow him to the hotel he lodged in last night? Had they also followed me after I left Kira's?
Out there, an unknown entity knows that I slept with Jace last night. I could feel the control I had struggled to hold onto begin to slip away.
I was doomed.
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
Odd_Man
Odd_Man Is this the beginning of the end of Casey's career? Things are beginning to look bleak for her. What are your thoughts on the story so far? Feel free to share in the comments. Thank you for reading.
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