Is this destiny?

~ Chicago, K Industries ~

Jasper arrived to his office after a long meeting and checked time. It\'s just past two thirty. Why does it feel like forever since he came to work?

He liked coming to work, but now his father is increasingly unpleasant. Besides randomly barging into his office, his father started showing up to meetings as well. Like, really?

Jasper told himself that he should not allow that man to spoil his mood because last few days are great. He and Ellie are doing great.

This whole week (previous three days because it\'s Thursday) at five o\'clock Jasper leaves his office and picks Ellie up from her design studio and she spends the night at his place. That girl is on fire! Oh, how she can make him lose himself. The only thing on his mind is: Ellie, Ellie, Ellie… like he is possessed.

On Monday after work he took her out for dinner, but he was unable to keep his hands to himself. She smacked his hands away few times before giving up and asking the waiter to pack their dinner to go. After that incident they only ordered food and picked it up on their way to his apartment.

Away from prying eyes of other diners Jasper can reach out and touch Ellie whenever he wants. Even if that means caressing her thigh under the table with one hand and eating with the other. Her smile tells him that she is not bothered by it. Heck, she likes it!

He does not mind waking up a bit earlier in the morning to go to a European bakery nearby and buy fresh pastries for breakfast. Ellie likes fresh pastries. She starts her first meal of the day with a savory puff pastry filled with cheese and topped with sesame seeds, and then she has a sweet pastry filled with sour cherries. Jasper makes sure he gets for Ellie one each and they go great with coffee.

He smiled when his mind wondered to that morning. He returned with breakfast and Ellie was up and taking a shower. He removed his clothes at the speed of light and joined her… and she didn\'t mind. Ah, he could do that every day and not get bored of it.

For today after work, they will do something different. Ellie said that she will go to his place early. Jasper made sure to call the doorman three times to remind him to let Ellie go up and he texted Ellie password to his door so that she can let herself in.

Thinking that she will be there early, Jasper started planning to wrap up his work and head home early as well. He can\'t wait to see her again.

Jasper checked his email and saw that there is an unread item from Mr. Dickinson with a subject: \'Goodbye… after many years\'.

He held his breath while reading contents… After a long deliberation Mr. Dickinson decided to sell his stocks and focus on other areas of life.

Jasper read it few times to make sure he is seeing right. Mr. Dickinson had 8% of K Industries, and he was one of Norman\'s strongest supporters. He sold his stocks? Jasper was confident that the dinosaur-man will never leave K Industries alone. Doesn\'t Mr. Dickinson have two sons? Why sell the stocks instead of giving them to his children? But that is not something Jasper should concern himself with.

Did his father just lose 8% of vote? Or did another Norman\'s supporter get these stocks? A horrible thought came to Jasper\'s mind: what if his father bought these stocks? Thinking about this, Jasper narrowed his eyes and called Faith.

"Summon to my office Mr. Schmidt from analytics department. Right. Now."

About ten minutes later, one older man entered Jasper\'s office and almost shivered from hostile icy gaze that Jasper directed at him.

"CEO Kiani, you wanted to see me?"

Jasper observed the man for some time before speaking in an icy tone which matched his expression: "Mr. Schmidt, is it part of your job to track movements of our company\'s stocks?"

"Yes, CEO Kiani.", Mr. Schmidt responded weakly.

"I don\'t think you are doing your job well."

"What do you mean?", Mr. Schmidt\'s eyes shifted. He remembered yesterday\'s incident and he hoped that he will not be called for this. It\'s not his fault, alright?

"Mr. Dickinson sold his 8% and you didn\'t catch it."

Mr. Schmidt\'s heart sank. It\'s exactly what he feared. He has two options: one is to deny it and probably lose his job, and other one is to tell the truth and to see how it goes. He braced himself: "We did. Yesterday we created a report which contains that information."

Jasper narrowed his eyes at the man who is literally shivering in front of him. "Really? How come I don\'t know about that?"

Mr. Schmidt lowered his head.

"Tell me what happened if you want to keep your job.", Jasper said through his teeth. He is on the verge of firing the man, but he knows that there is more to the story. Jasper has no intention of firing him until he finds out exactly what happened.

Mr. Schmidt knows that if he does not speak up now, he can probably pack his things. He never saw CEO Kiani this angry. He inhaled and said in one breath: "Mr. Kiani comes every Wednesday to our department to see reports before we send them. Yesterday he came, as usually, and when he saw the report he lost it. He was yelling at everyone in sight and told us not to send it."

"Do I need to remind you who is the CEO?"

Jasper\'s stern voice startled Mr. Schmidt. He responded in panic: "No CEO Kiani… But your father, I mean, Mr. Kiani threatened that who shares the report will lose his job. I can\'t afford to lose this job."

Jasper inhaled and closed his eyes. He is furious. His father is going every week before company analytics reports are sent out and reviews them? He dares to go and tell people not to send the reports? And even threatens them with a job loss if they don\'t obey? Jasper exhaled. His father does not have that power and Jasper wants his employees to know that. If he lashes out at this man, he is no better than Norman.

Jasper stabilized his mood slightly before addressing the man in front of him again.

"I want to see that report. My father can\'t fire you, but I can. One more mishap and you WILL lose your job. Understood?"

"Yes, CEO Kiani. Thank you, CEO Kiani. I will send you the report right away.", Mr. Schmidt walked out of Jasper\'s office backward and rushed toward the elevators as soon as he passed the door.

Jasper thought how if his father threw a tantrum, then he is not the one who bought the stocks. That means that Mr. Dickinson being out is a good thing. It might be that his stocks are split up between multiple buyers and they don\'t have the right to join in for the board meetings. New stock owners aside, Norman lost his buddy. Ha! No wonder he is extra grumpy, he knew about this!

---

If you are not reading this at \'W e b n o v e l .. c o m\', then the content you\'re reading is stolen! Please support the author by reading this novel from the original source.