THE CULPRIT'S VERDICT

I was in a rush since I woke up late. I had to leave my two best friends behind and let them take charge of locking my condo. Moving swiftly, I placed my handbag on my table and took my planner. As I was about to open the door to Mr. Ryle's office, he suddenly came out.

"Nam, come with me to the meeting room," he said.

"Y-yes, sir, "I responded and followed him.

"By the way, sir Ryle, you have a business transaction with Mr. Heinz at 10:00 am today and a dinner meeting at 7:00 pm with the Chairman and board of regents." "Copy that," he responded.

When we reached the front door of the meeting room, five familiar employees who were sitting lazily

- abruptly stood up.

"Good morning sir," they all greeted. They sat on their respective chair when Ryle motioned them to. I, on the other hand, took the vacant chair opposite him.

"We need to formulate strategies in promoting the newly released designs for our clothing and you, ladies and gentlemen, will work with me as a team. We will be spearheading this year's Product Launch Event, which will be held in Forex Mall, the new subsidiary company of our very own Llaneda Corporation."

"Forex Mall belongs to the Sergova company, right?" A woman in the middle thirties asked. She's often called by the name, Miss Coi, as her ash brown, short, coily hair is her most discernible asset.

"So, it's true, we've already partnered with that humungous company! Oh my gosh! I won't doubt if, by the end of this year, we outshine the other leading company," Gregg, the notable feminine gentleman, said.

"That's what we are striving for," Ryle commented.

The woman in her early thirties raised her pencil and asked, "Last year's product launching was quite successful, sir. Are we going to have the same concept this year?"

"I will demand new ideas for the launch. I want it to be different, so if you have any ideas, now is the time to spill" he said.

"For so long a year, we kept on doing the announcement and displays. Why don't we try to have a run-way show this time, get an idol and have the public guess his/identity by showing some facial parts. This way, the spectators will go crazy speculating what our Product Launch event has to offer, "Norie suggested.

"It'll definitely stir up everyone's interest," Ezra presumed.

"I agree. Now, at least, we can carry out Claudia's proposal before," Gregg said. His facial expression suddenly turned gloomy. "If only she didn't disappear, we could have a gre-" he cut his words with a squeal, gritting his teeth as he stared blatantly at the woman sitting beside him.

"Who's Claudia?" Dubie, the guy with messy medium-length hair, wasn't able to put a stop on his curiosity, so he asked.

A sudden intimidating silence enveloped the meeting room. I observed each employee, but the uneasiness in the gestures of the lady sitting close to the COO, Eva, made me stick my eyes on her. I watched as she turned her back from Mr. Ryle, and threw us her koala-like glare, motioning for us not to continue with the inquiry.

I shifted my eyes at the person in front of us and noticed him biting the inside of his cheek. His fist clenched. I narrowed my eyes, sensing something shady about the topic.

Who is Claudia? What does she have to do with Mr. Ryle?

"Sir," Ms. Coi slightly raised her hand, breaking the silence. "Can I ask a question?"

Ryle fixed his posture. "You're asking already."

"What's with the sudden change in mood?" Dubie murmured to me. I shrugged, for just like him, I didn't know anything.

Ms. Coi calmed her nerves before plastering a sheepish smile. "Kpop idols and Korean actors and actresses are the in demand nowadays. Can we ask one to wear the most extravagant dress we have stored up on our sleeve, so I'll look even more glamorous? We can attract more spectators for our event if we do so."

"How about we also try to showcase what we truly are as a company or as a family and what purpose our products have to serve? This way, we'll be able to touch the viewers' hearts and they're more likely to patronize our products. We can have this as the start or the finale, " Ezra proposed.

"That's a good one, Ezra. But we'll see. For now, I want you to set this upcoming event as your priority. Its success will depend on us, so we have to work hard."

"I'll leave you here so you can start working on your ideas. Finalize the proposal and report the progress to me a day after tomorrow," he said and walked out of the meeting room.

The folks who were with me sighed the moment he left.

"My gosh. Did he just say we need to give a report a day after tomorrow? What are we, robots?" Gregg said and brushed off the invisible wrinkles on his forehead. "He's stressing my beauty again!" "Girl, be thankful that he is calmer than he was for the past three years," Norie said.

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"Why? What kind of boss was he before?" Dubie inquired. Just like me, he was new to the company, but what's good about him was the fact that he could easily deal with his other workmates. Gregg crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "He was a monster in disguise! I just hope he always aligns his attitude with his-" he paused and bit his lower lip, " yummy face."

"But lately, I've been noticing something different from our boss. If he is not smiling, then he is smirking. He does this when he's with his new secretary," Miss Coi said as she glanced at me.

I wanted to react, but I wasn't confident enough to speak, so I tried to play deaf and that I knew nothing about what they were saying.

"I noticed too. But let's just wait 'til time reveals the real thing between the two of them, " Ezra said while giving me a teasing look.

"Oh, common on, Ezra. If I know, you are just jealous," Gregg teased.

"Oh, stop it, dude. It'll be better if you start thinking of an excellent theme and gimmick if you don't want sir Ryle to transform into a kind of monster you'll hate to see," Eva said. "Dude? Excuse me, Ms. Evanaste, how dare you address me that! It's so not me!"

Eva irked, "Whatever".

After some time, they all finally shut up and focused their attention on their laptop, and started to have some progress.

I, unable to put a stop to my curiosity, slowly dragged the movable chair closer to the person adjacent to me.

I cleared my throat faintly and asked, "Hey, Greggy, you've been in this company for years, right?"

"Yes, my dear. Why?" He answered while searching for something on the web.

"I'm just curious. You've mentioned about Claudia. Who is she?"

He laid his eyes on me, then around the room, before he decided to spill the gossip in a whisper, "She was the secretary of our yummy yet not so good-mannered boss three years ago,' he said, covering his mouth with his side palm so as not to let others hear his words. "Rumors had it that the two of them were hooking up with each other before." I threw my body a little backward as I couldn't believe his last words.

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"If true, where is she now?"

"Unfortunately, during the twelveth Founding Anniversary of the company, she just disappeared in the middle of the event. We thought she went home but days, weeks, months, and years had passed, she's nowhere to be seen." I narrowed my eyes at the information he shared.

"You know what, since that day onward, Sir Ryle became easily irritated and inconsiderate of others," he continued. "Really?" I said in disbelief.

Inconsiderate? That was how I see him before. But as months went by, I could attest that he's not totally that kind of boss.

"Uh-huh. But I guess he's changing again, and that's because of someone." He giggled and brushed his elbow on my arm. "If it's you who'll be able to bring him back to his better version, I won't play the antagonist' role. Anyway, I still have sir, Val."

"What are you talking about? Nothing is going on between us, "I defended. I didn't know where they get that idea.

"Well, if you say so..."

"It's the truth," I said. He just shrugged his shoulders, barely believing my words.

"One last question, what about Claudia's family? What did they say?"

"Hmm. Why so curious about Claudia? Are you jealous of her?" he accused.

"Of course, not. Just answer my question, please."

"Well, we heard none after the first day they went on a rampage here. They even asked the Llaneda Family to bring back their daughter."

"Why asked the Llaneda Family about their daughter's whereabouts?"

He shrugged. "That I don't know."

To be continued