THE EXAM CALLED LIFE

CHAPTER 9

I quickly went up the stairs two at a time and went to pack the little things that Blake was able to bring me from my house. Later, I heard the door to my room well Blake's click open and he stood in all his glory with a towel draped around his shoulders.

"Aramina you don't have to leave. I'm really sorry about what she did. I can talk to her and maybe-"

"Listen, I cannot just stay here and take her assault very lightly. She seems to be obsessed with you and I wouldn't want to get in her way, " I said walking out the door with my bag.

"Champagne, " he said holding my left wrist making me turn to him, "you don't have to go, please. For all we know those robbers could still be out there and we can't be sure of what they want. Besides, I couldn't live with myself knowing that I could have stopped you." Well he seemed pretty serious when I eyed him. Part of me wanted to stay but I couldn't.

"I'll see you at work tomorrow Detective Blake," I said with finality. He just stood there with a concerned expression on his face. I walked a bit slower down the hall waiting for him to follow me but he didn't. He let me be.

*****

"....Yes Mr Choi. I agree to that idea..... Yes, maybe we can meet tomorrow.... Yes I'm done with it.... Totally put a lot of work into it..... Yes I promise not to let you down. (Blake walked into the room and offered himself a seat) Yes Mr Choi. Tomorrow it is..... I guarantee it. Goodbye, " I concluded and set the telephone down. I was in my office and I was feeling happy on that particular day. I was finally done with the project i was working on with the investors. Mr Choi was the head of the board I was working with and he called to ask about the project.

"I see you let yourself in as usual, " I said to him. He looked at me with a mischievous grin plastered on his face then leaned back on the chair.

"I see Corrine fired the jealousy part of you yesterday, "he said.

"Don't flatter yourself. I cannot possibly be jealous over you."

"I can tell when you are lying, "he said as he leaned on the desk.

"I don't lie," I said matching his eyes.

"Which is what you are doing now. Your eye tends to twitch. It's involuntary so you can't stop it," he said leaning back against the chair as he chuckled. I had to admit, he was really good. He was even able to detect when lying? That's a first. The door to my office was knocked and Alexis came in.

"Aramina, there's someone here to see you and said he was with Mr Blake," she said.

"Ah please,let him in," said Blake. I looked at him with my brow raised waiting for an explanation. A tall lanky man walked in through the doorway with a briefcase in hand.

"Good morning Miss Cole," he said in a deep voice.

"Good morning. Have a seat please," I said and he thanked me.

"You see Blake? This is exactly how to behave when you enter an office," I said feeling satisfied with myself.

"I'll get you for that," he said with a smirk playing on his lips.

"How may I help you?" I asked turning to the man who had just entered.

"Well Detective Blake requested for my services. I am more of an investigative artist and he said he needed my help."

"So what exactly do you do?"

"Well I invited James here to draw the image of the guy's face that you saw that fateful night," he explained.

"I'm not sure I saw him that well. Besides,what if I describe him and he ends up to be the person we're not looking for?" I asked.

Blake chuckled then said," That's highly unlikely. James is really good at his job."

"I don't doubt that, I'm talking about me."

"Just take deep breaths,relax and tell us what you remember that night," said Blake calming me down. I do exactly that and start the story from the very beginning. James really concentrated doing his job and not once did he look up. When he was finally done with the drawing, he lifted the piece of paper to show me.

"Did he look like this?" asked James.

"Yes! That's him. Wait, he looks familiar. It's like I've seen him from somewhere," I said digging deep into my thoughts.

"Of course you've seen him from somewhere, you fought him at the company," said Blake.

I shook my head and looked ahead behind Blake. That was when I remembered. That day after the second break in, I headed to Rocky's for two cups of coffee. As I left, a young man about thirty years of age collided onto me making me spill some coffee on my white blouse. He seemed very sweet and humble. He couldn't possibly be doing this, could he?

"What are you thinking about?" asked Blake.

"Sorry. I was just... (I grabbed the drawn sketch and looked closely at it. Yes, that was definitely the guy at the coffee shop and the guy we had been looking for. I handed the sketch back to Blake.) Find out as much as you can about this man. His real name, age, family, career, residence,  you name it then bring me the report in the office as soon as possible."

"Do you know him? " asked Blake.

"Just do what I tell you first before asking me any questions, "I said to him. I could tell that the look on his face that he was not pleased at all with what I told him.

"Thank you so much for your help James, " I said as we shook hands.

"Sure thing Miss Cole. There's just a matter of the cheque," he said.

"You will get it through Detective Blake, done? "

"That's good enough Miss Cole, " he said then walked out. I expected that he would go with Blake but when I heard his foot steps towards my desk i knew that I was totally wrong.

"What are you still doing here Blake?" I asked as I continued to write a synopsis of some business deal.

"You seemed a little bit off after you got the sketch. Is something bothering you?"

"Not now Blake. First find out more information about him then maybe I will answer your questions. "I looked up and saw him pursue his lips.

"Is this about the other night? About Corrine? Cause I can assure you that I've taken care of it and she won't be bothering you again."

"I was never afraid of her and I didn't need your help to have her leave me alone." He leaned over the desk to match my eyes then said in a low voice, "Really now?" His eyes travelled down to my waist then came back up meeting my eyes with the same intensity they always did when we were alone together.

"Get out Blake," I said rolling my eyes as I tried to get back to my work.

"We both know that there's an intensity between us so don't try to hide it," he said as he left my office.

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