Chapter 36: INSULT TO INJURY
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Alex's POV;
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Jensen looked disheveled.
His tie was loosely hanging around his collar, his coat was thrown somewhere as he stood in his firm fitted waist-coat that was creased and his hair was a mess.
His eyes had bags under them and he looked like he hadn't slept all night. He only ever looked like this at the end of some days when he overworked himself and stayed past his normal schedule, and even then it was never this bad.
It was barely the beginning of the day and he looked like he had been in a scuffle with a bunch of headache-inducing papers.
He looked at me blankly when I entered. There was something in his eyes that didn't settle well with me and I didn't know what was going on.
"You don't look so good," I told him with an undertone of concern.
He chuckled, without a hint of joy as he looked at me and then away. "That's the last thing I'm worried about."
He picked up his phone and called his secretary, "Kate please hold my calls for a little while." He kept the receiver down and then looked up at me.
"How did this happen?" I asked worriedly.
"I don't know, you tell me..." He scoffed and I frowned at the way he was talking to me.
"I'm so gullible aren't I, believing every little thing you told me like a fool." He said with an edge to his voice and I was genuinely taken aback with everything that was going on.
"Wh-what are you trying to say?" I asked, confused as hell.
He ignored my question, and instead asked, "where were you yesterday?"
I breathed and considered my words before speaking, "I was home like I told you."
He scoffed as he looked up and kinda talked to himself "Sure. I don't even know what I'm expecting anymore."
"Jensen, I don't understand you, what are you talking about?" I frowned.
"Did you see the news? Do you know what's going on right now?" He asked harshly.
"I didn't get a chance to-"
"You didn't get a chance? Of course in the midst of all the cover-up how could you get a chance?" He mocked.
I frowned at his accusatory tone, "Wh-what do you mean Jensen?" What's going on, nothing is making sense right now.
"I mean this..." He pushed his laptop in front of me that had the surveillance footage of me entering inside his office with Morgan. I closed my eyes.
"What is the meaning of this Alex?" He sounded angry.
I was too shocked to say anything for a moment. "I- this- it's not what you think." Shit among the security breach and the shareholders' mayhem, this couldn't have been worse timing.
"The security breach was traced back to your IP address, so you better tell me what you were doing in my office without my permission and what the hell did you take from here." He asked with a calm that was deceptive.
My IP address? That's impossible. "You, think I have something to do with everything that's happening? Don't- don't you trust me?" I frowned.
"Trust? I fucking want to trust you okay, but it's not a luxury I can afford right now." Jensen sighed like he was tired, "All I know is that there was a security breach, some confidential information was leaked and whatever is circulating in the news right now is a mixture of facts and fiction, my company's credibility is being questioned so forgive me if I don't really want to believe someone that looks like a suspect."
Standing there listening to all this made my heart ache for some reason. I know whatever he said was not personal, but my mind didn't want to process that logically, I was being emotional and I knew this wasn't the right time but I just couldn't control myself.
I tried to keep my head on straight. He was suspecting me, and he had every right to. But for some reason, I just couldn't understand the hostility he suddenly had towards me. In my mind, I kinda thought it would always be me and him vs the world. I never thought it would be him vs me and that I'd have to prove myself.
I couldn't help but think this was going to put a strain on our relationship, but a part of me was confident we could get over it. We were both strong, level headed, independent people.
"Just give me a reason to trust you, that's all I ask." He said, for once without any anger as he looked me straight in the eye.
I decided to tell him the truth. The surprise wasn't exactly important anymore, it was more important to convince him and to put our minds at ease.
I told him about Morgan and how it was our plan to talk to Carson and finalize a deal. I didn't tell him about how I threatened him, that would only worry him and I didn't want to add to his problems.
"This Morgan, will she confirm your story?" He asked.
I frowned at him. Why was he being like this? I couldn't understand where my sweet Jensen went, the one standing in front of me right now seemed nothing like him.
"It's not a 'story' Jensen. I told you the truth and yes Morgan will confirm my words." I couldn't understand that he didn't believe me. He would believe a complete stranger but not me.
After everything, is this what it all amounts to?
"Call her right now, and put her on speakerphone, I'd like to confirm." He said flatly.
He was twisting a knife in my heart with every hurtful word and I was barely holding on. My hands shook as I grabbed my phone and made the call.
I stared down at my phone as it rang a few times before going to voicemail. I looked up at Jensen only to find his blank emotionless face. "Keep trying."
I tried to call Morgan multiple times but she didn't pick up when another call went to voicemail I was fed up. "She's not answering the phone right now, she must be busy, I'm sure she'll call back soon."
Jensen nodded almost robotically as he stood next to me, "Of course. Right, when she's needed she's miraculously unavailable."
I frowned at him. This cold act of his was hurtful. I didn't know how much more of this I could take.
"Quite skilled at lying aren't you? You really are one hell of an actress. I guess it must be fun to see how much of an idiot you thought I was." He said.
"You really think that's what this is?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Jensen was being a total jerk and I wasn't going to hold back.
Jensen scoffed, "Are you still trying to deny it? I've seen this pattern before, I've been stabbed in the back plenty of times Alex, I can identify what this is."
"Really? And here I thought you knew me..." My voice turned small a weak towards the end giving away how vulnerable this was making me feel.
"I thought so too, can't believe how blinded I was. Your innocent act is really effective, shame I couldn't see how it all ends." He said harshly as he walked away from me and stopped behind his desk.
Is he freaking kidding me right now? It was like he had made up his mind and there was nothing I could say to sway him, still, I tried.
"I pity you, Jensen. I really do. You are so convinced that you've been betrayed, you wouldn't see the truth even if it punched you in the face." I gathered my courage as I spoke. "I'm tired of defending myself when I've done nothing wrong, but I am telling you nothing but the truth" My voice was rising and I had no control over it.
Jensen chuckled with no humour as he looked at me dead in the eye, "The truth. Of course the truth, the mysterious truth that would make everything clear. What is it again, pray tell? That you went to see Carson only to negotiate? And what do you think I've been doing all these days playing board games?"
My anger picked up with his unbelievable words. He has no right to accuse me of anything when he doesn't even know half of what was true.
"I hid it from you because I wanted to surprise you! Was there something wrong in that?!" I yelled, feeling my throat hurt with suppressed emotions.
"Surprise? Convenient isn't it? And to think I gave you the security code myself." He said with a cold glare.
"I wanted to help you, was that so wrong? Davis' group of medical facilities is very important to you... and couldn't I have made a small effort on my end?"
"I don't even-....I can't. You decided to take advantage of what I told you in confidence, I trusted you when I told you all that." For once a hint of sentiment leaked into his words, and I was glad he wasn't as stoic as he was pretending to be.
"Are you listening to yourself right now? Do you really fucking believe that I was involved with everything that went down today? Are you gonna completely disregard the fact that I have your best interest at heart?" I realized my eyes had teared up when everything suddenly looked blurry.
"I don't see anything that proves it honestly." He said.
What the hell was wrong with him? He was not thinking straight. "I can't believe you... I'm not lying. I just can't prove any of it right now but if you give me some time-..."
"Some more time for what? For you to think of better lies?" He cut me off.
"I don't know who I'm trying to convince, I don't even know what I'm fighting for anymore?" I said with frustrated dejection. It was like he had already pinned me guilty, and no amount of explanation on my part was going to prove anything otherwise.
"You've done enough." He has never sounded more condescending towards me and that was like the last straw that broke the camel's back.
"You are an insecure coward Jensen and I can't believe I ever thought otherwise. You of all people should know what is in front of your eyes is not always the whole picture!" I said furiously and I could see what my words did, they acted as a catalyst on his anger until it burst through the seams.
"Enough!" His hand slapped down on the table with a powerful boom that resonated across the room. My gaze faltered as I looked at the storm in his grey eyes and almost cowered.
When I managed to lock away my hurt for a moment, I could think clearly. I could suddenly see that I had nothing to lose.
"You know what Jensen..... I'm thankful to you for being honest with me, you made it a lot easier for me to walk out of here and never look back. You've taught me a valuable lesson today, I will always remember this."
For once something flickered in his eyes as he looked a bit perplexed with my words, but the uncertainty left as soon as it came.
"That's the best thing I've heard all day. Should I write you a thank you note?" He said. I held back the tears that brimmed my eyes and willed myself to not cry in front of him, I had to hold onto my last shred of integrity and what was left of my dignity. I couldn't let him see how much he had broken me.
"No need for that, but I'd appreciate it if you never show up in front of me again." My voice was calm, it was nothing like the chaos I felt inside. Everything ached, but I forced myself to speak, "I guess this is it." There was a finality to my words and then a heavy silence hung in the air.
And with those words I walked out of there, closing his door behind me. A loud crashing sound followed my exit but I stopped myself from turning around.
Instead, I walked straight to my office and locked myself inside the confines of my washroom before I let the tears fall.
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THE END.
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Before you get any ideas about killing me, let me tell you... You'll never know what happens next if I'm dead. *Smiles nervously*
Are you calm yet? No? Take some deep breath... better?
Okay, now that you're calm, I want to say a few things:
Huge sorry for how this story ended. *hides in a closet*
But on a positive note; The story is finally completed!
*Blinks and glances around at sombre looks* Nobody is in a mood to celebrate? Understandable.
Don't worry, there's going to be a sequel to this book, and I'm currently working on it. I'll make it available soon so stay tuned.
(Edit) The sequel is now available and it's completed, you'll find it under my works on my profile page, it's called "Twice In A Life Time". Hope you like it.
Thank you so much for reading this story till the very end.
If you want to talk to me about anything dm me I always reply.
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Your support means the world to me!
See you all in the next book.
(26 Dec 2020)