When I arrived back home, I was surprised to find Georgie waiting for me at the entrance of the neighborhood. He was standing there; I could see the worry plastered over his face. I smiled looking at him. My gorgeous fiancée. The only reason I must smile now.
"Georgie?", I asked, getting closer to him. He snapped out of his thoughts as he wrapped me in his arms, with no hesitation. This felt nice. I smelt the faint cologne he was wearing, and I knew that he just came out of the shower, he must be on his way to his morning shift today.
"Tyler told me you had a bad day at work and that you were at the hospital today", Georgie said, pulling me out of the hug and looking at me in the eye. "Are you okay?"
I nodded, lying. I didn't want him to worry. In the end, I was treating everything related to Mr. Jackson as non-existent. As it should be.
Georgie tapped my nose with his index, several times, making me laugh. I swear this guy has so many special tics, one of them being this. He'd usually cry whenever someone got hurt. He'd say, 'why am I crying, if you're the one that got hurt?'. Also, his childish antics that never failed to make me smile.
"I know I might look like an adult, but also, being an adult means that you have to accept many things that are hard to accept. I'd rather be a child and ignore those things, it makes me happier", he'd say whenever he faced something tough at work. As a detective, he had to have a hard rock stomach to handle a lot of things. He'd seen a lot of violence, but the only thing that makes him hold on... is that he saves lives and that he manages to find peace for the victim.
George is a wonderful person. And I'm happy that he's mine and that I'm his.
He treated me like a queen days after that one. He'd cook for me, carefully, so I wouldn't eat something that might upset my stomach. He truly is one in a million.
We scheduled a day together to go to the company's main factory. My future father-in-law was one of the main managers. We would be visiting him since we didn't have the chance to spend so much time with him, with all that was going on with the toxic chemical scandal.
"You go first, I'll finish something at the station, okay?", he said to me over the phone as I was making my way there in an uber.
"Alright, take your time... don't worry", I said with a smile on my face. One of the few real smiles I had. "Say hi for me to Jane and Gordy", I told him.
"Noted", he said and then I hung up.
I made my way into the factory as I greeted all the people I've known ever since I was a small child. Mr. Miller, the security guard (that was also Tyler's dad) looked at me with the biggest smile he had.
"Ms. Ronan! Oh, is such a pleasure to see you", he laughed, making me feel so happy at the sight of him.
"Mr. Miller, I'm not the Vice President's daughter anymore, please, call me Louisa", I asked him, pleadingly as he nodded, energetically.
"Sure, Louisa...", Mr. Miller said, and I knew he wasn't getting used to it any closer.
"Anyways, Mr. Miller, I'm here to see Mr. Collins...", I said as he snapped his finger.
"Ah! Yes, he's not his usual spot lately...", he said, guiding me to where one of the main rooms were. It was the mixing room. I frowned, maybe Mr. Collins had to supervise here since he was one of the seniors in the area. Ever since Mr. Washington was on the run, my future father-in-law had more work than ever.
Mr. Miller greeted me goodbye, nicely.
"Louisa?", Mr. Collins asked, with a big grin on his face as he saw me.
I got closer to greet him with a hug. "Hi, how are you Mr. Collins?", I asked him politely as he showed me around.
"A lot of work here!", he laughed out. "Georgie's late again, isn't he?", he said jokingly, nudging me softly as I shook my head.
We were talking a bit of here and there; he was showing me around. This place changed a lot between when I was little and now. It had more advanced technology and machines made everything faster. However, most of the employees were loyal people that worked here for years.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, we'll be proceeding to make a thorough investigation as of right now", I heard a familiar voice that made my blood boil. Mr. Collins and I turned around, swiftly, to look at Mr. Jackson and some of his men entering the room.
His dark eyes met mine and he let out a sarcastic chuckle. "What a wonderful surprise!", he said, his hands behind his back, walking closer to us. Mr. Collins looked at him and then at me.
"Do you know this guy?", he asked me, seriously.
"Unfortunately", I said, sighing as Mr. Jackson was now in front of us.
"Let's see, the daughter of a renowned traitor in the main factory just as I was planning to do an investigation here, hmm... Are you trying to hide something, Ms. Ronan?", Mr. Jackson asked, there was hostility in his voice as I glared back at him. "I'm sure that being my uncle's dirty pet isn't enough, isn't it?", he hissed at me and I couldn't hold back anymore, a hand of mine slapping his cheek.
I had enough. He will not insult me again. I didn't even respond him but turned around to all the employees that were watching the scene.
"If any of you collaborate with this man and his people, you'll have serious trouble with the company, so I suggest you avoid doing so", I hollered. Everyone knew that I was the company's main secretary, the spokeswoman in behalf of the president.
"I'll pay you the triple worth of your salary if you collaborate with us", Mr. Jackson fired back, everyone gasping and looking between themselves.
"What do you think you are doing, Mr. Jackson?!", I said, not having the energy to hold my composure any longer. He then took me inadvertently by the wrist, closing most of the space between us.
"I'm the person you and your people should be worried of", his dark but captivating eyes were throwing a menacing look at me.
Then I heard someone entering the room and I saw Georgie's eyes fall to Mr. Jackson's hand gripping my wrist tightly. "You bastard—!", my fiancée shouted, running his way to us.
"George!", Mr. Collins adverted him, but Georgie couldn't and wouldn't listen as he kicked Mr. Jackson in the stomach, making him let go of me and then engaging a fight with my fiancée.
A fight that led us to the police station.
"Why would you even do that?!", I whispered-yelled to Georgie, trying to heal the cut he had on his lip from being hit by Mr. Jackson.
"He dared to touch my girl!", he defended himself, throwing a glance at Mr. Jackson that furrowed his brows.
"Oh, so this clown's your boyfriend?", Mr. Jackson asked, unamused as he then threw a big fake laugh. "How could I not think of that", he spit out.
"Don't", I said to Georgie as he was about to reply to him.
Soon enough, Mr. Jackson's lawyer came, and Ty didn't miss a beat, tailing behind his lawyer. "I'm here to represent Mr. George Collins", our best friend said, and I sighed in relief but also a bit embarrassed. I'll be in debt with him, but at least is better than nothing.
"How funny to see you here, Miller", Mr. Jackson's lawyer said, and Tyler sighed.
"Let's go outside and have a chat", Tyler simply said as the lawyer nodded. "Are you guys okay?", he asked at us and we nodded.
This day only seemed to be getting worse. But I ignored Mr. Jackson as I tried to heal Georgie's wounds. I wouldn't even look at that bully, not even when Georgie was released with a warning. Mr. Jackson didn't press any charges and I knew he'd only do it when he found it convenient.
"Ronan", Mr. Jackson called out to me as Georgie looked back at him, glaring. "When I said that I'm the person you and your people should be worried of...", he then gave me an evil smirk. "I meant it"
I rolled my eyes at him and took Georgie by the arm, walking away from there.
"What if we eat your favorite dish?", Georgie said on our way home, trying to hype me up. I glanced at him by the corner of my eye. "Yesssss?", he asked tenderly, tapping my nose with his index finger. I furrowed my nose at him, making him chuckle.
"Alright, but I want chicken!", I said as I felt him hugging me from my back.
"KFC?", he asked, wiggling his brows at me.
"You shouldn't hesitate when I say the word 'chicken'", I told him as we laughed a bit.
Georgie was too good to me. He's my best friend and my lover. The man I love the most in this world, after my late father. He's been so patient and loving with me and I couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with him.
"Always remember, happiness passes fast but so does sadness", Georgie told me as we were sitting on our rooftop patio, gazing at the stars, my head resting on his chest. I could've memorized his heartbeats by now.
"Why are you telling me that now?", I asked him in a whisper, feeling so comfortable in his embrace.
"Because something told me you'd be needing to hear it", he simply said and then kissed my forehead.
And it made a lot of sense when, a few days after, President Jackson called me in his office. It had been a while since the mansion's incident with his nephew. He was calling either Reina or Lenore whenever he needed something. But I knew I deserved that punishment, even though it made me paranoid.
"A good friend of mine fell ill", he explained to me as he pushed a wrapped box closer to me. I looked at it cautiously as he sighed. "Louisa, I know you're aware of the mistake you've made but I also know that you won't ever repeat your mistakes again", he said with sympathy, making me sigh in relief.
"Thank you so much Mr. President, also, I'm terribly sorry", I said, looking at the floor, a few strands of hair hiding my face.
"Don't be, Louisa... now, go and deliver this to the address here at exactly twelve pm", he instructed me. Energetically, I took the package and read the address. It was in a room in the Imperial Hotel, which seemed a bit odd. But I trusted this man, so I didn't say anything.
When the time came, I took a cab and went straight to the Imperial Hotel. I asked for directions to the receptionist and then went to what seemed to be a VIP wing in one of the higher floors.
I knocked the door, and someone opened the door for me.
I entered the room with my signature smile, this time, happy because the President didn't stop trusting me. But as I saw familiar figures sitting there, I froze. There were four of the main investors of the company, plus someone that was giving his back to me.
Mr. Jackson's hard stare was on me as he turned around and then stood up. "How did you find this place?", he asked, I could notice he was furious.
Before I could even do something to defend myself, the door behind me opened and I saw the President and his men entering the room with a huge smile on his face.
Only then I noticed that I had been used.
Again.