The Devil's Harem

Time flew by swiftly, and it was Monday already. Finally, he was going to join his father to work. It was a big day for Alex, but he was not that enthusiastic about it. And the reason for it was Margaret.

For the past few days that Alex had nothing to do, he thought that he would be able to spend some decent quality time with Margaret while he had nothing to do all this while, but she was nowhere to be seen. This annoyed Alex. He left his lucrative job only to spend time with her and, if possible, dig further, but this seductress had gone missing.

For the last few days after Martha and George left for work, Alex would spend most of his time peeking over the fence into Margaret’s house, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. But it was like the house had been abandoned. He never saw a soul wander around all these days. Dejected, he could only wait, but the situation made him realise something. He still did not have Margaret’s contact with him. They had known each other for so long, but unexpectedly, Alex had no way of contacting Margaret.

The other thing that happened during these few days was that he got calls from his beautiful ex-colleagues almost daily. Every day, someone would call him, asking for him to come back. It had become a daily routine for them, and even Alex felt bad refusing them every time, but what’s done can’t be undone now.

For instance, it was only yesterday when Karen called him. Alex had just gotten back to his room after having his dinner and spent some time peeking into Margaret’s house to no result. nd.cm

Winter had knocked, and Alex had just slipped into his blanket, ready to read an autobiography, when his phone rang. It was Karen. Karen had not called her after their last interaction, where he asked for Jessica’s email.

.....

It was unusual for Karen to call him at this hour, so he did not waste any time answering the call. He was afraid that she might be in some sort of trouble.

“Hello?” As soon as Alex picked up the phone, Alex heard Karen’s voice.

“Chief, are you alright?” These were the first words that came out of his mouth.

“What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t I be alright?” Karen, on the other hand, felt weird hearing Alex. “It hasn’t been a week yet, and you are already cursing me?” Karen complained.

“No... No... No... How can I? You know that I won’t dare even think about it,” Alex denied right away, “I was just surprised that you called me so late at night. So I thought...” Alex tried to explain, but Karen cut him short.

“So you thought I was in some trouble?” Even though it was weird, Karen felt touched by his concern for her.

“Emmm...” Alex nodded on his side and let out a soft sound in agreement.

“So why did you leave me?” Karen whispered.

“I...” Alex was stunned to hear Karen. Her voice was soothing to his ears, but he could feel the discomfort in her voice. He had no idea how to reply.

Karen also felt that her words were a bit ambiguous. She smiled, sensing the hesitation on the other side and efficiently changed the topic, “I have heard that the others have been trying to persuade you in coming back? Have you given it some thought?”

Shaking his head, Alex let out a self-deprecating laugh, “You know I can’t. Everything happened right before your eyes. Do you think after all that Jessica would be willing to have me back?”

As soon as Jessica’s name was brought up, Karen bit her lip, thinking about that day. It was true that now only a miracle could make sure that Alex was back in Theation. If he had not left and mailed his resignation to Jessica back then, there was a possibility that Karen and Daniel had tried to make things work out somehow, but it was only a possibility now.

“And to be honest, Theation is really a hot potato now. I don’t wanna be caught in the crossfire and end up as collateral damage, heh...” Alex continued.

“Hot potato? Crossfire?” Karen was confused, “What are you talking about?” She asked.

“You know... Jessica being in an accident, and soon after it was Theation that got caught in the turmoil,” Alex expressed his thoughts, “I don’t believe it was a mere coincidence. If this was considered a pure coincidence, then all couples on earth would be long-lost siblings,” Alex joked, but he made a valid point.

Karen did not think that Alex would connect these two things. It was no secret, and all the upper echelon of the company more or less knew about it, but hardly any regular employee would think it through, or even if they did, it had nothing to do with them, so they paid little attention to it. But for Alex to talk about it, Karen did not know from where he got the confidence to think that he would get implicated in this matter.

“But how does any of this concern you?” Karen did not deny whatever Alex said. Instead, she tried to pry further, “You would have been nothing but an employee of the company at the bottom.”

“Because it’s me,” Alex said with confidence.

“Such confidence? Where do you get this confidence from?” Karen was amazed to hear Alex blow his own horn.

“I am not boasting. Can you think of one, a single employee in your knowledge who got close to two of the department heads and got to meet the ultimate boss in mere two months? Heck, I didn’t even work for two months there,” Alex put forward the challenge.

Karen was left stunned for a moment. All the things that Alex said were true. She did not notice before, but now that she looked back, Alex did have exponential growth in terms of connections. Well, part of it was because Karen gave him some boost, but taking it to the end was all in Alex’s hand.

“You are not the only one. I even got a call from Daniel earlier. It is easy to say that we are not mere acquaintances, but a step further, we could be called friends,” Alex told Karen, “Now, with such a great circle, do you still think that I would have been a regular employee if I had stayed back?”

“But connections don’t guarantee promotions,” Karen pointed out, “Well, at least not here at Theation.”

“It’s true that I haven’t got to do anything, apart from serving you guys and running errands, but you can’t deny that I had never shirked away from responsibilities,” Alex said in defence, “I just never got the chance.”

‘You were just not bold enough,’ Karen thought to herself before shaking her head, “Isn’t it because you were too bold?”

“Huh...” Alex laughed, “Let’s not sprinkle salt on my wounds...”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Hey... Whose thoughts are you lost in?” It was Daniel’s voice that brought Alex out of his thoughts. Alex was sitting in the living room watching the television, but he was lost thinking about his conversation with Karen.

“You are here?” Alex was all ready to leave and was waiting for George to come.

“Don’t tell me you are having second thoughts now?” George asked, looking suspiciously at Alex, “You can still back off if you want to. I won’t hold it against you.”

Alex shook his head, “You are the one dilly-dallying for no reason. Hurry up, we are already late,” Alex said, pointing at the watch hanging in front of them.

Listening to his son, George felt depressed, “That’s why I was hesitating to let you join the company. You know that I am the boss, don’t you?” George asked, complaining to Alex, “What will be the difference between me and others if I don’t make a heroic entry?”

“That’s why no one takes you seriously,” Alex said as he rubbed his temple, tired of his father, “I hope at least those working for you are not like you.”

“Brat, you are itching for a beating, aren’t you?” George grabbed hold of Alex and pinched him on his waist.

In pain, Alex cried out to his mother for help, “MOM!”

“What is it with you too? For god’s sake, you guys are father and son,” Martha’s voice came from the kitchen, “Always after each other like Tom and Jerry. Can’t live together but will die if kept apart.”

“Honey, you never side with me. That’s really unfair.” George complained.

Placing the dishes on the table, Martha brought the argument to an end, “Enough, both of you. Have your breakfast and leave.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Finally, after a lot of effort, Alex managed to drag his father to the company earlier than usual. On the way, they first dropped Martha at her hospital.

Standing in front of the large building, Alex took a deep breath. The building was nothing compared to Theation. Theation was almost a skyscraper, while his father’s building was only three stories. But he owned this building contrary to Theation, which rented a few floors.

‘AR Entertainment, I will make sure we leave Theation in the dust together,’ Alex looked at the building from top to bottom and vowed.

“When I first came to the city, I started with the advertisements. It took me a couple of years before I was someone with stature. It has been nearly ten years, and we have produced several TV – Series, a few movies and even launched a few games.” George said with pride, “Now it’s all in the hands of you, the younger generation, to take it to new heights. I have faith in you and your brother.” George patted Alex’s shoulder and encouraged him.

Alex nodded, “I won’t disappoint you, dad.”

“Come, let’s go inside. I need to introduce you to everyone. Although we are not on par with Theation, we have a huge staff of our own.” Saying this, George put his arm around Alex and dragged him into the building.

Alex nodded, “But what did you do before coming to this city?”

The smile on George’s face stiffened as he looked at Alex, “I...”

* * * * *