Not Playing by the rules

Chapter 6

Leon woke up to an empty and cold bed and to his horror he was in his own bed which was not possible under any circumstances. He sat up on his bed with a start and looked around again. It was true that he was in his own apartment and inside his bedroom. How come this happened with him?

“What the hell just happened with me?” he said out loud not believing that he was at home last night.

How did he reach home last night? He was still at the motel with Alice, the feisty auburn haired vixen who had asked him to strip where he had spent an amazing night with her and now he was on his bed in his bedroom without his clothes. How was that even possible? He was nowhere close to that place and what about that tornado….

Leon got down from his bed and put on his television switching to the news channel from sports. But there were no news of any kind of natural calamity or any kind of tornado in California last night. Someone must have pulled some kind of prank on him and drugged him which led him to hallucinate everything. But it must have been a hell of a drug if it made him dream and conjure a whole woman and place out of nothing but empty air. He recalled having a drink with a woman named Lisa who had kissed him on his cheek and asked him to call back when he was free but how could he have imagined everything after that? He was never one to imagine things, never did when he was a kid and was not certainly going to start now. But there had to be some explanation for this whole fiasco….

He glanced at the clock and found that it was already eight. If he did not rush now then he would be late at office and he had a meeting at the first hour today. Leon rushed into the shower and got ready within twenty minutes hoping to pick up his breakfast at his favourite restaurant Nomaden.

He took his car keys and ran towards the garage. His car was his most favourite possession and he treated it like his girlfriend, which was practically non-existent in his real life. He drove it just at the speed limit not wanting to get a ticket early in the morning and parked it in front of Nomaden. Last night he had thought that probably anything was possible in this life when he could meet a girl who could raise his desires like nothing else did…however Fate definitely had some other plans for him in store.

Carrie was the waitress who gave his regulars and beamed at him when she saw him entering. She was the one who was almost, not almost, she had this morning shift every day and she handled crowd pretty well.

“So what can I get for you today Mr. Casterfall? Your regulars or can I get something else? We have some really good options today if you are up something sweet in the morning?” prompted Carrie hoping to get a big order from one of her favourite clients.

“Is it any special occasion today? That your racks are also displaying so many different varieties of cupcakes?” asked Leon taking a look at the shelves.

“Our new pastry chef has just started today,” said Carrie in a conspiratorial voice and then added,” Just between you and me.”

Leon made a motion of zipping his lips and winked at her and said,” Well, I shall tell you what Carrie, you can pack a dozen of cupcakes, the new ones in blueberry and rose-velvet for me and give me my regulars along with one cream bagel for me to eat.”

Carrie looked so happy at his order and said, ”On it Mr. Casterfall. You always brighten my day.”

“Oh dear. That’s nothing at all. Anything for a beautiful lady,” said Leon with a wink and Carrie burst into a volley of giggles.

“I have one request though. Can you make it in five minutes? I have a meeting I do not want to miss,” said Leon as he took the stool and Carrie tipped her cap and rushed back in the kitchen. And true to her word she was back in four minutes with all his order and Leon was back in his car by the fifth minute. The drive was of no consequence as such but he could not put his mind off from the moans and the noises that Alice had made last night. Even now when he was thinking about her he was growing hard but he could not arrive to office sporting an erection.

As he entered the office, he handed over the box of cupcakes to the receptionist Ellis and went on his way to his cabin. On his way his assistant Fred said,” Boss, I would keep that bag hidden if I were you. The client and Mr. Ford are both in the cabin.”

Leon handed over the bag to Fred and looked at him in a way which meant, “Save it for later because I am gonna have it.”

Once Leon was inside Fred opened the box and said to Ellis dipping down over their cubicle.

“Do you think that the Ice-man has had a good time last night?” asked Fred.

“Freddy, you know very well that he is not Ice-man. He doesn’t date does not mean he does not sleep with women, and even if he doesn’t we should not be gossiping about our boss,” replied Ellis looking at the contents of the box.

“From when did you start taking his side Ellis?” asked Fred in a surprised voice.

“Since he started giving me my favourite treat and that too in the morning. No girl can resist a man who gives her cupcakes in the morning,” said Ellis as she moaned on taking a bite from the red cupcake.

“He is my boss you know Ellis, I am worried about him, really,” said Fred as he picked up a blue one from the box.

“Yeah….you are worried about him only for the sake of Angelica in IT. Seriously man!! How could you think of two of them together? I mean boy, look at him and look at her….seriously!!”

“What? How can you be so judgmental Ellis? Come on, look at her…she is blonde, beautiful, gorgeous to the boot and everyone drools over her, why would she not be interested in him and why would he not be interested in her? It is like they should at the least get to know each other before discarding off like a sack of hot potatoes,” said Fred, indignantly.

“But first of all tell me why are you so much interested in making them, sorry, the correct word would be setting them up together?” asked Ellis raising one brow at Fred who visibly gulped at her question.

Leon who had already entered his cabin had no idea about this sub-plot which was revolving around him and a woman whom he had no idea about.

It was always something serious when Mr. Ford was in his cabin because since Leon had given nine years to this firm everyone expected that with this track record he was going to be made a partner of this firm within the next few months.

“Good morning Mr. Ford. Good morning Mr. Tharper I am sure I did not keep you waiting out for long?” asked Leon as soon as he entered the room.

It was not his common practice to come to office late but last night was nothing very usual either. He still could not find out any logical explanation for what that he recalled and was clearly etched in his memory but now was not the time to focus on his one-night stands and their disappearances. It was time to get back to work.

“Of course not, my boy. I knew your father in his days and he was a very good one at his job and I am of high hopes that you will be too,” said Mr. Tharper as he shook Leon’s hands. And Leon maintained his poker face and smile with great difficulty. He had left his family long back but the connections did not leave him alone at all. Leon had come to know a lot of things about his father and his family in the time when he was at law school, he had come to understand with great difficulty why his mother tried to distract herself from everything and remained busy with charity. He had come to understand why his family name was so hated in the world of law and most looked down upon amongst the ancestral families, he had then wished that if he could change his name he would. But he was never going to let go of his hard earned credentials just because of his father’s last name.

“Well I hope that I can live up to your expectations Mr. Tharper. Please will you tell me what I can help you with?” asked Leon taking his seat behind the table.

“It is an unusual case but I had expectations that such a case might happen later which is the reason why I had already made a contract making that up if it was not upheld I had the liberty to sue them and to my great satisfaction that day has arrived,” said Mr. Tharper with a smug look on his face.

“But Mr. Tharper, as your lawyer I would need you to be a bit more specific and descriptive,” said Leon taking a sip of his latte and gesturing towards the coffee-cup placed before his client.

“There is a small company of my friends’ which is not doing well for quite a number of years, a printing company you see. So I wanted to acquire this company since I wanted to use the resources for my business expansion so I proposed that his son be married to my daughter and then as a son-in-law he will be a stake-holder and a member of the Board of Directors. My friend was happy with the offer and signed the contract but his son did not agree and refused to marry when he came back from his overseas posting. I want to sue them for intentional infliction of harm and emotional distress to my daughter and me,” said Mr. Tharper without any flinch on his face.

Leon looked at him and then stopped himself from asking that if he was serious or not. Of course he was serious. Tharper was that kind of a man who would go to any lengths to get what he want whether by gifts or by intimidation and nothing could put past him under any circumstances. Leon hated men like them because he could see that his father was cut out of the same cloth like him.

“Well that and going against the contract which was signed, of course,” added Mr. Ford.

Leon was there but he was no more hearing what both the men were saying because he was back on the evening of his home-coming party where he was informed about his engagement by his mother when he was having his drink and he had left his home without any further question or answer and he had not even in this eleven years thought about what had happened to the girl with whom he was supposed to be engaged and now this case.

Fates were playing some kind of cruel joke on him and laughing at his expense.