Unresolved

Chapter 2: Suspicious Detail

The chairman was quick to exit the show, the room plunged into silence for a while with only the sound of Timmy tapping a pen against the table. Verochka knew something was amiss. 

"I am only here to offer ideas for a better software launch and investment aspects. I will more or less clear the path for your process but I hope you comply with my demands for information every now and then." Jaxtyn spoke, his voice held an authority that commanded the room. Timmy nodded his head almost instantly but Verochka stayed put. She didn't understand his role in the project and from the way he straightened she knew he was hiding something too. It was a very small movement, insignificant to others in the room but she knew what it meant, she had known him once. 

They were just building a software product, what use was he in the day to day of the product development? She was starting to question the secrecy of the whole deal. Why wasn't she allowed to talk about it? Why was an external inspector required, that too from a high post and a completely different field? It was obvious that is what he was. The project was highly technical, while it's application was commercial the process to it involved very little business expertise. 

The meeting dragged on for another hour, brainstorming on the prototype. Jaxtyn had little to add, as she had expected. She continued on ignoring his presence that would get overbearing at times. The time to process what happened wasn't really given to her, she was working on instinct at that point. She could feel the heat of his gaze and it made her forget her words. The clock struck six and she couldn't have been anymore happy to leave the toxicity of the room. Apparently her colleagues thought the same and were faster than her to ditch the room, leaving her behind with him. 

"So-" She started but the scrapping of a chair against the floor cut her off, Jaxtyn paid no attention to her and it angered her.

"Excuse me." She said, her voice loud and clear. It stopped him in his tracks and made him look back at her with a raised eyebrow. "I hope we can behave like professionals till the end of the project."

"Ironic coming from you." He didn't elaborate but his derogatory tone was enough to make her feel small and petty. Before she could hiss a retort, he was out of her sight but her mind still replayed the incident. She didn't understand him. What had she ever done to him? She stood up to her family for him. All for what? For him to just stab her in the back and do exactly what they had warned he would do- break her teenage heart. 

The lights glided past her as she drove, the city was buzzing with life. Office goers driving back home, teenagers littering the sidewalks in gangs and couples walking close in thick coats as the temperature lowered. Her apartment was a twenty minute drive from her office, the building bang in the middle of the city. She enjoyed driving through the city even with the traffic that interrupted her at every second. She couldn't savour the relaxing sensation as her mind was crowded with questions and doubts. There used to be a time that they could understand each other without words. Just expressions. 

He had no right to be angry at her, she was the one he left in the dust. Not a phone call, not even the common courtesy to pick up when she called. She must have left him dozens of messages only to be left at unread. He vanished completely and had the audacity of looking down at her. 

Her apartment was too big for just for one person, she often felt lonely wandering the hall in the middle of the night. A pet was ideal for her lifestyle but she couldn't bear the thought of having to leave the poor being alone all day while she sat in-front of a computer miles away. Verochka had been living apart from her parents for about seven years, though the majority of that time she had a roommate. With a promotion she landed herself an apartment that was her ideal home. Guess when you grow up with two brothers invading your privacy, living alone starts to seem ideal. 

Her phone rang, it was routine for her mother to call to check up on her, it was the only time they both were free. Verochka's mother, Saysta, worked at a hospital as a nurse with twelve hour long shifts. It had been so since she was born. While it was so, she never felt the loss of attention from her parents, not any more than any other child. 

"Hey, mom." Verochka balanced the phone on her shoulder and took out the food she had ordered.

"Did you have dinner?" She could hear the sleep in her voice. Ever since she was a little girl, she had seen her mother barely get five hours of sleep in a day and not much had changed even after she moved out.

"No, just heating it up. Guess who I'm working with on the new software?" Verochka felt nervous for some reason. 

"The President?" 

"Sure," She scoffed, "Jaxtyn Shields, well, he goes by Jaxtyn Memori now."

There was a long pause, she would've thought that the line got cut if not for the screen reading the time. Her mother was just shocked beyond words. 

"Oh." Was all she managed after the stretch of silence. 

"Yeah, before you start lecturing me; I will not fall in love with him. Not again." Her family, all but her father, had been quite vocal about their hate for Jaxtyn. Her father made no comment on him or her relationship with him even when her brothers made it a point to discuss it on an open forum.

"You guessed my actions accurately, Ver. We don't want a repeat of your past." Saysta hesitated before continuing, "Your father wanted me to tell you that Uncle Wayne's son was talking fondly of you. Would yo-" 

Absolutely not! We've gone over this. I will marry on my own, or not at all." It wasn't new, having "the talk" with her parents. She was twenty seven, not fifty. It wasn't like she was against arranged marriages as a concept, she didn't want it for herself. Perhaps that's why her father kept himself out of the loud arguments, working silently to set up her marriage. 

A small part of her wished that she would meet a man and just know. Just know that he was the one she could spend all her life. She had only met one person fitting the bill and she could hardly consider a bitter high school romance to be the bar. 

"Okay, if you happen to change your mind be sure to give me a call." Verochka did not comment on it further. The topic changed and they talked about other things happening in their lives.

Verochka went to bed with a lot of thoughts wrecking havoc in her mind. When her alarm rang the next morning, she would've had about four hours of sleep at most. 

"Good morning!" Jamie greeted her enthusiastically, following her to her cubicle.

"I know you can't tell me anything about the project, I already went over it with Jake. Though, I heard it was the Jaxtyn Memori who they hired to be the consultant. Is he like how they define him to be?" Verochka wanted to roll her eyes at her friend but she settled for a shrug and mindlessly arranged her desk. 

"I don't know, how do they define him?" Verchka had forced herself to remain nonchalant. Over the years her hands itched to type out his name and stalk him but she stopped herself. Everytime she would see a reminder of their life together it brought her the pain of his absence. 

"Only that he is the most eligible bachelor in the market. Rumour has it, he left the state back in his teens to spite his dad. Alexander Sheilds is infamous for his scandals in the business, you must know, it was the talk of the market. Apparently, Jaxtyn Memori took up investment to get back at his father. Memori was his mother's maiden name that he took after graduating." Verochka took in her words but didn't know what to make of it. She knew parts of it from the horses mouth yet she couldn't make head or tail of the matter. Why leave only to come back?

"Forget all the corporate drama. Tell me how he looks!" She squealed, Verochka immediately pictured him. Though, it wasn't the man she met the previous day that she recalled, she saw the teenage Jaxtyn, beautiful in a dangerous way. His hair falling across his forehead, often hiding the pain in his soulful eyes. His chiseled jaw that ticked every-time she brought up his past. His lips always drawn in a line, she treasured each moment they pulled up to smile. 

"I'm taking the lost look to imply he was every bit of a fantasy?" Verochka jerked back to reality, the image of a smiling Jaxtyn vanishing from existence. She just shook her head and laughed along with her. 

He was every bit of her nightmare. 

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