Rise of the lowly janitor

Amiss

*Jake POV*

I am driving through the busiest intersection that’s two blocks away from the highest office on land when Tanya brings her phone to my face.

“Tanya!”

Now that she has decided to be a full time passenger in her own car, she forgets that a driver needs to focus and see the way.

She ignores my tone and waves the phone in front of me.

“Jake, look.”

“This is the busiest intersection here, Tanya. I will crash your car and cause a huge accident if I look at whatever that is,” I snap before slamming on the breaks. Only then does she see that we almost bumped the car in front of us. Her phone was blocking my vision and I could not see that the traffic had come to a sudden standstill.

“Sorry,” she says with a squeaky sulking voice.

Great, now she is sulking instead of acknowledging her mistake. I don’t understand why women are so emotional about these things. Now I am feeling bad for snapping at her.

Fine, maybe I should not have snapped. The truth is I am on urge since Leticia’s betrayal and the president’s attack. I’ve always felt like a piece of me was missing, that feeling has intensified now. The many theories about my identity on the net are raising other questions about my parents I never had before.

Two hours ago, a dishonourable discharged special forces officer claimed on social media that a man who looked exactly like me and a woman who meets the description of my mother were ‘ghost agents’ who operated in the shadows and whose job were ‘off the book’ missions which are classified even to the military bosses.

I know that besides my eyes, I look exactly like my dad, but I also know that he was an ordinary man. I don’t remember all the details about my parents but I know that they both ran a small internet cafe’ shop at Lily town’s Main Street. I spent a lot of time there before they died.

My mind has trailed off when it gets snapped back by Tanya’s next statement.

“You multitasked just fine yesterday. I just wanted you to see this,” she adds and turns away from me.

I can’t believe this! She suddenly thinks I am some supernatural creature because I can swim, fight and shoot with both my hands but I am smart enough not to say this to her.

“I am sorry for shouting at you, Gorgeous. How about you tell me what’s happening and I can safely get us to our destination and back?”

She looks at me with misty eyes and away again. Argh, now I feel like an ass.

She has also taken a hit on social media because of me. The footage of her running into my arms when I walked out of the racing club has also been threading. Her history with wealthy and celebrity men has been revitalised by many to support the allegations that I can’t be an ordinary person.

“If Jake is a nobody, our Miss Asherway would not be with him. We all know her types….”

I know that she hates that part of her history but she has not even once complained. I hate that she’s being dragged into all of this because she chose to be with me.

“Babe, please look at me. I would hate myself if I as much as cause a stretch on that irresistible body. Don’t you know that I can’t afford to cause an accident with a precious passenger on board?”

I dig into my charming side and she completely melts. That’s my girl. It really does not take much to get a smile out of her but I am utterly shocked when she tells me what she wanted me to see.

I look at her, flabbergasted. She has repeated the sentence three times already but I can’t believe it.

“He is dead? You are kidding, right?”

I don’t know any sane person who would joke about something like this, but how can a man I just spoke to, who even offered me a job, be dead?

“That’s what the media is reporting,” she replies and turns on the radio.

The story is already breaking news with the spokesperson confirming the reports.

“He was in perfect health, no diseases and loved to exercise. The preliminary results points to a massive heart attack,” the spokesperson says and condolences are already pouring in from all over the country.

“A massive heart attack on a guy who was in perfect health? How does that even make sense?”

“I don’t know, Jake. Genetics maybe,” she suggest, but I just can’t wrap my head around it at all.

A part of me feels like this is too much of a coincidence but then again I have my head all over the place.

A few minutes later, we have passed the busy intersection and the traffic has completely cleared.

The entrance to the presidential building is very smooth. The guards all know about my appointment and have a lot to say about the footage of me saving the president. I really don’t know how Tanya and celebrities deal with all this attention because I hate people I don’t even know discussing and writing about my personal life.

Tanya decides to hang around the building and explore the exhibition area. Being Miss Asherway does carry a lot of benefits, she is soon the main attraction. I leave her signing autographs and taking photos with the excited visitors.

After five searches, I end up outside the door on the fifth floor and I am a nervous wreck.

The door swings open before I could knock and I completely freeze. I can’t believe that I am really here.

“Jake, come in.”

The tall, stout man in late forties beams, snapping me out of my initial shock. Unlike yesterday, he looks in command like he usually is on television.

“Mr President.”

He raises his eyebrow. “Really? I thought we were way passed that.”

He sounds amused and even looks relaxed, but something is completely off…