The call came the day before I started working at the office.
Actually—if I'm being honest—it's the reason I ended up there in the first place.
I was in my room, packing half-heartedly for the trip I wasn't even sure I wantedto go on, when my phone lit up with an unknown number. I almost let it ring out. Almost. Something about it made me pick up.
The voice on the other end was Calm. Too calm. "You don't know me."
"But I know someone connected to you. Someone you will want to pay attention to."
My eyebrows dragged together. "Who?"
A short pause. Just long enough to annoy me.
"That's not important yet," the person said. "What matters is what's happening around her. Around your family's media company."
Her?
I stood still.
"You think you don't know her," the voice cut in, as if they'd been waiting for me to say that. "But you will. Sooner than you expect."
A faint chill crawled down my spine, and I hated that it did.
"If you want the truth… go to the office tomorrow," the caller continued. "Everything starts there."
I opened my mouth to demand more, but the line clicked.
Just like that.
Silence.
I stared at my phone for a long time afterward, replaying the voice, the words, the strange weight behind them. I didn't know who the girl was. I didn't even know if the call was real or just some elaborate prank.
But it stuck with me.
But if I went there then all hell was going to break loose.
I knew fully well that Adrian wasn't going to welcome me with smiles.
But curiosity drove me there the next morning, anyway.
To my surprise he wasn't in the office.
I settled into his office trying to buff down the stack of papers pulling in his desk.
Around noon, I called for Miss Jazmyne — I noticed most of the notes need to be sorted through on Adrian's desk were hers.
I walked up to his windows looking up at the skies while waiting for her.
That was when she walked in.
All smiles,
"Adrian?" She had said softly, stepping closer.
I turned.
Watching her closely.
I had seen her before.
On the day the interns orientation.
The day that dad forced Adrian to stay home so I took the opportunity to go to the office in his stance.
I saw the moment it clicked in her mind.
I smiled, maybe too stiffly because she might be the 'her' he was referring to.
"You came quickly," I said, studying her.
"Of course," She replied now weakly trying to force a smile. "I didn't think you'd be back so soon."
I tilted my head slightly, studying her more, realizing I knew her not just from the orientation, before that — way before that.
"Back?" I echoed not sure of what she was talking about but I knew it was definitely related to Adrian.
"Yes," She said, forcing a small laugh. "From the hospital."
Silence flowed through the room for a mili-second before I answered.
"The… hospital," I repeated slowly,
Smiling sharper than before — not because I was happy but because I was intrigued—"Right."
My eyes flicked briefly to the desk, where a folder lay open — Her notes, with my neat clean handwriting at the sides and the ends — pointing out mistakes.
Her eyes followed mine — lingering on the notes for a moment before taking a step back.
I crossed the room in two slow steps, stopping just close enough to catch the familiar Jazmine scent I knew. Just now mixed with a faint scent of vanilla.
"We meet again, Miss Jazmyne," I said softly.
Almost unsure but with this unknown certainty.
Watching the moment she realized she had just trapped herself in a trap.
Except she didn't know, she had set the trap herself.