'Back to the past when Sapphire was absent from work'
Ricardo P.O.V.
I am having some trouble in dealing with my competitor the Benedetti Corporation on this project that my company in undertaking. Unfortunately for me those people like to make small problems into big ones and its exhausting having to deal with them. If I had a choice, I would not have work with them, but it was not up to me, so I had to reign in my anger and frustration.
So, I gave them a choice of whether to accept the proposal I had prepared or terminate the project. They chose the most beneficial choice for them which is to approve the documents stating that they agree to the proposal.
Furthermore, there is another problem in the office where one of my secretaries has not shown up for work. She has not shown up for work for three days in a row now. Because of this her work is piling up and someone else needs to take over to help deal with her work.
Miss Evans is the name of the secretary that is missing, and I hope she has a good reason for her absence from work, if not she is not needed here anymore. A knock interrupt my thoughts. "Come in" I ordered the person outside the door. The door opens revealing the private detective I hired to do a background check on Miss Evans as she reminds me too much of certain someone.
I also ask if they were able to track her down to where she is right now. From what I see she is not the type to go MIA without a notice before hand. So, something might have happened to her. "Well do you have the information I ask for?" I say my voice echoing around the office.
The private detective whose name is Jonathan Jenkins sat down on the chair in front of my desk and then took out a file from his briefcase and set it on my desk. "Everything you need to know about her is in that file, and we were able to track her down. She is in the hospital right now recovering from a kidnapping incident" Jonathan says in a professional voice.
I am shocked to hear that Miss Evans was kidnapped but from what he says, she is recovering so I look through file containing her background details. And just as I suspected she has a connection to that person. So, it is not a coincidence that they have the same last name and look somewhat similar. It's because they are sisters.
I never knew that she had a sister all this while as all she told me was that she was an only child and that she ran away from home because she had a dispute with her parents and wanted to control her own life. I should of check her background to confirm whether she was telling the truth or not. But I didn't want to hurt her as she looks sad and hurt when she talks about her family.
I stop my thoughts there as I didn't want to remember her as that only causes me pain. I concentrate back on the file and found out that she is now currently in the Madeline hospital recovering from her injuries that she received during her capture by the kidnapper.
Apparently, Miss Evans has received serious injuries all over her body but is now recovering and will not be discharge until a week from now. So, her work needs to be delegated to other staff until Miss Evans is fit enough to come back to work. I heard someone clearing their throat, so I look up. I had forgotten that Mr. Jenkins is sitting in front of me. "Is there anything else that needs to be done Mr. Giovanni" he asks calmly.
"No there is nothing else thank you for your detailed work. Expect a little bonus for the sudden call" I told him sure that the bonus I gave him will be enough to cover for the sudden work. "Thank you. It is a pleasure to be working with you sir" he says in his professional voice afterwards standing up from his chair bowing his head at me then left the office closing the door quietly behind him.
I relax back into my chair and close my eyes for a little while. After a few minutes I open my eyes and start going through the documents that is on my desk when there is another knock on my door. I frown. I am not expecting anyone else until lunch time, but I call whoever was at the door to come in.
As I look up from my documents, I see that the person who came in is Miss Hastings. I frowned as no one comes to my office unless I call for them. She better have a good reason for bothering me right now. I reign in my annoyance and beckon her to come forward.
She is walking in an unsightly manner due to her clothing and that makes me frown further as her clothes are too tight for proper work attire. This needs to be address so that she will fix her unprofessional attire.
Nevertheless, I look at her and demanded, "why did you come to my office for Miss Hastings?" My voice making her jump in fright. She better have an important reason for her disturbance. She looks nervous now and her small frame began to tremble a little as I continue to give her my cold stare that I give to people who waste my time.
She manages to pull herself together and says, "I have evidence that Miss Evans has been purposely absent from work". I just look at her intrigued. Does she think that I won't investigate about Miss Evans disappearance, and she has the nerve to make up stories to my face? But I am curious about this evidence, so I ask her to show it to me.
Miss Hastings has this confident gleam in her eyes like she has her enemies' weak point in her hands. She should know better as the only reason I am going along with her lie right now is because I am curious as to what proof does she have that Miss Evans skipped work on purpose.
I took the file she handed me making sure our hands don't come into contact and flip it open, and what I see made me let out a chuckle. Did she think I am stupid enough to believe this nonsense?
In my hands right now is pictures of a brownish red hair woman dancing drunkenly in a club and holding a glass of what appear to be alcohol. All the pictures in the file shows the same woman but from different angles. The more I look at the picture the more I got mad and when I get mad let's just say nothing good comes out of it.
Even from one glance I can tell it is not Miss Evans, as one the hair is not the same shade of red as Miss Evans, and two the woman in the picture has a smaller build than Miss Evans. I look up at Miss Hastings with a furious glare and she must have thought I am mad at Miss Evans as she has that triumphant smirk on her face.
"What is this garbage?" I ask her calmly throwing the file on my desk making it slide to her. The smirk faded from her face as she swallows nervously as my reaction. "It's p-photos of Miss Evans-" she stutters but I cut her off. "Miss Hastings, do you think I am so gullible as to believe this ridiculous evidence you have shown me" I said in a serious tone.
She looks too scared to speak properly, so I continued, "you have not only wasted my time but also insulted my intelligence with this crap". She flinch and was about to say something to defend herself but again I cut her off by holding my hands up in a quiet gesture. I had enough of her. The only reason I kept her around despite her bad attitude is because surprisingly she does her job well, but I can barely stand her behavior now.
This will be the last chance I am giving her as there are others that can replace her. "Miss Hastings, I have just about enough of your bad behavior as I can stand. This is your last warning, any more trouble from you and you are fired. Understood?" I told her in a stern voice. "B-but-" she tries to argue but this time I repeated myself sternly, "Understood?".
This time she wisely says a quiet "yes sir". I nodded and dismissed her waiting until she close the door before I relax back on my chair exhausted having to deal with something unnecessary. I look at the clock on the wall and curse. I have wasted 15 minutes dealing with her nonsense. It's my fault for even entertaining her as my curiosity wasted my time.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts of all the distraction and got back to reading the documents that are piled up on my desk. I also made a small note in my mind about replacing Miss Hastings as soon as she makes trouble again. With that thought in mind I concentrate back on my work.
Sapphire P.O.V.
"M-my boss's ex-wife is my older s-sister" I said shocked beyond belief.
The older sister who ran away from home without a single word years ago was married to my boss. Bethany is also shocked by this news. "You mean your sister who ran away from home all those years ago was married to the Ricardo Giovanni!" she shouted once she got out of her shock. All I could manage was to nod my head.
I wonder if the reason why Mr. Giovanni is treating me harsher than other employees is because I resemble his ex-wife or does he know that I'm her sister. Did Ruby mention about me or our family while she was in a relationship with him.
I read again about what happen to their marriage and I am taken aback that Ruby was the one who ask for the divorce and no reason was stated on the website. Nobody but Ricardo Giovanni knows as to why Ruby Evans asked for a divorce and Ricardo has kept the entire divorce process private, so no one found out what happened.
I tried to find out what happen to my sister but there is nothing about her on the website until I reach the very bottom of the site and found out a place, she use to work at which was at a fashion shop called Viva in small city called Baker. That is quite far from here, but I can check the place out this weekend and see if I can find any information as to her were abouts.
So, I wrote down the address then switch off the laptop then got out of the chair and face Beth who might I say is still shocked from the news. Her mouth was in and O shaped, so I giggle a little as I close her mouth with my hand and that jarred her out of her shock. "So, you're going to find her, aren't you?" she says it as more of a statement then a question.
"Well of course I'm going to find her! I mean she left home years ago without a word and now I found out she was married. I need to talk to her and find out what happened to her" I explain.
"I guess" Beth says uncertainly. "Besides I know she must have had a good reason for asking for that divorce and I want to see if I can help her" I continued. Suddenly Beth snaps her fingers starling me and making me jump in surprise. "What is it?" I ask her while putting my hands on my chests.
"She must be the reason why your boss is so cold and distant to people now" Beth says in an overly excited voice. I just stared at her and ask, "how is Ruby the reason he is so cold and distant to people now?" She stares at me intently like I was slow as not to realize it.
"Dah! Ruby must have broken his heart and now it is hard for him to open up to people because he is afraid, he will get hurt again!" Beth explains excitedly almost bouncing from where she is standing. "You could be right," I nodded at her. "Why else has he never been seen with a woman to this day?" Beth questions.
"There could have been other reasons but that is not important right now. Are you gonna help me find my sister or not?" I ask her. Beth just grins and says, "helping you to find your long-lost sister? Of course I'm in!"