๐Ÿ‘‘ Chapter Fourteen ๐Ÿ‘‘

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MARINI'S POV

Ever since I started my company I've had a few mishaps here and there but I was always able to handle it. It was never anything that serious, unruly clients, demanding investors, a few missed payments and dealing with the law. But never in those five years had I ever had to deal with something as serious as a workers strike. There was always that one or two employees who liked to make trouble but a whole branch was a different issue. It was going to be all over the news and it would cause a scandal.

I couldn't afford a scandal, in this business the saying there's no such thing as bad press ' didn't apply. If word got out about this then it'd mean loss of business. One branch could easily cost me loss of business all my other branches and that wouldn't be fair to my workers. I needed to get a handle on this and fast.

I sat in what was previously Martin's office, my now very fired ex manager. Martin was seated next to Caleb his subordinate both of them squirming under my hard gaze.

We had been in here for ten minutes after I had stopped their stupid fight. I was still fighting with myself to not grab Isaac's gun and shoot both of them. I was that angry.

"Caleb I want a straight answer from you and if you dare lie to me, you'll not like the consequences. Did you or did you not have an idea of what Martin was up to?" I asked wanting to know who I could and couldn't trust.

What baffled me the most was that I had personally vetted Martin for this job. I'd transferred him from my Nairobi office as a promotion and now he was going behind my back and ruining all my hard work. He'd pay for this.

"Ma'am I promise you I was in the dark." He reassured me.

He looked sincere and I believed him but I still had to be careful. Once bitten twice shy.

"Is that true Martin? If you lie to me to cover for him and I discover the truth, the lawsuit you will face will be so much worse than your brain can fathom." I threatened the shivering man.

He better be scared because by the time I was done with him, he would wish he had never messed with me.

"Yes ma'am, it was all me." He stuttered out.

"Okay good." I replied and pressed the intercom.

"You called." Isaac replied poking his head into the office.

He had thought really fast outside with the whole shooting the ground idea and I had no idea what I would have done without him. He had saved me out there.

"You can call the officers in please." I requested him and without another word he disappeared again.

I had called the police before getting in here with my two suspects and had asked Isaac to hold them outside while I did a little interrogation of my own before I handed the right culprit over to the authorities.

"Madam please don't do this. I'm sorry." A scared looking Martin begged on his knees next to me.

I was a very fair and just boss if you asked any of my employees. I was kind to them, paid them well with reasonable working hours and when work was good, they all got bonuses. So for one of them to betray me and his subordinates just rubbed me off all wrong. I led by example so nobody would use me as an excuse to do wrong.

"Get off the floor Martin. You knew what you were doing was wrong and yet you still did it. It's time for you to reap what you sowed." I replied looking at him with disdain.

Caleb was looking at me not knowing what to do either. For now he was good unless I realized otherwise.

Martin made the mistake of grabbing for my leg just as Isaac walked back into the room. I know he was just doing his job but Isaac had never looked more scary than when he walked across the room and lifted Martin off me by the collar if his shirt. He picked him up as if he was a trash bag, dirty and light.

"Don't you dare touch her you filthy scumbag." Isaac seethed dragging Martin to where two police officers stood by the door.

"I'm sorry please forgive me. I didn't mean to." Martin begged.

At this point I don't think I'd ever be able to get rid of Isaac. I didn't know just how much I needed him until then.

"Officers thank you for coming. Please arrest this man on the case of fraud. Book him and my lawyers will be with you in the morning to deal with him. And if I haven't made it clear enough Martin, you're fired and I'll make you pay for all this." I promised.

It was almost five in the evening and my lawyers wouldn't be here until morning but Martin was still going to spend the night in jail. He deserved it after all he was putting me through.

They read him his rights before cuffing him and literary carrying him out of there begging and crying for me to have mercy on him.

"Anything else ma'am." Isaac asked standing by the door.

"A cup of coffee please and pain killers. Oh wait you're not my assistant." I corrected myself rubbing my temples due to the pounding headache I was having.

"It's okay anything to help." Isaac reassured me with a smile.

"Thank you Isaac." I smiled back.

He nodded at me before exiting the office leaving me with Caleb who had been silent the whole time. Caleb was a nice guy; we had interacted a few times and he was a couple of years older than me. He had recently gotten married and was was expecting his first born. I didn't know all my employees by detail but I tended to keep up with those in the higher ranks. I just hoped he wasn't a spoiled seed like his former boss was.

"Can I say something please ma'am?" He pleaded.

"Go ahead." I instructed.

"I am so sorry about all this. If I had any idea of what was truly going on before it escalated to this point I would not have hesitated to let you know. I love my job and I love working for you and would not do anything to jeopardize that. You have to believe me miss." He pleaded.

I looked at him and realized that he was being honest. One look at Martin and you could tell he was guilty as sin due to his cocky attitude but Caleb looked kind and sincere and I had to trust my gut on this one. Just because I had failed with Martin doesn't mean I was wrong with Caleb.

"It's okay Caleb I believe you."I reassured him with a kind smile.

"Thank you ma'am." He appreciated with a smile of his own looking relieved.

"You're welcome. Now go outside call your wife and tell her you'll be working late all week starting today. We have lots to do. On your way back grab me all the files you can find on the finances from the past six months." I instructed.

"Yes ma'am." He replied before shooting out of the chair, phone already in hand.

I chucked at his behavior before leaning back to catch my breath. The situation I was in was very stressing and it demanded my full attention. I'd probably be around for a week or two making sure that was everything was running smoothly before heading back to Nairobi. My head was pounding and my thoughts running wild at a hundred kilometers per minute and I had yet to start dealing with the mess at hand.

First thing first, I needed to call my lawyers and update them on what was going on before trying to find a way to get this story out of the media. That means calling every media house in the city and cutting the story before it made the headlines.

The door opened and I sat up. Isaac walked in and placed a cup of coffee on the desk and handed me two tablets and a bottle of water. I washed the pills down with water real quick hoping to get rid of the headache fast.

"Are you okay?" Isaac asked concerned.

"No but I will be" I assured him.

"Anything I can do to help?" He asked.

"Well if you have enough bullets left we can shoot every media personnel who witnessed the strike and that would solve one problem." I replied jokingly.

"The handgun wouldn't be that effective but the sniper riffle would be perfect. Too bad I left it back home." Isaac joked back making me chuckle.

"Thanks Isaac but I don't think there's anything you can do. This is for me to handle. I'll be pulling overtime so if you want to you can head back to the hotel and get some rest." I informed him knowing I was going to be at the office for a while.

"You know we're a package deal. I go where you go and stay where you are." Isaac replied making me smile.

"Thank you now get out of here. I need to get to work to contain this wildfire before it consumes us all." I dismissed.

"Yes ma'am. Call me if you need me, I'll be right outside." He informed me.

"I will." I replied watching him walk out.

When the door closed firmly behind him I grabbed my phone and updated Joan of the situation. I was surprised she was still at work but she told me she had been waiting for my call that's why she hadn't gone home yet. Talk about model employee of the year. Now that was the kind of loyalty that I was looking for.

I asked her to forward me the numbers of all media houses in Mombasa and call my lawyers to be at the coast first thing in the morning and help me sue Martin for all his money's worth.

After I was done talking to Joan I called both my sisters and informed them of the situation. I didn't want them worrying too much. When Amani told me that she and Jeremy had picked up Kim soon after we left I felt like an idiot. I had forgotten all about that beautiful dog in the midst of all the chaos. Thank God for Isaacs quick thinking.

Caleb came back just as I ended my call with Amani and was about to start dealing with the media houses. Needed to talk to all of them before the seven o'clock news and I found myself in the headlines.

"Here are all the financial files I could find. There's more in his computer." Caleb informed me placing the files in the desk and pointing to Martin's laptop.

"You get cracking on that and while you're at it send an email to every employee of this branch asking them to be here by nine am sharp for an important meeting. Make sure to emphasize that I'm the one who has personally called for that meeting and anyone not in attendance will actually get to loose their job." I instructed.

I knew I was being a little too harsh but I was at the end of my rope. I was trying to be considerate but this was my company and I needed to get it back in track before I lost any more clients. Mombasa was one of my top branches because of the beach so I couldn't afford to loose any more working days.

"Yes ma'am." He replied and we both got to work.

Joan had already sent me the contact details I needed and I got dialling. Caleb helped when he was done emailing his colleagues.

I made a lot of promises for interviews to get the story not to air. I would not be able to fulfill them all but I would find a way to make it up to them for losing such a good story. It would have been good for them but terrible for me.

After that crisis was averted we got to work on finding when the whole problem started so we could solve it from the root and make sure it was never repeated again. Talk about a long night ahead. I was just grateful that Isaac was there with me, outside that door waiting for me. I know it was his job but I had given him the option to leave and he hadn't so I chose to believe that he was there by choice and that really comforted me.

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I don't know why but for some reason I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter which means it's going to be a good one.

Stay safe y'all and thank you for reading, voting and commenting.

I love you. Be blessed.

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