Calvin looked at his watch for the umpteenth time. It was already 9am and Cassie was yet to arrive at work. He wanted to apologize for the previous night. He actually couldn't blame her for slapping him yesterday, it was a spontaneous action, she hadn't expected him to do what he did. He just hoped that she hadn't quit her job because of him. He knew that he was falling in love with this secretary of his who barely spoke to him. He remembered her face that night and the tears which had come up as a result of whatever she was thinking. He knew that she was troubled and that she would almost never trust him again. So much for uncontrolled emotions!
      Again, Calvin glared at his watch. It was 12:00pm. He was supposed to close for the day at 6:00pm but he couldn't take it any longer. He wanted to see Cassie and win her back, if not his life, then back to her job where he could try to win her heart. She still had to look for a wife for him, didn't she? A small smile played on his lips as he searched for her application letter. Finding it, he copied the address on his notepad and headed towards the parking lot.

    *****************************
Cassie locked the front door to her house and had just stepped out of the veranda when a black SUV pulled into the compound. Cassie looked at her watch. It was about two hours to when her mother would be discharged. Perhaps, she could spare a few minutes for the person inside the car who obviously knew the most inappropriate time to arrive and had chosen then to come. She wasn't expecting any visitors today so who was this?
     Her trial of thoughts came to an abrupt stop as Calvin stepped out of the car.
     He looked at her and she looked back. Each one's eyes holding questions that needed to be answered and seeking those answers in the others eyes.
      Calvin couldn't keep it up for long. He broke the silence first.
    "Good day Ms. Wilson. You weren't at work today. I came to ask why."
    Cassie wondered whether to tell him the truth. Considering that she had only given him half answers each time he was curious. As she was about to give him a half answer, Claire walked in not suspecting Calvin's ignorance and asked.
    "Cassie, how are you? Are you set? Your mom should have been cleared and discharged by now."
      Cassie frowned. He turned and directed a questioning glance at Cassie who immediately averted her eyes looking guilty. Seeing that she wasn't willing to speak, he turned to Claire.
      "Ms. Claire, I believe that's your name. Would you please tell me what is going on here."
  Claire still not aware of the situation, responded happily.
     "Sir, Cassie's mother just under went a heart surgery and is supposed to be discharged today."
Understanding immediately dawned on Mr. Carter. This explained why she had accepted to find him a wife after missing work unexpectedly. But the understanding was quickly shadowed by disappointment as he realized that Cassie had purposely kept everything secret not even trusting him with the barest details.
    Cassie answered Claire in her normal cool voice - the voice she hid from people. The one that portrayed who she really was.
     "Claire, mom should be discharged in about an hour and half from now, so we had better get going."
   Calvin was tongue tied. He couldn't believe that this was his secretary. Her voice before now was nice, but he just couldn't believe that she had soft, silly tone of voice. As Cassie began to walk towards Claire, Calvin held her hand and asked.
   "Can I drive you to the hospital?"    "It's the least I could do since you decided not to inform me of anything."
  Cassie was about to refuse but Calvin's stare was so intense telling her that he wasn't happy about her being secretive so she simply just nodded.
       They all headed towards the car as Claire gave Calvin directions. Soon they were on their way. As Cassie was about to enter the car, the hair on the back of her neck rose as if she were being watched. She stopped and looked around attracting questioning looks from Calvin and Claire. She simply shrugged off the feeling and entered the car.
    Again the man watched in the shadows. He had followed Calvin's car from a distance without being noticed. Now that he knew the girl's house, and had planted a spy in the company, all that was left was for the girl to fall right into his trap.