Chapter 66 - Where's Sky?

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Leon returned home late at night after staying for a few days at his parents' mansion. While he unpacked his luggage, Leon heard Sky whining constantly at the entrance door.

"What is it, Sky?" Leon went down to check on her.

The dog barked at him in response.

"Waiting for Hiromi?" asked Leon. Sky whined at her name.

Leon slapped his forehead. "What's it 'bout her that you like so much? The treats that she spoiled you with? You know that I don't like her. At least there's peace when she isn't around."

Sky tilted her head at Leon and barked, and then glanced at the door, anticipating for Hiromi's return.

"Come back up now," he patted his knees to get Sky's attention, but the dog refused to budge.

"Fine, I'll leave you to it. Good night, girl!" He ruffled her head and went upstairs to his room and slept.

———-

The next morning was work day as usual. Nothing felt out of the ordinary until Hiroshi received a call from Dolce & Gabbana.

"What do you mean Hiromi's not at work today?" he knitted his eyebrows together.

"We waited too long. I've called and messaged her a few times but received no response. We take it quite seriously if anyone doesn't appear on their first day of work without a valid reason," explained the creative director.

"I'll check up on her and get back to you ASAP," assured Hiroshi.

"If you're not a Fujita, we would've fired her, you know?"

"I understand. I'm sorry this is happening. Thank you very much for your kind understanding," Hiroshi hung up the phone. This was so not like Hiromi at all. She was so infused with her phone that she could never go a single minute without it. Hiroshi called her a few times and messaged her, but she never responded. He began to worry and placed a video call to Leon.

"What is it?" Leon rubbed his eyes, annoyed that his sleep was disturbed. "Do you know what time is it?"

"I've been trying to get in touch with Hiromi many times. Is she home?" asked Hiroshi.

"Don't know, don't care," Leon responded curtly.

"Look, I really need your help. Can you please check if she's home?"

"What am I? Her babysitter?"

"I'm not calling you to joke on something like this," Hiroshi swallowed hard. "Please Leon, this is urgent. Please?"

Leon sighed, "Fine."

Reluctantly, he got out of the bed and knocked on her room door, "Hiromi? Hiromi!"

No answer. When Leon knocked on her door one more time, the door opened ajar by itself. He realised it was not locked.

"Hiromi?" he opened the door slowly and saw she was not in. Her Dolce & Gabbana clothes for her first day at work laid neatly on her sofa chair.

"I can see the clothes she would wear to work. She usually does that the day before she goes out," said Hiroshi as he observed on the video. "Can you check the other parts of the house?"

"Seriously?" Leon was not too pleased.

"Please Leon, pretty please," begged Hiroshi, sounding anxious.

Grudgingly, Leon went around the house with quick glances in every room, calling out Hiromi's name while keeping the phone upright so that Hiroshi could see that he searched the house thoroughly. He then went down to the front and back yards and called out Hiromi's name, but she was not there.

Leon switched the camera screen back to himself and said, "Little missy's not around."

Hiroshi rubbed his brows with a worried look, "When was the last time you saw her?"

"Last week. The day I left to see my parents."

"Can you please let me know when she's back?" pleaded Hiroshi.

"Okay, okay," Leon yawned. "Now let me go back and sleep!"

———

Vinny, Anna, Evan and the other bodyguards helped pack the last of Leon's items. Tomorrow, he was moving out of the premises. He also promised to pay everyone extra for their time.

"All righty! Looking forward to my new apartment and be rid of the Fujita stench in this place!" exclaimed Leon. "Can't believe this Fujita joker wants me to nanny his sister."

"Freedom indeed," Anna remarked. "She's a rude, spoilt brat, no doubt about that. But it's strange that she won't appear on her first day of work at such a well-known fashion brand."

"Why would she need to work if she's got daddy's money?" said Vinny. "Now that Fujita's hired you, I feel sorry for you that you're stuck cleaning up after her for a lifetime. But doing favours for the Fujitas will get you handsomely rewarded."

Anna's smile erased at Vinny's crude remark, "May I remind you that it's a paid job and that I work my way up without favours? I'm proud of what I do!"

"Without Leon, you'd think you'll be able to work for such big clientele?"

"The same goes for you," Evan added in defense of Anna. "I hope you did not open your legs to get to where you're at, cos you're clearly not Leon's type."

Anna giggled with Evan, causing Vinny to go steaming red, "Hands at work are better than legs that spread!"

"And brains are better than beauty," said Leon as he carried the last box of his items down the stairs, leaving Vinny's face even redder. Her phone rang just in time to rescue her from the awkward situation and she excused herself into the backyard to answer it.

"She's getting nastier each day. I wonder what's gotten to her?" Anna shook her head. Evan agreed with a nod.

"Well, that should be all," said Leon as he counted the boxes for the movers to collect tomorrow. It took a much shorter time to pack since he did not have as many possessions as he did in the penthouse.

"Vinny? Vinny!" he called out but she did not respond.

"She's at the backyard," Anna pointed to the back.

Leon went to the backyard and saw her. Vinny did not notice him as her back was facing him. As he approached her, the words she spoke on the phone sounded clearer with each step.

"....Of course! Hiromi's always all over him....Ariel? He's still into her but as anyone can see, her eyes are set on Hiroshi...Yes, Leon's moving out tomorrow to the new apartment at the address I shared with you. We'll be there at about 2pm. Just make sure your photographers are there around that time.....Okay, so how soon will I get my payment?"

"Payment?" Leon repeated her last word.

Vinny jumped in fright and dropped her phone. Her countenance went white when she turned around and saw her boss standing behind her.

Leon picked up her phone and saw on her screen that it was to the editor of US Weekly magazine.

In utter shock and disgust, Leon yelled into the phone, "This is Leon Waltz! If you publish the details of my private life, I'll not hesitate to sue you!" He hung up.

"So, it was you who have been selling me out all this while? Under my nose?"

Vinny swallowed hard, "I-I can explain, Leon...I-"

"You betrayed me! How could you do this!!" Leon was infuriated. Evan and Anna ran out to the backyard as soon as they heard the commotion. They watched in surprise at Leon interrogating Vinny.

"So the gossip about my breakdown, my private life, the penthouse rooms where Ariel and Andy stayed, the rehab - all these were sold by YOU?"

Evan and Anna exchanged shocked glances with jaws dropped. The last person they ever expected to sell out Leon was Vinny.

"You're the culprit behind this and you tried to push the blame on us! How could you!" Anna scolded her.

Vinny folded her arms and looked away.

"How long have you been doing this?!" Leon expressed his disbelief and betrayal at the personal assistant whom he had trusted for years.

"Since your meltdown," she muttered without looking at him in the eye.

"Why?" Leon shook his head. "Just why?!"

Vinny mustered the courage to finally look him in the eye, "I once felt something for you, you know? But I never got the attention I deserved. I've been your beck and call, and I thought that if I tried and tried, you'll realise that I've always been there for you. I was wrong. You treat many of your employees like dirt. I'll never forget how I was inappropriately touched by the CEO of Golf Ventures in front of you, and you did NOTHING. Instead, money was more important than my pain!"

Everyone was shocked at Vinny's words, including Leon. No doubt, his expression of pain was visible, and so was Vinny's. Even though Vinny was his employee, she felt like family in some ways to him.

"You could've told me all these without seeking the press!" Leon seethed.

"I wanted you to feel that same pain of betrayal you've given me. To you, it's nothing when a woman is being touched without her consent. But you're a playboy, what do you understand about pain?"

Leon was pricked. It reminded him of how Ariel was not comfortable with his touch too. And then, there were Hiromi's unwanted advances on his body without consent. He knew first hand how violating it felt.

"I know what I did will get me fired and sued. So before you do, I QUIT," she snatched her phone from his hand and stormed off.

"Vinny!" he cried out.

"What!? Vinny spun around.

Leon let out a heavy sigh, "I'm sorry I'd hurt you."

She raised her brows in astonishment at the once arrogant boss she knew who was now humble enough to acknowledge her pain. Even Anna and Evan were speechless. After pausing in silence for a moment, Vinny walked off, brushing past Evan and Anna without a word of goodbye.

Anna and Evan rushed to Leon. While Evan patted his back to comfort him, Anna remarked, "Good riddance, that traitor! I'm so sorry, Leon. It's not fair on you."

Leon took a deep breath, still reeling from the hurt and disbelief. He called Arnold immediately to notify him of what happened.

"What? Vinny? Of all people? No way!" Arnold gasped out loud.

"Yeah. Inform and prepare our PR team at once about this. US Weekly's already on my tail."

"Gotcha! I'll handle this so don't worry. Meanwhile, happy moving!" said Arnold and they ended the conversation.

One of the bodyguards came into the backyard, offering a chocolate ice cream on a waffle cone to Evan.

"For me? Really?" Evan took the ice cream from him. "And it's free from the ice cream man, you say? What's so special that he's giving away his ice cream for free?"

"He said it's "Bodyguard's Day" cos he noticed how hard we work. Strange man, but who can refuse free ice cream?" the bodyguard chuckled as he licked off the strawberry ice cream in his hand.

Evan shook his head with a laugh and ate.

"Nothing for me?" asked Leon.

"Sorry boss, nope. The ice cream man insisted it's strictly for bodyguards else he won't give out any more free ice cream, in the future," said the bodyguard.

Leon and Anna exchanged surprised glances and chuckled. Paolo, the ice cream man was as weird as he was generous.

Still, some treats would have been nice to nurse his betrayed heart. He felt the need to hug his furry friend for comfort.

"Sky...Sky!" he called out, but Sky did not respond. That was strange since Sky always responded to his calls.

Leon searched the house for her, including the back and front yards. When he returned inside the house, he looked very worried.

"You okay there, Leon?" asked Anna.

"Where's Sky?!"


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