The ride was quite rough and anger filled. Traits he had learned to let go of as they caused him nothing but destruction. For a man who spent decades honing his new personality, Sullivan was worried it might be thinning at the edge, ready to fray if he wasn't too careful.
If Gigi and her foolish ex had been the ones he saw, he wouldn't need to fret so much but Sullivan knew the involvement of this person changed a lot of things. On the other hand, it could be a mere coincidence that he had been there at that exact time. He, like everyone else, could just be an onlooker.
But you don't find a fox parading the house of a rabbit on a chaotic day and not find it suspicious. He could bet his instincts that he was there for no good. And considering his actions in the past—the ones that caused the bridge between them—he was better safe than saving. As his car sped through the traffic, he kept calculating in his head, the best way to handle the situation.
He already had a gun as he would hate reverting to his old self and staining his hands with a traitor's blood. Even though he knew within himself as he fast approached the row of massive buildings that it wouldn't stop him from losing control.
Anna had gotten to work a little later than usual because she chose to avoid Sullivan. Unfortunately for her, Zara, whom she was slowly building a friendship with, wasn't in attendance and she was left alone with most of the staff who eyed her and spoke in mocking whispers.
"...apparently being kept."
"It's a downfall…she embezzled company funds."
While she pretended to work on the computer before her and input the necessary information of the recent women admitted to the NGO, Anna knew it was Gigi spreading words that she embezzled company funds to keep her from returning.
There was no way she wouldn't strike back. No. Anna wasn't foolish. At least not as much as she was in the past. She now understood that she was weak and didn't know how things worked when it came to being manipulative and cunning but she was willing to learn. Being good at critical thinking and analysing people's behavior would make it easier for her to learn and as soon as she remembers the entire content of her brother's letters, she would bring Gigi down. Along with all of her supporters.
"Miss Harbinger…" a stout young lady approached her desk, her expression not exactly friendly as if she had been forced to be there. "...the Director demands your attention."
"Right now?" The lady didn't respond, she just stared like it was the most foolish question until the scraping of the wooden chair against the tiles was heard and Anna quietly followed behind her.
Whatever the director could want made her feel unsettled. Surely, they won't fire her because she was over an hour late?
On getting to the Directors office, the lady was dismissed and she was politely asked to take a seat. The office windows were open as it was on the first floor and she could feel the cold air breezing in and assaulting her skin. Anna shifted where she sat as she faced the man who appeared to be in his forties. He had a peculiar look to him. His eyes were heavy, like he could fall asleep anytime but his nose was sharp and so were his other features.
They complimented the drooly eyes and made him appear like a man that has been slaving himself for work.
"Miss Harbinger, " he placed a white file in front of her. "I must say that we are delighted to have you here at the SD Foundation."
"Thank you…" she swallowed, her hands clasped in her lap as she swept a look over his name. Frank Doningman. "...Director Doningman."
He waved her off with a ghost smile, before perching his glasses on his nose, adding to the edge of his overworked expression. "Please, call me Frank. And do not be worried Miss Harbinger, I have merely called because we wish to offer you a permanent position here at the Foundation. One that we hope will be fitting for a woman of your status."
Anna was surprised and a little glad but once an employer, she knew it was a weakness to appear too excited. She gave a fickle glance to the document and stared back at the Director whose gaze was too interested in the piece of paper before him. "It is encouraging to receive an offer from a Foundation as prestigious as this. And I would be glad to take proper measures and get back to you."
"Would it be a no Miss Harbinger?" He offered her a small smile. It turned out a little too creepy unlike Sullivan's and made the hair on her back stand for no reason. "You used to be an employer, we both know how these things work."
Anna closed the file and held it to her lap. "I would suggest not to be too positive nor negative. But I sincerely hope my response will be satisfactory to us both."
His eyes lingered on her face for a second as if trying to measure something she couldn't quite see. Director Doningman finally shut the document in front of him, took off his glasses and clasped his hands together. "Delightful. You may leave Miss Harbinger."
The door shut seconds after and Anna finally took a deep breath noting the remuneration written in the file. It was a spectacle and she knew they were offering that high because of her previous experience. Somehow, in a tiny part of her heart, the offer made her happy.
Unbeknownst to Anna, this offer letter that seems like the perfect restart for someone of her calibre would be the cob illuminating her path to a world Sullivan wished was forever closed.
Hya has been Stephen Doningman's right hand woman and assistant for as long as she could remember and never in the past years had she thought it possible for Michael Sullivan to pay a visit to the Senator.
"Vice Chairman Sullivan!" Her voice was croaked and a little too high, forced out of fear and respect for the object of destruction that aimed directly towards the doors behind her. "...we weren't expecting but of course the Senator would be pleased to receive you if…."
He swerved past her, pushing the heavy doors open, the aura emanating from him was suffocating. A blinking warning to all around that he was in a sour mood.
Stephen Doningman had been enjoying a stick of marijuana, when Sullivan suddenly stormed in. Startled, the old man got off his seat in both absolute bewilderment and shrunken terror. "Vice Chairman Sullivan, to think…"
There were no greetings. No exchange of late pleasures, just a strong hand reaching for his waist and the unmistakable cock of a shining pistol that now kissed the Senator's forehead.
"Oh…." Stephen Doningman smiled, dropping the Marijuana and dismissing the people in his office. Once the door was closed, the Senator spread his arms out, separated from Sullivan by his work desk. "...you are missing your manners. This isn't any way to say hello to an elder."
"Why were you there?" The question wasn't aggressive nor did it sound like it came from a man burning with fury. His body and expression betrayed his thoughts. The blood boiling inside of him, the tick of his veins reminding him of the transformation he was nearing. A close step to the man he once was.
Stephen Doningman knew he would be the most wrong to assume that the one before him was in a calm mode. He switched to a polite tone, both hands now raised in the air. A polite act of surrender. "I have no knowledge of what you speak."
"September 2nd. Thirty two minutes past three. Why were you there?"
Stephen knew what he spoke of and made an 'oh' his expression going soft as he finally brought his hands to his side. "I heard the explosion and…"
"Don't thin my patience, Senator." He calmly warned. "I will not have you insult my intelligence with a lie." He stepped closer, noticed the desk was a huge discomfort to accessing the man, Sullivan glanced down and with a single flip of his hand, the desk crashed against the glass, bringing the entire fragile compound to a shattered wreck.
Documents flew in the air, along with the half smoked marijuana and Stephen watched as the table tilted between falling fifteen floors down and maintaining a fine balance.
"I expected Brook once claimed you were a gentleman now." he added in a soft tone. "I was merely worried about…."
Bang!
A single bullet escaped and a bend in his stance plus the burning hole in his knee cap, an attestation that Sullivan wasn't here to play. Stephen looked down at the spot, bright crimson bleeding out. It wasn't healing immediately like it should. His body attempted but the moment his bones tried to contract and eject the bullet, he felt an ache like never before. One that sent his veins bulging and darkening, merely deepening the wound made by the bullet.
Specially made bullets effective for their kind. Banned but not inaccessible to the very man who created them. He kept his expression minimised to a wince despite the excruciating pain that filled his whole body.
"Why were you there? At Anna's accident."
"I heard the explosion like everyone else and was worried." When he got a little head tilt in response plus the click of the trigger, he hurriedly mentioned in a higher pitch, his words almost jumbled and desperate. "Come on Michael, you can't possibly be aiming to stop a father from worrying about his son."