The Silver Crescent Prince

The café was quiet at this time of the hour with only three people sitting in different places sipping their coffee.

"That is going to cost you," said the man sitting opposite Maya. "She is a neotide and also works at The Silver House. If she is dead, the Company will open an investigation about her."

"So kill her and get rid of the body," said Maya bitterly. She would never tolerate that bitch. If Daryn wouldn't see Dawn, he would forget her and would turn all his focus on her. She was fixated on destroying Dawn. Her body was so tense that she was on the verge of springing. "Drug her, kill her, chop her limbs and then burn her," she said in a scathing tone, gripping the table's edge. 

"What about the investigation?" he asked in a cold voice. 

"I will take care of it," Maya spat. "You concentrate on your work."

He shrugged. "Okay, wire the money in my overseas account. This time it is going to cost you a million dollar."

"What? Are you mad?" Maya said in a low, dangerous tone. "This woman is not worth one million dollars. I can pay fifty thousand." 

The man leaned close to her, rested his hands on the table and said, "If Maya, daughter of the Chief of Radiant Manes Pack asks me to kill someone for her and that too secretly, then definitely that woman means a lot to her. The price is not for my skills, the price is for that woman." A smile spread on his lips. 

Maya clenched her fists. "No."

He rose from his place, picked his jacket from the adjacent chair and threw it on his shoulders. "Once I see the money in my account, I will initiate the action." The man left saying that. His instructions were crystal clear. 

When he was out of the café, an angry Maya punched in a number in her telephone. Her tone changed. "Daddy, I want to buy a diamond necklace for my wedding. I saw it in the shop but they declined my credit card saying that I don't have that much money available. Could you please transfer some money?" She pleaded like a spoiled child. 

"Okay!" came a reply. "Don't call me for the next two hours. I am in a meeting." 

"Yes Daddy!" she said and immediately cut the call. In the next five minutes, her father transferred the money to her account, which was then credited to the account mentioned by the man in the next one hour. She received the confirmation from him. "In less than a week." 

--- 

I am waiting. I know you have read my messages. 

"Shit!" she said aloud. She had reached cubicle 45 now. In order to ward him off, she quickly wrote an email to him:

You are the best!

She noticed that there was no one in the cubicle. "Great!" she muttered and went to sit on the chair. The computer's screen was flashing a blue screensaver. She moved the cursor to put it back to life but saw that the screen was locked and needed a password. She weaved her hands into her hair and pulled them. Chewing her lower lip she felt hopeless. She punched his name as the password but the screen moved a little and rejected it. She pressed her hand to her temples. "Think Dawn, think!" She had very little time left. All at once, another ping disturbed her. 

That is not the response I asked. Please follow the instructions carefully and write it. 

"Oof!" Dawn grunted. She tilted her chin down and frowned at the ping. He wouldn't get off her back. She opened her inbox and typed the email in hurry:

You are the sexiest and most handsome man in this world. Now get off my back!

She pressed send and immediately realized what she had written. "No, no, no, no!" Her face paled at what she just wrote. How could she write get off my back? Her heart shrank. 

"What are you doing here?" a voice disturbed her and she almost jumped. She looked up to see a woman standing there with her hands on her hips. 

Dawn's breath hitched. "Hi! I have come to meet Ambrose Hull. I am a Junior Market Analyst in the Finance Department." 

The woman frowned and looked at her as if sizing her up. She replied skeptically, "Okay. But he has gone for lunch. You can meet him an hour later. I can tell him about you." 

Hell no. Dawn chuckled nervously. "No, no. Please don't spoil the surprise. I will meet him tomorrow." 

The woman shrugged with a tight smile and left. 

Dawn rose from there and dashed out. She took the elevator to the top floor and as soon as she reached her cube, she sagged in her chair. She was this close of being caught. She caught her head in her hands. This was proving to be so difficult. "What do I do?" she asked aloud. 

"Get off my back?" a voice boomed behind her. 

Dawn spiraled her chair sharply. Leaning on the wall of her cube, she found him staring at her. His right eyebrow was raised and a playful smile spread on his lips was dying to erupt. Ms. Dawn was even more interesting than he thought. He wanted to get on her back.

"Mr. Daryn, I am so, so so— sorry for that," Dawn stuttered. But he was such a ridiculous CEO. 

Daryn bit his lip to stop himself from smiling. "Rewrite that email." 

Exasperated, she let out a sigh, took her phone and wrote it once again. She was embarrassed to write it in front of him. Her cheeks became pink. 

"Good," he said when he heard the ping on his phone. "Have you eaten?" 

Dawn shook her head. "I was about to," she replied. 

"Join me in the office. Even I haven't," he said, hoping against hope that she would join. 

With him so close to her, her mind became fuzzy. She controlled her heady trance. This wasn't right. He was engaged to another woman. She lowered her head and answered, "No, thanks." 

"That's okay." His mouth curled downwards. "See you Dawn," he said and left. 

For the next three days Dawn didn't see Daryn and didn't care. The day she didn't write the email, she would immediately get the reminder. She immersed herself into her project and to find out about the gaming company. She couldn't even go everyday to find out about it else they would suspect her. Her first article was published in the newspaper and it received good feedback. She had to send another article along with answers of the questions that readers sent, that week. 

It was on the fourth day when she came back to her cubicle after eating lunch that she heard Neal talking to Daryn behind the closed office doors, "Gayle should know that."