Sharon watched as Carlos jumped up from the couch to answer a phone call, then rushed into Carli's bathroom speaking to whomever that was on the other end of the line. He got his day off today and said he wanted them to talk before she left for work. He was just about to tell her something when the phone rang and he went into their daughter's room.
She was curious to know who it was, but it wasn't something that was a burning question. Carlos would usually tell her who called anyway. It was only when she heard her husband shouting from the room that she became concerned and quietly moved to the bathroom door to hear what was being said.
She pressed her ear to the door as closely as she could to listen.
She heard Carlos speaking to someone named 'Red Man'.
"Look 'ere," Carlos said. "You promised the first payment as of last Friday. I am expecting something. Yuh tell mi seh the latest Saturday morning of this week. Today is Saturday, and it's now 11:30 a.m. Is either yuh give mi what yuh seh mi fi get or yuh gimme back mi money!"
It had been awhile since she heard Carlos this angry. Sharon wondered who this 'Red Man' was and how he owed Carlos money.
"Suh yuh want me to go to the police or sumn? Is that yuh want? Look 'ere sah, ah neva me call yuh an' tell yuh seh mi have bizniz deal enuh, ah youu call me an' tell mi seh mi a guh mek some money and be better off. 'Bout mi "nah guh disappoint". Carlos changed his tone as if to mock the person on the phone line. Sharon was getting very concerned now.
She heard Carlos say: "Yuh mussi mad? Mi nah nuh more money fi give yuh, yuh better try come up wid mi money fast, pronto! Aho! Who yah call desperate? Mi seh mi wah mi money! Memba seh ah neva mee come to you fi money ah yoouuu! Yuh know wah, yuh betta come off ah mi phone an' try guh look fi mi money before police find yuh..."
Sharon couldn't take it any longer. She pushed the door open to face an angry Carlos, whose facial expression turned to shock when he saw his wife looking at him with a disapproving stare.
She folded her arms across her chest. Stepping into Carli's bathroom, she said to her husband, "You wanna tell me what that was about?"
Carlos was perched on top of the toilet lid, phone in hand. He looked at the phone, ended the call and looked up at his wife.
"Now Shar, I don't want you to worry about this convo I was having." Carlos lifted the phone in his hand then placed it on his lap, he then turned his body to face her fully. "It's an old friend of mine. We're just having a misunderstanding," he said. He smiled.
Sharon saw the smile but also observed that the smile did not lighten his demeanor.
She stared directly into Carlos' eyes.
"Who is 'Red Man' Carlos? Don't try to say some foolishness to me. I know what I heard."
Carlos shifted uncomfortably on the toilet. He was about to speak when Sharon said, "Let's go into the living room and talk about this. Sitting there can't be comfortable."
Carlos looked at her and nodded. He stood up and followed Sharon into the living room.
Sharon sat on the loveseat. She saw that Carlos was about to sit beside her and pointed over to the larger plush, brown couch.
"Sit over there," she said.
Carlos did as she commanded, realizing that she was upset with him.
Sharon refolded her arms across her chest, crossed her legs and directed her steely gaze towards him.
"Who is 'Red Man' and what do you have to do with him?"
Her voice sounded cold to Carlos. He would have to engage in serious damage control.
Carlos cleared his throat and attempted to smile at his wife. She did not smile back at him.
"'Red Man' is an old friend of mine back in the day when I was going to UTECH, then CAST, as an engineering student. I wasn't able to afford boarding on campus so I got a place nearby in Hermitage. I stayed with a little old lady and paid minimal rent in exchange for doing errands for her, like going to the market, picking up her medications, sometimes accompanying her to the doctor if her daughter couldn't do it." Carlos bent forward in the couch. He looked out the window nearest to him.
Sharon knew that in the direction of his gaze was a large Julie Mango tree, she perceived however, that his eyes weren't looking at the tree, he was back in the past with that little old lady and the events of that time.
"I was new to the area. I didn't know anyone. Sometimes inner city people can be suspicious of new faces that come into their space. I had moved in at night and so many of the community folks hadn't seen when I had moved some of my stuff in. So one day as I was leaving from Miss Viola's house and was walking to the bus stop to take a taxi to go up to Papine for school, some guys surrounded me, about six of them"
Sharon watched as Carlos staring out the window, clasped his fingers together. He glanced at her then looked away.
"I thought 'this is it for me. I'm a dead man'. I tried to explain to them that I was a student and was going up to class, but they blocked me from moving passed them. One of them had a ratchet knife in his hand. He was about to move in closer when Reds, Red Man stepped out of his house and called to the guy with the knife. I don't even remember what his name was now, but he told him I was Ms Vi's grandson who came from the country to visit. He came into the group of guys and pulled me away from them, and scolded me like I was his little brother when I was actually two years older than him.' Carlos smiled. "I learned that later on still."
"So he saved your life then?" Sharon asked.
Carlos looked at his wife. "Yeah, he did."
"So about this money thing I hear you talking to him about. What is that?"
"Red Man is what you call an informal business man," Carlos said smiling. "Call him a vendor, higgler, sole trader, whatever you wanna call him."
"Okay, go on," she said sensing Carlos was hesitant.
Carlos lay back into the couch.
"He said he had a business proposition for me. One where I could make $500,000 each month."
Sharon started to feel her body shaking.
"Is it scamming? Is that what yuh tek our hard earned money fi guh dash weh?" She felt enraged.
"No!" Carlos replied vehemently. "Shar just listen." Sharon had uncrossed her legs. He observed her right foot tapping away on the floor.
"Sharon, honey, please just calm down and listen to me."
Sharon let out a heavy sigh. "Okay, Carlos. What happened?"
"The business was to purchase some clappers, some sparklers, star lights, et cetera. Christmas is coming up he said and the kids would love it. He built himself up to the point where he could be the middle man for the other vendors who want to sell that."
Sharon leaned forward. "You know that's illegal right? It's illegal in Jamaica, Carlos! What were you thinking?!"
"Shar, he tricked me."
"Tricked you?! You gave him the money!"
"Wait, just wait Shar, just listen to me." Carlos getting frustrated rubbed his eyes.
"I'm listening, Carlos!" Sharon shouted.
"At first he told me about helping clear some toys and shoes, etc from Wharf. He needed a certain amount of money to clear it and he would give me back $200,000, plus the money I would give him to clear the goods after he sold them off. That would be about a month's time. So I asked him about the $500,000. I said, 'So what about the $500,000 return you said you could offer me?' He smiled and told me I would have to give him some more money than the 200k to purchase the items, and it was more risky. So I asked him what the items were and he told me clappers, et cetera.
"He told me I would get good returns in about two weeks time so I said okay, I will work with that. I gave him the money two days after we spoke and he went to a warehouse somewhere down the country to purchase a batch that was already in the island. He told me it would be best I didn't know where he went to get it. He said in two weeks he would give me some money. Two weeks have passed now and I haven't gotten even a thousand dollars from him," Carlos said, his eyes closed
"How much money did you give him?" Sharon asked. Her throat felt dry.
"$700,000." Carlos' voice came down to almost a whisper.
"What?!" Sharon stood up. Looking down at him, she felt she should reach over and slap him across his face.
"Listen, I'm sorry." Carlos looked up at her apologetically. "I was trying to help our daughter with college, that was the only reason."
"What about that money you said we had. The money you said we should be able to pull on if need be?"
Sharon felt like her head was spinning. She sat back down. She tried to clear her head by shaking it. She placed her fingers on her forehead where the pulse was beating heavily.
Sharon had high blood pressure and Carlos could see that she wasn't feeling well.
"Baby, let me get you some water," he said getting up, he disappeared into the kitchen and returned with room temperature water in a glass.
Sharon took the water from him and sipped it.
"Carlos, what happened to that money?"
"That's where I took it from," Carlos said, his eyes filled with regret. "We had about $1.1 mil in the account but I had taken some of it out to pay for Carli's semester. The company bonus I thought I would get this year didn't work out that way. Remember the company is under new management, so that pushed it back."
Sharon's eyes widened as she stared at him.
"Were you going to tell me?", she asked angrily.
"I didn't want to worry you. I was going to tell you today."
"Yeah, now that everything has gone really bad!" She was pissed.
"Shar calm down. Remember your blood pressure." Carlos stood beside Sharon watching her carefully. Her breathing was shallow and rushed.
"Shar, are you okay?" He placed a hand on her shoulder which she brushed off instantly.
"I am fine!" His concern infuriated her. She needed to know the truth.
"How much money did you take out for Carli's tuition?"
She stood up abruptly and nearly stumbled. Carlos put out a steadying hand to help her. Once Sharon found sure footing she pushed his hand away.
"How much money?" Her voice was hollow.
"Over $300,000."
"Okay," Sharon said. "Anything else you haven't told me?'
Carlos cleared his throat. "I loaned Delroy some money..."
"Wha-at?"
"He gave me back everything. He doesn't owe me."
"How much?"
"Now Shar..."
"How much?" She screamed at him.
"$350."
"Just 350 dollars?" She asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"350,000."
Sharon sucked in her breath loudly.
She shook her head.
After all this time, she thought Carlos was the more responsible one. He would berate her on her purchases of shoes for her and Carli saying that what she purchased was often too expensive. Her investing in new makeup kits for herself and Carli every four years was wasteful and vain. They were naturally beautiful and didn't need makeup.
Her going out to eat sometimes with friends and offering to pay was irresponsible because they had a daughter to save for college for. She would only go out with her accounting staff members once each month, and as the head of the department she wanted to treat them a little, to build rapport and boost morale, but Carlos saw that as "doing it for likes".
Her sacrifice paid off however, her department was always voted the best performing, and after three years of doing this, they copped the regional award for best performing department beating out Kingston/St. Andrew and St. Catherine. Now, here she was facing the fact that while her husband was monitoring her spending for the sake of Carli, which she was okay with, anything for her daughter, Carlos was wasting their money on get rich quick schemes with friends she didn't even know.
Fury rose up within her. She tipped on her toes, swung her right arm back, then forward and delivered a powerful slap to Carlos' face. She saw his eyes widen with shock.
"All this time you made me feel guilty for all the things I was doing? You made me feel like I was an irresponsible child when you were the one that needed to be controlled! You better find a way to get back that money Carlos or I swear to you, you will not like the person I will become."
Sharon walked away from him, placed the now empty glass in the kitchen sink. She exited the kitchen and looked at Carlos as if she was seeing him for the very first time. She shook her head and headed to their bedroom.
"I'm going to lay down. I'm not feeling well. If you're hungry cook something or order food delivery."
She opened the door and closed it. Carlos heard the door lock click into place. She had locked him out.
Carlos swore quietly. He had to get back that money.
He dialed Red Man's phone number. Red Man did not answer. He called him three more times. The phone rang and went straight to voice mail.
What am I going to do? I have to get that money back. Carlos thought. He called two more times. No response.
Carlos waited two more minutes then called again.
An irate Red Man answered the call.
"Bumbo cl@%t man! Whappen to yuh? Mi tell yuh seh mi nuh get the goods dem yet! When mi get a call fi guh pick up di tings dem, mi call yuh an' wi werk out sumn. How yuh suh hard fi undastan?!
Carlos swallowed what he was about to say, and said this instead: "How soon will you be able to tell me something?"
"By Monday as mi tell yuh. Wen mi guh down deh di dawg a seh a half a di merchandise him get an' suh him couldn't gimme much outta it cause him have odda peepul a come fi dem share, an' a less amount dem want. Suh him seh him wudda just deal wid dem cause a small vendors. Di amount weh him have can serve dem, but fi me him seh when di bigger shipment come him cyan deal wid mi. Yuh just affi wait like me. Yuh tink ah yuh get ah raw deal. Whapm to me?! Yuh cyan guh a work Monday morning an' work an' get your pay end a month. Weh mi a duh, dis a my livelihood. If mi nuh get mi goods mi a guh inna problem. A mee a guh inna shithouse!"
"Red Man, my wife knows. She is very upset with me." Carlos spoke softly into the phone.
Red Man paused, then said, "Sorry 'bout that still. Yuh seh yuh want out ah di deal?
"Yes," Carlos said.
"Arite, mi will give yuh back yuh money den. Arite?"
"Yes, arite."
"Good. Mee call yuh Monday and tell yuh wah cyan gwaan."
Red Man hung up.
Carlos sighed. He sat down on the loveseat. What had he gotten himself into?
*******
Carli snuck up on Jason stealthily. He was on his lunch break. He had finished painting her aunt's living room an hour before and was now tackling the task of painting the kitchen space. He was sitting in the family's kitchen garden on a tree stump, and was apparently eating sandwiches for lunch. His broad back turned to her, Carli admired the muscles flexing as he brought each sandwich up to his mouth to eat them.
Her aunt Sandy wanted a peculiar color for the kitchen. She wanted it to be painted with a mixture of red, purple and white. She wanted the dark purple as the base to be toned down with white paint to an almost lavender shade and then red added in little by little, so she could see the variation in shade each time. She requested that the skirting be painted in a shade of blue called dark aqua blue.
He wanted to suggest another color for the skirting, maybe a lilac or plum; some interesting shade of purple that would be better to lighten the look. He told her he knew where to go to get those colors mixed and custom made to perfection, but she said no, she knew what she was doing. As he mixed the high gloss paints together on a wooden palette, she watched him and when she was satisfied that the paints were mixed to a shade of her liking, she indicated her pleasure. Jason removed a small sample of the newly mixed paints and smeared it on a small paper palette. Then he also took out his phone and took pictures of the new shade.
Now that he finished that task and was now painting, he decided to take an early lunch so he could get right into the job and make as much progress as possible. It was 12:30 p.m. He would usually eat at 2 p.m.
Carli watched him eat his sandwiches. They smelled good. She wondered what the fillings were made of.
"Hey," she said. Reaching out she poked her fingers playfully under his armpits. He jumped slightly and turned around to see Carli laughing at him.
"Hey," Jason said smiling back. "You kinda scared me."
"You? Nah, you're too brave and strong for that." She chuckled.
Jason cocked his head off to one side as if thinking about what she said. Was she flirting with him? He wondered.
He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe." He took her in.
She wore a light blue mini jeans skirt that showed off her legs but was not figure hugging, and a green blouse that covered the waist of her skirt. Her hair was up in that signature bun she always wore. He looked at her closely. It seemed she was wearing a hint of eye shadow.
"Going somewhere?", he asked.
"Yes, with you later."
Jason's eyes flew open. He placed his hand on his chest. "With me?" He pretended to be shy.
"Yes," Carli said amused.
"How mi neva know dis?" He pretended to be shocked.
She laughed.
"I'm taking you out this time."
"Oh. Okay." Jason smiled.
A thin, wisp of hair kept blowing into Carli's eyes. Jason reached over to tuck the lock of hair behind her ear for her. His hand brushed lightly against her ear while tucking the hair away. He noticed her body shiver. Seeing this pleased him beyond what he could explain.
"I won't be able to go anywhere until after 7 pm. You know my schedule."
"Of course. I know." This conversation felt really good to Carli.
"So why?... You're wearing makeup?" Jason looked puzzled. Carli giggled a little.
He noticed. That's good. She thought.
"Oh, this is a shade from this line of cosmetics called 'Mud'. It's not mine. I tried a little from my aunt's kit. I'm thinking of buying one for Christmas.
"Oh, okay," Jason said. He didn't know much about that stuff, but he did like how natural and complementary it looked on her.
"I'm just trying it out to see if I like it."
"And?" Jason asked, an amused look on his face.
"Yeah I like it." She smiled.
"What do you think?", she asked shyly.
Jason took another bite of his sandwich. He paused a little to think about it.
"Honestly, I don't know about those sorts of things, but if you were a canvas I would say the color's undertones complement your skin quite well. If I were to paint a beautiful sunset on you I would use that shade first."
Carli was speechless. Who knew he could say something so romantic and be clueless about it's effect on her at the same time? Or was he? She tried to compose herself.
"Thanks," she said, her voice shaky with emotion.
"So, do you paint on canvas also?", she asked. Her eyes dancing with humor and curiosity.
Jason noticed her mood and decided to match her energy.
"Yeah I do," he said. He wanted her closer to him.
He reached out for her arm and pulled her to him. He looked into her eyes, then sat her beside him on the old sawn off log. The interaction made Carli's heart race.
"I usually paint landscapes but I sometimes do portraits of people. I haven't done that in awhile though." He began eating again, averting his eyes away from her gaze.
Carli was curious but it felt like he didn't want to say anything more about this talent so she changed the subject.
Clearing her throat, she asked, "So what are these delicacies?" He had some sandwiches in a white, square plastic container on his lap.
Jason looked down at his lunch and chuckled. "Oh these? These my dear are different kinds of sandwiches with a twist."
His eyes teased her.
Carli really liked him. She found herself leaning closer to him.
"Oh really? Pray tell what are they, monsieur?"
Jason laughed.
"Okay." He hovered his index finger over one sandwich, pointing to it. "This one is a ham and cheese sandwich with toasted sesame seed bun" He did the same thing to the other three sandwiches in his lunch pack. "That one is corned beef and cheese with whole wheat bread toasted; that one is a tuna melt also with toasted wheat bread, and this last one is a tin sardines sandwich on white bread with green sweet peppers to add flavor."
"You didn't want to toast the white bread for the sardine sandwich?" Carli asked, her right eyebrow raised.
"Nah. It doesn't taste that good to me toasted."
"So why didn't you choose wheat bread then?" Carli looked at the sandwiches. Her mouth was watering.
Jason smiled at her. "Because I prefer white bread with sardines."
"Oh, okay." Carli smiled.
"I saw that you were eating two sandwiches before. What were they?" She was curious.
"Oh, so you've been spying on me?" Jason looked at her, admiring her smile.
"No. Not really, just wanted to say hi, but you were so caught up in chewing your food I wondered if I should or not."
"But ultimately you couldn't resist, ehh?", he teased her.
Carli playfully slapped Jason on his arm. "Gweh! Don't try to use me to boost your ego. I was trying to be respectful of your personal space but in the end, the friendly person that I am, I decided to say 'hi'."
Jason threw his head back and laughed heartily. "Okay ma'am. Okay."
He pointed to one of the sandwiches. "You wanna try that one? That's the tuna melt."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I had two before. Yeah, so that was what the two I was eating before were made of."
"Okay." Carli reached down as Jason moved his hand away to give her access.
She picked it up and bit into it.
It was delicious! Carli looked at him with a comical expression that made Jason laugh.
"You like it?", he asked.
"Yes!", she said. "What's in this?"
"Okay. You should know I like pepper. So I sauteed some green and red peppers in some coconut oil. I mixed the tuna with some mayo, some sea salt and black peppers. I like a bit of mustard in mine, just a tuups. I put a little mayo on the bread, then add tomato slices.
He saw Carli frown.
"Yeah, I don't like butter on my bread." He continued: "Then I added a thin slice of cheese to the mix and toasted the bread slices on both sides in a frying pan with butter. That's where the butter comes in. I also like the tangy taste the tomatoes add to the sandwich."
"Well," Carli said after eating the last piece. "It does taste good. You a big chef!"
Jason chuckled. "You know I try."
Casually, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "About tonight? Where are you taking me?"
Carli blushed.
"Well, I was thinking about this little restaurant at Cross Roads where we could sit and talk. My treat." Her heart was pounding.
"Okay." Jason leaned forward slightly and looked into her eyes. They were the most remarkable color. They seemed like black, endless, pools of mystery. He felt he could get lost in them.
At that moment, he wanted to kiss her but restrained himself. They were after all at her aunt's house. He didn't want to be disrespectful. Speaking of her aunt, using the directions he had given her, she had gone into town to find the hardware store he told her would blend the colors into the shade she wanted. She was due back any minute now.
He leaned his head forward and touched his forehead to hers.
"Forgive me, but I have the strongest urge to kiss you right now." His voice was a silky, deep tone that seemed to caress her and made Carli feel tingly all over.
Carli sighed. She wanted so much to feel his lips on hers. "Why don't you?"
He closed his eyes and bit his lower lip.
"Soon." The word was a promise she hoped he would keep.
Moving away reluctantly, he gently squeezed her arm.
"I gotta go back to work," he said. His eyes watching her intently.
Carli stood up. "Tonight then?" Her tone held a hidden question.
Jason knew she was talking about their date but within him, he also knew that question held a double meaning.
He couldn't bring himself to speak, his mouth was dry.
He nodded. His eyes telling her what she wanted to know.
Carli nodded. She went into the house and entered her room.
Jason slumped down on the piece of log. He suddenly felt weak. Being around her was intense.
Was she going to be the temptation that caused him to break his vow? He wondered.
Quickly, he packed his lunch kit away. He reached for a bottled water in his bag and drank it thirstily.
What is this? He thought. I have never felt this way about any other girl.
Zipping up his bag, he carried it into the kitchen to resume his job.
**********
On Saturdays Sharon would usually go into work half day. After her fight with Carlos however, she called the company secretary asking her to Inform the boss that she wouldn't be in. She had agreed but five minutes later Mrs Taylor called her back to tell her that Mr. Isaacs, the company's General Manager, needed to speak with her urgently and was expecting that she would come in today. She told Mrs Taylor that she would be in within the next hour. It was 1 p.m, she would make it for 2/2:30 she told her. The secretary went off the line for a few seconds then returned to say Mr Isaacs agreed.
Sharon confirmed with her and hung up. She wondered if today was the day the axe would drop on her head, and she would be made redundant and sent home.
Sharon took a shower and got dressed. Carlos had knocked on the bedroom door to tell her that he was going to buy a few food items for the house, if she wanted anything. She told him 'no'.
She slipped on a pair of black flat shoes, comfortable black pants and a light cotton grey blouse. She grabbed her bag, stepped outside and locked the front door. She had left a note in their bedroom that she would be dropping in to work. The boss wanted to see her. She lay it on his pillow.
Walking to the driveway she disarmed the car alarm, opened the door and slid inside. She turned the key in the ignition. Carlos would usually leave the gate open if he knew he wasn't going far. There was a mini Mart just down the road that sold what they needed. Sharon drove the car outside and parked across the road in front of her neighbor's gate. She went back to her yard and closed the gate, jumped back into her car and drove off to work. When Carlos saw the gate locked he would know that no one was at home.
It took her about twenty minutes without heavy traffic to get to work. As she drove she wondered why Mr Isaacs said speaking to her was urgent. She wondered if it was the pink slip she was dreading she would receive, sending her home. What else would there be?
Sharon parked her car to the front of the parking lot closest to the gate. She anticipated that if the meeting was about what she thought it was, she wouldn't be there long.
As she walked around to the back of the complex and approached the corporate offices' front door, she removed her ID and placed the card on the sensor which released the lock and opened the door for her. The supermarket was the first building in the complex.
She pushed the door away from her and entered the building. She made sure to put her ID back into her bag as the door closed silently behind her. She took the stairs to the 3rd floor to the GM's office. The secretary was at her post. She nodded her acknowledgement upon seeing her, and buzzed her into the foyer to wait her turn to see Mr Isaacs. She was seated there for five minutes when Sean Gibson, the company's head of Purchases and Inventory Department, opened the door and walked out. He nodded to her and said, "He's waiting for you."
His voice held a menacing sound to it. She did not like it. He held the door open for her. She nodded and stepped in. Sean closed the door behind her.
Mr Isaacs sat in his chair with a stack of paper in front of him. His desktop computer was on but he also had his apple laptop turned on in front of him. He looked up at Sharon.
"Ha ... Mrs James, please sit down." He motioned to the chair Sean was sitting in earlier.
Sharon sat down. She felt as though she was at a job interview. She was so nervous, She tried to shrug off the feeling.
"How can I help you Paul?" Each manager was on a first name basis with each other to build unity among the upper levels of the team. She did note that he called her Mrs James and not Sharon, which was the usual way he addressed her.
Without looking up he raised a finger indicating that he was not yet done with what he was doing. He was writing something in his note pad and then typed something on his laptop, then the desktop.
When he was done he looked up at her.
"Good afternoon Mrs James," he said. "Thank you for taking the time to see me. I know you said you weren't feeling well. Ordinarily, I would let you be because I know how hard you work, but this is very important." He paused to get her reaction.
Sharon nodded. "Okay. Sure. How can I help?"
Mr Isaacs leaned forward in his chair, his face very serious.
"There seems to be some misappropriation of funds, unfortunately." His expression was very grave.
Sharon was in shock. What! She thought. How did that happen?
She cleared her throat. "How did you find out about this misappropriation?"
Mr Isaacs looked at her in disbelief. "I thought the first thing you would ask me is where the leak was coming from not how I found out?"
"Well," Sharon said carefully. "Of course, I would want to know that, but I also want to know how it was detected so we can rule out this discovery being a calculation error."
Mr Isaacs removed the spectacles from his face and placed them on his work desk.
He pressed a button on the landline phone in his room. "Barbara?"
"Yes Mr Isaacs?" the secretary answered.
"Tell Gary to come in here."
"Okay Mr Isaacs," she said. The line went dead.
While they waited for Gary Anderson, the financial accountant, to come up to his office, Mr Isaacs continued:
"We found two major leaks. Every two weeks someone was shaving off a dollar there; a two dollars there off sales revenue. The person would record a dollar less or two dollars less every two months off revenue. We've since identified that person."
"Oh. Okay," she said. She wondered where this was leading.
"And you're sure it's not a case of receivables not being recorded correctly?", she asked.
Isaacs nodded. "Yes, we're sure Sharon."
What is this? Now he's calling me Sharon. She felt a niggling feeling at the pit of her stomach.
Mr Anderson walked in with transaction print outs for the months of June, July, August and September folded under his arm. He also carried a brown briefcase containing other documents.
He handed them to the GM, who spread them out on an adjoining table in his office. He gestured for Sharon to come around the table to look at the papers with him. Gary stood by the door and waited.
"Look at the numbers at the top for July," he said.
Sharon looked at them. They seemed accurate. She nodded her understanding.
He grunted.
"Now look at August," he said, a sardonic look on his face.
The figures looked slightly off. A red flag went off in Sharon's head. Those were not the numbers her personal assistant Denise handed to her at the end of August.
"This is the first time I'm seeing these," Sharon said perplexed.
"What do you mean?" Isaacs said, he eyes boring into her.
"I mean, I never saw these numbers before."
"Really, uhh?..." Isaacs looked at Anderson then looked back at her. "How is that possible? The revenue numbers pass through your department before it gets to Gary."
Sharon felt like she was going to be ill.
"Paul," she said before licking her lips. They suddenly felt dry. "You know that I have my team of accountants who also manage their own teams of accounting clerks under them. They report to me at the end of each month, but I have never seen these figures."
"So where do you suggest they came from?" he said, his voice becoming harsh.
Paul continued speaking: "Somehow this person would work their magic so that the books would miraculously balance. I know no one else who can balance a book quite like you Sharon, maybe Gary here." He looked over at the smiling Gary. "Your department oversees the retrieval of this information Sharon. I don't see how you do not know what's been happening unless you're involved. I would expect you to pick up on something like this since you're so close to it."
"I don't know anything about this, and I haven't been the one balancing the books lately. Michael has been doing them. He's very competent."
"I see. Well unfortunately I won't be able to ask Mr Cooper anything about the balances."
"And why is that?" Sharon asked getting annoyed.
"He hasn't been answering his phone."
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said." Paul looked at her, his expression no nonsense.
Sharon went back to the chair and sat down.
"Gary, hand me the folder, will you?" He stretched his hand out to receive a folder Gary also had in the brief case.
Gary handed it to him.
"We believe that Mr Cooper has been skimming off the money I mentioned to you. A dollar here, two dollars there, but that is not the clincher."
Sharon looked in shock. "What is?"
"There were several duplicate orders for a few batches of food items, before they were canceled. Several cheques were written, about four. They have your signature. One cheque for $250,000 was apparently cashed. The serial numbers for those cheques haven't been accounted for in payables."
Of course Sharon's signature would be on cheques disbursed on behalf of the company. It was her job to validate the spending on the items and sign to release the funds so that the goods for the supermarket could be purchased. Oh that was why Gibson was in to see Paul! She thought.
"What are you saying Paul?"
Paul sat down in his chair. "Thanks Gary, that is all."
Gary nodded. He opened the door and closed it behind him.
"I am saying ..." He leaned forward looking at Sharon with a grave look. "It doesn't look good for you. The evidence seems to point to you. The thing is, I don't want to believe it, but I have to ask you to take six months leave of absence until we can sort this thing out..."
"What? What?" Sharon interrupted him. "I am not a thief." Sharon raised her voice in anger.
What was going on?
"Paul, you know me. I helped you build this company from the old location to where we are now!"
"I know. I believe you, but to be transparent in the auditing process this has to be done. I am already talking to a team of auditors and forensic accountants. They will come in and do their due diligence. It may take a bit of time, who knows how long that one dollar, two dollar thing has been going on. The cheques weren't a frequent occurrence. The last one was in August, we haven't seen anything like that since then."
"Paul, I swear to you. I don't know anything about this. Give me the cheque numbers let me check."
Paul pulled up the info on his desktop. Sharon retrieved her phone from her work bag and logged into her company account. She signed into the Excel spreadsheets for August and September. She scrolled through the files as he told her the serial numbers for the cheques. She also logged into the company's bank accounts looking through the current/chequeing account info.
She scrolled through. Three were missing, only the one that was cashed was accounted for. The thing was, Sharon didn't remember signing those cheques.
Paul went into his laptop and showed her a screenshot of what appeared to be her signature on the cheque that the bank cashed, before declining the other three.
She handed her phone to him and told him to look through the spreadsheet for himself. Isaacs scrolled through the account info carefully. He nodded. He picked up the phone and called Senior Superintendent Morris from the fraud squad to see him. He spoke for two minutes on the phone, explaining the situation then hung up.
"Alright Sharon what I want you to do is go home and get all your accounts together for Monday, okay. Some representatives from the police fraud squad will be here on Monday at 9:30 a.m. please make sure you have all your books, notes, Excel spreadsheets ready to be printed out for them. Okay?"
She nodded. "Okay."
"But I am sorry, after Monday, I will have to ask you to stay home for awhile, until the external auditing firm and the police do their due diligence. This is now going to be a police matter. Please do not try to contact Cooper or any of his family. And Sharon do not say anything to your team. For now, Gary will oversee your department. He will tell them you are on leave. In the meantime, I have ordered him to let HR know that you will receive half of your usual compensation, until all of this clears up"
Isaacs returned the eye glasses to his face. He picked up a folder on his desk and began reading its contents. That was her cue to exit.
Sharon stood up on wobbly legs. So this was the axe that was to drop on her head? She placed her phone into her work bag and nodded. She walked carefully to the door, fearful she was going to faint. She looked around at her boss and friend of fifteen years.
"Thank you for the chance to clear my name Paul."
He looked up at her, nodded, and smiled sadly. He resumed reading the contents of the folder he had opened. Sharon closed the door behind her quietly.
*******
Jason couldn't wait to see Carli. His hands were itching to touch her, to cradle her close to him.
Play it cool Jason. He thought to himself. You don't want to rush her.
But when he saw her in the short shorts she was wearing, he found himself struggling to stop his hands from touching her. She walked up to him. There was a look on her face that intrigued him.
What was she up to?
She stood close to him so that he could have the opportunity to reach his hand around and touch her lower back, while guiding her through the front gate.
His friend Omar came to pick them up just like the last time and dropped them off at Jason's house.
As he closed the front door behind him, Jason felt the atmosphere change between them. Carli was sitting on his bed.
She wore a pair of cute strapped up gold sandals. Her toes were freshly painted a wine red color. Her blouse with short sleeves matched the color on her toes very well. The shorts she wore were black with fringes at the ends. She leaned back on her elbows looking up at him.
She looked very seductive to Jason.
He wondered if they would be able to leave the room tonight. He wanted her really bad.
He plopped down on the bed beside her.
"You know, looking like this will get you in trouble." He reached up a hand and used his index finger to lightly rub on her arm. Her skin was soft and smooth, just the way he imagined it would be.
Carli smiled shyly. "Is that true?"
"Mhmm." He leaned over and put his face to her neck and took in her smell.
"You smell really good." He nuzzled her neck.
Carli leaned her head back to give him more access.
He moved closer and kissed her neck, pulling on the skin slowly. Carli reached up and grabbed his shoulders as if she was about to lose balance.
Instead, Jason gently pushed her down on his bed. He looked down at her. Her eyes were closed.
"What do you want me to do?" His voice was soft in her ear. His hot breath made her feel warm and languid with desire.
Carli felt dazed, but realized he was asking her something important. She opened her eyes and focused her gaze on him.
Jason reached out a hand and touched her face.
"Carli, what do you want me to do?" Jason was intoxicated by her presence in the room. He wanted to have her the way he had fantasized after their first encounter near the library, but he needed to be sure she was feeling the same way.
Carli saw the hunger in his eyes but she also saw concern. Just then, the realization of what could potentially happen between them, pierced like a cold, hard spear through Carli's tumultuous thoughts. She wasn't ready. She sat up immediately.
"I'm sorry. I ... I ..." Her voice broke.
Jason sat up.
He held onto her face. "It's okay. I want you." The thought of having her made him nervously lick his lips. "Let me just say this right now, I really want you, but if you don't feel the same way or if you're not ready, I won't force it."
"It's not that I don't feel the same way." Carli felt hot and confused.
"What is it?"
She looked away from him.
"It's okay. You can tell me." Jason felt his heart swell up. What was she afraid to say?
She hesitated.
"I've never been," she paused. "I've never been intimate with anyone before."
Jason was surprised. This beautiful, sexy vixen, has never been with anyone before? Wow!
He opened his arms and pulled her in for a hug.
"Okay. Not a problem." He held her close to him. He could feel her heart beating fast, his was too.
If he was going to pursue this girl, he needed to think carefully about her feelings and what he would need to do to reassure her. He moved his head down and kissed her softly on the lips. It was just a peck, nothing more.
Her eyes widened.
Jason laughed. "Nothing more till you're ready. Baby steps. Okay?"
She nodded. "Okay."
He got up. Went to his drawer, removed some clothes and headed to the bathroom.
"Won't take long." His voice was different. It held a tenderness that made Carli weep inside.
Why was she such a darn coward?! She thought. After he closed the door, she started pommeling her fists on her lap.
"Darn it!", she whispered.
After five minutes he came out dressed in a pair of blue jeans. He put on a marina and a t-shirt in front of her. She liked watching his muscles flex. He also pulled on a pair of black loafers.
"Ready?", he asked. His eyes held a question she wanted to say yes to, but instead she stood up and nodded.
She took up her purse and exited through the opened door. She waited for him to close it behind them.
They would take a taxi to a restaurant in Cross Roads that her friend Shauna told her about. As they walked to the bus stop, Jason pulled her to him so she could feel the warmth of his body. He felt her body relax beside him.
Good. He thought. I want her to feel safe with me.
He tucked his arm around her waist possessively.
He made up his mind. There was no way he was letting this gem slip through his grasp.
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