Norton lay in his bed, phone in his hand. He was waiting for Jack to finish typing his long message. He had a feeling it was about Naib, but he was still amused. The male found it amusing at how concerned Jack was to think a relationship might ruin their friendship. He pressed the call button, chuckling when he heard Jack fumbling with something.
"What the hell?"
"Quite rare to hear you fumbling."
"Leave it, what did you call for?"
"Dude, stop fretting. I won't be a petty kid over a relationship. You know me."
"I know but...I'm worry a little regardless."
"Why? Do you not trust me?"
There was silence on the other end. Norton had to check if he was still connected.
"People change over time, Norton. I thought you would've seen it in yourself already."
Norton was silent for a moment too. Indeed he had changed. He'd went from a person who was in debt to a person who killed others that didn't pay up. A small click showed that Jack had hung up, leaving him to his thoughts. But it seems that a far more serious problem was brought up.
"What?! She never turned up?"
"Yes, sir. We think she may be sick-"
"No. No no no. If Natalia was sick, even if she was admitted to the hospital, she would at least inform us. Something wrong's going on."
"So what's your orders sir?"
"Check out the cameras, ask the guard, anyone. It's pretty suspicious considering the recent events. Check up with Freddy Riley especially."
"Is there a reason?"
"...No reason. Just do as I say."
"Yes sir."
Without another word he hung up, dialing Jack's number once again.
---------------------------------
It wasn't just Norton who had received the news, Aesop had also received it. He had went out the bedroom to take the phone call, and was not exactly happy about it. Immediate orders were issued to find out more and report to him once they were compiled. When he went back to the room, Eli was staring at the door with half-closed eyes. Aesop slipped back under the sheets, where Eli wrapped his arms around his waist.
"Something came up..?"
"Don't worry bout it. I've settled it."
"Mm... Okay..."
Eli fell asleep again fairly fast, but Aesop lay awake. He didn't want to worry the man with early morning troubles, but he knew he had to find a solution first. His hands wandered to Eli's hair and played with a few strands. Eli let out some small huffs. He snoozed on for a few more minutes before getting up and yawned. Sleepily, he gave Aesop a kiss on the nose and swung his feet on the ground. The marble was cold against his feet as he headed to the bathroom.
When he returned, tying the robe's sash around his waist, Aesop was already gone. He wandered over to Aesop's office, where the man was staring at mails, brow furrowed.
"Is something wrong?"
"It's nothing, just, the possibilities that someone got abducted..."
"Mn?"
The other male immediately perks up upon hearing the mention of abduction. He takes the files in his hands and flips through, squinting at parts. The company was fast in the investigation of the case, and footage from outside along with other witnesses had already been sent to Aesop. He now watched as Eli stared with intense concentration at the papers. The male could faintly hear the cogs turning in his brain.
"We should head to the office fast."
"Why?"
"It's better to have these cases solved as soon as possible, before we end up losing someone. Judging by the amount of people around the secretary, and the way they weren't even rushing to get her into the van. They knew what they were doing Aesop. And they knew they were going to get away with it."
Eli put down the files and started to gather his things for work. He would walk on his own to the office even if Aesop didn't want to go. He heard footsteps behind him as he was checking to make sure everything was in his briefcase, but didn't look behind. The wardrobe door creaked open and the shuffling of clothes was heard. By the time Eli looked behind, shrugging on his coat, Aesop was straightening his tie gloves clamped between his teeth. He looked over at Eli, who was staring a little.
"Mn?"
"Ah- Nothing nothing..."
Eli looked away, hiding his blush. Now wasn't the time. The two went down the stairs, Aesop giving orders to the maids for the day before closing the door behind him. The Samoyeds were still fast asleep on the lazy Sunday morning. Aesop started up the car engine, a gentle purr rippling through the air as the two got in. They sped down the empty streets to the office.
Surprisingly, Norton was already at the huge glass doors, waiting. He let out a sigh when he noticed the two, bowing to the both of them.
"Thank God you decided to come."
"Is something wrong, Mr Campbell?"
"Well, Natalia she- Look, I worry about our workers too y'know. And Natalia's the sweetest one out there. If anything happened-"
"We will get her back safely, Norton."
Eli gave the executive a reassuring pat. Aesop, meanwhile, went to the front desk for reports. Once again, all the executives were gathered in the meeting room. Aesop did nothing to hide his surprise when even Naib stumbled in, looking disheveled.
"What a pleasant surprise to see you here, Mr Subedar."
"Hm? Oh, of course."
Aesop asked no more, seeing as the mercenary was close to tipping down and falling asleep on the table. He passed the mercenary a sandwich and some coffee, which he took gratefully. As Naib wolfed down the sandwich, Aesop made sure everyone else were settled before he began.
As each of the executives presented their ideas on how to solve the issue, Naib, finally refreshed after a meal, spoke up.
"If they're gonna be so secretive, why don't we do the same?"
Everyone fell silent. Naib continued on.
"If we don't make it obvious that we're trying to find out what they're doing, sure they'd end up making more progress but we would also sort of know what they're up to, right?"
A murmur of agreement went around. Norton noticed Jack almost staring at Naib and smirked a little.
"A good suggestion, Mr Subedar."
"I take it that he means leaving the building at night but keeping some people to watch in secret?"
Naib thought for a moment before nodding. Aesop looked over at Eli, who was closing his eyes and thinking it over. Eventually the other male opened his eyes.
"When do we implement this?"
