Was it suicide?

Ch 22- The absurd condition...

Alira dug Anna in her ribs, bringing her back to her senses. Anna looked at the hand in front of her, waiting to be shaken. 

"Anna. Anna Carmeil," she quickly beamed at him, while accepting the hand. 

"Neil Fetham," he grinned. 

"Where is your manager?" Anna asked out of curiosity. Her eyes were fixed on his well-sculpted face. 

"He isn't well. And won't be able to get back anytime soon," he leaned back. "I just wish he gets better soon. I can't handle all these things myself," he sighed, looking into the thin air.  

"So do we," Alira uttered. Clearing her throat she added, "So Anna would be telling you about the project. Over to you Anna." 

"Thanks, Alira," she noticed the proud, 'That's-my-baby' smile on Ali's face which she reciprocated with an enthusiastic grin. Holding her head high, she began with her presentation. 

She had the undivided attention of both the persons in the room. Even Yeno was sitting quietly in Neil's lap. 

In between the presentation, Neil would deliberately look into her eyes and would either clench his surprisingly sharp jaw or would roll his tongue on the inside of his cheeks. This flustered Anna. Suppressing the urge to roll her eyes, she would simply avert her gaze from him and continue.

"So that's the deal. Is there anything you want to ask?" Anna questioned at the end. 

"Hmm…" he murmured, carefully casting a slow glance, first at Alira and then at Anna. "I have one condition," he stipulated. 

Slightly nodding her head, Anna noticed the wavering smile on his face. Fixing her attention to him, she uttered, "What's that?" 

"As you already know that my manager is not available right now. So I want one of you to take his place till we finish this project," 

"What!" both the ladies exclaimed simultaneously. 

"That's impossible," Anna rolled her eyes, finally allowing her anger to show up. 

"You were very quick in your response Miss Anna," he directed his gaze to her. "In that case, I am afraid we'll have to call this off," he grabbed Yeno and got up to leave. 

"We can help you find someone," Alira suggested to stop him. 

"You think I haven't tried that already?" he gave her the 'Oh-C'mon' look. 

Anna was sitting quietly, trying to process what he said. 

"To be honest, I want you to be my manager... Miss Anna," his eyes regarded her. 

"What!" Anna's eyes popped out. Just then she heard something and instantly turned to Ali who failed to stifle her squeal. She gave her the death glare which made Ali stop immediately. 

"The thing is, it's above our pay-grade. We’ll have to discuss it with our Head." Alira responded. 

"No problem," he smiled genuinely, for the first time in the past twenty minutes, which made his lips turn into a box-like shape. 

"We should take our leave now," Anna suggested as she abruptly got up from the couch. 

"See you soon, Manager." he voiced playfully. 

Anna wanted to roll her eyes but quickly blinked away her emotion and put up a formal smile. Bidding goodbye to both Neil and Yeno, Anna dragged Alira out of the extraordinarily charming model's house. 

"I think he likes you," she suddenly uttered, making Anna stop in her tracks. 

Turning to face her, Anna let go of her hand and sighed. Looking square in Alira's eyes, she stepped closer to her. She slightly raised her brows in pure delight. "Tell me who doesn't," she flips her hair in contentedness. 

Alira got surprised at this response. Nodding her head to show her amusement, a mischievous smile got etched on her lips. Looking back into her eyes she whispered, "Your CRUSH," 

Anna's mouth dropped to the floor. "How mean!" she pouted but Alira had already gone out of her reach. 

-----

Dropping herself on the bed, Anna was thinking about what all happened in the past three hours- the absurd condition of the drop-dead handsome model, her mother wanting to shower her with all the love right at the dining table, which actually made her feel sick.  

"I can't understand. Why does he want me to be his manager? Alira was right there and she definitely has the skill." she rolled on her back to look up at the ceiling. 

"What happened to mom? Why is she being so nice? Shouldn't she be scolding me right now?" her brows furrowed as she got lost in her thoughts. 

***Cell Phone Ringing*** 

"Good Evening, Head" she answered without getting up. 

"Good Evening, Anna. Did you reach your home on time?" Jack enquired with compassion in his voice. 

"Yes, Head," she answered in a dry tone. 

"Good. What about Ali? Do you have any idea?"

"The cab dropped her first, so she must be at home." 

"Great. I called her but her phone was unreachable. Anyhow, how was the meeting? Did he agree?" 

"Not really. He has a condition," 

"What condition?" 

She explained everything to him in detail. 

"I see. Will get back to you on this," he spoke gently.

"Okay. Um, one more thing Head," she added hesitatingly. 

"Yes, Anna. What is it?" he asked politely. 

"If you'll allow me, I want to take two days' leave." she requested.

"I noticed your voice. Are you okay?" 

"Yes, Head. Nothing to worry about. It would be great if you could allow me to take leave." 

"Okay. Take care and let me know if you need anything," he answered in his compassionate voice. 

"Thanks, Head."