CATASTROPHE CAREN (Completed) ✔

28: A Misconception

The days ran by quickly. Friday arrived and Caren could barely wait for her closing time to come. As soon as the clock hit 5 O'clock, she arranged her desk, grabbed her personal belongings and left the office. She was exhausted from doing so much work throughout the week. All she wanted to do now was get home as soon as possible, take a nice, hot shower and rest for a while before attending to other personal matters.

She was about to exit the company's lobby when Halle spotted her called out to her.

"Hey Girl... These days all you do is zoom in and zoom out. No one sees you around anymore." Halle said.

"I know and I'm sorry about that. It's just that I'm trying to get home early these days so that I can have as much rest as possible. That way I can wake up to a good start without feeling too tired."

"Are you sure?" Halle raised an eyebrow.

"Of course! Why do you ask?"

"I don't know... It's just that I barely talk to you these days. We aren't as close as we used to be and I can't help but feel you're still mad at me." Halle sighed.

"You worry too much. If not that you just reminded me about that incident, I had totally forgotten about it. You're absolutely fine." Caren smiled.

"Okay if you say so. So what's been up with you lately? And how's your relationship with... you know who." She whispered.

She laughed, "Nothing's been up. Just the usual home and work stuff. And by the way Halle, I am not in a relationship with Calvin's dad. Just so we're clear."

"Well even if you were, I'm pretty sure I'd be the last one to know. But that's okay, I know it's my fault things are the way they are between you and I."

"There you go again!" Caren chuckled. "Anyways Dear, it was lovely catching up. I'd love to stay and chat some more but I have a terrible headache and I just need to get home, get a good rest."

"I understand! By the way, you should know that I'm totally not in support of Calvin's recent behaviour towards you. But I've not been able to say much about it because he just seems so angry these days. I always think it twice before approaching him for anything."

"That's fine! The last thing I want is for someone to get in trouble because of me so don't worry about it. I've got to run along now." Caren smiled.

"Sure! Take care." Halle waved.

"You too!" She replied.

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By 7 in the evening, Caren woke up to the sound of her ringtone. She glanced up from under the cozy covers, her eyes still closed while her hands moved under and about her pillow searching for her phone.

She touched it and opened her eyes to see who was calling... It was Olivia.

"Hi Olivia..."

"Hey Girl... Oh no! It seems you were asleep."

"Yes, I was."

"Oh Dear, I'm sorry for waking you up! I'll just call you back later."

"No, no, it's fine." Caren sat up on her bed. "How are you doing?"

"I should be asking you! I haven't heard from you since the last time we met and it got me kind of worried."

"Yes, I apologize for that. I've just been so busy with work and haven't really had much time for anything else. I wanted to make sure I called you at a good time so as not to rush our conversation."

"Oh, that's okay, I understand now. Though I'm dying to ask you, what did you later do with the information I gave you about Dave?"

"Well... I talked to him!"

"What? Really? How did that happen? Did you tell him I was the one who told you about the whole thing?"

"Olivia, can you slow down a bit? My brain is still trying to adjust." She chuckled.

"Oh, right sorry!" She laughed.

"Anyway, I didn't tell him anything about you. What kind of person would that make me?... As for how the whole thing went, all I can say is, that would make one hell of a comedy show."

"Oh boy! Now I know you did something crazy!"

"Oh I did! I stalked him." Caren giggled.

"What? Are you for real?"

"Yep! I felt like I needed to see the person in question first before making any drastic decision. At first all I wanted to do was see him in person but then I was like, whatever, let me see what he's up to, so I followed him around. Anyway I wasn't too careful and I ended up getting caught... Sort of!"

"My goodness! Who did you think you were? Some kind of private investigator?"

"Sort of!" Caren laughed.

"How did you get caught?"

"Well everything was going smoothly until I lost him. Then I walked into a Coffee shop to just chill. Next thing you know, he was behind me."

"Was he aware that you were stalking him?"

"Not at all. He was a little bit surprised to see me in the area. I told him I was running an errand for my boss and the taxi broke down."

"That was a really close one. What happened next?" Olivia asked.

"We got to talking and I found out a lot of things about him. The dude's actually chill. The truth is, I don't think he's behind this whole video thing."

"Perfect! I'm sure he has you exactly where he wants you." Olivia scuffed.

"Hey... That's not nice."

"Well what were you expecting? A pat on the back? Think Caren, think! There's no way he was gonna give you a reason to think he's been stalking you. He is smarter than that!"

"Girl, I don't know... Everything I just told you was solely based on my instincts. What he said or didn't say, had absolutely nothing to do with my judgement."

"Okay then! If that's the way you feel about the whole thing then I guess we'll have no other choice than to wait until the real culprit shows up." Olivia sighed.

"I'm really sorry about stressing you with all this mess. The truth is, I'm really worried. What if I report him to the police and then he turns out to be innocent? Imagine how humiliated and embarrassed he'll be."

"You have a point. But then you've got to do what you've got to do."

"But that's the thing, I just don't want to do anything simply because I have to do it! Ugh... If only I had some kind of proof... that'll make this mission so much easier. Too bad I don't. I guess what has happened, has happened!"

"You know what... I think I think we may just be able to find a witness to back up this mission."

"A witness? Girl I already thought about that. Everyone was drunk that night. No way in hell anyone knew what was happening around them. And even if we decide to search for a witness, who are we going to start with?" Caren rolled her eyes.

"My cousin!"

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