I Can't Remember To Hate U

CHAPTER 22

His heart was throbbing so much that Oren couldn't think of anything but the pain. He tried drowning himself in alcohol and taking sleeping pills, but neither helped. Then, at ten, Monday morning, he went to the drugstore near where he lived and headed to the section where over-the-counter headache medications were displayed. He picked out a couple that sounded as if they might take the pain away.

The owner, an old man, was quite alarmed by the amount of medications he took, so Oren faked a smile. Damn headache, he thought. He wouldn't have it, and Vivienne wouldn't be dead, if he hadn't went to that house and caught her cheating that night, he told himself. When he wasn't thinking about Vivienne and picturing those last minutes—her crying and begging for forgiveness, him walking out of the house followed by Vivienne's voice screaming that he never truly loved her, everything becoming blurry—he thought of Lorelei.
His heart hadn't hurt much when it first happened, but now thinking that Lorelei would slip away from him hurt even more. He desperately wanted to hold her for as long as he could.

Oren watched as the owner swiped his card for payment, and as soon as he was done he grabbed the medications placed them in a bag and went out.
He got into the car, immediately reaching into the backseat, taking his jacket and put it on. Then he drove to work. The issue with the robbery hadn't been solved and as much as it bothered him, he had to take care of it.

When he reached the office, Lisa immediately knew that he hadn't slept well for days. His face was gloomy and his aura screamed "tired" from a mile away.
"Good morning Mr. Tremblay," she said.
"Morning." He made his way to his office with Lisa behind him. When they reached his office Lisa carefully closed the door behind then said, "Should I contact Dr. Ryans and ask him to change your prescription?"
"No need. I'm fine." He run his fingers in his hair then sighed.
"We have an update on the stolen gold. The police has reasons to believe that the criminals have turned to finance companies to pledge the stolen gold against hard cash as 'loans', shunning their earlier preference for goldsmiths and even pawnbrokers."
"But that amount of gold couldn't have been stolen by some mere criminals." Oren objected.
"You could be right," Lisa continued. "But we know that pledging gold with finance companies can fetch them as much as 80% of the total value of gold pledged for loans at low interest rates. FYI, goldsmiths and pawnbrokers offer only 50% which means that these are not your average criminals."
"So, how do we retrieve the gold?" Oren asked.
"Unfortunately,once the stolen gold is pledged and the 80% of the gold's value is taken in cash as loan, the criminals vanish into think air without bothering to repay the loans. Realizing that the payment has been defaulted, the company seizes the gold."

In realization of what that means, Oren clenched his fists. The deadline for delivering the finished products was near and he had nothing. If he didn't deliver on time, he would be charged with fraud and possibly put in jail.
Lisa cleared her throat then said, " I think...you should call your father. He's the only one who can help us right now." As much as it hurt him to admit it, she was right. Thomas Tremblay, the man he hates the most, is his only hope.

I wonder what he's going to ask me to do this time, he thought to himself.