Off the Books

Chapter 3

Olivia

The office was packed more than usual today for an emergency Board of Directors meeting. Faces I haven't seen since the last quarter greet me from my doorway before congregating in the boardroom.

"Helloooo Olivia."

Hearing the friendly and familiar voice, I immediately looked up from my computer with a bright smile plastered on my face. Leaning against my doorway was Roy Callahan, one of Aria Property Group's Directors, and the office comic relief.

"Roy, it's been a long time! Sit, sit," I gesture for him to take a seat at one of the chairs in front of my desk while I lock my computer screen.

"Sure has. How are you doing?"

"I'm good. Things have been quiet around here without you."

He smiles at me and begins tapping a beat against his knee with my pen while looking around the office.

"I hope Matthew has been good to you. He is my best friend and I'm on the Board so if he's getting on any of your nerves, I can-"

"No, no!" I interrupted him quickly waving my arms around. "He's a good boss and everything is super productive around here. I've got nothing to complain about."

"That's good to hear."

"What's this emergency meeting for? Is everything going okay?" I ask with a hint of worry in my voice. If it had something to do with the numbers, I wanted to know. It would give me anxiety otherwise.

Roy just chuckles and waves my pen around, "Nothing for you to be concerned about, Olivia. It's just a small operations issue."

I sigh in relief and smile at him, confessing, "I'm a little protective over the finances."

"You worked hard to completely revamp the system since you joined us. I totally understand."

Another body fills my doorway and my nose immediately catches a whiff of the familiar mixed scent of citrus and amber. Roy turns around as well to see his best friend standing at my door.

"Bothering my employees, Callahan?" Matthew asks with a small friendly smile on his face. My eyes widen slightly at the smile, a rare sight around here. And he was joking around on top of it? Maybe Roy needs to come around more often.

"Just making sure you're treating everyone well," Roy counters whilst placing my pen back on my desk and standing up.

I flit my gaze between the two impeccably dressed men currently standing in my office and have to force myself to get back to work to stop staring at them.

"The meeting is about to start," states Matthew, and Roy gives him a nod before waving at me.

"See you soon, Olivia! Prioritize my expense reimbursements, would you?" he asks playfully with a wink. I laugh at his request and wave them out.

"Yes yes. Now go before you both are late."

As they leave my office, I get back to working on today's tasks knowing that the Board of Directors meeting will probably throw more work on my plate.

Everything else goes the same as usual for the rest of the morning, giving me a break from any unexpected expense reports like two days ago. I eye the boardroom doors multiple times, wondering what exactly they were discussing in there today. I'm fully lost in thought, daydreaming about being in there one day, when a knock on my door brings me back to the present.

"Hey, Olivia! I was thinking of getting lunch at that Thai place across the street. You want to join?" asks my fellow Marketing Manager, Alyssa. My stomach rumbles at the thought of having a proper meal for lunch instead of just shoving some grapes in my mouth.

"You know what? Good idea. I'm starving."

Exiting the Thai place after lunch, Alyssa and I giggle over Roy's antics while complaining about how we were going to keep our muddled minds focused on work for the rest of the day. As we step inside the main floor glass doors at Aria, a loud shouting makes me stand fully alert despite all the food we had just eaten. My eyes meet a man causing a commotion in the lobby whilst being held back by the two security guards. The man yells to be let inside whilst glaring at the receptionist hiding behind her desk.

"Well that's new," says Alyssa and I agree with her. This man was a strange occurrence, especially on a day when all the Directors were in the building together. Shrugging it off and entering the elevator, I attempt to fight off an impending food coma.

Waving goodbye to Alyssa as she gets out of the elevator a stop before me, I finally reach the executive floor. The doors to the boardroom open as I round the corner to my office with every single person exiting looking disgruntled and annoyed.

"Looks like I would have more work to do today than expected," I think to myself as Roy and Matthew approach me, no longer in a friendly mood.

"Is everything okay?" I ask quietly, hoping not to get on any of their last nerves.

"Things just didn't end our way," replies Matthew, and I nod in understanding. It must be difficult to keep every single Director happy, especially with the real estate market on the West Coast being a shit show.

"You two will figure it out. At least you were in there and not getting yelled at by the man in the lobby."

"The lobby?" questions Roy as he looks at me for further explanation.

"Yeah. There was a man in the lobby yelling to be let inside. I think security probably got rid of him by now," I responded but it didn't seem to ease the tension in the two men's shoulders so I continued with my own question, "Is something wrong?"

I turn to face the elevator that the Directors had filed into and the metal doors close in front of them, descending immediately. The second elevator next to it dings a few seconds afterward, announcing the arrival of someone on our floor. I stand there frozen when the man from the lobby exits the machinery and points a gun right at us.

"Got you, Rossi."

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A/N - Okay, okay! I couldn't help but release another chapter but this will be the last one before my exam (Unless I cave again). I am so grateful for your follows, votes, and comments! Thank you so much! Again, I'm so excited to keep posting after this damn final and I really appreciate your patience! - H