Unmasking Ghost

Background: Lara

I squeeze the bedsheet, arching my back as a wave of pleasure washes over me for the second time. Matt's head surfaces from between my legs as I exhale and lay onto the sheets of my bed.

"Don't tell me you won't miss this," he looks up at me, grinning. His hands wrapped around my thighs.

I reach over to the nightstand and grab my phone. 15 more emails, 3 missed calls, and numerous unopened Teams messages.

"Really?!" He barks at me. I hadn't even noticed him get off the bed and pull his boxers and jeans on. I look back at my phone and a new email springs into my inbox.

Subject: New Acquisition 'Patetaspectu' Data

I read the first few lines.

Lara, I need you to review this urgently, the document is fucking Greek to me. We need the analysis ready for the Toronto meeting...

"Bye Lara!" Matt yells as he slams the bedroom door. I hear him stomping down my stairs and then another bang as he slams my front door. The black BMW in my driveway turns over and the sound of the straight 6 engine roars away.

My phone bleeps as I get a text message.

Matt: I won't miss this at all.

I close my phone and make my way to the shower. I cry as the hot water hits my face. I don't know what I'm more angry at... being upset that Matt has finally gone or that the asshole could still make me cum. Definitely the first, I thought.

Matt and I had dated for 3 years. We met at work and he was charming and witty, but my god he loved being the center of attention. He was just taller than me and looked good in a suit. Dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He was attractive, but what made him less attractive was that he knew it. He thrived on attention... female attention, and honestly, the longer we were together the more he entertained it.

I stepped out of the shower, and I thought back to finding the emails. 'Finding' was an overstatement. One of the girls in the office had sent on a string of emails from Matt to Ellie, one of the girls in accounting he had been seeing behind my back.

"Piece of shit," I mutter as I stand in front of my wardrobe. I pull on my grey joggers, a sports bra, an oversized hoodie. Happy in my ensemble of comfortable, warm clothing.

I kick the shoes on the floor back into the jumble of mess in the wardrobe and slammed the door.

Matt hated mess. Fuck Matt.

"I just think I need more attention," I say out loud to no one as I stomp down the stairs. "No wait... I DESERVE more attention," I mock Matt's voice.

At least, the separation will be easy. He never wanted to move in with me, preferring his bachelor apartment in the city. I had no interest in being around that many people unless I had to. I preferred my small house, on my small street in my world.

I sat at my laptop and sipped my coffee. The earlier email was from my boss. I loved him, he was a 6'2 giant of a man from South Yorkshire who knew his shit as a technical analyst and engineer. He brought me on to look after the team after he got a double promotion to director. I think he hated the title but loved that he could now shout at more people. I ran a team of analysts and technical experts who were responsible for ensuring all new business our company bought or sold were efficient and effective money makers.

My job was to find all the shit stuff people keep hidden and fix it.

I was 32 and was the youngest in a team of male-dominated IT experts.

I brushed my long brown hair out of my face, my grey eyes squinting at the numbers as the file opened.

I tried to look after myself, I had  routine of getting my nails and lashes done, but other than that, I was pretty low maintenance, spending the rest of my time watching TV, I loved the comfort of reruns like the Gilmore Girls and working on my laptop.

The file I download was monstrous, and I set about organizing the data and reviewing the information as best I could. I shot a Teams message to my boss.

Lara: You don't pay me enough for this. This company is a mess...
Lara: This is huge

The three dots appear back.

Stew: Just think of the bonus if we land them.
Stew: Also... that's what she said.

I laughed out loud and continued to work. The Gilmore Girls episodes cycled through, and I started getting more worried about what I was seeing the longer I worked.

I looked at my phone. A message from Matt popped up on my phone.

Matt: I just think you ought to know that I'll be in Belgium for work. Ellie is coming too.

The last four words stung, but I was hardly surprised; the man couldn't be alone.

I tapped back:

Lara: Tell her I said Hi. Also, her figures for the July forecast were wrong... again.

It was late, and I had been working without eating, which I do when I get wrapped up in work. I texted my boss again:

Lara: It doesn't look good. Half of the processes are missing. Departments are missing, and the financials don't add up. The company looks to lose more money than it makes.
Stew: Let's talk about it at the airport tomorrow.
Stew: I heard about you and Matt.

How the fu...

Stew: I've canceled her flight to Belgium.

I giggled as I typed.

Lara: Director Flex ;) Thank you, see you tomorrow.

I closed my laptop and grabbed the rest of the takeaway from last night from the kitchen fridge and brought it to my bedroom.

I pulled out a carryall from under my bed and started launching clothes at it while stuffing dumplings in my mouth.

That'll do for one day.

My alarm pierced the quiet... 04:30. Getting to the airport was a hazy memory, but I arrived with a bag and saw my team. My boss towered over the other guys and waved me over to them. We got checked in and boarded the plane with nothing remarkable happening other than Evan getting patted down by security, which he looked absolutely mortified about.

I'm sitting next to my boss, sipping on the airline's attempt at coffee. "What are we saying about Patetaspectu then?" Stew said, his gravelly voice unusually loud on the quiet flight.

"There's some good stuff on the surface, but vast sums of money are being transferred out and back in." I opened my laptop. "Have we done the due diligence on this company? It looks like money laundering, if I'm honest," I said, pointing to a line.

Name: Pretium
Acc: 78272728
Post: Out
Amount: $1,650,000

"Same amount over and over," I said as my finger glided over multiple lines over multiple tabs.

"I dunno, Lara, but we've already acquired them. The CFO is meeting us in Toronto."

Weird, I thought. We never just acquire businesses with this many red flags.

After we land, we are picked up in one of our office buses and taken to our hotel, where we settle in. The flights and transfers have taken most of the day, so it's essentially bed before work in the morning.

That was the last normal night before work I ever had.