Unending Nightmares

Chapter 14: Conspiracy Continues

It was a lovely Monday. When I came into the office this morning, I was whistling and making something when I heard shouts from the production floor.

Rick was holding a stack of papers when I saw him throw them across Jake's desk. This is new, as these two were really close—they somehow became a bit of a duo inside the office. Among the papers were a few flash drives, clearly broken after Rick threw them out. 

"Jake, how many times have I told you? Check the attachments before sending the email! It's like the hotdog and condiments all over again. You keep forgetting the small details!" Rick said, his voice loud enough to be heard across the floor. Like waken ostriches, the team started stretching their necks to see what was going on. 

"What's going on?" I asked while I stepped out of the office and looked at Rick and Jake.

"Sorry, Sir, I keep forgetting the attachment before sending the emails," Jake said nervously. "Won't happen again, Sir"

"I heard that the last time. You've managed to screw up three clients, Jake. Do you think I didn't notice? It's always the big clients where you screw up. Marvel, Universal, and Golden Gate all reached out, saying the Visuals they requested always come in empty flash drives, and our emails have corrupted files. Are you messing with me?!" Rick finally shouted, and I could see the veins on his neck.

"Calm down, Rick. Susan assigned those clients to Jake, so she knows what she's doing. Have her, Micah, Jake, and Brittany come to Aether's office. I'll follow you guys up there once I finish here. Martha, you go too. Bring Rick with you." I dished out orders, and I could see Jake getting more nervous each second.

"He's one of the best interns. What's wrong with him now?" I thought.

I took out my phone, looked for my contact named Old Hag, and typed, "We got trouble. I think it's the one the old man under the bridge warned us about. I'm sending the main players to your office, though I'm pretty sure it's Jake"

Aether, seeing the message pop-up from her contact list saying Dumb-Dumb, replied, "Okay, Dummy. Thank you"

—

At Aether's office, inside her newly built soundproofed conference room. 

"Jake, tell us the truth. Is this all coincidence, or are you too stressed with all the three clients I gave you? We can take some from you and give it to Joy and Denise," Susan asked while the others looked at Jake across the long table.

"If you can, yes, please. I'm really sorry, Madam and Sirs. I need the job, and I would appreciate it if you could keep me on my post," Jake said, crying as he went to babble about how hard it was for him and his family, taking off his thick glasses in the process.

"You think it's him?" Aether chatted in the group chat.

"I can't say for sure," I replied. "But something fishy is going on. I can't pinpoint it, but the local media press somehow seems to know what's happening inside the office. If you want to test him, we must devise a decoy—a believable one at that."

"And who would that be?" Rick asked. "You sure won't put a real client out there, right?"

"Of course not", I replied. "But Golden Gate is our weakest link. They're not interested, and they just took us because of the pressure from Starlink. I don't think Mr. Lopez will care if we lose this client since it's basically his anyways"

"Wouldn't the other side notice that? It's like they're always prepared and one step ahead," Micah said. "And besides, I ran a background check on Jake. What he says about his family struggling is true. We need to find motive"

"Let's discuss this some other time. Have Brit prepare the HR talk. It will be a written warning for now," Aether said, concluding the short meeting.

—

Inside a phone booth.

"Jake. Oh, Jake. I told you to be careful, didn't I?" The man said.  He was holding a cigar, but you could see a glass of whiskey beside the ashtray. "You think they wouldn't notice something that obvious?"

"Forgive me. I was not thinking far ahead," Jake said. "Do you have any suggestions on how I should continue, Sir?"

The man stalled for a minute and then replied, "What's the update with the Starlink girl and the COO?"

Jake hesitated but replied, "I believe we can't pin our hopes on that now, Sir. It looks like the girl and Aether became friends and fierce rivals. They do everything to keep the COO safe"

Surprised by the revelation, the man put his hand on his chin and said, "2 women protect a man. Interesting. I'll call you back. Remember, don't call me using your own cell, and make sure not to call within a kilometer radius of Aether's studios"

"Yes, Sir," Jake sighed and turned around after ending the phone call. After exiting the phone booth, his face contorted, and he snarled, "If only you hadn't got a choke on my family, I wouldn't have worked for you, you old swindle!"

Jake walked away, his resolve firmer than ever.