Miss Stubborn

eighteen

"Slater and River Enterprises, Demi Valentine speaking." I type away at my keyboard at the same time, finalising the accounts for this cycle. 

"Demi, it's Wes. I, we, uh, I need someone to talk to. You. I need, well want, to talk to you." Wes stutters, he sounds flustered. 

"Wes. Is everything okay? What's going on?" 

"Can you take your lunch now?" Wes says hastily. I can hear the panic in his voice, it was worrying me. 

"Yeah sure, I guess." I respond, assuming saying yes was my best option right now. 

"I'm in the lobby of your building." Wes explains, hanging up immediately.

Picking up my jacket and handbag I quickly make my way over to the elevator. Pressing the button repeatedly, as though that would help it move faster. The second the doors began to open on the lobby floor I rushed out, searching for Wes. I spot him immediately, pacing up and down the lobby floor. 

"Wes?" I ask, not even sure it really is him. He looks up at me and I gasp slightly, he's dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, something I've never seen him in at work. His eyes look tired and his hair is a mess, as though he woke up this morning and came straight here. 

"Hey Demi." He whispers, not making eye contact with me. 

I look around to see if there was anyone I recognised in the lobby and spotted Brenda behind the front desk. 

"Brenda, could you do me a massive favour?" I pled, watching as she glances over at Wes and back to me nodding. "Can you tell Blake that I've had a personal emergency and have to take an extended lunch, I'll be back as soon as I can and I'll work late tonight to make up for it. Direct any calls for him to Casey in accounts." I explain quickly, knowing that I needed to get Wes out of here as soon as possible.

"Go, Demi. I'll sort everything out for you." Brenda smiles at me, shooing me away with her hands.

I rush over, grab Wes' arm and drag him out of the building in the direction of my house. We walk in silence the entire way there, I had no idea what to say or how to ask what was going on.

Opening my front door Wes walks directly over to my couch and collapses onto it, sighing heavily. 

"Wes," I say cautiously, "What's going on?"

"I, uh, I really shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be telling you this." Wes sighs, running his hands through his hair. "Promise you won't say a word to anyone else?"

"I promise." I say as I sit down next to him, placing a hand on his arm. 

"It's bad Demi. Remember the other week, when you were at my house? I got that phone call to go into work? Well, it was worse than I thought. Way worse." Wes pauses to gather his thoughts. "They called me in to look at the accounts, things weren't adding up." He sighs, standing up from the couch and walking around the living room. 

"Wes, sit back down. You can talk to me, it'll help to talk." I explain, waiting for him to sit back down next to me. 

"I don't know how to say it, I don't know if I can." Wes explains, walking back over to the couch to sit down.

"How about I go make us a cup of coffee? Give you a few minutes to work out how you want to explain what is going on?" I suggest, hoping that giving him a few minutes alone would help.

Wesley gives me a nod and a small smile. Not the smirk he usually gives me but it was better than nothing. 

I made my way into the kitchen, slowly putting the kettle on to boil. My mind was running at a million miles an hour, trying to work out what could be going on that has Wes this upset. 

A few minutes later I emerge, coffee in hand, placing them both on the coffee table in front of us.

"Okay, I'm ready." Wes announces, still not making any eye contact with me. I nod to encourage him to continue, not wanting to interrupt. "As I said, I was called into the office because the accounts were wrong. Being the owner of 80% of the company means I call all the shots, I am the majority so am allowed to make all the decisions on my own if I choose. Although, I was surprised when Daniel wasn't called in."

My mind wandered to that day and remembered that I saw Daniel that day, he was waiting outside my apartment, wanting to talk to me. I decide not to mention that to Wes. 

"When I got there," Wes continues. "James, my finance manager and Keira, our accountant, were waiting for me in the conference room. I was still confused at this point, James hadn't said much on the phone when he called me. All he said was that I had to get to the office immediately. I sat down and they showed me all of the paperwork they had laid out in front of us."

I let my hand rest on Wes' leg, close to his hand. I wasn't sure what kind of support he wanted at the moment. He edged his hand toward mine ever so slightly, until I could felt his fingertips brush my hand. I turned my hand over, letting his fingers slip around mine, until I could feel the heat of his palm pressed against mine.

"I could see red circles on the paper, but I didn't really understand what they were showing me. It wasn't until Keira began to explain that I realised what was going on." Wes moves his other hand and places it on top of our hands that were intertwined, running his fingers over the back of my hand. "Every month for the past five years there has been around $5,000 being taken out of the account for charity purposes. That much is fine. I'm happy to give to charities, I don't need all the money that the company makes. The problem is, the charity we were donating to, The House of Hope Foundation. Is not actually a real charity, they have a website, photos, stories, testimonials. Except it's not real. It's a front, a front created by someone at this company." Wes begins to slow down, as though treading very carefully with the words he is saying. 

I squeeze his hand gently, encouraging him to continue.

"Demi, I don't know how to tell to you this." Wes sighs before continuing, "Daniel Johnson has been stealing from my company from the moment he started there."