The Heart Of Moss

Chapter 2

After losing her job, Mikayla went home that evening and plopped down on her couch with a heavy sigh.

Taking her thick, curly hair out of its constraining bun, she put her feet up on the dark, rectangular coffee table. With a sigh, she laid her head back on the headrest, and looked up at the white ceiling.

"What am I going to do now?" Mikayla asked herself, her gaze moving to look about her apartment as she muttered, "That saying about things changing in the blink of an eye is really true though, so insane!"

She had come to enjoy living alone in her own personal space, having lived in the same apartment residence for almost three years. It was a cute one bedroom, one bath, located just outside of London, with great transport connections into the city.

Mikayla knew that, if she did not get a job right away, she would have to forfeit the place and move back home. She had not lived with her parents since leaving for university, and the thought of having to ask them for help did not sit well with Mikayla for she really did not want to let go of the independence that she had cultivated for herself.

"How could Mr. Northefielde betray us like that?" Mikayla uttered with a heavy sigh, as her mind replayed the awful events of the day.

Even though Damien had a reputation for being ruthless, he had not been intentionally cruel to the former workers of Northefielde Elements Inc. His contempt was with Brian and not with the employees. However, at the end of the day, business was business, and the shady dealings that their former boss had gotten himself entangled in had put them all at risk, landing them in the position that they presently were in.

The current state of their sudden unemployment was not Damien's fault but that of Brian's.

Mikayla wondered if anyone else had known what Mr. Northefielde was doing. The investigation would bring everything to light, and anyone else who was found to have been conspiring with him would be sent to jail as well.

Being his former personal assistant, she had immediately been pulled aside for intense questioning. The men in black that had accompanied Damien were part of an anti-corruption task force from Interpol. They had come to arrest Mr. Northefielde.

When the rest of their back-up had arrived, they went through her desk and computer. Mikayla had given her statement to the officers who in turn said that they would be in touch if anything else came up.

The entire situation was just one big mess!

Exhaling deeply, Mikayla reminisced about the time when she first saw Damien Arnauld.

'It was exactly eight months ago when he had first stepped into the conference room at Northefielde Elements Inc. He had an imposing presence and was roguishly handsome, but it had been his aquamarine eyes that had drawn her in.

She had never really seen eyes like his before, especially with the speckles of yellow in them.

When he had held her hand in acknowledgment, her body had shuddered slightly at the contact. The way his eyes had taken in her appearance from head to toe had made her even more jumpy. The small smirk forming on his lips suggested that he had not missed the effect his touch had on her.

"Arrogant bastard," she had muttered under her breath.

Mikayla had not been able to help but notice him as he kept glancing her way during Mr. Northefielde's presentation. She had wondered what was going through his mind, as his eyes locked with hers on more than one occasion.

After the meeting was over, Mikayla had quickly excused herself and returned to her cubicle, needing to put some distance between herself and his intimidating gaze. She had been drinking some water from her bottle when his large body suddenly leaned into the entrance of her work space, startling her.