Chapter 3 What The Hell Was That?

• Casey says goodbye to both men, but before she could leave the office, Genaro's voice catches her attention.
• —Casey, tomorrow night I will be expecting your father's presence and with your company. Please make sure this old man shows up at my house. I will be hosting a small gathering.
• —Come on Genaro, you know I don't have time for that kind of events.
• —Rafael, it's for a greater good. A charity event, you know, to support the institution for boys and girls.
• The young brunette watches as her father rolls his eyes, he almost never attended those gatherings. The reason being that her uncle Genaro always tried to set him up, and by now the idea of him getting a girlfriend didn't sound too bad.
• —We will attend, uncle.
• —That's my girl!
• The father watches his daughter who gives him a victorious smile, it was impossible for her to refuse his request. It was the one thing her father hadn't changed about towards her, he thought it was because her resemblance to her late mother was incredible. They looked like two peas in a pod. The young woman waved goodbye to her father from afar and then closed the door, her smile fading from her lips.
• She needed some fresh air, it was suffocating to have to pretend so much with her own father. She didn't know why it was so hard for her to talk to him about her concerns. The young woman bites her lips and heads to the elevator to go up to the rooftop of the building...
• Feeling the cool breeze on her face, she managed to breathe calmly, feeling a knot in her stomach so dreadful. She was the worst daughter, a fake... the girl walked to the edge of the building, every time she felt suffocated she would run like a little girl to the rooftop to get some fresh air. She did it in secret, if her father found out she went up alone to that dangerous place, she would surely get a scolding. And she was already 23 years old.
• Casey leans a bit on the safety railings, able to see the movement of the cars, at that height they seemed a bit smaller. Her father's building was almost like a skyscraper. To many, it might seem terrifying to be at such heights, but she was fine with it because she felt free.
• "If you lean a bit more, you can be sure to have a gruesome death."
• Casey startles, holding onto the railing tightly, scared to hear that strong voice behind her, turning around she sees Cauther leaning against a wall. How long had he been there? She didn't notice his presence. He was like a cat, so elusive.
• "Mr. Acrom," she says nervously.
• "Does your father know you come here often?" She slightly opens her lips, realizing at that moment that he was smoking a cigarette, which he held with those huge fingers, but it was so... What the hell was he thinking?
• "I'm not doing anything wrong," she decides to reply.
• "Leaning on that railing is not very safe, to say the least," he points to the pipes with the hand holding the cigarette.
• She looked in that direction, lips pressed together, nothing had ever happened to her and she went up almost all the time. Embarrassed, she looks up and, as she does, she meets Cauther's fierce gaze and that was like a trigger for her heart. It started beating wildly in her chest, she wondered, why was he looking at her like that?
• "This building is very safe."
• "Rafael wanted it this way, huge... extravagant, whereas I, thought that two floors were more than enough. We don't need to impress anyone, we are the richest people in the country, and almost in the world."
• He was so vain that it made her feel uncomfortable. She blinks, watching the movements of her father's partner, she had never felt so nervous in Cauther's company, well, she hadn't been alone with him countless times. In fact, it was the first time he had spoken to her more than necessary, he never really spoke to her the jerk.
• Suddenly Casey notices how he crushes the cigarette with his shoe, puts both hands in his pockets, and starts walking towards... her! said that inner voice. Paralyzed, she stays where she was, waiting to see what that man would do.
• Cauther stood just inches away from her, but still maintaining a certain distance. However, that closeness was disturbing and unsettling for the black-haired girl who felt like throwing herself off the cliff.
• "You'll have a lot of problems with your father if he finds out you're going up to the rooftop of the building," she sees him take his hand out of his pocket to scratch his stubble, was he threatening her or what the hell was he trying to do?
• "Don't tell my father," Casey flattens her lips, and that's when she perceives something extremely strange that made her hair stand on end...
• "It will be our little secret, Miss Monroe," suddenly Cauther leans a little towards her to whisper those words, but all that was only for milliseconds, as he composed himself and then turned around and left.
• Meanwhile, Casey was gripping the railing with her hands so tightly that she felt her hands cramping. The young girl swallowed saliva while blinking repeatedly, What the hell was that?! She wondered as she took a deep breath.
• She let go of the railing to put a hand on her chest, it wasn't a lie, her heart was indeed beating strongly. Suddenly she felt a slight dizziness that made her hold onto the safety bar again.
• "Damn, what was that?!" She furrows her brow as she remembers Cauther's words, but the most unsettling thing of all was that half-smile that appeared at the corner of Cauther's lips. What does that mean?
• Casey bites her lips, breathes heavily, she was having a panic attack or something. She had never been in a situation like that. The girl exhales, tries to catch her lost breath, and a few seconds later she begins to feel her heartbeats becoming rhythmic. She looks up admiring the landscape before her, hundreds of buildings surrounded her.
• "Damn, this must have been an illusion or something..." She says, trying to forget that incident that had no place in her thoughts.
• Suddenly her phone starts vibrating, looking at the screen she realizes it was her father, the meeting was surely about to start. She composed herself to walk towards the entrance of the stairs... minutes later, she spotted the boardroom, through the distorted glass she could see the silhouette of all the invited employees, including the owners. And that's when she stopped in her tracks.
• Shit! Cauther was going to be there too, she feels her legs weaken a bit, at the same time a powerful knot forms in the pit of her stomach. Then she shakes her head, no, what the hell was happening to her? Because of a meaningless encounter she couldn't behave like that. But then, why the hell couldn't she move a single foot?
• "Casey! There you are," she turns around and sees her father's secretary approaching her. "Your father is waiting for you, let's go... you're the only one missing."
• "Me?"
• "Yes, let's go," she encourages her to walk to the boardroom.
• She looked at the door from afar, feeling the knot in her stomach tighten and even become painful. Led by the secretary, Casey enters the boardroom almost blind because of the nerves that were eating her up.
• "You're a little late, are you okay?" It was her father's voice, she blinks and looks for him with her eyes.
• "Yes, yes, I'm fine," she stammers, smiling half-heartedly.
• "Then, let's begin."
• And those words sentenced her to look at the rest of the staff, and as she does, the culprit of her anguish and turmoil of emotions was sitting very calmly with a folder in his hands. He hadn't even bothered to look up at her, what a damn jerk! While she was going through hell because of his damn behavior on the rooftop, he was acting as if nothing had happened.