Chapter 274: Thunderstorm
Emily was late. That was the first clue Derek had that something was wrong. Emily was rarely ever late. For her to not show up on Thursday night, and then to follow it up by being late for work.
Something was definitely very wrong. But she was still not answering her phone, so Derek had no idea what it could be.
Had she fallen ill? Had something happened to her mother? Or maybe she had been robbed and that was why she was not replying to anything. Did that mean that he had to call the police?
Or maybe phone in to different hospitals to see if she had been admitted.
Derek was just seriously beginning to consider calling the authorities when there was a knock at his door.
"Come in," He said, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper so that he at least looked like he had been doing something that had to do with work. Had Emily been there, she would have given him an admonishing look for trying to fake being busy. But since she was not, Derek got away with it. When the door did open, it was to reveal the head of human resources, Padma. Now that was not out of the ordinary in the least. As the head of HR, Padma was often in and out of Derek’s office, the two of them discussing various things when it came to the employees.
Seeing her, should not have made Derek feel on edge. But there was something about the way that she was looking at him that made Derek grip the pen that he was holding tighter.
"Is our meeting not scheduled for Monday morning or did I mix up the dates?" Derek asked, keeping his tone light despite how uneasy he suddenly felt. "Emily is not in right now and she’s usually the one who schedules such things. Apologies if I have forgotten," Derek said. Either way it did not matter.
He had already prepared in advance for the meeting. Whatever it was that needed to be talked about. He could handle it with ease. But as it turned out, Padma was not there for a meeting.