Personal reasons

The next day morning,

Carl was in a bright mood feeling energetic and was prepared for today's work. He couldn't wait to see his worker's faces because he missed them even though it's been only three days since he skipped work.

Richie and most especially, his grandmother were more than happy to see Carl when he came back from Alabama.

Presently, he is in his wardrobe which looked like a collection of clothes for a man's boutique because of how packed and organized it was. Shoes of different colors were kept in place and all his outfits of different kinds were also arranged.

Carl wore a fine, fitted black suit that perfectly matched the white corporate long-sleeved shirt he was wearing inside. As usual, he purposely left three buttons of the shirt loose, revealing his toned chest muscles. Even if Carl was a gentleman, he always liked flexing and showing off his muscles.

He looks extremely good in a suit because of his manly physique and his broad shoulders are to die for.

"It's Thursday I don't have to look too serious" Carl muttered to himself, staring at the long wide mirror that showed his reflection from his head to his toes.

"but who cares?" he smiled, admiring himself.

His hands were in his pockets, posing like a model. He Indeed looked like one in the magazine.

Carl brushed his soft curly black hair to the side and after that, he applied lip balm on his lips. He looked so hot and seductive.

Lastly, he sprayed himself a nice perfume and he left his house.

He got into his Maybach which is currently his favorite car and then he drove off to his company.

..

At the company, he took an elevator to the 12th floor.

As he was walking through the hallway, he observed that there was an absolute quietness in the offices. It was as if he was the only one at work.

"where is everybody?" Carl muttered looking around.

"or am I too early?" he asked himself.

He looked at his wristwatch and saw that the time was 8:13 am. Moreover, everyone ought to be at work at exactly 8 o'clock.

"I haven't been at work for only three days and all my employees are now on a vacation" Carl shook his head.

For the first time in history, the staff room was quiet which was beyond weird.

Carl immediately got angry, he was upset about the absence of his workers. He got to the staff room and forcefully opened the door with rage. Luckily it wasn't locked.

"Surprise!!!" chorused his workers who were all coming out from their different hiding spots after hearing the door open.

Carl almost stumbled because of how shocked he was by his worker's scream.

"what the…" Carl said under his breath still feeling shocked and astonished.

He saw all his workers grinning from ear to ear, looking at him like he was an award or something.

Noah who obviously planned the whole thing was in front, holding a small rounded chocolate cake.

"Welcome back Prosecutor Carl". Noah said giving Carl the cake.

Carl smiled receiving the cake from Noah. "Hey, it's only three days since I left,"

"What if I had stayed for a month, you all would've prepared a feast for me" Carl chuckled.

"I thought we were doing all this because it was your birthday party," said a cop.

"Why are you so fucking dumb!!" Noah growled at the cop.

"Guys, guys chill okay?" Carl laughed.

"Where's Sasha?" He asked, using a finger to have a taste of the cake.

"Oh, you know how Sasha doesn't like anything that has to do with fun?" Noah said in a mocking tone.

"Oh, I get it" Carl laughed.

"This cake tastes just like umm..." Carl said with his eyes staring at the ceiling trying to remember what the cake tasted like.

"…My sister baked it last night. Detective Noah wanted a cake so I asked her" Dexter said.

"No wonder it tastes so good," Carl said to himself, smiling.

"I've missed you guys so much... And I've also missed saying this; Everyone, get back to work!" Carl ordered.

"You heard the man, everyone, back to work!" Noah voiced out to his co-workers.

Carl chuckled softly going to his office.

He sat down on his swivel chair and started eating the cake with a small fork. Just then, he heard a gentle knock on the door.

"Come in," Carl said while eating the cake.

Sasha slowly opened the door coming inside the office with a big smile on her face. She was happy to finally see Carl.

Meanwhile, Carl barely noticed Sasha because his attention was on his chocolate cake which tasted like heaven.

"Welcome back Prosecutor Carl," Sasha said sitting down on the chair opposite Carl.

"Sasha it's good to see you" Carl turned his attention to her.

"You too," she said. "Where on earth have you been? Your phone number didn't go through for days and returning my texts is an issue"

"I was out of town and where was didn't have service so..." Carl said

"Okay, so where did you go to? For work reasons I suppose?" Sasha curiously asked.

"For... Personal reasons" he answered hesitatingly

"Personal reasons??" She said giving Carl a suspicious look.

"prosecutor Carl, you can tell me anything," She said with an assuring face. She wanted to know why Carl suddenly disappear without telling her and where left to.

If he can tell Noah, he can also tell her but that's what she thought.

Carl could possibly tell Sasha anything but this time, he chose not to because she'll be disappointed if he told her that he left New York for Alabama just to see Anne.

He knew that Sasha didn't like the fact that he has feelings for Anne because it was one-sided. Little did he know that it was because she wanted Carl all to herself.

"It's just personal reasons" Carl muttered as he resumes eating his cake.

Sasha tried her best not to frown. She was upset that Carl couldn't tell her why and where he left to. For a minute, she felt unimportant in Carl's life.

"Your workers got you the cake?" She asked feeling irritated.

"Yeah, you want some?" Carl smiled, offering her a bite.

"No, no, no" Sasha turned her face, gesturing her hand for Carl to stop.

"Your loss" Carl laughed but Sasha maintained a straight face.

"Prosecutor Carl, don't you think you're too informal with your employees?" she said.

"How do you mean?" He asked.

"You're too friendly with your workers which isn't right. You and those people aren't on the same level don't you see? You're the president and the CEO of this corporation yet you comfortably laugh and joke around them like you're all in the same class." Sasha said.

Carl rested his back on his chair.

"That's what makes us different… you pick your friends based on class while I pick my friends who wanna see me win, who help me grow" he said.

Sasha scoffed.

"you better hope your 'friends' don't take your niceness as an advantage to disrespect you because you're going to regret it," she said.

*********

It was noon and the weather was pleasant. Anne was walking through the crowded street to a grocery store. She was on a black leather jacket that wasn't buttoned at all, exposing her flat tummy that was bare to the eyes because of the crop top she was wearing.

The skinny jeans she was putting on made her curvy hips and her firm booty well noticeable. In essence, Anne has a nice figure that'll draw your attention.

Her hair was packed in a high ponytail making her look so elegant yet like a bad bitch. She looked like a rebel as she walked by, unintentionally swaying her hips. Anne has a unique walking step that describes confidence.

A small red purse with a long strip was hung on her right shoulder which was in uniform with the red sneakers she was wearing.

While she was walking down the street, a young man 'accidentally' bumped into her, hitting her shoulder with his.

"hey!?! Ow!!" Anne groaned holding her shoulder.

She looked back to see who must've hit her but she couldn't see the young man. He was already lost in the crowd. She only saw his face for about 2 seconds so she barely know who it was.

Luckily, her shoulder didn't hurt because it was a quick and light hit.

"Scumbag!" Anne muttered with gritted teeth. She was upset about the fact that whoever had hit her didn't even bother to apologize.

Anne got inside the grocery store and went straight to the shelf to put some groceries in a shopping basket.

Unknowingly to her, there was a young, handsome man staring at her from the counter where he was paying for his stuff.

He was tall, light-skinned with turquoise blue eyes that appeared to be very alluring. He has a well-defined pointed nose, pink thin lips, and a nice jawline.

His shoulder-length blond hair was packed in a low ponytail with a few strands of hair partially covering his forehead, side by side.

He was in a fine blue suit that made him look so hot and classy from head to toe. He has already bought and paid for his stuff but he was still at the grocery store pretending to be busy on his phone. Meanwhile, he was low-key checking Anne out, admiring how beautiful she was.

'How can such beauty exists in this world,' The young man thought, already daydreaming about Anne.

Anne took the shopping basket containing her groceries to the counter where the shopkeeper was and the shopkeeper started calculating her stuff.

"hey beautiful, please let me pay for your stuff," The young man said to Anne with a calm and soft voice that sounded so sweet to the hearing.

Anne was a hundred percent sure the young man was talking to her because she was the only person with him at the counter.

However, she intentionally snubbed him without looking at the young man's face even for a second mainly because she was in a bad mood.

The person who had hit her shoulder without apologizing to her was still on her nerve. Aside from that, she barely talks to people because of how introverted she was.

The young man felt a little embarrassed because of how Anne snubbed him. He decided to tap on her shoulders to get her attention just in case she didn't hear him the first time.

"Miss?" The young man tapped Anne's shoulder and Anne turned to face him.

He had a charming and flirtatious smile on his face but Anne wasn't thrilled by his handsome looks rather, she was pissed.

The young man had a good look at Anne's face which appeared to be more attractive as he stared closely. His long stare at her face was as if he was already hypnotized by her silver eyes that could make anyone fall in love easily without a reason.

"What is it??" Anne asked with a straight face.

"I just wanted to help pay for your stuff..."

"…well I don't need your help," Anne said rudely shutting the young man up.

The young man gulped and felt like disappearing into thin air due to the embarrassment he just received from Anne.

He never expected her to reject his offer, let alone be rude to him irrespective of him being nice.

Most women will definitely fall for his charming looks or be mesmerized by the thought of him paying for their stuff but Anne was not just any woman.

Despite being humiliated by Anne, he was getting more interested in her because he felt she was different. She wasn't like the other women he has met who throw themselves at him.

"Your bill is 250 dollars ma'am," The shopkeeper said to Anne.

"Alright," Anne said checking inside her purse.

She was surprised that her purse was left open when she was sure she zipped it closed. She searched thoroughly to find her money inside her purse but she couldn't see any.

"I'm sure I kept 350 dollars inside my purse" Anne whispered to herself, aggressively checking inside her purse for miracle money but her purse was totally empty.

She then recalled when someone hit her shoulder before she came into the grocery store.

'oh, shit! that scumbag intentionally hit me to steal my money' Anne thought to herself.

She tried to remember the face of the pickpocket but she couldn't.

Unknowingly to her, the pickpocket who stole her money was no other than Kim, Treasure's older brother.