Chapter Seventy-Six: is there a way forward?

"Where were you heading to with Dennis Wayne the afternoon that I saw you?" Charles asked.

"Uhh...

Yeah.." she stuttered, looking straight towards his direction as the awkwardness became loud.

"Huh?" Charles let out with confusion all over him.

"Uhh, yeah," we had a sudden test, I was lucky that Denn... Mr. Wayne was also heading to Venus at the same time," she said trying to sound casual. Good thing she wore something casual due to her wardrobe malfunctions that day, or this lie would have had an arguable gap.

"Mmm, I just wouldn't think that you would ever be found in the same space with Dennis Wayne if it wasn't about getting his dish done or serving him." He said looking like he was giving the whole thing a thought.

A faint fake smile appeared on Joleen's lips, "I know right," She said trying to act as real as she could.

"So what's he like?" Charles asked.

"Huh?" She asked a little thrown off by his question. 

Charles's expression changed, it looked like he was beginning to find her odd.

"Have you suddenly developed a hearing issue since this evening or was it in the afternoon? Because I'm sure your ear was working just fine this morning," he said jokingly.

"I bet having to deal with chef Francisca's talking all day could cause one a little ear problem," she said as they both laughed out to each other.

"Speaking of talking, I would have thought after spending the least five minutes in Dennis Wayne's exotic car with him, you would come back talking all about how ruthless he was," Charles said walking towards the door. 

"I thought we were all anti-Dennis Wayne, Don't Tell me that he had somehow turned you into pro-Dennis Wayne," he said as he paused by the exit making a funny expression.

"I promise you I still hate him as much as you could remember.," he said.

"Great, happy to be reassured of the mutual hatred that binds us," he reached out to her with his pinky finger as she moved towards him, clinging her pinky fingers to his. They smiled from cheek to cheek before they let each other go and he then left her view. 

Joleen exhaled after he left her view, she then moved to the chair and sat down.

Her mind recalled what she had said. 'That she hated Dennis Wayne.'  

Two months ago, she was sure she did, but today she doubted if that was still the case. She wasn't pro-Dennis Wayne or anything, but she was certain she didn't have hate for him, at least not as much as she use to.

She didn't think Dennis Wayne was less cruel than how she thought of him or how anyone thought of him, because with the little things she had found out since she got a little closer to him, he was definitely dangerous and cruel. 

Because how could he snap at Talon like that? 

Where did he get the cut on his face from? 

"The world is a cruel place, no one really gives a shit about anybody," she remembered his exact word.

Why did he sound deep when he was talking about it? Especially when what led to it wasn't so deep? What exactly was his private life like? She couldn't possibly think of any reason why he would associate with any cruel thing, he was a billionaire, set up and doing great, what other thing could he want?

She wouldn't know, she has never been rich. So she didn't know what rich powerful men's life would look like. The rich probably fought to remain rich and powerful she thought.

She heard her grandma growl as she turned a little where she was laying. She remembered that she would be getting a feedback about her grandmother's latest MRI scan the next day. She was anxious, but she hoped it wouldn't be anything new. She wanted her grandma home as soon as possible. 

'But where would she stay after she gets discharged from the hospital?' She needed an apartment. 

It was probably high time she got one. She couldn't live in her work staff apartments forever.  She had always wished to move and live somewhere not so work oriented. She wanted to have a feel of her own apartment. She planned to do that if everything went back to normal, but, it looked like she would be needing an apartment sooner than she thought. 

She sighed, resting her back on the couch as her mind wondered about something else. she thought about what happened with Dennis that afternoon. Maybe not just what happened, but what was happening between them for some time now. It was becoming a norm that they somehow always found a way to lock lips whenever they were in contact with each other. 

She hated how the thought of that made her feel, how the thought of the infamous Mr. Wayne kissing her made her feel. His kisses were not far from what she thought him to be. He was mostly crude with his kissing but very few times he was also gentle with it, a feeling which made her feel he might have a softer side, though she wasn't sure which she preferred. 

She snapped out of her lust, 'this wasn't good for her,' she thought. She knew this. She was sure nothing good could ever come out of associating herself with a known narcissistic maniac. 

"Fuck Joleen, you can do better," she muttered under her breath. She then moved one of her hands to her forehead, robbing it in a tiring expression.

Not only has she laid with him, but she had to also deal with lying to people close to her. 

"This has to stop," she muttered.

"It has to," she added.

The next day, she went for the result analysis. Unfortunately, she was informed that there was a feared new tumor developing in a critical area of her Granny's brain. The doctor informed her that the new tumor was rapid having to grow into a visible state within days.

Her whole being had gone numb, this wasn't how she hoped it would go. How much did her grandma have to suffer? 

The doctor also informed her that her grandma couldn't undergo any more surgeries for the next three months. But the good news was that she seemed to be strong enough to go another three months. 

This was exactly what the doctor tried avoiding all these times avoiding surgery, to avoid rapid reoccurrence. The surgery was only conducted because the tumor had posed a greater threat than the chances of reoccurrence. 

But now, everything had come crashing down.

Tears welled around Joleen's eyes, she was losing it, and her heart was broken for her grandma. She blinked as the tears rolled down her cheek. 

"I understand that it's not an easy news to accept," the doctor said.

Joleen got up without saying anything. She raced down the hospital hallway. She took the stairs this time and not the elevator. She raced out, she wasn't sure where she was running to, but she just kept going. 

The road to the hospital wasn't such a busy one, she stopped by the side pedestrian lane and let out a scream.

"Arggghhhhhh," she cried out.

It's been thirty minutes since she was told about the new devastating development. She was now sitting by a small park in the hospital. The light early morning sun wasn't really helping but it at least made the morning bright and made her feel like there was still hope.  

After a short while, she headed back into the hospital, kissed her grandma bye, and left for Dennis Wayne's mansion. 

The next three weeks were the same routine, assisting Francisca in the kitchen, going to Venus for her usual classes, going to the hospital where her grandma was still under close observation, and avoiding Dennis Wayne.

She was doing pretty good at avoiding Dennis Wayne, and almost like he knew she wished to see him less, he hasn't come for his usual inspection during their classes. It's been three weeks that she had barely had a talk with him. She always saw him on the move, they just never had a one on one conversation since then. Everything was going great, at least everything in Venus. She was leaning without being picked on. Their final test to see if she was to be hired by Venus was fast approaching, a month to their final text and two months to her grandma's second surgery. 

'Life could be so much better,' she muttered. 

It was a Monday that day so she was expected to be at Venus. Recently they mostly did their own design while their tutor looked through them and graded them accordingly. She was proud of how far she had come so far. She was good with her designs, but so were others in the class. It was going to be a tough decision to make so she only hoped for the best.

She was in the middle of her class work when Dennis walked in. 

Yes, very surprisingly.

His presence disoriented her, she wasn't expecting to see him, so it kinda put her off. He stood by the side, she tried to not look in his direction so she just focused on what was before her, even though her mind was else where.

*** Dennis POV ***

Dennis walked into the class for the first time in three weeks. He has been up and about, he barely had time for activities that could go on without his presence. Venus was doing great, they had so many ongoing campaigns for the company and he was needed. He also was busy with his family obligations and also personal business.

Having to walk in with Talon present wasn't his favorite sight to behold, but he had settled with Mr. Ford, Talon's dad, and apparently, the guy was good with his designs, and also one of the best so he couldn't insist on kicking him out.

Mr. Ford was a very subtle man, he seemed raged with what he did to his son. Dennis wanted nothing less than to kick his son out of his accomplishment, but his mother had persuaded him to refrain from that decision because she didn't want the man pushing it by taking it to court, especially since there was an assault involved. She also informed him that he was the best in the class so far and that was a really big factor that made him meet with Mr. Ford, where he made him understand that his son was emotionally abusive towards another student and that if he took it to court he would have a good argument and also, considering that his bully victim was a girl in her early twenties. He got him to understand that this would only do him the good of making him look good to the public eyes especially because he was only defending his staff, a young lady. But he hated the public eyes, he hated being in the news, so unknowingly to Mr. Ford being in the public eyes wasn't his favorite thing.

The man seemed cool and very rational, so he knew to make sure it didn't blow any more out of proportion. Besides, his spoilt child has learned his lessons. Dennis rendered a bogus apology to the man, well, only because he promised his mom that he would. Mr. Ford asked that they pardon his son and not kick him out, which was exactly what he wanted. His mom had already told him that Talon was good with his designs, but yet, he still wasn't planning to make it seem like they wanted him. So when the man requested that he continued to train with them, he just told him that the board would think about the matter and give their response. 

The business was a priority for him so if Talon would impact positively on Venus, then he might let him stay. 

Speaking of good, his attention moved to Joleen, How was she coping with how competitive it was? He hasn't asked about her performance, but knowing wouldn't help or even increase her chances of being taken. The best would be taken, and for his business, he wouldn't bend the rules that were made for the best interest of his company for anyone. 

He knew she was avoiding him, she had only been successful with it because he let it. He was busy and mostly occupied this last week He had his attention on her, she looked dedicated to the work before her. He moved towards the exit of the class, but he only did that just to get a  slight view of what they were all creating. Well, maybe his major interest was with just one person. He walked between the students as the six of them sat across each other. The chair they sat on was the classroom type of chair, the one that had a wooden writing/working pad attached from one part of the chair. They usually just got in from one side, then place their writing and drawing materials on the attached table. Each of the working wooden pads attached to the chair as a desk was wide enough to accommodate a laptop too. He saw each of the students working, and he also saw some of their designs and thought it wasn't bad at all. He had caught his sight on Joleen's design. 

A yellow sports car, it was beautiful, he must agree. It was the first time he was seeing her work since after the interview and she showed a commendable improvement. 

"I think golden yellow will suit your little invention better," He suggested.

*** Joleen's POV ***

Joleen was almost done with her 3D car design, she only had the color left so she used the computer tool to create her mustard yellow color. She also created light and darker shades of the color and applied them where necessary to create a form in the design.

"I think golden yellow will suit your little invention better," He suggested.

Joleen wasn't sure how she felt about his suggestion, she imagined her car in a gold yellow, yes, she saw what he envisioned, but the only problem with that was that they were in class and it was her responsibility to create everything about her designs her self, everything including the initiatives. 

She noticed several attentions on her, like that of the tutor's attention now on them. He had already created a kind of awareness weeks ago when he almost reshaped Talon's face. 

Now, this? Now he was publicly giving her suggestions about a task she was expected to work on independently.

'what was he doing?' she wondered. He spoke in a low voice that she was sure the tutor sitting across the class will likely not hear, but it still looked like what it was. 

Besides, why didn't he stop at any other person's side? Why was it just her?

She looked up at his tall plush figure which was positioned by her side.

"Thank you for your contribution Mr. Wayne," she said then immediately took her attention back to her work.