A web of uncertainties

Chapter - 13

Meanwhile, in a lavish penthouse,

As the sunlight slipped through the curtains, The Cockroach groaned as he woke up groaning, his head pounding like a hammer striking steel.

The overwhelming stench of alcohol and cigar smoke still filled the room, mixed with the faint scent of cologne.

"Aghhh... Which dickhead opened the curtains, " squinting his eyes because of the morning sun falling on his face, Cockroach cursed rubbing his forehead.

With a frustrated sigh, he reached out for the half-empty whiskey bottle on his bedside table to jolt him awake. Just as his fingers wrapped around the neck of the bottle, a thought struck him.

"I have to be somewhere," He has to attend an important meeting today, "But where?"

His hazy mind struggled to recall the details. His eyes snapped open, and the realization of time hit him hard.

"Shit," Bolting upright, Cockroach jumped out of the bed, only to almost stumble on his own legs and fall.

His fingers ran through his tousled dark hair. He wasn't the type to get late for his meetings.... especially with them. 

Cockroach ruled the world he lived in. But they... They could obliterate him into oblivion with just a snap of their fingers.

"Fuck... I need to fucking get rid this," Cockroach was about to throw the bottle in his hand, but stopped at the last moment. He took a big sip from the bottle and then he slammed the bottle on the floor, "But this shit is so good."

And then wasting no time, he ran towards the bathroom. And just then, one of his men walked inside the room with a coffee cup in his hand.

Cockroach stopped in his tracks seeing him, "You fucking useless piece of shit! Have I been surrounded by shit eating pigs?"

"Didn't I tell you to wake me up on time?" he barked, his glare sharp.

"Sir..." The men tried to explain, "I did came to..."

"Shut up, you ass!" He Snapped, "At least be useful for once."

"Get me clothes ready before I step out of the shower," After ordering him Cockroach entered the bathroom, "And when I step out, you better not be here."

Soon old man Cockroach had a quick bath and stepped out, water dripping from his hair as he grabbed his clothes. And as ordered, the man was not there. Hastily pulling on his shirt, he glanced at the clock and scowled.

"Fucking hell," he muttered, running a hand through his damp hair. None of his men could ever believe that the over-bearing, and intimidating can act so flushed., almost scared.

His eyes landed on a wine bottle on the table. Without a second thought, he grabbed it, uncorked it roughly, and took a deep sip. The rich burn of alcohol barely dulled the irritation he had.

"What a fucking morning," he sneered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. 

His phone vibrated on the bedside table. Lightning a cigar, he took a deep drag, exhaling smoke as he reached for his phone.

 Without even glancing at the caller ID, he answered with a cold, clipped tone.

"Get the car ready," he ordered, his voice sharp, "I have got business to handle."

The voice on the other end hesitated before responding, "Yes, sir."

"Do you want me to arrange someone to take you? The voice on the other side asked.

"No need. I will drive myself," 

Cockroach didn't wait for a response before ending the call. With slow, deliberate movements, he strode towards the mirror, checking himself once before leaving. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Downstairs, his men were on high alert, just as he walked out of the hotel, one of his men quickly moved to open the door as he approached.

"Car is ready, Sir," The man said, bowing down respectfully.

"I will be okay on my own," Sliding into the driver's seat of the, black Mercedes, Cockroach told the man.

"I haven't been able to get in touch with Matthew," he spoke in his deep and serious voice, "Look into it."

The man nodded and did not ask anymore questions.

Soon, the car smoothly pulled out of the driveway, gliding onto the road as the city slowly came to life.

The usually lazy Cockroach looked extremely focused, his eyes not leaving the road in front of him. 

In no time, he was out of the city, moving along the empty roads. And after about an hour of silent driving, he finally got off the main road and travelling on the narrow road, arrived at the entrance of a large mansion.

The car came to a halt, and as soon as the Cockroach stepped out, and a skinny old man waiting at the entrance of the mansion, stepped forward and opened the door for Cockroach. 

"Old Robert," Cockroach smiled as he looked at the skinny old man, "You still haven't retired?"

"Ibrahim... You still go by that name? What was it? Cockroach?" The skinny old man unlike other men of Cockroach didn't look one bit intimidated by him.

"Still waiting on others and opening doors? You haven't got promotion in all these years?" Cockroach smiled hearing and asked.

To any outsider it might look like they were insulting each other, but the two of them were way past getting offended by such trivial things.. In fact they were good friends.

"That's my job. And it's my job to tell you to hurry up," The old man smirked, "They don't like to be kept waiting."

Just then, Cockroach's phone buzzed, breaking their conversation. He wanted to ignore it, but when he saw that it was Matthew, he answered the one.

"Sir... " he started, his voice low, nervous, "There's a problem."

The Cockroach arched a brow, rubbing the side of his temples, "Speak," he asked. He did not want any problems, not when he was here.

The man on the other side of the phone gulped. "Our last delivery… it got interrupted. An investigator got involved, and now they are planning to check our offices. If they dig too deep, it could cause a lot of trouble."

Hearing Matthew, old man Cockroach didn't answer right away. He smirked, shaking his head, his eyes turning sharp and dangerous.

"And you called me just for that?" Old man Cockroach asked. 

"Sir... I just wanted to know how to handle..." Matthew spoke from the other side.

"What the fuck are you all acting like scared little bitches?" He hissed, pulling out a cigar and putting it in his mouth, "Fix a meeting with him. Offer him money... However much he wants. We first try and do it the civilised way."

The man nodded, but Cockroach wasn't finished. His tone dropped colder, deadlier.

"And if the bastard refuses…" he leaned back, a cruel smile tugging at his lips, "Make sure he is never able to fucking look into our consignments ever again."

"Only we can't be the civilised ones, can we? Understood?" He said, his voice low.

"Understood, sir," Cockroach heard Matthew say from the other side.

"What a pussy," He took another drag of his cigar and smirked, "If it were for my men, they wouldn't have bothered me with such a puny little thing."

"You all want to fill your deep pockets but don't want to dirty your pretty hands... Huh..." 

"Anyway. Now get it done, and don't bother me again for such silly problems," he said in a firm voice, "If you need someone to help you wipe your ass, don't bother me. Ask any of my men."

And without waiting for Matthew to finish, he ended the call.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You sure I don't need to get vaccinated for rabies or something?" Lucius asked the nurse treating the wound on his neck, "That bitch almost ripped my flesh."

Hearing him the nurse looked at him with squinting eyes and slapped the tape on the bandage.

"Oww,,, Ouch... You..." Lucius cried out in pain and angrily looked at the nurse, but could only hold back looking at the nurse sheepishly smiling at him.

"I am sorry. Guess, I didn't know my own strength," saying so the nurse, picked up her tray and left. 

"If you are done, you better get changed," Iris walked into the room after the nurse left and after handing him over a packet, walked out again in a flash.

Lucius just sat there open mouth looking at her leave, "These women...."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After changing his hospital dress to the outfit Iris gave him he moved towards the door. Lucius slowly stepped out of the room, his movements careful and slow. There was a dull pain all over his body that.

As he looked around the hallway after walking out of the room, his gaze fell upon Iris, engaged in a quiet conversation with the doctor. 

Getting his act together, Lucius took a deep breath and began walking towards them. The soft shuffle of his feet caught Iris's attention. 

Iris turned her head slightly, her eyes immediately scanning him from head to toe as if assessing his condition. The doctor, noticing the interaction, shifted his gaze to Lucius as well.

"How are you feeling now?" The doctor asked in a calm, professional tone.

Lucius exhaled before replying. "I could surely be better… I guess. But there's still some pain," His voice was hoarse, rough around the edges.

"You will recover soon, but you need rest," the doctor stated, "That's why I am here."

"That's what those two nurses of you said as well," Lucius smirked, "Hahaha... I am not sure it turned out well."

"And you will get even better going forward, and that's why I am discharging you." The doctor said with a straight face, ignoring the playful taunts from Lucius.

"I am getting discharged," Lucius frowned, "So soon?" Shouldn't I stay a little longer?"

"I thought you already knew that," The doctor looked at Lucius from top to bottom, then turning towards Iris raised his eyebrow.

The brief exchange between them didn't go unnoticed by Lucius. 

"You will heal better at home," the doctor finally said, his tone slightly more composed. "But only if you avoid strenuous activities."

"Which apparently you can't resist in the hospital," The doctor said. And the slight smirk did not go unnoticed by Lucius.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't strain him." Iris, standing beside him, offered a faint smile and nodded. "Thank you, doctor."

She then stepped and grabbed Lucius by his arm, "Do you want me to help you?" She asked, her voice emotionless, "Or do you want me to call some nurse for you?"

"Ha... Ha... Very funny. But you will do just fine," Lucius smirked and took a step forward with support from Iris.

Just as they reached the door, the doctor called out to them, "Make sure to come for a check-up next week, and don't forget his medication."

Iris turned slightly and nodded once again, "We will. Thank you."

Outside the hospital,

Iris helped Lucius into the passenger seat before walking around to the driver's side. Iris glanced at him, " Wear your seatbelt," she instructed.

Lucius followed her order without a word, and the car was soon on the road, driving through the traffic.

"Why are you helping me?" He finally asked, his voice breaking the silence between them.

Iris kept her eyes on the road, her expression normal, "Because you work for me," she replied matter-of-factly, "We have worked together for a long time, and I feel it's my duty to take care of you."

Lucius narrowed his eyes slightly, "Is that so?"

She didn't answer right away. Instead, she tapped her fingers against the wheel, considering her words carefully, "Yes."

"No one does so much for a mere secretary," Lucius whispered to himself. He didn't believe her. There was something she wasn't telling him, but he didn't have the energy to push further.

** ** ** ** **