The Miracle of You

After taking a sip of their coffee and ordering dessert, the two of them talked for a while while eating, enjoying each other’s company. The atmosphere between them became peaceful and comfortable, something that suited both of their moods at the moment.

“You had friends?” Camille said in surprise.

Michael gave her an unimpressed look. “What kind of person do you think I am? I’m not a complete loner, you know.”

“Oh. Sorry, I just thought that you wouldn’t have enough time to… mingle,” she explained awkwardly.

She decided not to admit that she thought Michael was too closed off to have friends, especially considering his top position.

“Well, looks like you’re in for a surprise,” Michael said with a smile. “I’m friends with Lennon Meiner, the fashion designer. Colin Nellis, the owner of one of the top five jewelry stores in the country. Also Leanne Kinsley, the model on the Lipstick magazine.”

“Really?” Her eyes went wide. “I was expecting only one!”

Michael’s expression was flat. “You wound me, Vanilla. Truly.”

Camille laughed. “Tell me more. How did you meet these people in the first place?”

Michael waved it away. “It’s a long story. Not really important.”

Camille didn’t think too much about it and changed the subject. Things were going well right now, and she didn’t want to waste this rare day with her old friend.

Right now, they weren’t at work, and they weren’t in the presence of the oppressive forces in their lives, like Christian was for Camille. Right now, they were just two old friends talking about the past and feeling nostalgic about it.

Maybe it was because they were getting older, but it felt good to remember the past, even the smallest details that seemed trivial on the surface but were part of precious moments that they would remember for a long time.

“Remember how you used to pester me about my homework?” Camille said teasingly.

Michael paused for a moment before the memory immediately came to him, and he chuckled. “How could I forget? You were always so serious.”

The two opposites, as they had been called back then. The studious, serious girl and the rebellious boy who slacked off at every opportunity.

No wonder they were always the talk of the school. It must have been an uncanny sight, seeing them always together.

Although there had been rumors about them dating, she had always denied it without hesitation, and Michael hadn’t said anything in agreement to those gossips, either.

“You were always trying to distract me when I was doing my projects. You were such a brat back then,” she pointed out.

He grinned. “Well, someone had to make sure that you had some fun.”

Camille shook her head, but she was smiling as well. “You are so intolerable sometimes.”

He shrugged. “You gotta admit, I was worse back then.”

She laughed. “Yes, you were.” She peered at him closely this time, and a frown pulled at her lips. “Wait. Now that I look at you like this… why are you dressed like that?”

“Like what?” Michael questioned.

Her frown turned disapproving. She looked at him up and down, raising an eyebrow.

“Why did you come here in a suit? Why didn’t you come in casual clothes instead?” she said, her voice taking on a chastising tone. “Don’t you know there’s an entire gossip column about you in the media? You could have drawn unnecessary attention to yourself on the way here. Isn’t your family usually the secretive type when it comes to personal matters? I hardly ever hear about them except when it comes to their business ventures and achievements. But I’ve noticed that the media is often taking more of an interest in you, so shouldn’t you be more careful?”

Michael looked down at his clothes. He always wore suits to work. Even though his main reason for going out today was to visit his nephew, he still wanted to dress formally. He didn’t really care either way.

He then looked back at her with amusement. Ah, now there was that stuck-up girl who always preached about formalities and being appropriate at all times.

‘Some things never change, indeed,’ he thought.

“Okay, I’m sorry, madam,” he said teasingly. “I’ll be sure to pay more attention next time.”

She folded her arms across her chest and grinned. “You better.”

They both laughed, and even though it was almost time for them to leave, Michael found that he didn’t really mind.

He had lost Camille’s heart to another man, but at least they would always be friends.

For him, that was more than enough.

***

Meanwhile, at the Callahan Group, Christian sat at his desk in his office. His eyes were narrowed as he stared at the screen of his computer, but he didn’t really see anything because his mind was elsewhere.

It was as if a dark storm cloud was hovering over his head. He was understandably angry. He was still thinking about the previous incident with Harold and how the man was trying to dangle the leverage over his head like bait and how Christian was the fish that he needed to catch hook, line, and sinker.

Christian loathed that the most. Especially people who thought they were so clever, that they definitely had the upper hand. People like that would underestimate him and think that they had everything planned out.

Well, Christian always proved them wrong very quickly.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

However, Harold’s words threw him a little off balance.

The truth about Pamela Callahan’s death?

What exactly did he know?

Harold had asked him to meet with him two days after the incident at the company. He didn’t say anything explicit, just that Christian shouldn’t do anything rash, or else he’d reveal things that the Callahans would find very troublesome if leaked to the media.

Christian calmly agreed, and Harold was satisfied. It seemed that the older man had plans for him, and he was about to carry them out for the next phase.

Christian didn’t like being kept in the dark. Being uninformed about things that he needed to know made him feel naive and incompetent.

Especially things that would catch him off guard.

He needed to prepare a new strategy for this unexpected development. But first, he needed to know exactly what Harold Huckington was talking about.

The first priority was to get rid of the man, but if Harold had good leverage over him, it would only serve to destroy the reputation that Christian had worked so hard to build over the years.

He resisted the urge to sigh. He had not expected the old man to be such a nuisance. He had only planned to keep him around for a few deals and to use his connections, but now it seemed that Harold Huckington had to go.

‘If I were to get rid of him, I would need to keep the suspicion off myself,’ he thought.

This was going to be a bit of a challenge, considering that there were employees who had witnessed the scene that day. Even in the days that followed, Christian could sense that they were gossiping among themselves, but fortunately, they kept it to themselves.

Since the incident happened inside the company, if this information got out, the employees would become the main culprits, which would then invite Christian’s wrath, which no one really wanted.

Christian sighed and picked up his phone to make a call.

It seemed that he needed to pay a visit to his father.