Once at home, I quickly take care of myself, then get to work, turning my laptop on, I start researching Bianca Bernard's name again, but this time I'm looking through the dark Web.

Surfing the dark Web and hacking is a hobby I picked up during my recovery after the fire.

I'm already finding more results whether it's about her family or their businesses that not many know about. Especially, the one organization founded by Ms. Bernard herself.

POLAR OPPOSITES.

It is a nonprofit organization, that aims to fight climate change by developing new technologies, this is really the polar opposite of her family business.

Climate change has affected both the North and South Pole, with ice melting, animals who depend on it will go perish.

The more I read about it, the more I understand her vision behind creating the organization, maybe I should write a proposal about investing in her organization.

But on a serious note, there are things that I don't have to read twice to change my mind about merging with them, invest maybe, but merge, nope.

Regardless, I quickly finish what remained of the oil merging proposal, then start working on the Polar Opposites organization proposal.

I end up staying up to finish the second proposal, by the time I'm done the sun was slowly illuminating the city, I get up to freshen up and get ready, I have breakfast, and for lunch, I'm planning on skipping to take a nap Instead.

I leave my apartment on the usual schedule, sunglasses on because my eyes are extra sensitive today, I put some distance between me and the elevator, I don't want a repeat of yesterday in case Mr. Maverick was inside.

I close my eyes to rest them, not noticing or hearing the shark hybrid approach me.

"Good morning," he greets in his deep voice, startling me.

"Uh, hi, hello, good morning," I rushed with different kinds of greetings.

He chuckles, "you look like shit,... sir," he states the obvious, adding the sir at the end.

I ignore his statement and ask Instead, "Sir?".

"You said you are twenty-nine," he answered.

I push my glasses up, taking a good look at him "how old are you?" I ask.

"I'm twenty-two, sir," he says gesturing for me to go inside the elevator first.

"Wow," I exclaim.

None of us says anything for a while, but he breaks the silence first, "what's your name, sir?"

"Puma, yours?" I ask already knowing the answer.

"Maverick, but you can call me Rick," he says extending his hand for a handshake.

I shake his hand, "pleasure to make your acquaintance, Rick, you can drop the sir by the way," I say to which he smiles, after that, each of us part ways.

I arrive at the company and Mr. Noir was by the elevator waiting for it to descend.

He greets me as I stand beside him, "the HR department hasn't received your report, aren't you going to file it?" He asked.

"I was busy yesterday, I will, once I have the time,"

"..." he didn't say anything and instead he was looking at my hand which Maverick has shook earlier.

"Pull yourself together, Mr. Noir," I say getting his attention.

"Sorry, I'm sorry,..." he brings his hand to his face and anxiously runs it down his face, "can you just introduce us?"

"I can't get involved in this matter, sir, if luck is on your side, you'll meet them," I explained.

"Luck?" He repeated, "Are you joking Puma?" He looked down saying, "look around you," and I did, there was a huge space between us and others waiting in the lobby, "you're not the only jinks here, a black cat is a symbol of misfortune." He says referring to himself, "I can't wait for luck to put me in my mate's path, that would be like waiting on Raynard to admit he's wrong," he says and I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped me.

"I'm sorry, it's nothing against you, I just barely know him, and I don't like meddling in personal matters," I said as we walked inside the elevator.

"Him?" He repeated with a smile.

Shit, I slipped.

"How did you meet him then?" He asks.

"I'm not answering any more questions," I plugged my ears with my index fingers, but I can still hear those desperate questions.

"How old is he?" He asks.

"Funny enough, I learned how old he is today, but I'm not gonna tell you," I said making him groan.

"His name? His species?" His questions are getting more desperate the closer we got to my floor level.

"I can't answer these questions, they're too personal, I'd be invading his privacy," I shook my head, if I give him those answers, he'll probably hire a private investigator and figure out who his mate is.

"Seriously Puma, you ought to give me something," he begs.

"I did give you something, now we are going to close this matter because I don't want a repeat of yesterday," I said to which he nodded dejectedly, "Patience, Mr. Noir, one day I'm sure you'll meet him," I encourage him.

"I hope so," he mumbles but I caught it.

I put my things away and start my work day, Mr. Noir doesn't bother me today and heads inside Mr. Raynard's office, tapping away at his phone.

I send Mr. Raynard his schedule for the day and print out the proposals I've prepared.

I knock before entering Mr. Raynard's office to alert Mr. Noir of my presence, I place the files on Mr. Raynard's desk and arrange them for him, then I water the plants.

"By the way, are you planning on keeping the sunglasses on?" He asks.

"It's too bright," I explain.

He frowns, "it's the same as yesterday," he points out.

I ignore his remark and continue doing my work.

A few minutes pass before Mr. Raynard arrives.

"Good morning," Mr. Noir greeted.

Mr. Raynard greeted back, "Morning," then he looks at me and nods his head in acknowledgment, "Puma,".

"Sir," I nodded back.

"What's up with the sunglasses, mind taking them off while inside the office," Mr. Raynard orders.

I breathe out, then remove my sunglasses, keeping my eyes closed before slowly opening them, and looking at anything but the freaking floor-to-ceiling windows.

"You look like shit," just like Mr. Maverick, Noir stated the obvious.

I take a quick glance at him and then look away, I can feel the deep frown on my face, my eyes were burning from the glare everywhere, the sun was reflected on almost every freaking surface in this office.

"Freaking modern architecture," I mumbled.

"Did you get the proposal done?" Mr. Raynard asked as he came around his desk.

"Yes, they're on your desk," I replied.

"You finished both proposals," he states picking one of them and then taking a seat at his desk.

"Did you stay up to finish those?" Mr. Noir asked but I didn't answer his question instead I answered Mr. Raynard's.

"Polar Opposites? How do you know it's Ms. Bianca's organization?" He asked.

"I have my sources, sir," I answered vaguely.

"How accurate are your sources?" He asked doubt clouding his expression.

I shrug my shoulders, "I guess we'll find out the day of the meeting," I said and he didn't look pleased.

"By the way, I prepared this proposal as well," I said as I handed him the printed papers, "this is a second draft for the oil trading business proposal," Mr. Raynard takes the file and raises his eyebrow, "based on my source, I don't think merging the companies is a good idea, instead, it's better to invest in it I've listed the reasons why you shouldn't merge with the Bernard's Oil Tradings, and the company sectors you should invest in," I said as I looked away, massaging the bridge of my nose for the incoming headache.

I had been looking at him directly to explain about the second draft and the sunlight is too bright behind him.

"Okay, thank you for your input, I'll read through them and make up my mind later," Mr. Raynard says putting the proposals together and away for now, and instead grabbing the files from the urgent pile, "what about Ms. Bernard's gift?" He asks.

"I'll probably buy something for her after work," I said.

"What are you buying her?" Mr. Noir asks.

"I have no idea," I shrug.

After not receiving any further instructions from Mr. Raynard, I leave his office and get back to my desk, I continue to do my job for a while before Mr. Noir leaves Mr. Raynard's office.

I work some more, mostly answering emails and setting up Mr. Raynard's schedule, I rub my eyes tiredly then get up, and head to the restroom to wash my face.

I should reapply the cream to my burns, I thought to myself while drying my hands, they're becoming less painful as days pass.

Walking back to my desk I noticed a change in the light, the main source of light here is the large windows in Mr. Raynard's office, looking at it, the blinds were down.

I couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped me, he could've done that a long time ago, why wait until I'm not here to do it?

I check the time, 20 minutes until lunch, then I can take my nap.

"Puma," Mr. Raynard calls but doesn't say what he wants like he usually does, so I get up to his office.

"Yes?" I ask upon my entrance.

"Do you mind staying here during lunch, I have Akita coming over to review the proposals you've prepared,".

Akita? I heard him earlier talking to that person on the phone, I've heard that name before.

"Do you mind?" Mr. Raynard asked again.

"Uh, no, it's fine," Bye, bye nap time.

"Alright, please print two more copies of these," he says referring to the proposals.

"Okay, anything else?" I ask before leaving.

"No, Akita should be here by the time you're back from making those copies," he says as he puts his suit jacket on.

"Okay," I said before leaving, opening the proposal files on my computer, and printing all three of them again.

Since Mr. Raynard wants me to be here, I prepared the company's laptop, I have the files I need on my flash drive as well.

I get up to retrieve the printed papers and stable them accordingly.

Coming back from the printer room, I see a Dog human-hybrid in Mr. Raynard's office.

Noticing me, Mr. Raynard waves me over.

I nod my head and grab my stuff before knocking and announcing myself to the new company in Mr. Raynard's office.

"Hello, I'm Puma, I'm Mr. Raynard's assistant," I greeted, I didn't extend my hand, pretending to be preoccupied with my things.

"Hi, I'm Akita, I'm Mr. Raynard's lawyer," he says extending his hand for me to shake, which I do, "you must be Batricia's replacement? I hear you're quite the assistant, she sure chose well," he compliments.

Come again? Who said that? I look between him and Mr. Raynard, "Uh..." I didn't know what to say, this is my first time being complimented so openly, "thanks, umm," I said looking down and noticing our hands that were still in each other's clasps, "excuse me," I said as I let go of his hand and took a seat as well.

"I understand that this is a temporary position," he says referring to my job, "if you'd like, you can join our team once your job here is done," he smiles offering me his business card.

This man knows how to put someone in an awkward spot, I hesitantly take his business card avoiding the glare of Mr. Raynard.

"Can we get to work now?" Mr. Raynard asked rolling his eyes.

"Yes," Mr. Akita said, "Raynard tells me you've prepared proposals provided with data he couldn't find on the Internet, I'm just here to check whether your source provided you with information that is considered illegal," he explains.

"Okay, here you go," I said handing him a copy of the proposals.

He proceeds to read the proposals, ask questions, and add his insights.

"I've heard about this," Mr. Akita said, regarding some of the Bernard's Oil Tradings shady business, cheating oil, fraud, tax evasion, etc. "it was some word of mouth so I didn't give it any mind, I mean if this is true I think you shouldn't merge with them, you'd not want to be part of any legal mess they made," he advised.

Mr. Raynard sighs, scratching his forehead, "what about Polar Opposites, what do you think of it?" He asks.

"It is the polar opposite of an oil company, I've never heard of an oil company that cared about the environment or the climate, what made you suggest it in the first place?" Mr. Akita asked me.

"Well, it's because I think Fox Holdings should invest in a partnership with Ms. Bianca instead of her family," I said, "either way, Ms. Bianca is the heir to her family's assets, and having a good business relationship with her could insure future business dealings with the Bernard's Oil Tradings once they get their act together, she could be the key to all of this," I explained my thoughts, "however, I think you should delay your investment in the Bernard's for the time being, it would make you look greedy," I pointed out.

Both Mr. Raynard and Mr. Akita hummed, probably thinking about what I said and going over it in their heads.

"I see where you're going with this," Mr.  Akita said, "but would she partner with Fox Holdings knowing that it acquired an oil company last year?" He asked.

I was about to answer his question but Mr. Raynard said what was on my mind, "not unless we present the proposal to her this way, that we aim to be climate and environmentally friendly oil company, and using her technology or developing new technologies with her would make it happen." He said.

"Yeah, actually that could work," Mr. Akita said, "then I think we should get started," so for the rest of the day we worked on making changes to the Polar Opposites proposal, making sure that there were no legal repercussions on us, and improving the quality of the proposal.

"Excuse me, I have to take this call, sorry again," Mr. Akita excused himself, throughout the day he has been getting calls about a case that has been dumped on him, from what my ears could hear, it was about a company's CEO that has been accused of rape by multiple employees, it seems like his partner was the one who brought the company in, and now that his business partner is on sick leave, the case was dropped on him, "listen to me, I don't fucking care what that rapist wants, he's not in a position to make demands," Mr. Akita angrily said to the other person on the phone, "I'm busy right now, I'm hanging up, only call me when you've found something useful," he says before hanging up.

He plops down beside me on the sofa, which I had moved to earlier, sighing as he leaned back.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" I asked Mr. Akita.

"Sure, go ahead," he nods, leaning on his knees.

"Why are you representing the dolphin hybrid CEO?" I asked.

"Am I sensing some judgment on your part, Puma?" He asked.

"No, I'm genuinely curious since you don't seem like you want to represent him," I explained.

He sighs again, "sometimes you're stuck with shitty clients that are a pain in the ass," he shrugs, "everyone deserves a fair chance to be represented in the court of law, after all, innocent until proven guilty," he explains.

I frown at this, I have heard of this case, and since it's all over the Internet, with a high-profile person involved, the media coverage is insane.

And from what I've seen being shared on the dark Web, the CEO isn't the innocent person he claims to be, now the victims are suing him and his company for millions.

"I don't know," I said as I stood up, "it's not like I'm an expert on legal matters, but sometimes all you gotta do to separate a needle from a haystack, is burn the fucking haystack."