Chapter 15: Tampered Laptops

Alena Fleur

"Do you think they will come in here?"

"Maybe."

We were both trying to catch our breaths after making a dash from the food court on the third floor to the men's bathroom on the ground floor. We were going to run out of the mall at once, but the security guard, who noticed us, had already informed the others to block the main and back exits, so we were stuck now.

The bathroom seemed to be the best option, so we hid in here. Thank goodness, there were no other men at that time, otherwise, I might have gotten traumatized for life.

When I finally managed to regulate my breathing, I noticed how close the two of us were standing.

The situation seemed really funny, actually. Just a week ago, I couldn't have pictured in my wildest dreams that I would be hiding in a shopping mall's public men's toilet with my boss.

Elian seemed to have noticed my expression. However, he didn't ask me anything and only tried to suppress his own chuckle. Was he thinking the same thing as me? If he was, then we were great partners in crime.

I was about to open my mouth to actually ask him when footsteps entered the washroom.

My heart was in my mouth until I heard a man speak, "What's with those guards patrolling around so strictly? Do you think there's a criminal on the loose?"

"Probably," another guy replied.

I let out a sigh of relief. I stood on my tiptoes and brought my lips to Elian's ear to whisper, "What do we do now? We can't get out of here with the guards patrolling."

Elian put his hands on my waist and motioned at the small window over the toilet.

"You won't be able to get out through that," I whispered again. It would be hard enough to fit me, but completely impossible for him unless he could physically shrink smaller.

"Don't worry about me. I'll get out," he whispered back, sending goosebumps down my spine.

"But—" He shoved Lance's car keys in my hand.

"I'll help you get out," he said sternly.

"No, I won't leave you here," I replied stubbornly.

"I'll blend in with some other guys, don't worry. If worse comes to worst, I have my gun."

I didn't completely agree with his plan, but I had no other choice. "Fine."

"Wait for me for ten minutes. If I don't come, drive back to Lance's penthouse and inform him," Elian instructed.

I nodded.

Elian stood up on top of the toilet and opened up the window, then he threw out all of our shopping bags. He got down and lifted me up effortlessly by locking his arms around my knees.

I tried my best to climb out of the small window, and somehow, I managed. I got a little hurt due to falling from a height.

I saw Elian peeking his head, looking at me in concern, so I gave him a thumbs up to assure him. He smiled a little and went back.

I grabbed all the shopping bags and made my way toward Lance's car. We didn't park in the shopping mall's parking lot, so it was at the side of a construction site near the mall.

I got in the driver's seat and put the shopping bags in the backseat and started waiting impatiently.

Every minute felt like an entire day. Where was Elian? Maybe it was a wrong decision to leave him alone. Maybe I should drive back quickly and call Lance for help.

God, I hope Elian is okay—

Just then, the passenger's door opened and Elian got in quickly.

"Are you okay—"

"Start the car now. Now!" he ordered, and I quickly did, driving away at maximum speed.

When we were a little farther away, I asked, "What happened?"

"I blended in with a group of boys until one of the guards noticed it after we passed the security checks, so I just made a run for it."

"That's good. At least, you didn't have to use your gun," I said in relief. "If we keep running like this, I'm going to lose all the weight I gained this morning."

"You're still hung up on the gaining weight thing?"

"Of course!"

He chuckled and murmured, "You're always so concerned about your weight."

"How do you know?"

"Because most women do. Seriously, stop suspecting me at every drop of a hat."

"You act suspicious, what's my fault?" I retorted.

"Anyway, concentrate on driving."

###

When we got back to Lance's penthouse, we found an unknown man waiting.

"Hey, Ash, I didn't know you were coming," Elian said, sounding surprised.

"Well, there are very few people you can trust to look through your bedroom, and I happened to care for my friend in trouble, so why not? Though I'm hurt you didn't just directly ask me," the man named Ash said with a smile.

"I didn't think you would be free today," Elian replied.

"No, you just didn't want me to see you all domestic." Ash's smile became teasing as he added, "You look the perfect picture of a married man, my friend." He motioned at Elian's handful of shopping bags and me standing right next to him.

Elian rolled his eyes and turned towards me to say, "Alena, this is Ashton Deven, one of my best friends. And Ash, you know her."

"Hey, Al— Ms. Fleur," Ashton greeted.

"It's fine. Just call me Alena," I replied with a smile.

Ashton smiled back before looking at Elian and saying, "Elian, I brought the things you asked for. Check if they are alright." He pointed to a suitcase kept at the side of the couch and a laptop bag.

"It's fine, I trust you," Elian said and put the shopping bags on the couch to take out his laptop and iPad. "You can leave now."

"Wow, I come all the way here for you and you don't even offer me something to drink," Ashton commented sarcastically.

"I'm pretty sure Lance wouldn't mind you using his kitchen, so serve yourself," Elian replied.

I laughed a little at their interaction and asked, "Speaking of Lance, where is he?"

"Oh, he went out for a bit. He won't be back until tonight," Ashton responded.

"Aww, too bad. I was looking forward to his handmade lunch," I mumbled wistfully, and the two guys chuckled.

"Ash actually cooks well too," Elian mentioned.

"Wow, make me your maid too now," Ashton said, and Elian gave him a look. "Fine, fine, I'm making lunch."

After Ashton went to the kitchen, I sat down beside Elian on the couch while giggling.

"What's so funny?" Elian asked.

"Nothing. Just the fact you have friends."

He shot me a glare in response.

"Well, it's nice to know you have social relationships outside of work," I commented.

"Actually, Ash is my underboss in the gang." I opened my mouth to make a joke, but he added, "But he has been my friend since childhood."

"That's nice." I looked at Elian's laptop screen and asked, "By the way, wasn't your laptop in the office?"

"Yeah, and Ash broke in to steal it."

I gasped. "But isn't it fully off-limits now?" Elian nodded. "Why didn't you ask him to bring mine then?"

"Who said I didn't?"

A big smile formed on my lips as I checked through the laptop bag and found my own.

"Is your fake account logged into your laptop?" Elian asked.

I pouted sadly. "No."

"It's fine. Just see if we can find anything useful."

I nodded and opened my laptop. There should be documents in it that could help justify our case. However, when I typed in my password, it didn't work.

"Why isn't my password working?" I frowned.

"Same. Mine neither," Elian huffed, and I glanced at his screen to find him typing several passwords but to no avail.

"Does that mean our laptops were tampered with?" I asked in horror.

"Seems like it."

"Oh, God."