It was almost time to get off when Alicia came into his office once again,unannounced.He wondered if it was a good thing they had returned from country A or bad.Atleast there she could only nag him through the phone.However he was soon distracted by the sight of her slightly rounded stomach.His neice/nephew was goin to be here soon.He wondered what it would be like if he provided a playmate for them?Ofcourse the thought was shot off the moment it came into his head and to distract himself he asked,"Al my pal.What are you doing here?"
Alicia glided into the chair and stared at him intently."You came into the office late today."
Neil narrowed his eyes and said,"Yes."
"You are never late."It was an observation and not a question."
Neil smiled at that and said,"You"re wrong.I am late many times."
Alicia shook her head and said,"No!You are only late until when you are working outside the office.Today you were not working."
Exasperated with her,Neil said,"Al,why are you here again?"
Instead of answering Alicia made and other statement,"You met Ah Hai yesterday."
"Yes.Alicia if you do not tell me why you are here,I will throw you out of the office!"
Alicia grinned and then counted on her fingers,"You had lunch with Ah Hai,then you called him in the middle of the night,then you asked him how to break eggs and this morning you were late..Hmm!So somebody finally broke their vow of chast.i.ty!Go Mi Rae!"
Neil blushed at that and started to fidget with his files.Finally unable to take the gloating and smirking face,Neil snapped,"Al,you have too much time on your hands to be a busybody!Just what are you upto?
"Heheh!Nothing much.I hear Mi Rae is going to be coming here soon to discuss the out of court settlement."
"Alicia Long!If you do not tell me why you are here in a minute even your husband will not be able to find your dead body!"
"Hey!Stop with the threats you will scare my baby!I am talking about my reasonto be here!You have been summoned by your big brother for a family reunion dinner!We have important agenda to discuss.You have to bring Mi Rae as well.We"ll see you tonight."
With that Alicia got up from her chair and was about to leave when neil protested,"Al!Me and Mi Rae had plans!"
Alicia turned around and scoffed,"You little brat!You may have plans.But Mi Rae doesn"t so she can come come.You go wherever you want to go alone.!"
Neil pouted at that and said,"Fine.We"ll be there.!"
Neil was grumbling about Alicia having eyes ad ears everywhere under his breath but then he realized that Alicia had paused in the doorway halfway in and halfway out of his office.Terror stricken she turned around and said,"Neil!I am having hallucinations!"
Neil understood exactly what she had seen and said dryly,"No,you are not."
Alicia inched back inside and slowly closed his door and said,"Are you saying you can see the ghost too?"
"Al.That is not a ghost.That is my new junior a.s.sistant!"
"Neil Long!Did you get a new a.s.sistant with the same face as your ex and invited your present girlfriend to the office on the same day?".Alicia was horrified at the usually knowing but suddenly clueless Neil"s low EQ!But then the next question struck her."Huh!Is she a clone?Neil what are you upto?Have you lost your mind?"
Neil was beyond frustrated and finally shouted,"Al!That woman is not a clone or a ghost or a hallucination.She is Ning Ning"s younger sister and so they both look similar not the same.Secondly,had I known that she was going to be my new a.s.sistant I would have refused!"
He hoped Al would calm down with his explanation but she looked even more enraged!In a seething voice she asked,"Neil,why would you not let her work for you?Do you have any side effect feelings for Ning Ning and are worried that her sister will bring those forward.Forget similarities,even if she was a carbon copy,you should be able to work with her wuthout being affected."
Neil was retty sure he was going to explode and said,"Al,if you would stop behaving like a seesaw and listen to me for a moment!I have no side effects of Ning Ning.She was not a fever for heaven"s sake.I had already decided to get Mi Rae here for the settlement at a neutral territory.And the only reason I don"t want Ning Xue to work here is I don"t wish to open a can of worms."
Alicia nodded at this and drew herself up on her short height saying,"Neil!Ning Ning was not a fever but a poison and I am just relieved you have finally purged her side effects.And you are right Ning Xue is a can of worms especially if she is here for revenge..What a vicious circle is revenge!Don"t you think so?"
Neil smiled and said,"Look who is talking?Aren"t you finally reaching near your revenge?"
Alicia smiled sadly and said,"Yes.Of course you are right.And Neil,I am going to take a leaf out of your page and do what you did to Ning Ning.."
Neil"s smile evaporated at that and he said,"Alicia!Don"t play the mind games like I did!They are also poison and will eat at you as well!Let Ryu handle it for you!You know he can do that!"
Alicia shook her head and said,"But I have my anti dote already!Ryu will save me and not be a tool for me to use against her.And now you need to get a pest cleaner.Lastly,"Alicia smiled a bit evilly and said,"If you hurt my Mi Rae,I will hang you upside down."
Neil scowled at that and said territorially like a caveman pointing to his chest,"She is not yours.She is my Mi Rae!"
It was at this sentence that Mi Rae entered the office escorted by his senior a.s.sistant!