Why was it that as they stepped from the building, Julieta suddenly breathed a giant sigh of relief? As though all the heaviness of the past week had just rolled off her shoulders, like an invisible, weighted cloak had flown off of her as she stepped through the doorway. It lay behind her inside the building which she had worked so hard to earn a position in.
Jin turned towards her and made small talk until they’d entered the park a block down the road. He looked around. It didn’t appear they’d been followed. He’d kept an eye out throughout their entire walk to the park.
“Now, tell me what’s going on,” he insisted earnestly, his face awash with concern.
Her heart turned over in her chest. He was so kind. He was someone she could trust. She remembered then how her father had always implicitly trusted Jin’s appa. She’d overheard a conversation between them once during her middle school years. Her father had been having some trouble at the company. He hadn’t known who to talk to, so he had called his business contact in South Korea. Jin’s appa. He had been the one man her father had trusted in that period of his life.
Was history repeating itself? She had forgotten that incident until right now. Apparently, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Jin shared his father’s faithfulness. Would he be the answer to her problem? Could they figure this out together? Her father had weathered that storm with the help of Jin’s appa. Would she avoid being smashed against the rocks and find safe harbor by the light shining from Jin’s smile?
She returned that smile, suddenly so thankful for his quiet presence. He towered over her, and she took refuge in his superior height, feeling as though he could shield her from the blows which life seemed to be sending her way right now.
“It’s little things, you know? Missing files. Appointments rescheduled without me being notified. Confused details. Mismanaged phone calls. They’re all meant to make me look incompetent. They’re all things I can’t explain.
“But I know I didn’t make any of those mistakes! I’m a detail-oriented person by nature. I keep flawless records of everything in my phone. I was managing to stay ahead of the mess by proving with the notes in my phone that I hadn’t missed it. Up until a few days ago. Then my phone suddenly went missing. What a mess!”
“So, you think someone is trying to push you out of the company?”
“Yes! That’s the only explanation. But I have no idea why. Or who.”
“Who would want to hurt you?”
“That’s just it! I don’t know! I haven’t even the slightest idea! We’ve been a small, family-run company since the beginning. My father and his best friend started the company together. Years ago.”
“His best friend? Does he run the company now?”
“No, not really. He mostly retired last year. His son has taken over his duties.”
“Do you get along with him?”
“Yes. Santiago and I grew up together. We’ve been friends since elementary school.”
Jin’s eyes narrowed to slits as he stared down at her beautiful face. He had a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Are you dating him?”
He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear her answer, but he knew it was important. Quite possibly the key to this whole mess.
“What?! No!” But there was something in her face that gave her away.
“That’s not quite the truth now, is it?” Jin pressed her, sensing something she wasn’t telling him.
“It absolutely is the truth!” she insisted. “He’s…he’s not my type. I-I-I don’t know what it is. It just didn’t feel right,” she shook her head.
“It didn’t feel right? Wait. You mean you were dating him at one point?”
She nodded. “Yes, but that was years ago. We started dating in high school. I think,” she paused and blew out a long breath before continuing, “I think he thought we would get married, but I broke it off during my sophomore year in college. I just…something didn’t feel right. And I…I wasn’t in love with him. He felt like a friend, you know?” She gazed up at Jin, and he knew for certain that that guy had never seen her as “just a friend.”
“But you and he – you’ve gotten along ok since you broke up?”
“Oh, yes. We’re still friends. He’s never been anything but nice to me.”
“Hmmm…” Jin wondered. “Who controls the company?”
“His father has the most shares, but still not a majority. My sister and I own thirty percent together. His father owns thirty-five percent.”
“Who owns the other thirty-five percent?”
“Various individuals who helped them get started. Their financiers. Each owns between two and ten percent.”
“So, the company is still privately held?”
“Yes.”
“Is it possible that your father’s best friend is trying to discredit you so that he can buy your shares in the company?”
“What?! No!” She inhaled sharply as she considered the possibility. “How? How could he do that? He’s been there for me and my sister all these years. Ever since our parents died.”
“I don’t know, but it does seem the most plausible explanation. Maybe it’s not him. Maybe it’s his son. You don’t think it’s possible that he’s angry you broke up with him?”
“I…I…” He had seemed angry initially, but after a little while he had cooled down. And he’d been friendly ever since. He had even encouraged her to apply for the job in Seoul. He’d given her his backing. “He’s the one who helped me get this position here in Seoul. If he wanted me out, why would he help me?”
“You mean the position that’s been sabotaged nearly from day one?”
As she stared perplexed at Jin, a growing horror began to overtake her soul.
