“Who came with you?”
“What?” Uncomprehending, Julieta looked at Jin.
“When you came from Argentina, to this office, who came with you? Did you bring any loyal office workers along?”
“Well, I was going to come alone, but my friend, Martina, ended up coming with me. Our boss allowed her to come as my personal secretary.”
“Your personal secretary? You mean, the one who has been messing everything up for you? Missing phone calls. Losing your files.”
“Martina? No way! We’ve been friends since the very first day of elementary school!”
“Are you, Santiago, and Martina all the same age?”
She nodded.
“You all went to school together?”
“Yes, until we graduated high school.”
“You really don’t think she’d betray you?”
“No. Why would she?”
Jin pursed his plump lips. “You don’t think she was ever in love with Santiago, do you?”
“Martina? No way! She’s always been my faithful friend. The whole time Santiago and I were dating, she was always looking out for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“She was always protective of my heart. Like questioning his motives and making sure that I was doing ok.”
“That’s kind of weird, isn’t it? Did you and Santiago fight a lot?”
“No. Martina just always seemed suspicious of him. Like she was afraid he would break my heart and told me to be cautious around him.”
“Hmm…” Jin thought that was quite strange. “Do girls usually act like that? Were you ever that concerned over anyone Martina was dating?”
“Martina’s never dated anyone.”
Jin quirked an eyebrow. “She hasn’t? No one?”
Julieta shook her head.
“How old are you?” Jin was curious.
“Twenty-five. Well, I will be in a week.”
“A week? Exactly a week?”
She nodded her head, a question in her eyes. “Yes. December 4. Why?”
Jin grinned. “That’s my birthday too!”
“What?” She smiled, but there was a haunted look in her eyes. “That’s remarkable. But it doesn’t matter.”
“What do you mean, it doesn’t matter?”
She shrugged. “I never celebrate my birthday.”
“What? Why not?”
Her face suddenly went blank. “I just don’t.”
Jin was nonplussed. She had just put up a wall between them. Why? There was a story there for sure. He felt suddenly very melancholy. But he didn’t know what to say to comfort her heart.
In that moment he realized how very much he wanted to know her. The things that moved her heart. The things that excited her and made her happy. Even the things that had birthed the sorrow he had seen in her gaze as she stared off into space.
But he wasn’t used to talking to girls. He wasn’t sure how to breach her defenses. Maybe it was best to give her some time. At least she had already shown some faith in him. Surely with time, space, and respect, she would begin to vouchsafe more of her heart to him. He found that he relished the notion.
He sighed. “I think it’s very possible that Martina and Santiago are behind all your troubles.”
All of them? But there were so many more than Jin even knew about. And Martina and Santiago were too young to have caused them all. But could they possibly be behind her present trouble? The very idea terrified her.
Jin saw the fear clearly written on her face. “Hey, hey, it’s going to be all right.” He reached out and touched her arm.
Though the feel of his fingertips on her forearm was comforting, she nonetheless remained mortified at the prospects he’d just set before her. “How? How will everything be ok if the best friends I’ve ever known are the ones betraying me? How will I ever trust anyone again?” Life was already hard enough to overcome with the loss of her parents. Now – betrayed by her best friends too? She could feel fear penetrating her core again, the ice around her heart growing thicker.
“And how will I win? How will I prove myself innocent and competent? How will I save my father’s company from falling into the hands of people even he couldn’t trust? It can’t be true. It just can’t be.” Tears filled her eyes.
She might be willing to deny it, but Jin wasn’t. He would be making a discreet phone call after this meeting.
—
Today was the day. Her fiesta de quince. The grand celebration of her achieving womanhood on her fifteenth birthday. Julieta stood in front of her mirror, gazing at her lovely reflection. She spun around, sending the ruffles of her pretty, pink dress dancing as her long, dark hair flew out away from her body to sail through the air. The party started in two hours. She was so excited that she could barely contain her glee. She felt like spinning forever. And Santiago would be there, looking fine in his suit. Maybe she’d finally get her first kiss…
An hour later, as she stood in her kitchen arranging the last party platter of tempting treats, Julieta wondered what could be keeping her parents. They’d been gone for nearly two hours. They were just supposed to be picking up a few items for the party. What could possibly be delaying their return?
Just then, there was a knock on the front door. Julieta answered it. Two uniformed police officers stood staring down at her.
“Is this the home of Juan and Lucia Flores?”
Why was her heart suddenly clogging her throat? She couldn’t breathe. No matter how she tried to catch her breath, it just wouldn’t come.
Julieta awoke from the nightmare, drenched in sweat. When would she stop reliving the worst day of her entire life?
—
“Jin, son, you were right.”
“I was?”
“Yes. Mr. Gonzalez has been quietly buying up stock in the company for the last year. He’s met with every stockholder but three. The three who own the most remaining stock. Two own five and six percent, respectively. The last owns ten percent. He’s tried to get a meeting with this woman, but she has refused him at every turn.”
“Appa, how do you know that?”
“Because she is a friend of mine.”
“Ah. She’s unwilling to sell to him?”
“Absolutely. She has always questioned his motives. I rather suspect she has more suspicions she’s not sharing with me.”
“Appa, what are you talking about?”
“For my part, I always believed that Juan and his wife died under suspicious circumstances.”
“Wait. You mean Julieta’s parents?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of circumstances? How did they die? Together? I just assumed that Julieta’s mother was still alive.”
“No, they were both gunned down in a store on Julieta’s fifteenth birthday.”
“WHAT?!!!!”
No wonder she didn’t celebrate her birthday! The day her parents died. Jin felt like bursting into tears himself now. He gathered his thoughts. “Appa, what aren’t you saying? What do you mean they died under suspicious circumstances?”
“It was right after Juan was accused by the board of shady dealings. He proved himself innocent. Another man was convicted of the crimes, but it was a close-run thing. Had he been found guilty, the balance of power would have shifted considerably.”
“Why?”
“Because there was a clause in the by-laws, at the insistence of one of the investors, that if any of them were ever convicted of a criminal act, that person’s shares would be equally divided among the rest.”
“Wait. You mean, Julieta and her sister would not have inherited them?”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
“And now someone is trying to push her out of the company.”
“Yes. And Juan and Lucia were killed two weeks after he was acquitted.”
“What?!! Who brought the charge against him? Mr. Gonzalez?”
“No, Mr. Gonzalez appeared to support and defend him the entire time.”
“Why do you say ‘appeared’?”
“Because at the time my gut told me something was fishy. I could never quite put my finger on it. But he always made me uneasy.”
“The person who brought the charge – who was it?”
“A man who no longer owns any stock in the company as it turns out.”
“What? Who owns his stock now?”
“Mr. Gonzalez. He bought it from him right after Juan was acquitted. But no one knew the papers had been signed for a month. The man was later convicted of the crimes that Juan was accused of.”
“Wait a minute! His five percent should have been divided among all the investors!”
“It should have been, but by the time he was convicted, he had already sold it to Mr. Gonzalez.”
“Huh. That’s fishy for sure!” Jin pondered the situation. “How much stock does Mr. Gonzalez own now?”
“Forty-nine percent.”
“What?!”
“He’s bought out the seven investors who each owned two percent. He only needs two percent more to be in complete control of the company. Once he reaches fifty-one percent, he will carry any decision made by the board.”
“Appa, this is very bad. If he’s behind these attacks on Julieta’s family, then he’s already found a legitimate way to force her out if he can gain one more person’s cooperation. At the very least, he will make her powerless despite her shares in the company.”
“I’m going to try to meet with the three remaining stockholders. It just so happens that I know all of them.”
“Appa, I can see why Julieta’s father trusted you implicitly.”
Jin’s father’s voice held a smile as he spoke into his phone. “Thank you, son. And I can see why Julieta seems to be creating a similar friendship with you. I think maybe you’re a little fond of her, huh? She sure is a pretty, little thing.”
“Appa!” Jin rebuked him, exasperated. “We’re just colleagues.”
“Right now, maybe. But in the future…”
“Appa, let me know what you find out at the earliest possible moment,” Jin changed the subject, directing it back into safer waters.
