Obsessions (9 page)

Chapter 11

Ten months later…

London typed furiously on the Jansen project. It was
due tomorrow, and she wanted it to be perfect. She knew she was a perfectionist
when it came to her work, but she was on a roll and felt like this was her best
work ever. Sitting back, she glanced over it as she saved the document.

She was proud of the program she created. When she
met Mac Evans ten months ago, she wanted to find a way to help military and law
enforcement in deadly situations, so she built a program in ten months to do
so. It was made so the military could feed different scenarios into a gaming
system, and allow the soldiers and officers to be put into situations and
figure out what to do. It was a virtual reality program and nobody had anything
like it on the market. More and more scenarios would be added to continue the officers
and soldiers training.  She’d called Mac Evans a hundred times over the course
of ten months to get information from him on what to add, and she sent him money
every time she spoke to him, using some of her savings to pay for his expertise
and knowledge.

When she talked to Mac, she could hear the
excitement in his voice, and assured him that he would be able to play with the
program when she had it up and running. First she had a few bugs to work out
before she could bring him to New York. She explained that she named the
program the Active Shooter 2000 or AS 2000 for short. Mac seemed pleased that
he was helping keep other soldiers safe. He explained to London that he finally
felt useful and needed.

London reached up and grabbed her necklace holding
it securely in her hand as she thought about the spell she was learning. Me-Len
sent London her journals that she’d had since she was a little girl. She said
she wanted London to know about her heritage and the best way would be to
relive it through her grandmother’s own words.

London spoke to her grandmother on the phone every
two days and Me-Len would test her on the spells she had learned. Me-Len
advised her that she was a fast learner and had a special gift. She told London
that the Tree of Life must like her because there were even some seasoned
witches who couldn’t do some of the spells she was attempting. She figured that
Me-Len was a powerful witch with all the covens wanting her to come and help
them out. Me-Len informed London that at the rate she was learning she would be
one of the most powerful witches of her time.

Me-Len cautioned her to only use the spells if she
was in danger. She stressed that she should never let her emotions get so
strong that she took matters into her own hands, and explained about her past
about how her own magic was powerful enough to defeat the covens of bad witches
who were using dark magic to gain power.

London had to tell herself over and over that she
could not turn people into toads no matter how much they deserved it. She
thought of her new friend Donnie Morgan who found one of her spells that London
had been working on. He asked if she could conjure him up a new man.

Donnie was quite a character, and he had become a
part of her family. She trusted him like she trusted Zoey, enough to let him
help her build her program. He had completed as much as he could in creating
the program, but London was the one with the gift. She was a genius when it
came to computers. Her boss, Tracy Allen, wanted her to turn the project in
tomorrow before they presented it to the Vice President of Marketing, John
Belleview. Then if it passed John, it would go to the President of the company.

“This is a great opportunity for you London.” Donnie
insisted.

Looking up, London smiled at her new friend. “You
mean us. You did help me on this Donnie. This is our project, so if I go up,
then you are going with me,” London replied as she continued to scan the
program.

“Girl, are you for real?” Donnie asked surprised. London
stopped typing and looked over at her friend.

“What do you mean?”

“Look you are in New York now and there are only a
few ways to the top: lying, cheating, or knocking someone off. You don’t have
it in you to be any of those people. You reek of goodness and smell just as
sweet.”

London started laughing at her eccentric friend’s
comment.  “Come on, you know better. Working hard is what gets you to the top
too.”

Donnie Morgan was her only friend here in New York.
They hit it off immediately when she met him, and he showed her the ropes and
helped her out with the ins and outs of New York City.

Donnie didn’t smile back this time.

“Why are you frowning at me?”  London asked.

“Because you’re being naive if you continue to
believe that, London. These people will eat you alive and spit you out before
you know what hit you. Don’t trust them, baby girl. Tracy Allen is going to
take this project, minimize your part in it, and tell them that she did the
work. I know she said this was a team, but it’s a corrupt team and that bitch
is going to do it. You need to prepare yourself for that.” London was taken aback
at what Donnie was saying.

“No she won’t. She told me that she would tell them
who wrote this program and that it was a team effort, so that we would all
prosper from it. I have to trust her.” London argued as she watched Donnie
shake his head. She was worried now, because that was the only way she knew how
to be, honest and trustful to people. Her favorite quote was from Colin Powell,
and she believed in that philosophy on getting to the top. “A dream doesn’t
become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.”

Her boss walked into her office just before their
ten o’clock meeting with the Vice President of Marketing. “Is it ready?” Tracy
asked.

“Yes, yes ma’am it is. Just put the disk in and the
program will start. You can go over it like we discussed.” London handed the
disk over with the paperwork.

“Is this all of it? The originals, too?” Tracy asked
sweetly. London nodded and looked over at Donnie who only shook his head in a
disapproving manner.

“Now you know you are not to talk in this meeting.
You are to keep your mouth shut. Do you understand?” Tracy instructed London as
she picked up the paperwork walking out of the office. She didn’t bother to check
if she was following her.

This was the moment she had been waiting for. London
blew out her breath before she got up and followed her to the conference room.
If this were successful, then she would be over the accounts that the computer
program was to be used for. It would be a huge promotion for her and put her
plan into motion. Tracy was looking to move up to be the First Vice President
under John.

London was nervous as she walked into the room
filled with people. John Belleview sat at the head of the table. She stood up
straighter as she sat in a chair by the wall while Tracy went to the front of
the room and inserted the disk. She helped pass out the headsets that they
would need when the game was inserted to show how people could be put in real
life situations. This program would be used for training. Any situation one
could think of could be built in the program so that officers could see what
mistakes were being made. The program even accounted for how long it took the
officer to shoot back and told them where their bullet entered the bad guy. She
passed out the paperwork, and then sat back down as John instructed Tracy to
start.

London continued to smile throughout the
presentation. The computer program she had made would make the company billions
of dollars. She knew it was good when she finished. John Belleview continued to
watch Tracy. She was a great presenter even if the work she was presenting
wasn’t hers. London watched John when it was time for him and the others to put
on their headsets as Tracy took them through the virtual reality situations. John
continued to smile.

When Tracy finished, John got up and clapped his
hands. “It's a fantastic program, Tracy. You did a great job. This is unheard
of and it is going to skyrocket the industry when it becomes available. This is
going to move you up. Walk with me to see Pierce. I think he needs to see this
now.”

Tracy looked shocked but got her stuff and never
looked back at London as she walked out of the room with John. London didn’t
know how to take it. She didn’t mention her and that she was the one who wrote
the program. Now Tracy was going to see the President of the company.

She quietly got up and walked out of the room. 
Surely, she wouldn’t take her work as her own. Shaking it off, London walked
back to her office. Donnie was pacing as she walked into the room.

“How did it go?” he screeched as he rushed over to
her.

She grabbed her friend before he rolled her to the
floor. “He loved it. Loved it so much he told Tracy that she would be moving up
and told her that they should show it to Pierce immediately,” London responded.
She kept the fake smile on her face as she sat down at her desk.

“The bitch didn’t even mention it was you who wrote
the program, did she? I can see it on your face,” Donnie demanded. London
continued to move her mouse around on her desk trying not to look at him.

“No, but she was shocked when John told her she was
moving up and he wanted to go now to see Pierce. She didn’t have a lot of time.
The man was walking out of the room when he said it. She had to move quickly, but
I know when she moves up she will be putting my name in for her job so I can
oversee the program. Nobody knows that program but you and me, so stop
worrying. Hey, let’s eat Chinese tonight.” London tried to explain, but she could
see Donnie’s expression.

Donnie didn’t bring it up anymore. He knew if London
were going to make it in the real world then she would need to experience this.
He had been with the company long enough to see how people like Tracy Allen get
to the top and it wasn’t being nice and a hard worker.

Chapter
12

Jim Sanders, Alpha of the Sanders Pack, glared at
his little sister, shaking his head as he paced in front of her.

“You had your chance to get rid of the girl and you
failed again.” Jim Sanders spit out. She could see the veins in his neck pop
when he yelled.

“What did you want me to do, kill her in front of
the whole school? Yeah, let your baby sister rot in jail for killing the Malone
princess. It’s not my fault she was being watched all the time. Every time I
got close to her, somebody came around. They watch her all the time, Jim,” Penny
complained.

“We have to take them all out if we want to take
over, Penny. You know this. How many times do I have to explain it to you?” Jim
demanded, as he walked around the table watching Penny squirm in her seat.

“Now she’s back here in Alpha City where she’s
protected. Not just by her brother, but by the entire group of Alpha’s. Damn
it, Penny, we should already be in control. We wanted him distraught with his
sister’s death. It would have been so much easier to take him out when he isn’t
thinking right. This is entirely your fault,” Jim yelled, slapping Penny’s
face. He hit her so hard that her body went flying through the air crashing
into the wall.

“Now pick your ass up and get out of my sight. You
are fucking useless to me. Useless!” Jim screamed, as Penny shuddered from the heated
sound of his voice. Penny tried using the wall to pull herself up. The pain
from her brother’s hand hurt, but the pain of him not loving her was worse. She
hated Zoey Malone for making her life hell. She would always be compared to
that damn woman.

Nothing she did would ever be good enough for her
brother, and she missed her mom and dad. Life had changed so much since Jim had
taken over, and his mate was even crueler than he was. Her name is Metilda
Blackwood and she was a witch from Louisiana who just showed up in town one day
changing everything. Her brother, who she loved, had become a monster that
relished in torturing others. His need to rule had him packing up their entire
pack and moving to Alpha City where he plotted to destroy the Malone Pack.

The Sanders wolves lived in fear of her brother, and
his new enforcers. Penny wanted to leave so bad, but she feared what he would
do to her if she did. She’s saw what her brother did to wolves who objected to
the pack moving to Alpha City, their speaking out got them killed or beaten.
The women lived in fear all the time, because some of his enforcers had raped
them. Most of the young girls in the pack have been hidden so they couldn’t be
taken.

Penny rubbed at her face where blood dripped down. 
She had to do something soon or he was going kill her. Her own brother had
changed so much that she didn’t even recognize him anymore. The witch he mated,
Metilda Blackwood was beautiful, but evil to the core. She relished in the fear
he dished out. She loved it when he beat on people. She even encouraged it.
Penny could see the darkness inside of her magic. It was black and tainted with
dark magic. She has no choice but to do what her brother says and that is to
kidnap and kill Zoey Malone.

* * * *

London and Donnie sat at the table in the cafeteria.
“So you heard anything yet?” Donnie asked.

“No, but it’s only been one day, Donnie. You know she
has a lot to do before she can promote someone,” London replied. She didn’t
want her nerves to show. She wasn’t that person who was naive enough to show
her weaknesses to others. It wasn’t in her. She needed to be strong especially
in front of others.

Donnie spotted Roxie Falcon before she got to the
table. “Bitch alert.  She's coming this way.”

London giggled at his assessment of Roxie. Donnie
had given London the heads up about the woman when she first arrived in New
York. Roxie was a
bitch
from the word go. The woman was a piece of work.
When she started working at Landon and was introduced to her, the woman glared
at what she was wearing snickering at how she was dressed like a scene from
The
Devil Wears Prada
.

Roxie was of course, wearing a beautiful dress from
Michael
Kors
with
Jimmy Choo
shoes on her feet. Hoping she would continue to
walk on by was not in the cards today. She had that look on her face. The one
that said, “I’m your fucking worst nightmare.”

“So London, I will need you to do some debugging on
the AS 2000. I’m going to meet with the Johnson group today and I saw some
things that need to be changed before they see it.” London frowned then looked
over at Donnie. His expression said it all.

“Why are you working on this program?” she asked.

“Oh, didn’t you hear. Tracy got promoted effective
today and she named me as her replacement.” London couldn’t control the frown
that marred her face, but Roxie didn’t stop there. No, she had to rub it in
more. The sound of amusement was etched in her next sentence. “Lord, you didn’t
think you would be getting her job did you?” Roxie laughed aloud after she said
it.

Other people in the cafeteria looked over at them,
listening.  London wanted to crawl under the table. She was mortified.

“I will be expecting that project finished by the
end of the day.” Roxie’s flawless hair flew around as she turned and walked out
of the cafeteria. Her high-heeled shoes clicked across the floor as she
sashayed out of the cafeteria. London felt like she was going to explode. She
could literally feel her head coming off. Her face turned blood red as she
looked up at Donnie.

“Go home, London. I will say you got sick at lunch,
but go home before you do something that you can’t undo. These people are
sharks. When they smell blood in the water, they go for your throat. Just go
home, baby girl. I will be over after work. We will figure this out.” London
grabbed her purse and ran toward the door. She had to get out of the building
before she did something crazy.

* * * *

Donnie sat back and rubbed his forehead. He knew
this was going to happen. He had hoped that Tracy would do the right thing, but
he was never wrong about these types of people. She was a fucking wimp and she
needed that spineless bitch Roxie Falcon to do her dirty work. She didn’t even
have the guts to come to London and tell her personally that she stole London’s
program, and all the time and effort she put into it. London wanted to help
others and keep them safe. Now someone else would be in charge of it and there
was no telling what would happen to the program or if it would be used to help
others. He knew she was feeling defeated for the first time in her life.

By the time Donnie got to her apartment after work,
London was shit-faced drunk. She could barely hold her head up as she smiled at
him.

“Hello, my friend.” London waved her hand around
then fell off the chair. Donnie snorted as he bent down in front of London who
was already asleep on the floor. Moving her hair off her face, he could see the
pain she was feeling etched there. Tears were dried to her cheeks, and he knew
her nose and her eyes would be red too if he could see them.

Donnie picked her up off the floor then carried her
to the bedroom, placing her on her side and putting a pillow behind her so she
wouldn’t fall over and throw up in her sleep. Then he took her bathroom garbage
can and placed it by her bed, left the bathroom light on, and went and sat down
on her couch. Checking on her throughout the night was a priority, and it was
going to be a long night. She was going to feel like shit when she woke up
tomorrow.

Sitting there thinking, Donnie heard a cell phone
ringing, and ran into the kitchen where he finally located London’s phone inside
her jacket pocket.

“Hello.” For a second, Donnie thought the caller had
already hung up.

“Um…is London there?”

“Zoey, is that you?” he asked.

“Yes, yes it’s me. Who is this?” Zoey inquired.

“This is Donnie, London’s friend.”

“Oh Donnie! Finally, we get to talk. How are you?” 
Zoey asked excitedly.

“I’m okay but London…”

“What’s wrong with London?” Zoey screeched.

“Calm down. She’s fine. But right now, she is drunk
as a skunk asleep in her bed. That’s why I’m answering her phone. I don’t want
to leave her alone. She almost finished a bottle of tequila.”

“She didn’t get the promotion did she? That fucking
bitch took her work.”

“Bingo, and to make matters worse the girl who did
get the promotion is under qualified, and she still wants London to do more
work on the program.”

“She is going to quit that job and come here with
me, so we can go into business together. You have to talk her into it Donnie. She
doesn’t stand a chance at moving up at the rate things are going there. We can
compete with these companies with her computer skills and mine. We would be a
great team. You have to help me convince her that this is the best solution.”

Donnie knew Zoey was right, but he didn’t want his
best friend leaving him. He was feeling selfish, and London was family to him,
but he knew if she stayed, she wouldn’t survive with this company.

“I’ll try, Zoey. I will.”

“Look, don’t tell her we spoke. She doesn’t like people
meddling in her business. She is a very private person, but I’m coming to New
York tomorrow with my brother on business. We will stop by the office and take
you two to lunch, then we can tag team her then.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Talk to you then, Zoey.
Good bye.” Donnie responded then hit the end button. He erased the phone call
in case London checked to see if anyone called her. He didn’t want her to think
he was hiding anything. Donnie got up and went into the bedroom to check on her
before he went to sleep. He was worried about his best friend. She didn’t deserve
what was happening to her. She was such a good person.

London hadn’t moved from the spot, so Donnie decided
to lie down beside her on the bed. If she started throwing up, he needed to be
able to hear her. Grabbing the blanket off the end of the bed, he covered up
and fell asleep until he heard her in the bathroom. Looking at the clock, it
was five in the morning. What was she doing up so early?

Leaning up on his elbow, he listened until the
bathroom door open. London showed all the signs of being hung over. Her
beautiful gray eyes were now red and puffy. She had just gotten out of the
shower and her hair was wet as she used the towel on it.

“Why are you up so early, sweetie? I was going to wake
you up in time for work.” Donnie asked as he got up from the bed and walked
over to her.

“I’m going in early. I may not have gotten the job
but the bitch will not steal what is mine.” London said, determined. Donnie
looked worried as she walked past him to get her clothes on.

“What are you going to do?” he asked, worried she
was about to make a huge mistake. “Look London, once you give the company your
work it doesn’t belong to you anymore. It belongs to them. Don’t do something
stupid and get arrested for this.”

London stopped and looked up at him. “You don’t
really know me, Don. I can be…well, let’s just say I’m not going to take this
sitting down. I won’t get arrested, but I heard everything you said. You’ll
have to trust me on this, okay?”

He had a bad feeling about it, but he nodded anyway.

“Now, you go and get in the shower while I cook us
some breakfast. We have a lot to do this week.”

Donnie watched as London walked out of the room.  He
had to smile at her, but he was worried sick now. Nothing good ever came out of
revenge. He would need to watch London to make sure she didn’t do anything
stupid. If she left, he would leave with her. He had learned more from her than
he had in four years of college and three years at Landon. Asking Zoey if he
could join the business was what he needed to do. He only hoped London would
agree.