Don Simon fixed his gaze on him and a tired smile played on his lips, "sit"

Andrès walked back into the office and sat down on the chair opposite Don Simon.

"I am not getting any younger Andrès, and I have had an unhealthy eating habit in my younger years. I will be going for a heart surgery and the chances of me coming back is very slim. My survival rate is 50/50. As you are well aware, I have no family at all. I love you like a son which is why I will transfer the ownership of the company to you and put it in your name. I will also_"

Andrès instantly felt a lump in his throat, "No, you can't do that. I am not worth it." Andrès interrupted Don Simon.

"That is your low self esteem speaking, you deserve everything good in life. Better than this in fact. Not to debate on this, just see it as you keeping it for me. Take care of it, nurture it. Then you can give it back when I return." Don Simon suggested.

Andrès still felt uncomfortable with that. He loves his boss so much and inwardly, he was convinced that his boss would return. He couldn't bring himself to accept the offer.

Silence filled the air for a few seconds as Don Simon waited for Andrès response.

With a genuine and happy smile spread across Don Simon's face, "You can get back to work Andrès. I won't change my mind." He instructed Andrès.

Wordlessly, Andrès got up from the chair and walked towards the door. He placed his hand on the door handle, turned and looked at Don Simon who nodded his head, still smiling.

Andrès fought back the tears in his eyes and exited Don Simon's office.

As soon as Gael saw him leaving Don Simon's office, he was eager to know what Don Simon had wanted to discuss with him so he asked him to leave the office and give them privacy.

"Hey, are you okay? You look like you have seen a ghost." Gale asked Andrès as he sat on his chair.

Andrès ignored his question and stared blankly into space, he was trying to process everything that his boss told him and it wasn't sitting right in his head. Gael wasn't making it easier for him either. He kept on asking him questions non-stop and the words kept echoing in his head.

"Gael, please! I can't right now." Andrès said to his friend in a low tone.

"Now you keep secrets? Huh? You can't tell me what you both discussed? I thought you are my best friend and we do not keep secrets from each other." Gael blurted out insensitively, trying to guilt trip Andrès into telling him what he had discussed with the boss.

Andrès scoffed in disbelief. He knew that Gael was a lot of things but hearing him say what he said surprised him. He turned to look at Gael, a frown etched on his face. "Not right now Gael."

Gael felt slightly embarrassed with Andrès response but he clearly knew that whatever it was, he wasn't in the mood. "I'm sorry man, take your time." He said to him and walked back to his seat.

Both men did not say anything to each other all day, neither did Emilia show up at work which was another worrisome part of Andrès day.

Hours passed by very fast and the close of work approached soon. Andrès hoped in his heart that he was going to meet Emilia at home when he returned from work.

After sending the last file he was working on, he checked his wristwatch. "Finally!" He exclaimed excitedly at the close of work.

He picked up his bag and headed out of the office without wasting a second. He missed his wife so much and he was so eager to tell her what Don Simon had discussed with him.

He flagged down a taxi as soon as he reached outside the office building. "Fray's apartment." He said to the cab driver as he settled into the passenger's seat.

They passed through the bustling city and weirdly, there was no traffic that evening. Andrès felt like God was on his side

"Thank you." He said to the cab and stretched out his hand to pay him.

Headed into his apartment and he was so excited to see Emilia seated in the living room in front of the TV watching her favorite show.

"Mi amor," he called out excitedly but he tried his best to contain his excitement.

She turned at the sound of her name, "I'm sorry for leaving like that. Please forgive me." She apologized, tears welling up in her eyes.

"It's okay, my love. The most important thing is that you are back home, and safe too. I missed you so much." He replied, pulling her into a hug.

"I missed you too." She replied.

They remained in each other's embrace for a while before breaking it off. "So tell me, what did I miss?" She asked him.

Andrès did not think of it as strange because he felt like she was trying to lighten up the place.

"Well, you didn't miss much but I have something to tell you."

"Okay?" She replied curiously.

"Don Simon said something really weird to me today. I am still trying to wrap my head around it though." He started.

"Okay?"

"He said he would be going on a trip and he might likely not return."

"And?" Emilia asked impatiently.

"He wanted me to be in charge of the company before he returns. As a matter of fact, he wanted to temporarily put the company in my name until his return." Andrès explained.

"What did you say? Did you accept the offer?"

"No, I couldn't. I didn't want to take advantage of the situation."

"Wow, you are the dumbest man I've ever met. No, the dumbest human. Are you daft? Why? Why did you say no? This is a golden opportunity and you threw it away. Jesus!!! I can't even look at you right now." Emilia snapped and cursed.

Andrès did not take offense to it because he was well aware of her temper and she only just returned, he didn't want her to leave again.

With a click of his tongue, he turned to her. "I wanted to talk to you first. I'll accept the offer tomorrow." He said to her, only to cool off the tension in the air.

He just wanted a peaceful night and that was the only way to get it.

She smiled and hugged him tightly, happy that he changed his mind.

The rest of the night went on well and they had a good time before going to bed.

Both of them overslept, for some reason they didn't hear the alarm ring.

“Shit!” Andrès exclaimed when he saw the time.

He hurried out of bed and woke Emilia up too. They both hurriedly prepared for work and headed out without delay.

Married to his wife, Emilia, he was quite confident that everything in the world was well and good, because his wife was a catch, he had a steady job and income and everything was perfect in those moments. Something that Andrès seemed to constantly forget was that good times do not always last.

Today was one such day when Andrès discovered the truth in these words.

He had been sitting in his office, typing away at his computer when the phone beside him rang. He picked it up at once.

“Yeah?” he said to the receiver.

A cool tone greeted him. Andrès rose from his chair and looked around, outside his cubicle. The other workers seemed preoccupied with their work. Andrès grinned even though the person on the other end of the call could not see him, and he settled down more comfortably in his chair.

“Hello, darling,” he said sweetly again.

“Don’t call me that,” his wife, Emilia grumbled. “You know we’re at the office.”

“Oh, right. Right! What’s going on?”

“The boss has requested for tea.”

Andrès pulled away from his desk, a frown slightly etched on his face. “Okay…?” he said, unsure of why she was telling him what the boss wanted to have. “Well, what’s the problem? And what does that have to do with me?”

He heard his wife grumble in the background, then she's talking again. “Everything, Andrès. I’m not feeling too well right now. I have a headache, and I’m a little light-headed. I really feel like I’m either going to fall in front of the boss or I’m going to puke my guts out before him. Even now, I’m—”

She made a puking noise into the receiver, and Andrès recoiled, grimacing. “Alright! You should have just said so. Go to the washroom and stay there until you feel better or something.”

“I can’t,” she protested. “I’m the only person here right now. If the boss finds out that I left my post…” she trailed off. “Can you please come help me take this tea to the boss’s office?”

Andrès sighed and rubbed his temples. He did not like this one bit. He was also busy and in the middle of work, and no matter what or how he felt, it was his strict belief that work should always come first.

He didn’t like that he was going to take over his wife’s duties—not that he didn’t want to, but because it would eat into his own work time.

He groaned into the receiver. “Just hold on. I’m coming.” He dropped the call.

When Andrès got to Emilia’s desk, he made a face at her. She didn’t look at all like she was light-headed. She handed him the cup of tea without any formalities.

“I thought you said you were feeling sick?” Andrès asked.

Emilia gave him a look and said, “Have you ever heard of makeup, my dear husband? Even dead people look alive these days with a little bit of makeup.”

Andrès took the cup from her wordlessly. Her gaze was already back on her computer and Andrès walked off in the direction of the boss’s office. He knocked once on the door and entered.

“Forgive the interruption; I’ve got your tea, sir.”

His boss nodded gruffly without looking up from what he was doing. “Just leave it on the table.”

Andrès walked to the table and wondered where exactly his boss wanted him to set the cup on. The entire table was occupied with files, stationery and the boss’s computer that he was working on.

The boss turned to him when he saw Andrès’s confusion. He took the cup from Andrès and smiled at him. Then he squinted when he saw that it was Andres and not Emilia, his wife.

“Andreè? Why are you the one bringing my tea? What happened to your wife?”

Andrès rubbed his head and laughed nervously. “She was coming to deliver the tea to you, but I insisted that I did it since I was already on the way here.”

“Ah…” said his boss. “Oh, you married people always make me wish I was married too.” He took a sip from his cup and placed it back down. “But nope. No marriage for me again. I burnt that bridge down a long time ago.”

“Don’t let me bore you with my thinking.” The boss sipped some more at his tea and nodded. “You can go, Andrès. Thank you.”

Andrès bowed a little and made for the door. Then he heard a strange sound from his boss. He turned and saw that his boss was struggling and clutching at his neck.

“Boss?” Andrès called, unsure of himself. “Are you alright?”

But his boss only continued gargling and clutching at his throat. His eyes were wide. Panic flooded Andrès. He ran to his boss’s side, trying to right him up, but the boss was a very big man and Andrès found it difficult to help the man up.

“I NEED HELP IN HERE!” Andrès yelled. “THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE BOSS!”

Almost immediately, people rushed in, other employees, like himself. Andrès was relieved that there were people coming to help out. He could not have been able to lift the boss up by himself alone.

But just as immediately as the people had come in, their confusion came in with them too.

“What’s happened?” Someone asked. Andrès opened his mouth to answer but another person cut him off—

“You’re trying to kill the boss!”

“You’re trying to kill the boss?”

There was mass confusion and Andrès did not know how he had gotten himself mixed into the entire commotion. All he had wanted was help so he could move the boss.

“I don’t know what you’re all saying, but he’s dying. We need to get him to a hospital.”

“Yeah,” someone countered. “I bet you’d love to take him to a hospital and play the hero , saving his life.”

“Shut up!”

They were all arguing, each of the employees—Andrès co-workers. Andrès thought that he was going to lose his mind. In the midst of the entire commotion, it had not even occurred to him to search for his wife. He was so intent on getting his boss to the hospital. He could not even say for sure what had happened to the man.

“How do we know that we can trust you and whatever it is that you’re saying?” A man shouted at the top of his voice.

They had all left the boss who was now slumped on the floor, unmoving. “How do we know that you didn’t try to kill the boss yourself?”

“Why would I try to have the boss killed?” Andrès yelled.

“I don’t know. You tell me!”

Andrès was tired of how foolish this entire thing was beginning to sound and he tried to reason with his fellow employees again.

“Look, the important thing right now is that we get to the hospital. The man is dying over there, in case you all have not noticed.”

As if a switch had been flicked on in their brains, the employees suddenly remembered that there was a dying man with them in the room. The boss’s gasps were quickly turning into faint wheezing noises.

Somebody whipped out their phone and dialed 911 immediately.

“They’re bringing an ambulance!” the person screamed. But Andrès worried that the ambulance would not arrive in time.

“Help me take him downstairs.” Andrès suggested and moved to hold the boss’s arms.

A woman muttered shyly, “I’m not sure we’re supposed to move him. We’re supposed to hang tight until the ambulance gets here.”

Andrès snapped. “We don’t know when the ambulance is going to get here. We need to at least get him downstairs so if the paramedic team arrives, they can offer him first aid immediately and help him into the ambulance right after. Are you all even thinking? Help me with the boss!”

They grumbled, but some of the other men helped Andrès as they carried the body out of the office and into the lift. The lift brought them downstairs. They were fanning the boss and trying to talk to him to keep him awake until the ambulance arrived.

“They’re here!” a woman screamed. “The paramedic team is here.”

Andrès felt such relief flood through him. At the very least, his boss would be getting treatment.

He saw the paramedic team rush through the doors and he waved his hands so they could spot him easily. Within seconds, they had his boss strapped to an emergency stretcher which they wheeled into the ambulance.

“I’m coming with you,” Andrea said and jumped into the ambulance. He could not leave his boss’s side, especially because he felt personally responsible. The ambulance headed to the hospital very quickly and the doors were flung open as soon as they arrived at the hospital.

A stretcher came out to meet them and the boss was carefully laid onto the new stretcher and was wheeled into the hospital, straight to the emergency room.

All the while, Andrès kept trying to talk to the boss, until he was wheeled into the E.R.

Then Andrès prayed that his boss would survive. No one came out of the E.R. for what seemed like an eternity. Andrès had his hands against the other as he sat down. Unable to sit still with himself and nervous from all the events of the day, he tried calling his wife, but her number was not going through.

He wondered what the other employees would be doing at the office by this time. They had certainly been riled up by the fact that the boss had slumped and they had even wanted to blame everything on him. But he was innocent, and the boss probably knew that too.

Andrès thought about his boss’s plans to leave and not return. He knew that his boss had a heart condition. Almost everybody at the office had speculated that there was something wrong with the boss somehow or the other, but his boss had personally told him that he was going on the trip and that he would not be returning to the company.

Andrès thought about the job offer that he had turned down. He did not want his boss to entrust the ownership of the company to him at all. He was certain that the boss was definitely going to come back healthier from his trip, and then he would continue with running the affairs of the company.

But now, Andrès was no longer so sure. Andrès sat down again and decided to wait. He would stay there for as long as it took until he was certain that his boss was alright.

The doors of the E.R opened and nurses came out. Andrès jumped to his feet to meet the nurses, but they all wore pale faces.

“What’s wrong?” Andrès asked.

The nurses had sober expressions. “I’m sorry, Mr. Manuel; we tried everything… we lost him.”

Andrès could not fathom why his boss had died. He felt like he was moving in slow-motion and the entire thing was a movie that he was watching from the eyes of another person. It couldn’t have been possible that his boss was already dead. He was hale and hearty just moments ago. He had even joked with Andrès.

“The cause of death appears to be poisoning.” A nurse offered. Andrès frowned. Who would think of poisoning the boss? Andrès was at a loss for his words. He had opened his mouth to speak when he heard his name.

He turned and saw men in uniform approaching. The police.

“Are you Mr. Andrès Manuel?” One of the officers asked.

“Yes, I am,” Andrès said hastily. “What’s wrong, officers?”

The officers looked at each other. One of them brought out handcuffs from behind him. “Mr. Andrès Manuel, you’re under arrest for murder.”

It had to be a mistake, Andrès protested, but the officers cuffed him and led him out of the hospital.