The loud clattering noises emerging from the living room of the apartment woke Nadia up from her sweet slumber. Mind still muddled with sleep, she reached for her clock at the bedside table and pulled it close to her eyes, blinking rapidly for the numbers to start making sense. Once they did, she placed the clock back and pulled the covers over her head. It was only 4:30 in the morning. She still had 2 more hours to sleep.

There was another wave of clattering noises before the sound of an espresso machine filled her apartment. Nadia opened her eyes with a jerk, sleep being no more a priority.

Ghosts? Was her first thought.

Then thinking someone might have had broken into her apartment, Nadia threw the covers away and jumped out of the bed. She opened the bedroom door cautiously and peeked outside. The living room was empty. The noise was arising from the kitchen.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled up her nostrils and Nadia tiptoed towards the kitchen, intending to catch the intruder herself. She was only halfway when Derek's head popped out of the kitchen window.

"Yo traitor. Sup?" He asked and pulled his head back in without waiting for a reply.

Nadia pressed her lips together and clenched her fists with irritation. Striding inside her kitchen, she glared at him.

Her laptop was open and placed on the small table with the screen facing Derek, who was heartily enjoying the french toasts that he had cooked only moments ago. "It's 4:30 in the morning!" Nadia groaned.

Derek took another bite of the toast and placed it on the plate. He showed his palm to Nadia, gesturing her to wait while he gulped down the food. Nadia, who had grown accustomed to his antics, pulled out a chair, folded her hands across her chest and waited for him to explain why he was cooking breakfast at her place so early in the morning. Not to mention using the laptop that she clearly remembered was secured by a password.

"So, the cops asked me why was I even at that place and I'm like, the manager is my friend dude, he asked me to delete some files and I did. Then they kept repeating stupid questions till 4 in the morning. Can you believe it? That's like 11 hours altogether! But, the worst part wasn't that. It was me going to my apartment with a headache and realizing I was out of coffee beans. So, I came here knowing this is the one place which will never run out of coffee" Derek kept blabbering but, instead of Nadia, he was talking to someone through the laptop.

Nadia heard a familiar giggle coming from the laptop and quickly turned the device towards her.

"Dad? Why are you up so early?" Her expressions softened instantly and her voice filled with concern as she looked at the old man lying on the hospital bed.

Several machines were set up around his bed to monitor his condition at all times. A drip was attached to his left hand that allowed a constant flow of the fluid from the IV bag, hung on the stand. Two nurses stood next to the bed, one injecting medicine into the bag while the other noted the readings, from the machines, on her notepad.

"Calm down, bud. My insomnia ain't back. This is just a regular check-up" he chuckled and smiled wider for Nadia when she kept staring at him with worry in her eyes.

"I don't trust you one bit, dad. Not after all the complains I received from Dr Zane last week."

"Don't worry, Nadia" the nurse said while bending a little to fit her head in the frame, "Ralph is doing a lot better since you scolded him at your visit, last week."

"Yes. He's been on his best behaviour ever since. Even Dr Zane was impressed when Ralph took his medicines with no protest" the other nurse said with a pleasant smile on her face.

Nadia felt relieved hearing the nurses and thanked them for taking care of him.

"See, I told you I'm fine" Ralph declared proudly.

"Now tell me, why did you leave Derek alone at Leamington? And who was the handsome man with you?" He asked with a teasing look in his sunken old eyes.

Nadia eyed Derek who stared back at her with a sly smile on his lips. Bringing his chair next to her, he leaned towards the laptop and said, "Yes. Ask her, Mr Hayden. Ask her."

Nadia flicked Derek's forehead making him groan with pain. He leaned back away from the laptop while rubbing his forehead with his palm.

"That's because he is an idiot, dad. Nothing would have happened if only he told me about it before going to the hotel. Anderson was so pissed when he got to know we lost our biggest client." Nadia answered the first question and carefully dodged the second.

"Now that sounds like your fault, Derek" Ralph said and Nadia nodded her head.

"Alright. Let's call it even, bud" Derek teased. Hearing him use the nickname her dad had given her when she was a little girl, Nadia once again moved her hand to flick his forehead but, Derek dodged it easily.

For the next half hour, the three of them chatted, laughed and discussed random things. Nurses and doctors occasionally stopped by to check on Ralph and greet Nadia whereas Derek made sure to annoy his friend at regular intervals.

"Love you, bud and take care of yourself" Ralph said as Dr Zane appeared to send him away for chemotherapy.

"Love you too, dad" Nadia waved at him as the nurses helped him out of the bed.

"I love you too, Mr Hayden" Derek butted in that made the old man laugh out loud. Seconds later the video call ended and Nadia closed her laptop before getting up to brew a cup of coffee for herself.

The room fell silent as Nadia set the freshly brewed cup of coffee on the kitchen counter and took a deep breath. Derek watched his friend lost in her thoughts. Her beautiful blue eyes that were filled with joy while talking to her dad, looked hollow and empty now.

"He is gonna be fine" he comforted her by moving closer and patting her hands that rest on the counter next to the cup.

Nadia knew better than anyone else that Ralph wasn't even close to being fine. He had stopped being fine since he was diagnosed with leukaemia, a year ago, and he was never going to be fine. On her last visit to him, Dr Zane had said the words she was dreading to hear ever since the day the results for his diagnosis confirmed the disease. His health was deteriorating slowly and gradually and she could do nothing but watch him go farther away from her with every passing day.

"He will be" Nadia lied and forced a smile on her lips.

Never being one to share her pain with others, she looked around to try and find something that would divert both, her's and Derek's mind, away from the things that were beyond her control. Spotting the bunch of envelopes, scattered on the couch, through the window, Nadia picked up her cup filled with coffee and marched out of the kitchen.

"Thanks for the breakfast, Nad. See you at the office" Derek said following her out of the kitchen. He went towards the main door whereas Nadia stopped to survey the letters.

"I brought them in for you. You're welcome" he pointed at the letters and went away.

The envelopes were carelessly thrown on the furniture on which they lay until Nadia picked them up. Sipping her coffee, she opened the letters one after the other. Most of them were bills of her apartment or the hospital bills for Ralph. Placing them aside and making a mental note to make the payment by the end of the day, she focused on the one letter that looked mysterious and yet familiar to her.

The charcoal black envelope had a golden logo etched at the centre. A huge golden V was engraved in bold in the middle of the logo and the combination of black and gold gave the formal job letter a fancy look. The upper flap of the envelope was stuck delicately to the lower flap and Nadia didn't dare to touch it.

For a good whole minute, she kept staring at the letter not able to decide whether she should open it and jump with joy or put the thing inside a paper shredder and throw the entire device out of her apartment window.

While her eyes were still fixed on the alphabet printed on the envelope, Nadia got up from her seat and padded her way to the bedroom. Closing the door behind her, she dragged her feet to the bedside table and settled on the floor. Nadia had forgotten to switch on the lights and the soft golden glow emanating from the lamp reminded her of a similar moment from years ago.

The rage she had felt while driving home after meeting Dylan VanAssche for the first time was beyond anything she had ever felt in her life. Nadia remembered how delighted she was when she reached that cafe, two years ago, and saw him sitting next to her best friend.

For years she had read about his security company in newspaper and magazines and the internet. She was altogether awestruck by his brilliance as she had read more and more about the way his company operated. At that time, Nadia had only started her career as a developer but her ultimate goal had been fixed. It was to earn her spot as a software designer at the best security company in the country.

Then, she saw him conversing with her best friend inside that small cafe. She was there to meet her friend but, it had taken everything in her to act cool and not go fangirl over him. And for a while, she had succeeded in doing so but, the act didn't last long. Nadia had never intended to try and impress the man. All she had done was ultimately confess her admiration for his work and let out how much she respected his job and the efforts he took for strengthening the cybersecurity of the country. She had been in a state of total euphoria until Dylan had opened his mouth and made her regret everything.

Showing emotions was a sign of weakness, her dad had taught her that. Nadia had always been one to do things without contemplating the result and even though, the old man had spent years trying to teach the little girl to keep her emotions in check as a way to protect herself, he had failed to compel her to do so.

Her fury, that day, was more directed to herself, than at anyone else, for not living by her dad's advice. She had made a complete fool of herself in front of a man who apparently had people praising him for every breath he took.

He had laughed at her, mocked her and compared her to the men and women who would die for only a single look of acknowledgement from him. Nadia had meant to tell him how she looked up to him and his work but, instead of encouraging her, he had thought of her as another one of those women who used his company to try and flatter him only to get in his bed.

Nadia had never felt more humiliated and hurt than at that very instance and had stormed out of the cafe, relinquishing her plans, goals and any admiration or respect she had for him until then.

Moments passed as Nadia sat on the floor with the envelope in her hand. It was a job offer. She knew it. If the circumstances were any different, she would have been thrilled by the opportunity but, at the moment, all she wanted to do was to open it, read it and then burn the letter away. Just like she had wished to do with the last one.

Taking a deep breath, Nadia opened the bottom drawer of her small bedside table and placed the envelope inside. An identical black envelope with a similar logo and job offer lay beneath the new one, the only difference being the state they were in. The top one looked pristine and lay unread while the other one had worn out by being read countless times.

The buzzing alarm of the clock pulled Nadia out of her thoughts and she closed the drawer. Picking up the clock, she realized it was time for her to get ready for her office.

The day hadn't even begun and Nadia already felt exhausted to the core. "Now, that's one way to start your day" she murmured to herself and plodded to the bathroom for a refreshing shower.

Hours later, Nadia sat before the computer, inside her cubicle, and worked on another one of her software. Her paperwork, as promised, had been passed over to Derek by Mr Anderson along with a bunch of other files as a punishment for his actions.

Occasionally, her thoughts would wander to the unopened letter lying inside her drawer but, Nadia would force it out of her head. She focused on the program that was to be handed over to Mr Anderson by the end of the day and drowned herself and her mind in her job.

Till the time the software was completed and Nadia shut off her computer, the sky had gotten dark. Most of her colleagues have already left for home and she had intended to do the same when Megan's head popped above the wall separating their cubicles.

"You're coming with us to the club for drinks, Nad?" Megan asked as she resting her head on the thin metallic wall.

"What's the occasion?"

"Derek is celebrating becoming temporarily rich because of the advance payment made to him by the Leamington's manager".

Technically, Nadia thought, Derek should be forced to return the money as he had, very efficiently, failed to do the job but, since Joshua must be already sitting inside a jail cell, Derek can rejoice. Nadia cleaned her desk and picked up her bag as she got up from her seat.

"If it's Derek, then it's mandatory for me to join" Nadia chuckled.

"Of course it is." Megan agreed, knowing well how much the guy adored his friend.

Nadia and Megan joined the rest of their colleagues who were waiting outside the building and took off to the club, Derek had chosen for them. It took half an hour for them to reach the venue and it took another half for them to go through the long queue outside, and find a decent place to sit.

Drinks after drinks were ordered and while her colleagues emptied another pitcher of beer, Nadia, not being a fan of alcohol, enjoyed her virgin strawberry daiquiri. They were making fun of Mr Anderson for always bossing them around when Nancy moved forward to grab the empty pitcher for a refill.

"I'll get it" Nadia said, taking the pitcher from her coworker, "I was going to get a glass of water for me anyway".

Nadia was about to go towards the bar when she stopped as Stuart, another one of her coworker, got up to do an impression of Anderson passing orders. It was so spot-on that they all laughed hysterically.

Still laughing, Nadia went to the bar and placed the pitcher on the counter, "another refill and a glass of sparkling water".

The bartender took the empty pitcher and went back to fill it up. While she waited for her drinks to arrive, a man sitting on the barstool next to her checked her out. His eyes moved from her head to toe, making an ugly smirk appear on his face.

"It's a sin for a girl as sexy as you to be alone at a club like this" he got up from the chair and moved closer to her.

Nadia made no efforts to hide her disgust at the sentence and rolled her eyes. Didn't he saw the huge pitcher she just passed to the bartender for a refill?

"Allow me to buy you a drink" the man said stepping yet closer to her. Nadia took a step back to maintain distance and politely declined.

"No, thank you."

A different bartender placed a blue drink on the counter in front of the creep next to her. "I insist" the creep slid the glass towards her.

What was taking the barman so long? She wondered. All he had to do was fill the pitcher again and bring her a glass of water.

The blue cocktail rest in front of her and Nadia effortlessly ignored both, the drink and the man.

Even though she never missed an outing with her coworkers, there were a lot of things Nadia disliked about clubs like these. Drunk creeps with unhealthy flirting landed on top of the list.

"Playing hard to get, huh? It's just a drink, baby girl"

Nadia wanted to punch him across the face just for using those two words but instead tilted her head to look to her side, into his drunken eyes, "What part of my 'no' didn't make sense to you?"

The man laughed at that and took another step towards her. "Spend some time with me, sweetie, I can certainly turn your 'no' into a 'yes'".

Nadia once again stepped back and turned to inquire the bartender about the delay.

"There's some problem with the machine. He'll be back in a minute" came the answer.

There was another laugh from the creep standing next to her. "Do I scare you, baby girl?"

This time when he took a step towards her and moved his hand to rest them on her hips, Nadia, instead of stepping away, grabbed his fingers and took a step closer to dug the heels of her stilettoes into his shoes. With little to no effort, she twisted his fingers using a technique Ralph had taught her and shoved her heels deeper when he tried to move back.

"Yes, you do scare me, sir. So, I would beg you to please go back to minding your own business and not show others what a scoundrel of a person you are because if you don't, I'm sure you might lose some fingers tonight" Nadia tightened her grip on his fingers as he tried to free them. The creep flinched as she twisted them again and she finally let go of his hand when she noticed the pain in his eyes. Her heels stayed at their place though, not allowing him to step away.

The bartender, finally, brought her drinks from the back and placed them on the counter. Disregarding the pitcher of beer and the glass of sparkling water, Nadia picked up the blue mocktail that the creep had, very politely, offered her. With delicate movements, she poured the entire liquid into his glass of whiskey, ruining both the drinks for him.

The glass overflowed, spilling the drink on his other hand and Nadia clinked the glasses. "Thanks for the drink" with that she picked up the pitcher and her water and walked back to her friends.

"I thought you weren't coming back" Derek got up to help her with the pitcher as she got closer to where they were seated.

"Blame the machine, not me" Nadia told him. Placing her glass of water on the table, she excused herself to go to the bathroom.

While at the bar counter, Nadia had gone with the flow and spilt the drink not noticing the drops that had fallen on her brand new stilettos. Taking them off, she placed them next to the basins to wipe the sweet liquid before it sticks permanently as a stain.

Movements behind her back, made Nadia raise her head to look at the mirror and she saw the same creep standing there with a smirk on his face. Without turning back, she noticed how he wasn't alone this time and two other men was standing behind him with similar expressions.

"You should know your limits. Girls like you need to be tamed well" His friend stayed back watching the scene play out as the creep moved towards her.

"What the fuck did you think you were doing?" The smirk was gone and there was a rage in his tipsy eyes. He was drunk and even though Nadia could push him to the ground and try to make a run, she knew the coward's friends would never allow her that.

"Get out or I'll call the cops" she warned but before she could make a move, the creep dashed towards her and grabbed her neck.

"Aren't you a tough cookie?" He whispered, his breath smelling like alcohol made Nadia sick to her stomach.

The grip around her neck wasn't too strong because of all the alcohol in the guy's system but, Nadia still struggled to free herself from his hold.