Gerald excused himself from Mr. Ezekiel's sight and walked closer towards the door. He tapped on it gently and waited forAunt Elsie's response.
"Come in..."Gerald heard from within after several seconds of silence.
He breathed in slowly before placing his hand on the door knob, gently opening the door, and stepped in. He hesitated for a while before closing the door behind him, as he strutted towards aunt Elsie.
"Ah, Gerald -it's you..."Aunt Elsie uttered in recognition as well as surprised to see him in her new office, but she did well by offering him a warm smile.
"Yes!" Gerald replied to her in a sharp yet blunt tone, taking the seat before the desk -he did not bother to be offered the seat before sitting, he suddenly finds it useless.
"I decided to drop by."
Aunt Elsie was offended by Gerald's action; she found it nonchalant and challenging, but she held her anger in, trying not to react rashly towards him.
"I see you've made yourself at home without the owner's permission." Aunt Elsie pointed out, hiding her annoyance under her tongue.
"Yeah, why not?" He questioned her in response. "I've been with Ciara for years
-gaining hertrust isn't a day job, this is one of the benefits of being trusted; you won't be needing their permission for even the slightest act any longer."
Gerald's response did not go down well with her, but as usual, she decided to brush it aside. There is no need being irrational with him, she concluded, it as part of his behavior -trying to keep her anger at bay!
"How can I help you?" Aunt Elsie asked, her voice carefully controlled. She made sure to keep the smile on herface, though it was beginning to feel a bit forced. "Is there something you needed?"
Gerald was silent for a moment, looking around the room and taking in his surroundings. It was clearthat Aunt Elsie had already started to make changes in the office -it's not even up to three hours yet, and it made him uncomfortable.
"I just wanted to check in and make sure everything was going okay." Gerald said, struggling to maintain his composure. "It's been a while since I've been here. I can't just ignore the company like its none of my business because Ciara isn't available."
"I see you are being considerate here, Gerald." Aunt Elsie commended with a mild smile, drawling on the word (considerate'. "I'm sure; this must have been what Ciara sees in you to have you most trusted among other people around her."
"Who knows, maybe that might not be the only reason she was able to trust." He said, resting his back lazily on the seat he's on and wearing a sly smile. "Maybe she trusted me because I nevertook advantage of her."
Aunt Elsie's brows were drawn tightly. "What do you mean?" She blurted out, already getting pissed off. With the sly expression on his face, she understood that he's trying to pass a message across -which she is finding hard to translate.
Gerald leaned forward in his chair, his expression serious. "What I mean is that I've never taken advantage of her in any way, unlike some people who I know have." He paused, letting the words hang in the air. "I think you know what I'm talking about."
Aunt Elsie's mouth dropped open in shock. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said defensively, even though she knew exactly what he was referring to.
"Let's be real here." Gerald's voice was firm. "You know that I'm referring to you and how you've been manipulating Ciara for your gain. I think we both know that she's not in the right state of mind to be making any decisions right now, but you're taking advantage of that fact to get what you want."
Aunt Elsie rose to her feet, her face flushed with anger. "You have no right to say that to me." She snapped. "I'm her aunt and I have her best interests at heart. Why would I ever want to take advantage of her predicament? I'm only doing what, I think, is the best for her." "Yeah, I see -I think I get you now." He nodded knowingly. "You are doing what you think is the best, which we all know is only for your own personal gain and interest."
"I'll implore you to watch yourtongue, Gerald." She lashed at him, her cheeks red with anger. "You can'tjust come into my office and start throwing words of insults at me, young man!"
"Your office, yeah!" He cited in a crook tone. "I see you are now confident in your manipulating acts to finally have the nerves to see this firm as your company!"
"That's not true!" Aunt Elsie snapped, her voice rising in pitch. "I'm only trying to help Ciara, I would never do anything to hurt her!"
Gerald laughed sarcastically. "You think you can lie yourway through everything, don't you?" He said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You've been manipulating her since the day you came here, and you don't even see anything wrong with it!"
"How dare you, Gerald!" Aunt Elsie shouted, refraining herself from charging towards him, her anger rising to a boiling point. "You have no right to talk to me like this!"
"Oh, spare me that, old lady. How, then, do I talk to you? Gently and more approaching?" He asked her, sarcasm laced in his voice.
"I think you're the one who's been manipulating Ciara, not me." Aunt Elsie retorted, her tone dripping with venom. "You've been here the whole time, acting like her friend, when really you're just using her to fill in for your personal interest. You've never cared about her, you're just putting on a pretence!"
Gerald's lips curled up in a dirty grin, earning a surprise look from Aunt Elsie. "Yeah, I'm putting on a pretence!" He told her. "At least, I was considerate enough to use her when she was sane -unlike old hag like you, who's been manipulating her into ripping her off her sweats due to her mental challenge."
Aunt Elsie's eyes widened in disbelief, and her mouth fell open. "How dare you!" She exclaimed, shaking with anger. "I would never do such a thing, especially not to my niece!"
"Oh, really?" Gerald's tone dripped with sarcasm. "So, tell me, then, what's your interest in Ciara? Why were you so desperate to be around her?"
Aunt Elsie took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "The last time I checked, you don't belong in any department in this firm, and you are neither a client here nor a business partner to Fellers Firm." She pointed out to him. "You have no right to sit there and sprout out nonsense from your lips." "So?" He demanded, raising his left brows in questioning. "What if I don't belong to this company? What if I'm not a relation to Ciara? What will you do -throw me out?"
Aunt Elsie shook her head negatively. "You'll be so lucky if I throw you out, boy!" She told him. "Instead, I'll have you arrested for constituting nuisance in my company and sue for defamation too."
Gerald snickered as he raised from his seat, placed his both hands on the desk and leaned towards Aunt Elsie. "I'll love to see you try, old lady!" He enunciated in a rough, icy tone. "Let's see if you can have me sued or arrested as you've claimed."
Aunt Elsie was taken aback, she did not expect such a reaction from him. She was expecting to see him afraid, but it turns out she was wrong -Gerald was not the type to be threatened or fall for threats.
Aunt Elsie opened her mouth to speak, but Gerald beat him to him, and she was forced to clamp her mouth shut after hearing his next sentence. "I'll be keeping an eye on you, old lady, you can't run faster than your shadows..."