Chapter 54: A Bitter End and a Glimmer of Hope
1376words
"Eki, wait!" Ayo called, his voice a shade breathless. He reached her at the elevator area, his forehead showing worry. "What is happening?" Where are we headed?"
Eki didn't stop. "Server room. Yemi, she's trying to pull something."
The elevator doors opened with a whoosh, showing that nobody was inside. Eki almost pushed Ayo in and quickly pressed the button for basement level. Ayo, ever the pragmatist, fumbled for his phone.
"We need proof," he said softly, tapping quickly. "Maybe there is some security video in the server room..."
Elevators make sudden stops with a big metal sound. Bright white lights in the basement start to flicker, creating long and thin shadows on the concrete floor. Eki all of a sudden felt difficult to breathe. The server room door, which is normally always locked, was now a bit open with gentle red light glowing from within.
"Yemi!" Eki barked, her voice echoing in the cavernous space. There was a heavy silence, with only machines making noise. Ayo gripped Eki's arm firmly; his hand felt cold and sweaty.
"Maybe we should call security?" he suggested, his voice a mere whisper.
Fear felt very strong inside Eki, giving a big sense of hurry. They knew that they could not waste any time at all. With a deep breath, she pushed open the door.
There, in the unusual red glow from emergency lights, Yemi was standing. She had her back to them and gripped a USB drive tightly in her hand. The steady sounds of the mouse clicks filled the room, a noise that made Eki's nerves feel very irritated, like someone scratching on a chalkboard.
"Yemi!" Eki shouted again, her voice laced with a tremor of anger. Yemi whirled around, her face a mask of fury.
"Eki? You brought your little lapdog with you?" she spat, her voice tight with barely controlled rage.
Ayo felt irritated, but Eki did not notice him. She continued to look directly at Yemi with full concentration in her eyes. "What are you doing?" she asked. she demanded, her voice low and dangerous.
Yemi's eyes moved fast, showing a strong look of desperation inside. "Just... taking what belongs to me," she whispered with sharpness. Her hand hovered over the keyboard, so close to pressing a key and unleashing all the disorder she had planned.
Eki suddenly understood with a cold feeling. Yemi did not want to take the project; she wanted to destroy it. To leave them with nothing.
"This is insane, Yemi!" Eki cried. "You're ruining your career for spite!"
Yemi's lips twisted into a bitter smile. "Spite? You call this spite? After everything I've done for this damned firm? After you, Eki, stole this project from under me?"
Eki's stomach lurched. "Stole? I didn't steal anything! Mr. Davies saw potential in MY ideas!"
"Ideas you quickly 'borrowed' after I shared them with you in private, don't forget that!" Yemi's voice got louder, echoing against the vacant walls. "Don't play innocent with me."
Eki felt a wave of nausea rise in her throat. Could this be true? Had she, unconsciously, taken Yemi's ideas and passed them off as her own?
_No, it couldn't be._ A voice full of desperation screamed inside her head. But after the doubt was planted, it started to take root and grow. The late-night thoughts, the silent chats – all of it blended into a big whirlpool of puzzlement.
Ayo, sensing Eki's growing turmoil, took a step forward. "Look, Yemi," he said placatingly. "Doing this no need. We find a solution, speak with Mr. Davies..."
Yemi scoffed. "Davies? He will trust your nice, little tale over mine anytime. You are the favored one, Eki. The one who can do no wrong."
Her words were a knife twisting in Eki's gut. Was Yemi right? Had her privilege blinded those around her to her flaws?
"Eki, no listen to her," Ayo said with hurry, his voice full of worry. He reached out, hand shaking a small bit over Eki's shoulder. But she flinched away, consumed by the turmoil within her.
Yemi, mistaking Eki's flinch for weakness, pressed her advantage. "See, Ayo? "Even your dear Eki knows the truth." She tapped her finger on the keyboard, a triumphant smile spreading across her face.
The screen flashed, and in big red letters appeared a message: "WARNING: System Override Initiated. Confirm?"
Eki's heart lurched into overdrive. This was it. The important time had arrived. She felt fear trying to control her, but a strong willpower began growing inside her. She wouldn't let Yemi win. Not like this.
"Yemi, stop!" she screamed, her voice surprisingly steady. Yemi's eyes grew big for a second, showing some unsure feeling on her face. But very quickly, this was changed to firm determination.
"This is for everything you took from me, Eki," she said with a voice that trembled, full of strong emotions. Her finger hovered above the "confirm" button, just one press away from making a big mess.
Eki's eyes swiftly looked around the room and then fixed on an old fire extinguisher hanging on the wall. A thought, dangerous but perhaps helpful, came to her mind.
"Yemi, wait!" she pleaded, her voice laced with a newfound urgency. "There's something you need to see before you do this."
Yemi hesitated, suspicion flickering in her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
Eki took a deep breath. "It's about the project. "About where the ideas really come from." Her voice had a slight tremble, but she made a big effort to speak with strength.
Yemi's lips became a thin, doubtful line. "Eki, do not try to fool me again."
"I'm not," Eki insisted, her voice gaining conviction. "Just trust me for a second."
A tense quiet stayed between them, and just the machinery sound broke it. Yemi's eyes went back and forth from Eki to the confirmation button; an unspoken fight was happening inside her. Finally, with a deep, ragged breath, she lowered her hand.
"Alright," she conceded, her voice taut with suspicion. "Show me what you've got."
Relief came to Eki, and for a short time it hid the worry inside her. But when she reached for the phone, suddenly a loud siren sounded in the server room with red lights flashing. Very dangerous.
Yemi's eyes widened in terror. "What's happening?" she shrieked, her voice cracking with fear.
Eki attempted to manage her phone, but her hands were shaking when she called security. "I'm not sure," she said hesitantly, eyes darting around the room trying to find where the alarm noise was coming from. "But it seems someone else might have gotten here before us."
The server room door suddenly opened with a loud noise, and there was a tall, thin man in a dark suit standing instead of security. His face stayed hidden in shadows, so it was hard to see what his expression looked like.
"Yemi Sodipo?" he barked, his voice gruff and authoritative.
Yemi jumped, her confidence breaking like a thin piece of glass. "Y-yes," she whispered, her voice very soft and hard to catch.
The man strode towards her, his eyes narrowed. "You're under arrest for corporate espionage."
The world seemed to spin around Eki as she glanced from Yemi to the unfamiliar person, a sense of fear swelling in her stomach. Corporate spying? What does that even mean? Was Yemi not only one with a secret plan? And more importantly, who is this strange man, and what secrets come with his arrival?
When security people came rushing into the room and swiftly took a bewildered Yemi away, Eki's phone slipped from her trembling hands. It struck the hard concrete floor with a loud sound. The screen stays dark, leaving many questions with no answers and making the air feel thick and hard to breathe. The little hope she was holding onto disappeared, replaced by a cold uncertainty that gnawed at her from inside.
