One Man Band System

The atmosphere instantly turned tense, and every eye in the room locked onto Melissa. Naturally, she felt incredibly uncomfortable; whatever her reason for stepping into the CEO’s office had completely fallen apart, and it showed clearly on her face.

Keeping her head down, she bent over to pick up the fallen folder and hurriedly placed it on Bryan’s desk.

"I’m sorry, CEO. I was only asked by Mr. Mason to deliver this. Please excuse me," Melissa muttered, keeping her eyes on the floor.

"Alright, thank you," Bryan replied.

Without another word, Melissa turned on her heel and walked quickly toward the exit. The only sound in the room was the sharp clicking of her high heels striking the marble floor before she stepped out and shut the door behind her.

Eric, Emma, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, Laura, and even Katie and Norman stared at the closed door. Then, Eric turned to look at Bryan.

"What is her position here, Mr. Bryan?" Eric asked.

"Hmm... she’s only been here a week. She started out in marketing, but she was recently promoted to marketing manager, reporting directly to Mason on the board. Though for some reason... over the last few days, she’s been dropping by my office a lot," Bryan answered.

"Hmm... please investigate her, Mr. Bryan. I know her, and I know for a fact that she is a dangerous, two-faced snake if left unchecked," Eric said firmly.

The room fell dead silent. Everyone instantly turned to look at Eric, completely surprised and confused as to why he was reacting so strongly toward Melissa. Katie reached out and held Eric’s hand.

"Do you... have some history with her?" Katie asked directly, having noticed the sudden shift in his expression.

Hearing Katie’s question, Eric caught himself. He realized that his emotions had almost gotten the better of him, so he took a deep breath and let it out, ensuring his composure was safely back under control.

"No... it’s just that someone I know had to deal with her in the past, and I heard about her from them. Don’t worry about it," Eric said smoothly, completely back to his usual calm and collected self.

Hearing his explanation and seeing that Eric was totally composed again, Katie, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, Laura, and even Bryan relaxed. Only Emma kept her eyes fixed on the side of Eric’s face.

She reached out slowly, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. Naturally, Eric reached up, squeezing Emma’s hand back and tapping it twice softly to let her know he was perfectly fine.

Norman leaned down to whisper to Katie, and Katie leaned forward, reaching out to grab the folder on the desk. But Chloe beat her to it, snatching the folder Melissa had left on the table and flipping it open.

Inside was a sales summary for the housing and apartment projects they were currently developing, along with the final sale prices, payment statuses, and the processing stage of the property deeds.

As she scanned the ledger, Chloe’s eyes narrowed and her brows knitted together again. Without a moment’s delay, she snapped the folder shut and handed it over to Katie.

"Excuse me, Ms. Katie, since you’re already investigating our finances, please cross-reference this as well. There are figures here that don’t match our previously established pricing, and they certainly don’t match the revenue we’ve been taking in," Chloe said seriously.

"Understood. I’ll take this report back to the office and hand it over to the forensic accountants handling the corporate audit... They’re already coordinating with your finance and legal departments, right Norman?" Katie asked.

"That’s correct, Ms. Katie. We’ve established direct contact with finance and legal, operating under the name E-R Holdings," Norman replied.

"Perfect. Thank you. Just let me know what the fees come out to later," Chloe said.

"Will do," Katie smiled, accepting the folder. Then she glanced at Bryan, Eric, Emma, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura with a serious look in her eyes.

"Is there really an issue with our sales?" Bryan asked.

"Yes... the prices of the units sold were marked up by 10%, but this month’s ledger records the regular prices. There is a massive discrepancy per unit. The question is, where is that money going?" Chloe said.

"Ah... you’re right," Bryan muttered.

"Hold on, Chloe, how do you know there’s a discrepancy? There’s no ledger in this report," Eric asked, having looked at the folder too.

"Oh... the ledger is right here," Chloe said, picking up the financial statement she had been reviewing earlier on Bryan’s desk.

"Wait... you remembered the figures well enough to spot a difference?" Eric asked, shocked.

"Oh," Chloe frozen, instantly catching herself when Eric questioned her. Her face went bright red as she slowly placed the files back down on Bryan’s desk.

Bryan leaned forward, looking at Eric. "She has a unique gift. She has a photographic memory... that’s why she can remember it all after just a glance," Bryan explained.

"Oh... that makes sense," Emma, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura said in unison, staring at Chloe as if she were some kind of rare species.

"Hey... don’t look at me like that. I’m a normal person, not some freak," Chloe protested to her friends.

"No wonder you never take notes in class," Monica pointed out.

"And you pick up songs and difficult notes so fast," Heidi added.

"Hmm... so that’s your secret. I had no idea," Priya joined in.

"Drop it already... why are we even talking about this?" Chloe complained.

"Yeah, stop talking about it, guys. Poor Chloe... oh, by the way, can you help me with math later?" Emma said, sounding supportive but clearly having an ulterior motive.

"Same here... help me too," Laura added, giving a thumbs-up.

"Ugh... why do I have to tutor you guys? You’re hopeless," Chloe snapped, annoyed.

They all burst out laughing again, chatting casually. Then, Katie handed her folder to Norman and gestured for everyone to act normal. A moment later, hidden behind the folder and among the documents,

Norman found a voice recording device. He pulled it out and showed it to everyone. After turning the device off, Katie looked at Bryan, Eric, and the girls.

"Thank you, Mr. Bryan, and everyone else. Good thing you all caught my hint," Katie said with a smile.

"Yeah... but now I’m curious. Who exactly is Mr. Norman standing behind you?" Eric asked, glancing at Norman.

"Haha... I figured you’d ask about that. Alright, go ahead, Norman," Katie answered.

"Thank you, Ms. Katie. Hello everyone, I’m Norman Bates. I’m a detective with the police department. I apologize for not mentioning it earlier," Norman said, his voice completely transforming—no longer awkward, but smooth and confident.

The entire room went dead silent. Chloe looked completely baffled, her eyes darting between Eric, Katie, Norman, Bryan, and her five friends.

"Wait... so... we were just being bugged?" Chloe asked blankly.

"Yep... almost. The moment I found out Melissa works for Mason and saw how Eric’s demeanor shifted, I got suspicious of that folder she brought in. Besides, when it dropped, the sound it made wasn’t the sound of paper hitting the floor, it was an object. Right, Norman?" Katie asked.

"Spot on, Ms. Katie. And luckily, Mr. Eric and Mr. Bryan picked up on our cues. Don’t worry, the department has already secured the recording and launched an investigation," Norman replied with a smile.

"Whew... thank goodness my hunch was right," Eric said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"So you guys were making fun of me just because..."

"Yep, on purpose. We already knew you were a genius, but you’re completely clueless when it comes to stuff like this," Emma, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura said, grinning as they cut Chloe off.

Chloe’s face instantly flushed bright red. She grabbed a stack of papers from Bryan’s desk and started pelting her friends with them.

***

Meanwhile, "ding," the elevator doors slid open. Melissa stepped out and walked past rows of workstations toward a hallway. She opened the door at the very end of the hall and walked into the marketing director’s office. After closing the door behind her, she saw a man who looked to be in his fifties.

He was heavy-set, with thinning hair, and wore a white suit jacket. He was sitting with his back to the desk, staring out the window at the bustling city below. Hearing the door close, the man turned around and saw a pale Melissa standing by the entrance.

"How did it go, Melissa?" the man asked.

"I failed to charm CEO Bryan, Mr. Mason... there was someone there I didn’t expect to see," Melissa said, keeping her eyes on the floor.

"Did you manage to overhear what Bryan and Chloe were discussing with that lawyer?" Mason questioned.

"No, sir," Melissa muttered.

The room fell quiet. Mason stared at Melissa as she stood by the door, then got up and walked over to her. He lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.

"Well, alright... the important thing is you delivered the folder, right?" Mason asked.

"Yes, sir," Melissa replied.

"Good... I’ll give you another promotion to market leader next month," Mason promised.

Melissa’s face instantly lit up and her eyes sparkled. She reached up, wrapping her arms around Mason’s neck and kissing his cheek intimately.

"Thank you, sir," Melissa said cheerfully.

"Hohoho... alright, now come with me to meet a client. You’re wearing the underwear I bought you yesterday, right?" Mason said, winking at her.

"Sure thing, sir. Of course I am," Melissa said with a smile, looping her arm through Mason’s.

The two of them then left the office and shut the door behind them. Mason placed his hand firmly around Melissa’s waist as they walked down the hallway before reaching the open office area.