C4 CHAPTER FOUR - CAUSE AND EFFECT

Rob pulled into Gretchen’s curb. He hastily came down from his car, sweating profusely.

Rob saw a black car parked in front of Gretchen’s house and wondered who was visiting at such an odd time. He rang the doorbell twice before Ms. Brenda, Gretchen’s cook/housekeeper opened the door.

“Welcome, Sir. Miss has been expecting you. She is in the study, in a meeting with some folks. Please, sit here, Sir." said Ms. Brenda, gesturing at the blue fluffy two-seater in the ante-room.

“Thank you, Ms. Brenda. Who are they? The people she is in a meeting with.”

“I dunno, Sir. But they seem to be from a broadcasting organization. Reporters, I guess. What would you like to drink, Sir?” Ms. Brenda asked.

“Uhm, just water, please, thank you,” Rob replied absentmindedly.

He wondered why Reporters were in Gretchen’s house. He was getting worried. He tried to contact Clarissa but to no avail. She had blocked him everywhere.

His phone rang, disrupting his train of thought, and he hissed, irritated. It was John, his Assistant.

“What is it? Talk to me, I’m busy.” Rob said sternly.

“Our stocks are starting to drop, Sir. The figures are dropping by the minute.” John replied, his voice quivering over the phone.

“What is the cause of the sudden drop? Our figures have been doing well, until now. What the hell is going on, John?”

John replied, clearing his throat. “Ahem, perhaps it could be due to the ongoing rumor making rounds on social media right now, Sir.”

“WHAT RUMOR? Talk to me, you dim-wit!” Rob bellowed.

Stuttering, John said in a rush. “Your fiancee, uhm… Miss. Clarissa, made a post on Instagram some minutes ago, saying she is no longer engaged to you, Sir.”

“What do you mean?” Rob asked, pacing Gretchen’s anteroom restlessly.

“I do not know for sure. It could be a rumor. I am working on damage control right now. It will be ready first thing tomorrow morning, Sir.”

“Whatever”. Rob replied and hung up.

He opened Instagram and searched for Clarissa’s username, but he got the ‘user not found’ prompt and soon realized she had blocked him.

He scrolled through his feeds and found a blog that had reposted Clarissa’s announcement. The post had a picture of him and Clarissa. The caption read:

“Celebrity photographer ‘Clarissa Earhart’ announced via a post on her IG page that she is no longer engaged to business mogul and owner of R&G Foods ‘Rob Gregory’! Her post reads;

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, Rob and I are no longer together. These should have ended sooner, but I thought we could work it out together, and I didn't want to disappoint the people who had high hopes for our relationship. I accept full responsibility for my actions and decisions and for taking everyone on this journey. These just did not turn out to be the fairy tale I had badly hoped for. I ask for support and well-wishes in this difficult phase.”

#Weddingcancelled #Whatwentwrong #IsClarissaokay #Shouldwebeworried #Fansaresad.

The comment section fired up, and Rob’s notification page was messy. He felt defeated and shallow.

He quickly tried to call Clarissa, but she was unavailable. The prompt directed him to her voicemail instead. He checked his company’s stocks and saw they had depreciated by 18% in less than an hour since Clarissa’s announcement.

“I am done for. SHIT!” Rob exclaimed and smashed the jar of water in the jug on the floor. He was shaking with annoyance and defeat.

“Rob, are you okay?” Gretchen called out. She stood in the hallway with the two reporters. They were on their way out.

“Thank you for coming. Please contact me on the phone if you need any more info. Excuse me.” She told the reporters.

“Let’s go upstairs, Rob. We need to talk,” Gretchen whispered to a stunned Rob. She held his hand and led him to her bedroom while Ms. Brenda cleaned the mess.

“What the fuck is going on, Gretchen? Things are falling apart. I mean, I saw the scuffle you and her had online. The video is all over the blogs. Now, she’s announced to the world that we are no longer engaged. My stocks are dropping by the second! My IG is a mess. I am being tagged to different posts by strangers!” Rob bellowed in a rush, breathing heavily.

“Calm down now, Rob. You saw what that bitch did in the video. She is the cause of these. And we can't let her ruin us.”

“Calm down? Be for real, Gretchen! We need to fix the situation! I’m on the verge of losing my company, for fuck’s sake!”

“Rob! Can you listen to me? I have it in control. That is why I contacted my person at AMVC, the reporters.”

“So what's the plan?” Rob asked, his head bent.

“So, Clarissa confronted me at the restaurant earlier. I suspected something was not right, and I recorded our conversation. Fortunately, it’s of great use. I shared the file with the Reporters already, and details on how it would utilized have been discussed.” Gretchen explained with a sly smile.

“Look, Gretchen, you must let me in fully on your plans. How feasible is it? Will it save my company and my social image?” Rob asked, worry etched on his forehead.

“Sit back and relax, my darling. I assure you that Clarissa will come begging soon. I will make her regret ever crossing me.”

“Care to tell me what you plan to do tomorrow?” Rob asked eagerly, he was dying to know.

Gretchen beckoned to Rob and whispered something in his ears.

“YOU ARE CRAZY GRETCHEN!” Rob shouted, looking bewildered.

“Yes, I can be crazy. Only when I’m pissed off,” Gretchen said, laughing hysterically.