My worth

“We just received intel that there’s been a breach in the main site where we keep our top and private information.” Bob said all in one breath as he rushed into the living room.

The atmosphere immediately changed, and Marie dropped the plate of spaghetti she was intensely feeding on to assess the situation. She saw how Drey clenched his fists tightly, and rose up to immediately snatch the tablet off Bob’s hand.

He stared at the tablet intently and she could see his face muscles tense up.

“Who could do such a thing? I made sure there were no loopholes upon creation of this site!” Drey thundered, as he faced Bob who was also visibly panicking.

Marie didn’t know exactly how to act, or what to do, but she knew dinner for that night was ruined, and she hadn’t properly eaten.

Some seconds later, two other men dressed in all black rushed into the dining area as well, and one of them whispered something into Drey’s ears. Drey slammed his fists heavily on the table, and Marie flinched from the impact.

“What do you mean there’s no one available? Get me someone, anyone who can fix this hacking mess. RIGHT NOW!!” Drey held the shirt of the man, and firmly told him.

The two men scurried out of the room in obvious panic of what might happen if they couldn’t find a solution.

Drey paced around the living room, staring at the tablet and Marie’s eyes were turning just from looking at him move around the room. Bob stood in the corner, with his head bowed, and she was stunned at how much respect Drey could command. Even the maids and chefs that were standing around had run back into the kitchen immediately the atmosphere changed.

She cleared her throat, and turned to Drey

“Can I take a look at the situation?” Marie asked Drey in a calm tone.

“And what could your assessment possibly do to help the situation at hand, young girl?” Drey scoffed, and gave her a once-over. “ You should probably go to your room and sleep.”

“Well, I’m a certified hacker, and if you let me check what’s going on, I just might be able to help you contain the breach, so it doesn’t aggravate. You would have known if you had done a background check.” Marie told him straightforwardly.

Drey turned to Bob like he was asking for his opinion on the matter

“Well, we have nothing to lose if she checks it out. Plus, we don’t exactly have a choice, sir.” Bob told Drey while shrugging.

Drey shoved the tablet over to Marie, and gave her a look

“You had better know what you are doing, miss.”

Marie internally rolled her eyes, and collected the tablet from him. After looking at it five seconds, she looked over to Bob

“Can I get photochromic glasses, a PC, and a hair band?” She asked him politely, and he exited in search of her requests.

Bob came in a few seconds later with all the things she requested, and handed them over to her.

She used the hair band to tie her hair into a messy bun, and placed the glasses on her face and immediately got to work.

Marie got lost in the keyboard, as she kept typing away for what felt like hours. Bob and Drey kept pacing around her, obviously curious as to to what was going on.

“Is there any progress?” Bob asked her with uneasiness.

“I’d appreciate it if you left me to focus on my work…sir” She looked up at him beneath her glasses, throwing him a look.

After a whole one hour, which felt like five hours to the young men, she finally hit her final button and shouted “done”.

“Can you explain what just happened, and how it was so easy for them to breach into the site?” Drey took a sit beside her and asked her sternly.

“Does this man never losen up” she thought to herself briefly.

“Well, I noticed a very unlikely problem while trying to get the intruder out? The site is very very strong, and I’m sure someone with a lot of experience built this.”

“But?” Bob asked her leaning over.

“Buuutt, there was a loophole there that even a beginner hacker wouldn’t make. More like… it was done on purpose by the developer.” Marie saw Drey tense up the more immediately she said that.

Immediately, he stood up angrily, and turned to Bob

“Bring that stupid developer, James, or whatever his name was by dawn. I have some important questions to ask him.” He ordered him squarely.

Marie immediately stood in between the both of them

“Oh…oh, wait a second. I said that it was a possibility, and not that was what actually happened.”

“That is up to me to decide, girl.” Drey ignored her, and signaled for Bob to leave and get to action.

“First off, I’m not a girl, I’m Marie” she said, putting air quotes around the girl.

“Whatever, girl” Drey responded as he made to exit the dining room

“Don’t tell me you’re going to kill him?” Marie shouted after him in concern.

“Depends…girl” he shouted back in response, as he finally left her view.

She scoffed and looked at the entire room in both relief and overwhelming sigh. She was the only one left in the entire room, with tons of food left untouched. She figured how much they would have to pack and throw out each day due to Drey’s picky taste.

She was relieved that she was also able to find a solution to the hacking problem cos it was kind of a huge deal. For the past five years that she had been coding, anytime she solved a major problem, she would celebrate herself with one slice of cake.

Scanning the dining table, she didn’t see any cake but she saw a pie on the other end. She took a slice and left with it to her room, calling it a day. For a moment, she had forgotten that she was kidnapped, and didn’t know what her life would become in a few days.