Rachel opened up the package she had ordered. With scissors, she ripped apart the tape that sealed the new painting tools she had bought the previous day. She had recently grown a desire for watercolor painting and wanted to give it a try. A thought from the previous day flashed through her mind and she shook her head, laughing.
It was George….
He had ranted about the fact that she hardly bought anything for herself. “What’s the point of having so much money if it can’t be spent?” He had frowned at her, like she was crazy. “Don’t you need new clothes, shoes, bags…you know, all those ‘women’ stuff?”
“I don’t need those things yet, really” Rachel had replied “Besides, I’m not the one with so much money, it’s you th-”
“So what are you waiting for? Spend my money if you need anything important. You can always ask me for my Debit card whenever you want.”
Rachel had stared, wide-eyed, at him and remained silent. He wanted her to spend his money? It felt weird, maybe it was because she had lived in so much hardship since her father’s properties were confiscated, she didn’t even remember to spend any money these days. She was used to saving and saving, trying to survive.
“What is it? Are you telling me you don’t need new things? You’ve been here for four months now and you’ve never bought one thing for yourself” George had remarked, eyeing her in frustration. Resting his fingers on the tip of his nose, he had sighed “I need to make some time, clear my schedule and take you on a proper shopping spree. How did I forget to do that till now?”
“George, you’re running late for work. Don’t forget that your father is going to be present for today’s meeting so you have to be there on time…” Rachel had whispered, using her hands to smoothen his chest.
“I’m not going anywhere until you take my debit card and agree to buy something” George stated adamantly before pouting and looking away like he was hurt. “I don’t care what you buy. A new phone, a new dress, anything at all, but you must buy something!”
“Alright. I’ll buy something. You’ll see it when you get back from work tomorrow” Rachel had grabbed the card from his hand, knowing that if they continued arguing, he would be late for work.
Bringing her wandering thoughts back to the opened box in front of her, she brought out the painting brushes, sketch pads and watercolor paint and ‘wowed’ at how beautiful they looked. As she got to her feet to get rid of the empty carton, her phone’s ringtone shrilled, stopping her just before she left her room. Picking her phone, she looked closely and saw the name ‘Sophia’ as the caller ID.
“Hey girl, it’s good to hear from you again, I hope you’re doing great? Did you receive the package I sent you?”
“Yea, I can’t believe you actually got me those ripped jeans by ‘Azalys Fashion Ltd’ that I love so much. Thanks” Sophia squealed ecstatically, her voice laced with delight and gratitude
Rachel grinned, “I’m glad you love them. By the way, how has work been? I remember you said you were swamped with work from different clients the last time.”
Sophia exhaled “Work has been fine. That’s actually why I called. I’m done with all my clients work, so I’ve been investigating the encrypted file since three days ago and-”
“Really?” Rachel muttered, reaching for a chair near her and settling on it. “So, is there any progress so far?”
“Of course there is!” Sophia exclaimed, and squealed happily, making Rachel’s eyes widen in anticipation of the positive news coming. “I finally got working on it recently, so I’m not actually done. But out of the nine letters required to hack into the encrypted file, I’ve been able to decode four letters, who-hooo!!” Sophia screamed through the phone, celebrating ‘their’ achievement.
“Are you for real?” Rachel asked, her voice shaky and her eyes welling with tears of relief. She couldn’t believe it. She had tried for five years to help her father and had failed to. But now, everything seems to be working out so fast. Faster than she expected it to. She couldn’t believe her father would soon be able to get the justice he deserves.
“Don’t tell me you’re crying right now…” Sophia muttered, knowingly. “Anyway, thinking about it clearly, I can understand why you are crying. Don’t worry Rachel dear, you will be able to set your father free soon. The wait will be worth it.”
“Yea, I’m just in shock. It feels unreal that we’ve made so much progress in such a short time” Rachel dabbed her wet cheeks with her hand gently “So, about that, what are the four letters?”
“THEJ. That’s it.” Sophia remarked and sneezed “Ugh! Excuse me. The words don’t make sense yet because it’s four letters, we have five more to go”
“THEJ…” Rachel repeated and felt the hidden anger within her grow. It won’t be long before the real culprit is found. If it took Sophia just three days to decode the four letters, within the next five days she would have the remaining five letters decoded. “… I see. At your working pace, when do you think you’ll be done with everything?”
“Well…” Sophia paused, obviously calculating her working speed in her mind. “… at this pace, I think on Wednesday, five days from now. I’ll come over to see you on Thursday when I have the final answer.”
“I can’t wait till then. I wish we had the answer already” Rachel whined, feeling impatient.
Sophia chuckled. “I know right, me too. But just hold on, we’ll have the final answer soon.”
“Sophia, Thank you for everything you’ve done so far. You don’t know how much I appreciate your help. You are a darling”
“Aww…stop it. I’m blushing hard right now” Sophia laughed and sneezed twice.
“It seems you’ve caught a cold. Take care of yourself and don’t stay up late like you normally do”
“Yes momma…”
Rachel laughed.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Spring, 2006
Morris Scott flipped through the papers as he perused the annual financial statement of the company. His eyes swept over the section of the document that showed when Arthur Reeves began working with him. $40 million to $200 million in less than three years, this man was truly a marketing beast. He had even gone beyond the deal they made, multiplying the results he promised. Exceptional! That was the word. Arthur Reeves was exceptional.
He could finally exhale in relief. After nine years of dragging this company to the bare bottom, he had finally made some progress – all thanks to Arthur. Patricia had been so delighted with the news. Even when it was in her hands, the company had never gone beyond $150 million, but just in two years, Arthur Reeves had gone beyond the ‘normal’ revenue.
“Here is the signed document of ownership.” Patricia had placed the legal document that transferred the company to Morris’s ownership on their bed “You have taken the company to a level higher than I did. I trust that you will do a good job in handling this company.”
Morris had jumped to his feet, grabbed the legal document and beamed, delighted that he was finally proving himself to everyone. Imperial Hub Limited had been announced on the news the previous week as the fastest growing beauty company in South America. “Finally, I did it….”
“I hope you will remember our deal. I wrote all the things you must do and added a new condition to it. You can go through it and sign it if you agree to all of them. But if you don’t, I will handle the company myself”
Morris had quickly flipped the legal document open and skimmed through until he reached the stated conditions. His eyes widened the moment he spotted the new condition – ‘You will never marry your mistress, Judith or will this company to her son by any means. George remains the rightful heir.’
Patricia fixed her gaze on him. She didn’t have to tell him that he had hurt her badly by sleeping around with another woman, and not just that, but getting her pregnant and having the guts to bring her into their home. She still loved him even though she could see he preferred his ‘new’ mistress to her. Putting a barrier on any chance of a wedding between the both of them was the only way. She knew what Judith was up to and she would never allow a greedy woman like her to marry her husband and take her place. Patricia was doing this to protect herself. Also, maybe Morris would get tired of Judith as time went by and he would finally love her.
Glancing up at her husband, she had voiced out firmly “You have until tonight to sign the document. I’ll have to meet with my lawyer tomorrow”
Morris had clenched his jaw hard in frustration. He wasn’t expecting this. But in the end, he signed it hastily. He had come too far with this company to give up now just for a ‘marriage’ to Judith. All he had on his mind was to take Imperial Hub Limited from the fastest growing beauty company in South America to the biggest beauty company in the ‘whole’ of America.
As Morris went through the annual revenue of the company, Arthur Reeves strolled in and sat opposite him. Turning to Morris, he muttered “$200 million it is. I believe I have kept to my word”
“Indeed, Mr Arthur. You have been exceptional and I can’t wait to see how far you’ll increase this company’s revenue”
“There’s no need for that. Earning $200 million every year with a 60% profit margin is already amazing.”
“That is true. But I desire more. More for this company.” Morris muttered, trying to persuade Arthur Reeves to give in. With the way things were, only Arthur could take this company to the level he wanted.
“So how much are you talking about here…?”
“A billion dollars” Morris responded “Maybe ten.”
“Ten billion dollars?!” Arthur yelled. “I am not interested”
“Mr Arthur…” Morris leaned closer on the edge of his chair. He knew Arthur’s weak spot was his daughter, Rachel Reeves. “…. Think about having access to the best schools for your nine year old daughter until she is an adult. Imagine saving up more than enough money for her future. She will be far ahead of her mates, and will be grateful for how you made her life so easy.”
“Everything you are doing right now is for her. She will be among the elite and have a very comfortable life all because of you. I plan to leave this company to my son, George when he turns twenty-one. Who knows? We could set them up and have them get married and run the company in the near future. You have to make a wise decision for your dear daughter, Mr Arthur. You know what you went through finding a good job. She doesn’t have to go through that.”
He had hit the right spot. Morris watched in delight as Arthur Reeves shook his head in agreement that he would continue working with him, after digesting his persuasive words.
An agreement that would crush him. An agreement he would come to regret later.