George dragged himself up to his feet and strolled out of the hall used for holding meetings in the company. He had mentioned that he wanted the manufacturing team to release their newest body wash quickly, but instead of focusing on his words, more than half of the board members decided to bring up the topic of how unfit he was to be the CEO of the company based on how he looked. "You are embarrassing and downplaying the brand of this company by choosing to show up to conferences and events looking like that" one board member had remarked, making a reference to how everyone was staring at him at the last event he went to. George shook his head, in an attempt to clear his mind from these unwelcome thoughts. He could see that his stepmother was working hard to kick him out of his position, by bribing the board members to frustrate him. She obviously wanted James to become the CEO, which his mother — Patricia, would never allow. To make things worse for Judith, the company's profit ha
WINTER, 2003Patricia reached for the wrapping paper by her side for the Christmas gifts she had bought for her nine years old son, George and her husband, Morris. Lifting her head to observe the huge Christmas tree she had decorated standing near the wall, she noticed through an open window — the snow was pouring down heavier than yesterday, Patricia hoped that George wasn't playing outside. He liked the winter season.The door knob to her bedroom opened and Nanny Juliet, her personal nanny, walked in dragging George by his hand. "Mrs Patricia, here he is" The nanny said as she pulled a 'stubborn' George closer to his mother."George, come over here…" Patricia voiced out firmly, making George stand still. "...I said, come over here, quickly" she moved the wrapped gifts aside and pulled him when he stood a few steps away from her. "Are you going to scold me again?" George whispered, frowning at his mother."Of course not, I know you want to play outside…" Patricia rubbed his head gen
George held Rachel's hand tightly as they strolled around the wide expanse of land surrounding the villa. Early this morning, she had voiced out how she would love to take a walk with him, so here they were, doing just that. As they walked hand in hand, Rachel's mind drifted to her recent conversation with her father. The one about George liking her for a long time and keeping his promise by marrying her. She felt the warm heat rush to her cheeks as a smile graced her lips."What's making you smile?" George asked. Could taking a simple walk make someone so happy?Rachel halted her steps and moved to stand in front of him, with a playful smirk on her face "So…you've liked me for a long time, huh? Since we were teenagers?"George blinked hard. Where did she hear that from? Did his mother tell her? "Who told you that?""My father." Rachel laughed, getting ready to tease him "From his words, you were drowning in a sea of love and affection, waiting for me to give you a kiss and save your
"George.." Rachel whispered after a whole minute "...when did you get back? How long have you been standing there?"George fixed his gaze on her, watching as she shuffled uncomfortably on her feet. He could see she was avoiding his eyes. He had heard enough of everything from her end to know what her call was about. Even though he knew from the very beginning that she only married him to get access to this company, so she could keep an eye on everyone, it didn't change the fact that it hurt to know he was only a 'tool' to her. He must have been crazy to think she would have feelings for him, crazy to think that she would love him as time went by.He was probably too ugly for her, or too scarred. Staring at her, he answered "I've been standing here since the beginning of your phone call"Rachel gasped slightly, stepping forward to hold his hands, she muttered "It's not what you think. I don't —""Just stay where you are…" George responded in a very low tone, he didn't feel like being t
Spring, 1994Patricia hummed softly as baby George dozed off in her arms. She cuddled him and walked across the room to lay him down in his cradle bed. She stood by the cradle and watched him as he slept. She was so happy to have him, to be his mother unlike his father.Morris Scott…Patricia remembered the look on his face when she broke the news of her pregnancy to him. He was displeased, very unhappy about it. He didn't even try to hide it and till now, she still wondered why. Was he still angry about what her parents did to him? Did he hate her? She hoped not. She wanted Morris to love her and she was willing to do anything to change his mind about her.She didn't want George to grow in an environment like this, with a father that despised him. That wasn't the future she envisioned for him. George was 3 months old, yet, Morris hardly glanced in his direction, he would rather use 'work' as an excuse to hide his distaste for his new son.She didn't know what else to do to make Morri
Rachel edged closer to the end of the open hallway and waved at Sophia who stood in front of the massive villa, looking confused. Clearly, the villa had too many hallways and Sophia couldn't find her way. Rachel had asked George if he could help her friend enter the villa easily by instructing the bodyguards to give her access. He had done that.Sophia ran to where she was and they hugged each other tightly. She pulled back and slowly moved her gaze over Rachel "You are glowing more since the last time I saw you. I can see they are treating you well.""Of course" Rachel answered "It's good to see you again. Let's go inside""Lord, have mercy" Sophia gasped in wonder when they stepped into the sitting room in George's villa. "Lord, have mercy" she repeated again, making Rachel to burst in laughter."It's amazing, right?" Rachel smiled at her"Are you kidding me?" Sophia stepped forward, moving around the sitting room, her eyes filled with wonder and awe. "It's magnificent. It's terrifi
Rachel searched through the pile of poetry books she got from George's personal library. She couldn't find what she was looking for, it seems George didn't read a lot of poetry. She picked the stack of books and walked over to the book shelf, arranging them just like she met them. To find the type of book she was craving for, she would have to go to the general library of the villa.Murmuring under her breath at the 'extra work', she whirled around and marched to the general library. On getting there, she strolled in and came face to face with George's stepbrother, James Scott who was sitting on a chair, his eyes distant from the open book in front of him. He looked a bit tired and stressed, whatever he was thinking about must be serious because he didn't even notice when she walked over to stand in front of him.Staying at a closer range to him, Rachel noticed the slight frown on his young face. His clenched jaw was also a sign that something serious was bothering him. Rachel stretch
George slowly fixed his tie, watching Rachel as she dropped a cup of lemon infused water on a table. Circling around, she walked over to him and straightened his shirt gently. "You look a bit tired. Are you okay?" He placed his hand on her forehead "Your temperature is slightly high. How do you feel?" "I feel normal, just exhausted" Rachel held his hand and fixed the cufflinks of his sleeves. She paused for a moment and looked up at George "You always have a meeting to attend. Can't we spend some time together?""You want us to spend some time together?" George raised an eyebrow "For real?""Yes, that's not a bad idea""Alright. The meetings will reduce soon as the new product gets launched. But first…" George smiled at her "...Make sure you have some rest. I'll have to take you to our family doctor this weekend for a check-up. Okay?""Sure, that's fine""I have to get going." George grabbed his suit jacket and turned to leave.Rachel caught his arm quickly and held him back. "Are y