Replacement CEO

Being the only child of my mom, I lived up to her expectations—doing everything I could to please her and making sure I didn't piss her off, even a little.

My dad was a pervert. He got her pregnant with me and dumped her. Although he later came back, he didn’t stay long. He left again, moving on with his life elsewhere.

Anyway, that was two decades ago, and now I didn’t even care if he was alive or not. My only concern was my mom—she still hadn’t gotten over him.

I just didn’t know why she couldn’t get him out of her head. Maybe it was because I reminded her of him. She said I looked a lot like him, even though I never saw the resemblance.

In her room, she had a big portrait of him. Whenever I saw it, I hissed. I disliked him to the core. I hated even thinking about him.

...

Today being Sunday, I had nothing much to do other than shop for groceries. I did that every weekend, and every dime I spent came out of my own pocket.

My mom worked as a cook at KFF, a small fast-food restaurant across the street. She used to earn enough to take care of the house, but ever since I started working, she hardly contributed anymore. Well, I was happy for her. It’s good to enjoy the fruits of one's labor, anyway!

I worked at one of the notable newspaper companies in the country—DailyExpress. I was a features editor. My friend Lena got me the job. She was very close to the founder of the company, who passed away a few weeks ago.

After getting ready for shopping, I took my car keys from the drawer and bade my mom goodbye.

“Drive carefully!” she said as I walked down the stairs. “And don’t stay long, okay?”

“Okay, Mom!” I muttered, rolling my eyes.

I remotely unlocked my car as I headed into the garage. It was a bit dusty, but I didn’t mind because I planned to drive through a car wash. I opened the door, hopped in, and started the engine.

Just as I drove out, Mrs. Coffer waved at me while trimming her lawn. Her house faced ours, and she lived with her grandson, Sam. She was a wonderful woman. I waved back at her with a cheerful smile.

“...you can’t miss this week’s episode of Amour De Campus on Crystal FM...” said the radio host as I turned it on. Although I loved that show, I changed the channel to find some fresh news. I liked staying updated—I really did.

Hopefully, Radio Salvania had something interesting. “...the autopsy reveals he died naturally and not as claimed by conspiracy theorists...” I slowed down and paid closer attention. It seemed they were talking about our late CEO. “...now a 'Nicholas Brian' is taking over the company tomorrow as its new Chief Executive Officer. Hopefully, he will continue the legacy of Mr. Rogers...”

I sighed, recalling the last time I saw Mr. Rogers. He was a very jovial man. Even though he was the CEO and founder of DailyExpress, he worked hard like everyone else. I’d never met a CEO like him—at least not yet.

Now, about the new guy—Nicholas Brian—nobody seemed to know anything about him, and the acting CEO, James Leigh, refused to say a word. Still, I’d overheard some staff saying Nicholas was Mr. Rogers' son. Others claimed he was his nephew. Anyway, time would tell.

Halfway to the car wash, my phone started ringing. It was Rebecca, one of the writers on my team.

“Hello!” I said, picking up. “What’s up?”

“Cool, Stella,” she replied. “I just sent you an email—do you mind checking it out for me, please? It’s my work for tomorrow.”

“Oh Rebecca,” I groaned. “You know today’s my day off, right?”

“Yes, I do, but... you gotta help me, please. Lena says the work sucks and told me to reach out to you for proofreading,” she pleaded.

“Hmm, fine then. I’ll check it out for you, but—”

“Thank you so much, Stella! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!” she interrupted excitedly before I could finish.

“You’re welcome,” I replied flatly.

And just like that, she ended the call.

Urgh!

I hated when people gave me work on Sundays. That was my day off—I deserved to enjoy it. Hopefully, one day things would change, and I’d have more time to rest, think about my life, and even go on tours. I loved tours!

I huffed as I approached the car wash, got my car cleaned, and then drove to Fresh Grocery Store. It was my favorite spot for groceries—you could find almost everything there.

I took a cart, strolled to one aisle, and started picking out what I needed. I’d filled half the cart when a message from Victoria popped up—she was reminding me about her birthday party.

“Venue is Rio Club! I just hope you don’t cook up stories like last time,” the message read.

Ugh! I sighed and quickly replied:

“Sorry Vicky, I failed you last time. I was busy, you know? And I thought I made that clear. Anyway, this time around, I won’t fail you. I’ll be there for sure!”

“Like seriously? Awwwn, thanks then. Come around 7 PM, please—before the club gets full,” she replied.

“You invited the whole world?” I texted back sarcastically.

“No, Raymond did. He’s such an as*hole, isn’t he?” she replied—probably laughing by now.

“What can I say?” I texted, chuckling.

After shopping, I drove home and got ready for the birthday party. I didn’t like night parties, but I also didn’t want to keep disappointing my friends.

Victoria and I had been friends since high school. We went to the same college too. She now worked with Samara Magazine. We both studied Linguistics.

What I admired most about her was that she was living her dream—unlike me. I had to live up to my mom’s expectations. I couldn’t even befriend a guy, let alone have a boyfriend. Just imagine!

Sometimes I felt like I was being caged. Whenever I complained, my mom would say she was just trying to protect me from perverts like my dad.

Well, I believed not all men were like my dad.