Authors: Anna Belle
Her father has been having heart problems for a few years now and she definitely couldn't run the whole company herself. Taking the company public and getting the funding for a board of directors and executives could help their family business grow tremendously.
Still, something inside her, outside of all the facts that bombarded her mind, felt sick to the core that the fact that other people will come and buy a large percentage of a company that she grew up her whole life working for. A company which was started generations ago by her great-grandfather and a company that has become her entire life. At that moment, she felt like the company that she's been cherishing her whole life will become ripped apart by greedy and hungry wolves who are only there to squeeze every ounce of profit that they could.
William Brantford was sitting at his large oak desk going through some paperwork. The O'Conner Group was a family owned company, ready to go public and he was the first one offered to buy a large percentage of their shares before they even hit the market.
"Come in." He said as he heard the knock on the large wooden door to his office.
"William, you called me." Said Maximilian, his trusted and loyal advisor.
"I see you're still looking at the offer from the O'Conner Group." He said as he looked down at the stack of papers on William's desk.
"Yes. I actually got off the phone with their lawyer and he said that they're ready to give me forty percent of the company."
"Excellent, that is much better than the last offer they made. Twenty percent was laughable really, there was essentially no say for us in the company." Max said as he remembered the first phone call they had with O'Conner's lawyers.
Max grabbed one of the chairs facing the desk, sat down and took some of the papers that William was looking at.
"We need to talk about this." William said as he placed his hands on the large pile of paper.
"I'm wondering why they changed their mind." Max said skeptically.
"They don't have anywhere else to go. I wouldn't have taken their other deal and I know they need money and some fresh blood in there." William said, reassuring Max.
"I knew the man for years, which is probably why he called on us first to buy a percentage." He added quickly.
"We're talking about a lot of money William. Business and friendship don't have anything to do with each other." Max told him.
Max has always been cold when it comes to business, always separating any sort of relationship he had with people when he conducted business with them.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they shopped the price around for a bit." William answered back quickly.
"He shopped the price around for twenty percent, then when he found out that none wanted it, he came to us again and offered a better deal," William explained.
"I hope you're right then." Max answered.
"We have the money, the market and the people that they need. They have the land, infrastructure and the means to increase production on their farms." William said.
"Still, I'm wondering why they didn't go to a public auction right away. Since they're taking the company public anyway, shouldn't they have went straight to the market first and not to us?" Max wondered.
"No, that's not the way he conducts business. The company has been in his family for close to a century now and he definitely spent a long time thinking who he would give such a large share to." William explained.
"And he doesn't like to work with just anybody." He added quickly.
"Just like us." Max added.
"He needs the money to upgrade the machinery and to grow the company, otherwise the company will collapse." William kept defending his old friend.
"I'll agree that the company isn't a bad investment, but if you're really going through with this then make sure to see the current state of the machinery and the infrastructure before investing any kind of capital into it." Max said.
"Of course, that's what I was planning to do anyway." William said.
"Who're we sending? It has to be someone who knows about this type of work." Max said while he laid back in the chair and put his hands on his head.
All of a sudden it dawned on him, he stood up straight and stared William right in the eyes.
"We'll send Nathan, he'll know what to look for." He said as he stood up and walked around the office.
"Yea, he's perfect for this position, just ..." he started to say but then he realized that he would have to convince Nathan to take the contract.
"You think he won't take it?" William asked as he leaned back in his large leather chair.
"Honestly, I don't know. I'm not sure what happened back there." Max said as he looked back at William.
"You know that Nathan spent a few years in Texas right? He had a big contract out there, some kind of marketing position for an oil firm. Through a few higher ups in his company, he managed to meet Mr. O'Conner. O'Conner offered him a much higher position in his company and Nathan took it wholeheartedly, you know he loves his money." Max said with a laugh.
"So, why is he back in New York?" William asked, not entirely sure why someone would leave such a high paying job to go to a place where he didn't even know anyone.
"I'm not really sure." Max said, "You'll have to find out from Nathan himself." He added.
William knew already the reason behind Nathan's sudden departure but he didn't want to talk about it.
"Maybe he was just sick of the place." William say jokingly.
"Who knows?" Max said with a laugh, glad that he didn't have to go through such an awkward conversation with William.
"I suggest that we take another look at this and prepare everything we need for Nathan."
"Agreed, but you'll have to be the one that get's him to take the contract. If he doesn't take it from you then I don't know what else we can do." Max said as he slipped his hands in his pockets.
"I'll get him to come. We can't miss an opportunity like this just because he has some personal issues in Texas," William said as he grabbed the papers again.
Bruce and Marie walked onto a large terrace which was located right above a bed of roses. While the terrace was large, there was only one table that has been specifically moved to overlook the breathtaking view of the roses underneath.
As they walked in, everyone in the restaurant observed them. Him, tall and handsome, almost as if he's been created specifically for her; short, long dark hair, inviting green eyes, and red rosy lips.
"Good evening Ms. O'Conner, sir ..." The waiter greeted them.
"Good evening." She replied with a small smile.
Amongst the guests at the restaurant where those that believed that she shouldn't be there, amongst them were people that knew about her past, but Marie paid no attention to their jealous comments and uninviting glares.
Her father has never been the one to take part in such lavish dinners, nor for the parties that his workers would organize. He was only interested in the gatherings and parties that he organized for his family. Those parties he would organize only once per year, near the end of fall when the farm work would be slowing down.
Marie didn't mind any type of party really, be it a high class or low class party; she went where she was invited and where she felt like she belonged. This was especially so with the employees of her company, where she enjoyed their simple company, where she understood their hard labor since she worked with them when she was younger and where she could share in their joys of a year's hard work well done.
Their spots at the table awaited them as they sat down and poured out red wine. They let the conversation flow, but focused primarily on work and how the company will survive and grow. They were both hopeful that the new company from New York would help get them out of the hole that they were in.
"None eats here." Bruce announced suddenly.
"Why?" Marie asked, surprised.
"Because everyone is looking at you." He said with a smile. "Did I tell you how beautiful you look?"
"I think you did." she said while she jokingly made a thinking face. "Let's go dance and let these people get back to their food." She said with a smile as she grabbed his hand and took him near the lounge, where the bar was serving drinks and the music played in the background.
Within a few steps of the bar, they danced together to a soft playing melody in the background.
"Love and roses." Bruce whispered in her ear as he tried to make it sound like the melody.
"Is there anything better?"
"Yea, there is." He said as he looked her in the eyes and stopped dancing.
His hand slid from her waist to her shoulder and neck. Softly with his fingers, he moved a few strands of hair from her face behind her neck. She froze completely. She didn't know what he would do next.
When she noticed that he was moving his head in her direction as if to kiss her, she moved her head quickly to avoid it.
"Not the time." She whispered softly.
She saw his face lose all color, she felt how his fingers trembled on her cheek, but she didn't feel anything, anything except the fear that she would do something wrong. Because of that, she avoided the kiss, angry at herself that she would even allow it to come that far.
At that moment, Marie felt like a doll, without any feeling or any emotion. Her soul was empty and she, still shaken, wondered how she would ever feel anything for another man again.
"Will there ever be a time?" He asked, attempting to hide his disappointment.
She didn't answer him back. She took the time to look into his black eyes, which swallowed her with their look, before returning back to the table where they were seated.
A few moments later, Bruce and Marie left the restaurant. He drove her home, not once mentioning what happened earlier.
Marie was thankful for that, because she still wasn't ready to talk about all the things that were running through her mind. Her thoughts swirled around everything, but not love, love wasn't part of it.
As she entered the house, Lola told her that her father was already in bed, meaning that the talk they were supposed to have must be left until tomorrow.
"Why are you still up?" Asked Marie.
"I was waiting for you ... Hoping that I would see you come in all happy." Lola answered as she took her reading glasses of and lowered the book that she was reading.
"I had a fun time with Bruce." Marie answered back quickly.
Lola just nodded her head.
"Well, wouldn't it be weird if I fell in love with him from our first date?" Marie started to defend herself but realized that Lola was truly interested to see if Bruce would make her happy.
"Yes, it would be." Lola answered back, though she didn't truly feel that way.
She saw then that something strange was happening with the young woman that she raised, but she didn't want to hurt her more by dwelling on the subject. She also didn't want to remind her how quickly she fell for that young man that her father hired from the oil company. Before she even knew his name, she had that star struck gaze and twinkle in her eyes every time she looked at him.
"Let's go sleep." Lola said as she got up and walked down the hall towards her bedroom.
"Good night!" Marie yelled out as she dragged herself upstairs, her mind still in a chaos disarray of thoughts.
Nathan pressed his fingers against his eyelids, which ached from over exhaustion. He closed his eyes again and tried to make them a bit better by massaging them with his fingers in slow and deliberate circles.
His treatment was working as he felt a bit better. He grabbed a box of cigarettes from his desk and lit one up. His gaze stopped on an open window from which he felt the spring breeze. From where he was sitting, he could make out a small part of the dark, star filled, sky.
He laid into his sofa, resting his head on the back as he began thinking about the same sky which he's seen from so many different windows and terraces.
His thoughts began to drift. But, he had control, some things he just didn't want to be reminded of.
The sound of a car stopping in front of his house awoke him from his dream. He got up, looked through the window and recognized the car that belonged to his boss, William.
"This is probably some bad news." He said to himself as he looked towards the clock on the wall to check the time.
It was 8pm, he threw out his cigarette and walked out of his office to greet William and see why he would venture out to see him so late in the evening.
"Help me with these papers." William said as soon as he saw him on the rear view mirror.
His hands were filled with some papers, in which there were also some kind of tables, drawings, plans and projects. Nathan looked confused as he looked down at the stack of papers in his hands. The dim light on his porch just wasn't enough for Nathan to read anything, he could just tell what type of documents he was holding.
"What is this?" He asked William.
"You'll see." William answered.
Together, they entered the house and both sat down in the living room. While Nathan poured out some drinks for them, William was neatly organizing his papers on the empty coffee table.
The room was brightly lit and Nathan could now tell right away what papers he was looking at.
"I thought all of this was already forgotten." He said as he gave William his drink.
He sat down in the free sofa, which was located directly across the one from where William was sitting.
"Yesterday I had another talk with O'Conner." He began to explain. "His offer was become very attractive for us now. Max and I have been going over these papers since early yesterday. We finally managed to finish them all and we both agree that we need to take serious action, of course that's after we look into their infrastructure, machinery and accounting, in person."
"And Ms. O'Conner, she's agreed to sell some of her shares?" Nathan asked, not attempting to mask the irony in his voice. " Only four years ago she would never agree to it."
"She did actually, since without her none of this would be possible." William said as he grabbed one of the papers with her signature and slid it over to him.
"Really!?" Nathan couldn't believe what he was looking at. "Is Marie not ..." He started to say as he looked at the slight curves she made in the first letters of her first and last name. "That's how she signed her name before too." He thought to himself.
"She didn't get married."
"For so many years I thought she did." He still couldn't believe it. "I left two weeks before her wedding to Michael and I thought that ..." He shook his head. "I can't believe it." He said with a smile.
"Well, there's only one way to find out why she didn't." William said as he took a sip of his drink and laid back into the sofa. "You have to go to Texas."
"So that's why you're here."
"You're the best and most knowledgeable man for this job."
"When did you plan for me to go?" He asked, still unsure if he wanted to take the job.
"By the end of this week, latest."
"Not wasting any time."
"We don't have any time to be wasting. You'll take the contract?" William asked, sure of himself that Nathan will take the job, how couldn't he, he had to find out why Marie didn't get married to Michael.
"I don't know." Nathan said as he sat back in his sofa and remembered how beautiful Marie was when he left.
"You haven't been in Texas in a while. You can think of this as a vacation, a month long vacation. Let's be honest, the work won't be a problem for you." William still pressed him.
"The way you make it sound it sounds incredible, but I know that that's not really the case."
"Ok, I'll admit, it's not all easy and nice, but ..."
"I'll take it, but of course I'll need a substantial payment for the job."
"We can plan everything out." He hurried to tell him. "I already talked about that with Max. You'll be very happy with what you'll receive."
"Now we're talking."
"You have three days to look over all the papers." William said, getting straight to business.
"Three days? Didn't you say I was leaving at the end of the week?"
"You're leaving Thursday."
"I assume that you have my plane ticket ready for Austin?" Nathan asked jokingly.
"The card has been booked, a penthouse in the city has been rented, in other words, everything is prepared."
"And what would happened if I didn't agree?"
"I would persuade you somehow." William said with a smile as he looked down at the papers.
"Now, what really matters ..."
Nathan began to drift out of what William was saying. His mind drifted back to Texas, where he met her. For the first time in four years, his mind began to drift there where he promised himself he would never be.
The memories began flooding back to him, and he didn't even try to stop them. He felt as his body craved to see her again; every second that passed, that craving got more intense.
Even if a hundred years passed, he believed that he would still love her. Even if she made him fall for her, made him love her so deeply before admitting to him that she was engaged with Michael and that their wedding would happen in a couple of months.
When she told him that, she left cold heartedly, leaving him alone and confused. Constantly, he thought what happened between them, how could it end so quickly and harshly. For a long time, he couldn't even believe what she said was true, that is until he saw the preparations for their wedding starting up.
That's when he decided to go to New York and try to forget about everything. He left with the thought that the story between them two hasn't finished, even if she was getting married. She avoided him the last few days he had in Texas, so much so that he didn't even get to tell her goodbye. He wanted to see her, he wanted to tell her what he felt before he left but she refused to see him.
He asked himself again what could have happened to end the marriage. He thought that maybe they did get married but they got divorced. Her husband never seemed like a good man anyway. Maybe she understood with time who he really was. He really wanted to know what happened.
Nathan sat back in his chair with his thoughts still swirling around Marie. He hoped that this trip would help him heal his broken heart and maybe he won't come back with more sorrow than last time.