When he had finished his iced tea, Richard sat for a while and thought about how he could get through to Thomas Bolton. He needed to win his favour again so he could gradually push him to attack that unbearably annoying Michael Bolton and his proud miserable son, Chris Bolton.What could he tell him? How could he show and prove his loyalty and earn his respect and trust? He thought hard but couldn't come up with anything and that left him feeling frustrated. Why did Thomas Bolton not have a Mrs. Yvonne in his life for Christ's sake? Or even a Monica. Just someone who worked really closely with him and knew him quite well. It would have made things a lot easier for Richard who was quite good at charming his way into people's hearts and affections when he set his mind to it. He would have simply given a little speech on how much proving himself to his father, Thomas, meant to him and the person would spill all they knew in a few minutes, but no, Thomas Bolton had lived his life as a co
Richard stared at Thomas for a while and silently prayed he hadn't made the wrong choice. He reviewed what he had come to say to you this man again and wondered how he hadn't realized it wasn't such a grand idea in his room. As he rolled the idea over and over again in his mind and his folly dawned on him the more, he siltently offered pleas and made promises to God, His Son and His Spirit to just help me make it out alive. Feeling like he still needed to do more, he offered pleas and made promises to every other god and goddess he had ever heard of. "Well?" Thomas asked with a voice that exuded impatience and irritation. Screw this!! Richard thought to himself. He hadn't changed so he would still be scared of Thomas Bolton. Yes, he knew the change wouldn't come to stay in just one day but this fear was too much. Besides, what was that thing people always said about projecting confidence? If he spoke up with boldness and confidence, then just maybe, Thomas Bolton would see the exc
Arthur McDoyle lay face up on the floor of his living room. He had been in that position for a good number of minutes or maybe an hour, but he didn't mind and he just didn't feel like moving from that position. He knew the fur from his animal skin center rug could mess up his hair and clothes but he didn't care about any of that and he lay there feeling listless. His earlier anger had now totally seeped away and had left him feeling deflated. In the place of anger he now felt frustrated, hurt, used and abandoned and he didn't like it as it also made him feel pathetic and he had never been a fan of self pity. After brooding some more, he sat up and shook his head in a bid to shake off the unwanted feeling then he shifted back so he could lean on his couch and think properly. He needed a plan and wasting time brooding and feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to get him one. His biggest and most dangerous creditor may be dead but he had other debts to pay and he needed a plan to get th
Arthur took in a breath and let it out. He was about to do something he wasn't sure whether he would regret or not, but he was going to do it either way and hope with all he had that he would not regret it. With one last deep breath he pulled back softly to let Mabel know he was trying to disentangle and sit back. Mabel felt his pull and she loosened her grip and watched him sit back looking like he had something serious to say. Oh no! Had her game suddenly made him all touchy-feely? Was he going to give some sappy speech about how he loved her? How was she going to wriggle her way out of that? She would just hear him out first and decide how to act along the way."Look babe, there's something important I have to tell you," Arthur said with his head bowed as he looked at his hands in his laps. "All isn't really well with me. I'm flat out broke and I'm in a lot of debts which I need to figure out how to pay," Arthur finished and quickly raised his head to look at her and watch her rea
Mabel cleared her throat and looked up at Arthur. She wondered briefly if she was about to make a decision she would regret in the long run. Oh well. She would rather make the decision now and deal with the consequences of it being wrong later, instead of being alone and without help at the moment. "So, you're broke huh?" she said and realized that was an awkward way to start this conversation. Hell! Now that she thought about it, she had never been one to have these types of conversations. She scrunched her face at a loss of words. She unfolded her arms and dropped them on her thighs and suddenly not knowing what to do with them, she began to drum on her thighs lightly. Arthur must have misunderstood her confusion and thought she wanted to bail his "sinking financial ship" but didn't know how to, because he let out a defeated sigh and his shoulders drooped slightly. "It's fine Mabel," he said as he looked down at his palms in his thighs. "I get it. No one in their right senses wo
"What do you want to see?" Arthur asked as he picked up his remote. "I don't really know what kind of shows you enjoy," he said. "Anything will do." Mabel replied and Arthur scrolled for a while and stopped on a football match. "Anything but that. I'll never understand why a bunch of grown men wear those hideous outfits and those ridiculous helmets and chase a ball around a field." "Here you go," Arthur said and handed her the remote "Pick something out yourself then," he said and picked up his king-size cheese burger. Mabel scrolled through different stations and eventually settled on a movie station then they watched and ate in silence for the next number of minutes. When they were done eating they decided to just finish the movie before proceeding to their planning and strategising even though they both knew they were just stalling because neither of them had a good enough plan yet. Eventually the movie ended and Mabel paused the ending credits and cleared her throat to s
"OK then," Mabel said as she cracked her knuckles. "Let's start with establishing the obvious fact," she paused and looked at Arthur who raised his right eye brow at her. "Which is?" he asked when she didn't continue. "We obviously can't get the money we want from our normal 9-5 jobs," she said and made a "duh" expression and rolled her eyes. "So, moving on" she went on when he said nothing "you couldn't possibly have just been pouting without trying to come up with an idea," she paused and caught his eyes again. "Let's have it. What ideas did you come up with before I arrived?" she asked maintaining eye contact. "Well, I had only come up with two ideas before you came," he paused and looked away from her "one of which I'm sure you'll throw out the window before I can say "Jack"" he finished and gave a shrug and turned back to look at her. She looked confused. "OK?" She asked with her brows furrowed in confusion. "Let me hear these ideas," she finished with her confusion stil
Arthur McDoyle and Mabel Sanders sat in silence for a while with Arthur's last words hanging in the air between them. Chris Bolton. He was obviously the obvious best victim. Michael Bolton was a freaking billionaire and if one considered recent events, it was quite clear that he loved his son, Chris Bolton and he would do anything to ensure his safety. The more Mabel Sanders thought about it the more she realized that she was thinking too small. Michael Bolton would gladly give two hundred million dollars without flinching to save his son. In fact he would gladly part with three hundred million dollars and it wouldn't make a dent in his account. Matter of fact, they would just begin negotiations from half a billion dollars and then they would refuse to go below three hundred million dollars or the least they would go would be two hundred and fifty million dollars. Blinded by greed and oblivious to that fact, her mind spun with calculations. She would be a freaking millionaire. She c