A FEW DAYS has passed since the incident in Lucas's office. They had barely spoken since then and only saw themselves during dinner – breakfast was barely held together anymore. Jon had not spoken about it to any of his friends, they were mostly busy preparing for Paxton's holiday. Jom woke up that morning and vaguely remembered that today was the day his holiday started. He rolled out of bed lazily, he had slept late. He had buried his eyes deep into the way the airline industry was going for the past 30 years and what it entails to have a commercial plane and at the end of it, he had decided to open an airport too. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, he glanced at the clock and calculated that he has slept for only 4 hours. "Not nearly enough," He muttered to himself as he stood up and headed for the bathroom. A cold shower and a few minutes later, he came out of the bathroom, still half asleep. He picked some random clothes and put them on. He pushed aside the thick volumes of boo
JON AND RICK were in the sitting room that evening when they heard the smooth sound of a luxury car pulling into the driveway. Jon looked up from the laptop he had been staring at for the past 3 hours. Rick stood up and went to the window. He pulled back the curtain and peeked through. "It's your Dad," He turned and went to the door before the men got there. Jon stood up and joined Rick at the door. The limousine opened and Jeff came out, smiling at the sight of his friends. He stepped aside for Vincent to come through before Stefan came out. Vincent gave Jon a small nod as they came to the house. Jon returned the nod to Vincent, hugged Jeff and shook his father's hand. Rick bowed to Stefan and shook Vincent's hand. He clamped his arm around Jeff's shoulders. "How's it going, Jonathan?" Stefan asked. Jon shrugged, "Do come in," He stepped aside to allow them to pass through. "Welcome back sir," Maureen greeted from the hallway. "Thank you, Maureen," Stefan replied. "Would
JON AND RICK sat alone in a small room. It had some artworks there – including the dejected lad. Jon his hand over the sculpture. "Pfft," Rick said, "That thing is ugly." "Yeah, I know right." Jom agreed. The door opened and they turned to see Jeff come in. "What's up, guys?" Jeff asked. "We are just talking about the ugliness of this," Rick said. Jeff laughed, "It depicts something deeper than physical beauty." Jom scoffed and sat down on a plush cushion. "How's it going, Jeff?" Jeff shrugged, "Well, you know how it is." "We don't know how it is," Rick said, "How is New York?" "Yeah, tell us," Jon said, moving around to find a comfortable spot and prevent the cushion from swallowing him. "You know," Jeff said, running his finger through his hair, "It is hectic… and distracting." "Hmm," Jon said. "Yeah, it is much more busier than New Jersey. We barely slept for complete 8 hours. By 5 a.m. I will be woken up and prepared to leave by 6:30…" Jeff said, "And then we are flyi
THE FLIGHT TO Illinois was uneventful. True to Maureen's word, the flight got awfully cold and he wrapped himself with the quilt that she had given him.A few hours later, they touched down at an airport in Illinois. Jon got his luggage from the baggage claim and headed for the main gate. He saw a security man that looked very familiar. He can never forget those bulky shoulders, but to be sure, he went round to see the face of the man, and he was right. "Hello, Rico," Jon said coolly. The man turned blankly and looked at Jon. Jon could see the screws in his brain working overtime to remember where he had been seen. Jon could never forget. He can never forget that night. The night of his birthday. The night of Kim's ultimate betrayal… and it was with this man standing in front of him. "Don't remember me, do you?" Jon asked again, raising his eyebrow. The man, Rico, still had a blank face as he stared at Jon. "You know," Jon said, "Big car, food delivery boy… worn out bike. Dirt
"OH, MY GOD," Kim said, "I heard you were in New Jersey."Jon nodded. "Please don't get out of the car," He muttered under his breath, "Please God, don't let her get out of the car." He prayed quietly, barely moving his lips. Apparently, his prayers were not answered, because Kim opened her door and stepped out. "I see you're back in Illinois doing…" She walked unsteadily in 6inches pump shoes, "... you're back doing menial work?" She looked at his oil stained shirt and fingers. Jon smiled, he did not miss the sarcasm and jeer in her cheerful tone. "Well," He shrugged. "Aww, come here," She said. He could not escape it as she enclosed him in her arms and kissed him full on the lips. "What was wrong with New Jersey? You couldn't cope with the fast life there?" She asked. Jon pulled away and wiped his lips, "That's not it…" He sighed and decided that he didn't owe Kimberly any explanation so he just shrugged and wiped his hand on his shirt. Kim made a face at what he just did b
"JONATHAN?" NICOLE ASKED, "Are you there?" Jon opened his mouth to talk but no word came out. He took a deep breath and found his voice, "I'm here…" He sighed. "So what should I do? Can he sign it?" Nicole asked. Jon shook his head and said, "No no. Hold the deal.""Jon," Nicole started, "This deal can't be held off. The 747 plane is being sold for a spin-off price." Jon rubbed his head. This was going to be a very hard boost to the business plan, but there was no way in hell that he was going to let Lucas sign it. The hell, he didn't even want Lucas to know about the plan. "Did you discuss everything with Lucas?'Jon asked. "Yeah," Nicole said, "Before he considered signing it, he demanded that I placed everything on the table. Now, we are just waiting for your go-ahead." Jon shook his head. He remembered that she could not see him so he said, "No no. He should not sign it." "What are we waiting for, Jon?" Nicole asked in an exasperated tone. "Erm," Jon scratched his head,
LUCAS SAT IN his office. Even as he tried to admit it, he missed seeing the face of Jon. It motivated him to do more to prove himself. He swivelled on his seat and looked out of his boring window view. His little peacefulness and time of planning had been interrupted by a call from Jon's 'business partner' After a long evening of analyzing the stock market with Stefan and then spending the rest of his night making calls with his partners on the other side of the world, Lucas surely woke up on the wrong side of his bed the following morning. Even after a cold shower and hot coffee, he was still not fully awake. Skipping breakfast has become a normal routine so as he sat in his office, trying to wake himself up by doing a crossword puzzle, he received a buzzer from Oliver – Jon's secretary – saying that he had someone to see him. A few seconds later, the visitor walked in in the form of a very beautiful lady. Her sight alone made Lucas snap to attention, he cleared his throat and s
WHILE HE WAS in college and apart from the last graduation party that Amanda had hosted, Jon had never been to any of her parties before. She had been nice enough to extend an invitation to him back then, but he was always too busy juggling between two jobs and keeping his grades up to go drinking and partying all night. He stepped into the hall which was dark with dark blue lights that seemed to make everywhere darker rather than bright. As usual, when he did not know what to do at a party, he made a beeline to the main bar. He saw some vaguely familiar faces around him. Except for the occasional plus-ones that some people brought, many of these people around him were his ex-class/schoolmates. He sat on a stool and asked for a drink from the barman. As he waited, he was absently aware of someone sitting beside him. "If it isn't the popular Jonathan 'Stone'" the man's voice said. He put stress and emphasis on the last word – Jon's surname. Jon turned and looked at the person who