“Have you seen Nathan? I was supposed to meet him here.” Avery told Charles. “He’ll come around,” Charles responded with a nervous smile. He then pointed at an arched corner by the right where seats were aligned. “Let’s go have our seats. I think the event is about to kick off.”Avery sighed and went after Charles. She couldn’t stop roving her eyes around the yacht in search of Nathan. They got to the settling spot and Charles helped her to get seated around one of the comfy chairs. Soon, the seats were occupied by people ranging from kids, young men, and elderly men and women whom Avery had never met. She leaned toward Charles and was about to register her confusion when Mike suddenly appeared before the crowd. Avery sighed in relief. At least, there was another person she was familiar with on board. Mike flashed a quick smile and adjusted his black silk tie. Looking down at the small crowd, he cleared his throat loudly and began. “It is with delight and honor that I welcome yo
“Fine. I’ll let you be.” Nathan told Avery with his hands lifted. He sighed and stepped out of the restroom. Avery turned around and threw her head on the wooden door. Nathan then made his way to the table his parents were occupying. Mr. Smith was at a corner, speaking to some of the guests. When Nathan sat, his mother studied the gloomy expression spread across his face. “What’s the matter, son?” She demanded with her hand placed on Nathan’s right shoulder.He turned to her with a defeated sigh. “You know I invited Avery to the party right?”Mrs. Smith sat up. “Poor girl must be pissed at you for keeping this whole thing a secret from her.”Nathan slapped his forehead. “I don’t know what to do right now. She’s so mad at me and wants to be alone?”Mrs. Smith roved her eyes around the yacht. “You want me to talk to her?”Nathan sighed. “If that will help then why not?”“I’ll be right back.” Mrs. Smith said and stood up. “She’s at the restroom.”Mrs. Smith nodded and walked away. A
“All vehicles are set.” Mike supplied. Nathan and his parents were led out of the yacht. They got to the shore and after trekking for a few seconds, they were taken to the limousine. The escort vehicles took the lead while the limousine followed with the rest of the vehicles diving closely behind. It was a few minutes to 7 pm and the family get-together had come to an end. Nathan didn’t play any of the board games or eat any of the traditional meals. He only took a few sips of red wine. The drama with Avery had placed him on the edge and all he wanted to do was get off the yacht as soon as possible. As they drove back to the Alcantara estate, Nathan kept tapping his phone screen as he anticipated Charle’s call.After driving for about an hour, the vehicles drove straight to the estate and while they were headed to the parking lot, Nathan spotted several vehicles parked in the open space meant for guests. He got off the limousine and was about to reach for his face mask when his f
Nathan had to pull out a chair and sit beside his mother. “This is incredible!”Mr. Smith plunged his hand inside his jacket and pulled out a ring, carved out of ruby stone. He caressed the ring and walked up to Nathan. “This is an Alcantara symbol. It was handed over to the heirs of this family for generations and now that you have come of age and the heir of this empire, I want you to take this,”Nathan took the ring from his father and slipped it into his middle finger. Mr. Smith continued. “The ring is a symbol of authority. Any high-profile person out there will know who you are at a glance at the ring. It’s your identity as the Alcantara heir.”Nathan gave repeated nods. Mr. Smith sat opposite Nathan. He began to rub his hands against each other vigorously. “I want you to also know that you’ve got one thousand men at your disposal.”Nathan’s eyes widened. “Are they that much?”Mrs. Smith giggled and crossed her legs. “Of course. Each of them was trained and carefully selecte
Nathan woke up the next day with the thoughts of Avery. The image of her disappointed face, when she walked out on him at the yacht, was still imprinted in his mind.Before heading to the bathroom, he decided to try calling her. After dialing her number severally, Nathan flung his phone to the edge of his bed with a frustrated sigh.Her number was still unreachable.Nathan couldn’t help but wonder. Had she blocked him from accessing her line?He placed his hands on his hips and shook his head in filial objection. It couldn’t have gotten that deep. With a defeated sigh, he aimed for the bathroom.A few minutes later, Nathan stepped out and moved to one of his exotic closets. He had resolved to show up at Phoenix that morning. He needed something to distract him from his situation with Avery so he concluded that work would do the trick.After getting dressed in a grey Armani three-piece suit, Nathan hung his face mask, grabbed his briefcase, and dashed out.***Avery palmed her forehead
Corrigan cleared his throat loudly and continued.“Gregor just got to the city and as an acquaintance, I told him about the club and he showed interest in becoming a member. As a kind fellow, Gregor has donated the sum of 100 million dollars to our ongoing estate project.”The cheers and applause intensified.“For those who don’t know him, Gregor manages several oil companies around the world and is currently making waves in Rockville. He’s the CEO of the famous DELL OILS PLC.” Corrigan added.Nathan turned to his father. “Seems like the man in question is a big shot.”Mr. Smith threw his back against his chair with a dry smile.Gregor took one of the empty seats in front.Corrigan invited the men carrying laptops to move closer. “Speaking about the brief exercise I earlier talked about, I’d like to introduce a new policy.”Murmurs broke out.“Policy? What policy?”“Is Corrigan changing a rule?” A second voice commented.Corrigan moved closer to the crowd. “I don’t intend to change an
“Come in,” Nathan said while ushering Charles into the guest living room. Their session at the bar was short-lived. After Nathan gave Charles an update about his experience at the billionaires club meeting, the boys decided to leave. Nathan had requested that Charles come with him to the estate that night. It was quarter past 9 p.m. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were having a chit-chat in the spacious guest living room when Nathan and Charles walked in. Mrs. Smith fell back on the couch and heaved a sigh of relief.“Thank goodness you are back son.”“I told you he needed some moment to clear his head and he was going to get back home.” Mr. Smith asserted. “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” Charles hailed after Nathan made him stand before the couple. Mr. Smith stood up and extended his right hand toward Charles. “Charles Wells right?”Charles has stars in his eyes. Mr. Smith Alcantara had just called him by name. He quickly shook Mr. Smith with a wide grin. “Yes sir. Pleased to meet you
By exactly 9 a.m., Charles pulled the Bentley to a halt in front of the city’s biggest mall. The boys stepped out and aimed for the entrance of the skyscraper. “Seems like we will be the ones to open this place,” Charles remarked after they stepped in. “Well, looks like there are a couple of morning customers on standby.” Nathan pointed out after they got in. They took the route leading to the clothing section. When they got to the male section, they were greeted by a young saleslady who was smiling so brightly at them that Charles thought her cheeks were going to hurt. “Good morning. Welcome to the Deloitte store. Do you need any guidance or you would want to look around by yourselves?” She asked with her hands stationed behind her. She was dressed in a short black shirt and a white silk shirt. “You show us around,” Nathan said. He turned to Charles. “What do you think?” Charles agreed with a nod. “So do you have any designs or materials in mind? What do you guys want to s