The next week rolled over like a breeze and it was the day of Scarlet going to Microloft.
She dreaded it but Mason gave her a little pep talk.
She took her car and drove to Microloft’s HQ and to her surprise, Jason was waiting in the lobby also.
Jason saw her and pointed, “what are you doing here little sister?”
“I think for the same reason why you’re here,” she said.
She scanned around for any vacant seats but all were occupied except for the one right next to Jason.
“I guess everyone’s feeling lucky today.” She said and took a very reluctant seat next to Jason.
“You really let loser Mason convince you?!”
Scarlet didn’t respond to his question; rather , she said, “You don’t want to cause a scene, Jason. Elites from all over the country are here seeking the same thing we want.”
Jason continued taunting her.
Scarlet decided to ignore him, hoping he would take a hint and shut up. She didn’t want to engage him and draw any attention to herself.
Jason scoffed, “ignoring me? I feel sorry for you Scarlet! You’re going to be thrown out of the company when I get appointed as COO! I don’t care about grandfather’s wishes!”
“How are you so certain you would get the position?” Scarlet asked him.
“Just a hunch.” Unknowingly to Scarlet, Jason had bribed some members of the board in Microloft with the help of Ric Wilson. Who wanted to make Scarlet pay for rejecting his offer to help her so rudely.
Scarlet wasn’t feeling too confident. What if Jason had bribed someone? He could use Rodney funds to do so! He had access to it but she didn’t!
Jason felt very confident that he would get the contract. He felt that even if someone had paid more to give a bribe, he was certain Scarlet didn’t bribe anyone and so the position would never be hers.
Jason continued taunting Scarlet in the Lobby, edging her to just leave and forget about securing the contract.
At that moment, Scarlet looks up and sees a fair woman step out of the elevator with two able bodied bodyguards.
People were whispering that that was Rita Donovan.
“What a woman.” Scarlet thought.
Jason sat straight and adjusted his suit jacket, he didn’t think Rita would come down directly to see the applicants.
To his greatest surprise, “men, please throw out this man!”
Rita said, pointing at him.
The two men moved and dragged him by either of his arms to his feet.
“What?! Why?! I’m here to apply for a contract on behalf of my company! Why am I being thrown out?!”
“You were speaking rudely to my guest! Scarlet Rodney! Throw him out!”
The two men dragged Jason out and Scarlet sat there in shock.
Rita bent over to be on eye level with Scarlet, “hi, Scarlet Rodney. I’m Rita Donovan. Could you please follow me to my office?”
Everyone was murmuring. Dumbfounded, Scarlet got up and followed the beautiful woman into the elevator and to her office.
In her office, Rita Donovan apologized that she had not come down sooner and Scarlet was surprised as to what was going on but she played along.
“You must be in shock, please don’t be. I’m here to offer you a ten million dollar contract for the building and construction of Microloft’s second branch.”
Scarlet couldn’t believe her ears.
“Are you serious?! I mean.. Thank you! How?! Why?!”
Rita gave a small laugh, “you’re the best candidate.”
“But I haven’t even made my pitch yet.”
“You don’t have to. We have tabs on every applicant in the lobby and you fit the bill.”
“And my cousin did not? We’re from the same company.”
“There were reports about harassment in the lobby and Mr Jason had previously been removed from our company grounds. So you can say he had a record.” Rita lied.
She was coming up with reasons on the spot. In reality, Mason just told her to remove Jason from the lobby and to hand over the contract to Scarlet.
She had to come up with a reason why and Scarlet had a lot of questions and rightly so.
Anyone would be surprised if they were handed a ten million dollar contract before even giving their pitch.
“I see.” Scarlet wasn’t sure but of course she accepted the contract!
“Thank you! Thank you so much. I promise you won’t regret this!”
“You’re welcome. Looking forward to working with you Scarlet.”
“Likewise.”
Scarlet left her office clutching the envelope containing the contract.
She got in her car and placed the envelope on the passenger seat.
She was still in shock but decided to drive home first to break the news to Mason.
If it wasn’t for his emotional support, Scarlet wasn’t sure she would have even applied for the contract.
Though the circumstances surrounding her being selected was weird to her, she saw it as sheer luck! Her reward for being a good person so to say.
She got home and met Mason in the kitchen doing the dishes.
He already knew that the contract had been handed to his wife and that she was on her way home.
He was in the kitchen in a feat to feign ignorance in some way, he didn’t do too well at hiding his emotions on his face.
“Guess what?!” Scarlet asked,
“Surprise me.” Mason said with a wide smile, Scarlet brought the envelope up to his face.
“I got the contract!!”
“No way!! I knew you would get it! There’s no one better than you!”
The two hugged and jumped around their cramped kitchen.
“I’m so happy I could cry. I literally cannot believe this. Can you believe this, Mason?”
“I’m hardly surprised, Scarlet. You are good at any and everything. No one on Earth works as hard as you!”
Scarlet teared up, “I mean, it all seems so unreal. Rita Donovan even came down to invite me to her office herself. Can you imagine that, Mason? My life is straight out of a movie right now!”
Mason smiled. Seeing Scarlet smile warmed his heart immensely.
He wanted to give her the world and he was going to do just that.
“I should tell my family. Oh! I forgot to mention. Rita Donovan had Jason dragged out of the building earlier.”
“Really?” Mason asked as though he wasn’t the one that ordered his immediate evacuation.
“Yes. I wonder what he did this time. He apparently was thrown out some weeks ago with his fiancé, Emerald.”
“I wonder what he did too.” Mason said passively.
“Perhaps we should host them? But our home is too small.”
“We can invite them out for a family dinner.” Mason chipped.
“That would be too much on us financially. We still have to pay my mom off for the mortgage.”
“That has been paid in full.” Mason said.
“What?! How?!”
Mason shrugged, “beats me.”
“You don’t find it suspicious that our debt was paid off.”
“I think someone kind just helped. I did speak about it at work one or two times.”
“Oh.” Scarlet was suspicious but she decided not to press on it further.
The fact that she had a ten million dollar contract in her hand was blowing her mind.
“We can spare a few cash for a dinner to announce your bagging the contract. I’ll even take up a part time job.” Mason offered.
“It’s fine. When I’m appointed as COO, I’ll pay it off. I will take some money from my savings.”
“Okay, COO of Rodney construction!”
Scarlet blushed, “you can say that again!”
Scarlet sent out official invites to all the members of her family.As each of them received their invite they were pleasantly surprised.“You think she’s pregnant?” Jason asked his mom, Elicia.“No way!” She answered back.“Maybe they’re in debt, I heard Vivian took out their mortgage. They’re most likely swimming in debt.”“Debt but sending out fancy invitations to a fancy dinner? What is that woman up to?”When Vivian got the invite, she scoffed.“I’m not doing this! That ungrateful child threw me out of a house I paid for!”“You’re not even a little bit curious about why she did that?” Bruce, her third husband asked.“It doesn’t matter! I’m not going and you’re not going!”When Madam Rodney got the invitation, she was indifferent, “did they hit a jackpot or something? The quality of this card is impeccable.”“Or perhaps Mason stole some money, wouldn’t put it past him.” Michelle Rodney said.The dinner was for that night at a moderately fancy restaurant in Beverly Hills. What Sca
Mason blinked an unnatural amount of times before answering, “breathtaking.”Scarlet laughed heartily, throwing her head back.“Is that a good or a bad thing?” She asked mischievously, rubbing her hand down her other arm.“Definitely good.” Mason replied coolly, lips pursed, trying to hide the gleam in his eyes.Scarlet blushed, the atmosphere suddenly felt really warm.Mason felt it too, “ready?” He cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence.“Yes, although I think a glass of champagne wouldn’t hurt. For the nerves.”Mason smiled, “for the nerves.”He poured her a glass and watched her gulp it down, she finished in a few seconds and said, “ready.”The couple drove to the venue which was a restaurant about fifteen minutes away.As Mason drove, he felt Scarlet fidgeting and without thinking, he took her hand and held it, which took her by surprise but that was exactly what she needed.She offered him a warm smile, “Thank you, Mason. Truly.”“You never have to thank me.” He replie
Elicia started laughing, “you called us here to try out stand up comedy?”“Scarlet, dear, you had us all here to waste our time?” Her mother, Vivian asked.She looked at Mason who nodded slightly at her, suddenly she had all the courage that she required to finish with this sham of a gathering.She reached for her bag, unzipped it and brought out a brown envelope.“The proof and details of the contract are in this envelope.” She said and stretched, handing the envelope to her grandmother, Madam Rodney.The table was dead silent, so much so that you could undoubtedly hear a pin drop.Though in doubt, Madam Rodney took the envelope from her, eyeing it before inspecting the seal.“It is indeed from Microloft.” She muttered to herself, still in disbelief.She removed the seal and opened the envelope to reveal the contents of it. It was but a piece of paper which read, "This is to show and certify that Microloft has independently contracted Scarlet Rodney as the contractor for the construc
Mason met up with Scarlet outside who was standing at the roadside, watching Madam Rodney’s car as it drove off.He stood by her side “She gave me a kiss,” She whispered as though she was watching a ghost.“Crazy things happen when you’re COO.” Mason joked.Scarlet looked up to her husband, “She treated me differently, calmly. Perhaps she will finally accept you too!”Mason chuckled, “I seriously doubt that.” He said honestly, and that was okay. He had given up ages ago on the thought of Madam Rodney, or any of her family members liking him. It was a fool’s dream.It made it easier to walk all over them though. He felt no pity for Jason as he ordered Rita Donovan to throw him out of Microloft’s HQ, embarrassing him and he will feel no pity when he dealt with Elicia for insinuating that which she did.They were going to have to learn not to speak ill of his wife.The couple, Mason and Scarlet got home.As they entered the living area, “Thank you for coming Mason… to support me.” Scarl
“Elicia Rodney?” Gerald asked over the phone, “Yes, Elicia Rodney. The result of an extra marital affair of Madam Rodney.”“Alright Sir. I am on it.”“Thank you, Gerald.”The line went silent and Mason got up, ready to begin his day. His plan for the day was to visit the HQ, he needed to see Rita Donovan about the party Madam Rodney was throwing.Mason got up and took a quick shower. After grabbing a slice of toast, he stepped out of the house. He got in his beat down car and drove to microloft HQ. While on his way, there was a bit of traffic a few minutes away from the HQ. He heard a car honking and honking. Confused, he turned to see who it was and he saw that it was Ric Wilson. He had not seen the black Porsche beside him because he was so focused on the traffic light.Mason was irritated. He really did not want to have to deal with the man who sought and was actively seeking to covet his wife.Ric however, kept honking like a mad man. Mason took one last look at the traffic light
Mason stepped into the lobby of Microsoft and casually observed his surroundings, no one deemed him worthy of attention yet, so he was free to look at the flow of employees without being really suspicious.The huge lobby with its endless walls of glass going on and on was doing something to his mind, and the perfect synchrony of everyone working was quite a daunting sight, “Microloft was truly beautiful,” he thought, not just in terms of the huge infrastructure that dominated a whole section of Beverly hills, but the efficiency of the people within, who briskly kept the company afloat, one Chanel bag and gleaming Prada shoe at a time.Squaring up his shoulders, he stepped into an elevator with about fifteen employees despite knowing fully well that his own personal one was just right there. Oh well, he thought, he just might have to prove himself worthy of it first. The dinging of the elevator brought him to his senses as employees pushed through, eager to get out of the stifling heat
Scarlett was still overwhelmed with the party arrangements and the sudden emotional support she was receiving from her family, especially her Gran. The tough nut was beginning to crack but she was not deceived, her Gran was after one thing only and that was Microloft, and right now she was the only way in but still she wondered, perhaps the affection would become real someday, but as sentimental as she was she was no fool.She walked briskly up to her Gran’s office, praying she would not be privileged to encounter any other member of her demented family.“Come in.” Gran's slightly crooked voice sounded from behind the heavy doors, and she mustered up her courage and pushed in.The room was quite extravagant for the modest Rodney's company, but as usual her Gran liked to pretend she was at the top of the food chain, and woe to anyone that attempted to tell her otherwise.“Scarlett! What brings you by?” Her Gran’s effusive greetings took her by surprise yet again, but not even the broad
Mason walked out of Hugo Boss with a smile on his face, despite the fact that the clothes were kept in the bag he held, he could not afford to wear such items so casually now, he was still unannounced after all, and doing that would jeopardize everything he was working for. Just then he spotted a group of passersby gathered around the huge screen outside, they were all in varying stages of deep emotions and he walked over to see what was going on with them. “Oh my gosh! He is so handsome isn't he?” A young woman cried, with a smitten look plastered on her face as she clapped her hands together in pure excitement. “Not just handsome, he is kind also.” An Asian woman spoke quietly as gazed forward at the screen with admiration, her wrinkled eyes crinkling at the corners even more. A chorus of agreement rose up among everyone gathered around as they all murmured their agreements and Mason turned to view the screen. To his shock and utter disdain, Ric Wilson's obnoxious face filled t