Chapter Eight

Alistair looked at the document shoved into his hands. He was confused.

“What… I.. I don't understand”

“Sign the freaking papers, Alistair!”, Elara shouted, glaring angrily at him.

“I don't understand, Elara. What.. are … are these divorce papers?”

Smack! That was the third time he had been slapped in a row.

“Have you suddenly lost your ability to read? Or is it your ability to comprehend that's the problem?” , Elara insulted, casting her wicked glares on him.

But Alistair's mental faculties didn't want to comprehend at that moment. They were blank, they remained blank and that was how he wanted them to remain.

“I have had a whole year. A whole year Alistair! A whole year of putting up with your… your stupidity! And… and … with the …. disgrace… and with the … the… Urghh!”, She shouted in frustration, tugging furiously at her hair.

“You see what you are doing?! Do you see what this bastard has caused for this family, Gerald? And I warned you, didn't I? And you didn’t fulfil all the plans of me being first lady of the Voxx group. Now look at the disappointment not even long after!”

“That's enough Kate. He'll sign the papers”

“Elara please”, Alistair began pleading, going on his knees.

 “Please don't do this”. That marriage was the last hope he had. What was he going to do? Where was he going to live?”

“Sign the papers Alistair! Now!”

“Please …”

“I said, sign them!”, Mr. Wilde shouted furiously. “Round up the boys!”

Alistair's heart jumped in fear as he heard that. One of the male servants left the room to carry out the order. Scrambling for the pen on the ground, he gathered the papers properly in his hand. He signed them slowly, getting up to his feet to do so.  Mr. Wilde's personal bodyguards soon came into the living room.

Kate Wilde snatched the papers out of his hand, scrutinizing each document to ensure they were all properly signed.

“Idiot”, she called him, handing the documents over to Elara. Mr. Wilde directed with a tilt of his head and the two bodyguards jacked Alistair.

“Please Elara…”

“Oh please, I don't want to hear another word of my name from your filthy mouth”

“Elara please. Please don't do this”, Alistair pleaded profusely.

“Take that bastard out!”

He struggled with them even if he knew it was an unproductive effort to do so. They threw him out of the compound gate, his clothes and belongings after him. Alistair didn't even know where to begin from. He picked up his journal from the ground - it was a book that he'd kept from childhood - not for many logical reasons though. Now its pages were being marked variably by the droplets of drizzling rain.

As Alistair flipped through the pages of the small A6 papered book, bright headlamps distracted his focus.

********************

“Mr. Bane..?”

Alistair couldn't focus on the person who was trying to get his attention because of the lights. The headlamps soon deemed, and he realized they were people and not even just one person - men to be exact.

“Mr Bane”, one of the men called as they all walked up to him. He shifted back, taking a protective stance as he didn't know their intentions. They dressed in all black, which was enough.

The streetlights helped him see their faces.

“Mr Bane?”

“Yeah..?”, Alistair answered, his eyes shifting from one black suit man to another.

 “I’m Regan, a representative of Voxx Group”, the hefty man declared, showing off a card and his official Voxx badge on his suit.

“And I've been asked to bring you to our headquarters. Your presence is dearly needed and there's some important information that you need to know”

“What … what kind of information?”

The guy glanced to one of the men behind him. “Information better disclosed at the office Mr. Bane.”

“It's mandatory that we get you there today”

“And if I resist? I can't just follow you just because you supposedly work at Voxx”

“I understand Mr. Bane”

He snapped at one of the men who handed him a small device.

“We brought evidence hoping this would convince you if you did doubt”

He hit the play button on the device for the video to play.

“Hey Alistair. It's Nathan. Nathan Brown - your … childhood friend if  … you remember. We used to…”

How could Alistair forget? He had been his one and only childhood friend.

“ …Anyways, I have important news for you. Actually, actually your parents' lawyer has news for you. It's something from your parents and you really need to hear this. I have … I've sent Regan and some of our top security men from Voxx to escort you down to the Voxx Headquarters. Please, go with them. Thank you and …. I'm really hoping to see you again, Alistair”

The video stopped playing.

“We are running out of time Mr. Bane. Shall we?”

Alistair hesitated, but he knew he was going to have to follow them either way.

“Yeah”

The security men led him to one of the cars and one of them got the door for him. Alistair got in, the posh feel of the car appealing differently to him. The driver got in as well and two of the bodyguards, one in front and one beside him. They moved first and the others escorted at the back. Alistair could guess already that Regan was in charge.

“Yes boss”, he said, nodding simultaneously.

“He was… standing outside the Wilde's home sir”, Regan said, lowering his voice.

Regan listened to the voice over the phone for a moment.

“I had some of my men deliver the message before we left. I also informed his secretary”

“It’s quite late, Regan. Did she give you a reply?”

“No sir. Not yet”

“What was his response when the message was delivered?”

“We… we didn't wait for one sir”

There was a long sigh from the other end of the phone.

“How far are you from here?”

“We just arrived”

Alistair's car diverted while the others headed straight for the garage. The driver turned, hitting the pedal so the car zoomed, headed for the building. For a moment, Alistair was lost, quickly concluding that the driver had completely lost his mind. But to his surprise, the glass doors swung open, and the car zoomed in, coming to an abrupt halt on the designated sliding platform. Alistair had lost his composure, his hands stretched out to keep himself from thrusting forward.

The automated platform came to ground level, giving Alistair's heart more cheer to race on. Regan and the chauffeur got out of the car.

“I apologize for the rough ride, Mr. Bane”, Regan said, stepping aside as he opened the door for Alistair. Alistair took a moment to recover himself before alighting from the car. Regan closed the door behind him sharply.

“Please, follow me Mr. Bane”, Regan said, stepping in front to lead the way. The other security guards joined behind Alistair, but he didn't notice until they got to the elevator. Two of the security guys got in with Alistair and the elevator ascended to the last floor.

The elevator doors slid open, and Alistair wasn't prepared for the first face he'd seen.

One he couldn't forget.

Nathan's.