Ninth Wonder Of The World

'Mhhm' Susan huffed when she saw Joey's face on a massive billboard while she was en route to her aunt's house from the airport.

'Pure girl indeed' She yelped and briefly laughed out loud. That was the slogan that the brand Joey was advertising on behalf of chose to call her.

Michael glanced at his mom and made a face that seemed to ask what the drama was about.

'Mom you are always in another world' the wise Michael said innocently and continued to look out the window, taking in the splendour of the new country he was in. Susan looked at him with lovable eyes. His advanced gimmick always took her by surprise. Anytime Susan felt that Michael had reached his elastic limit in blowing her away with his magnificence, he would strike again with something else that would only raise the bar.

Thinking back to Joey, Susan realized that she had not heard anything about her throughout the five years that she spent out of the United States. She had completely forgotten about Joey. Susan wasn't surprised anyway to see that Joey was a celebrity cover girl, she knew Joey had it in her, although at the time when she was in the States before she ran away, Joey was an ordinary art student. Typical, everyday pretty girl. About the 'pure girl' part, that was not true about Joey at all. If Susan could remember clearly, Joey used to change boyfriends in high school a lot. At a point, she dated an elite student in a lower class in school than her. That was her first taste of an extravagant lifestyle, now all of a sudden, to the same boys turned men that slept with her in the days when everyone was unassuming, she was a pure girl. Susan shook her head at how unfair the world was. She grasped her kids, pretending to be concerned about whether they were tired from the long journey they had embarked on, but deep down she was consoling herself with them, they were her only reward from the unfair hand life had dealt her.

'Well, I didn't come all the way back here to indulge myself in things that are passed and bitter' she muttered the words out of her mouth in affirmation, so that the past will never haunt her the way it was currently trying to, rearing its ugly head. Her kids were her priority, and that was how it was going to remain for her by all means.

The time she held her kids close to her, she noticed that they were tired quite alright. Judy had already even slept off, as expected, but Michael, the man of the house, tried to keep himself awake, and he was succeeding. He needed to be awake just in case his mom fell asleep with his sister, he would look out for all of them. 

Michael's eyes were suddenly glued to a skyscraper. The wonder in his eyes was so contagious Susan turned to look towards the direction his eyes were glued at, and then she saw it too, the edifice that grasped Michael's attention.

'Mom, look at that building, I didn't know buildings could be that tall' the boy exclaimed in genuine wonder.

'Yes my love' Susan replied, trying to sound as light as possible, but her wonder too was slowly giving in to the magnificence that they were staring at. The fact that it was not just one skyscraper was another thing that blew her mind, and to think that they had their own air space mapped out for them, no air crafts were allowed to fly by that space, it was interesting to think of. 

As grand as those buildings were, Michael dared to ask his mom if they would visit soon, as part of their welcome tour to America. 

'What?' Susan gasped, breaking into laughter. 'Son, those are offices, likely government executive offices, you can't just show up there without an invite, or being an important person' Susan explained. A disappointed Michael folded his arm in protest. His eyes remained glued to the building until it was out of sight, he wished on his stars that he would get to access the place. 

The building they had just passed by was called the ICON PLACE CENTER. It was a major landmark in the country and a stamped signature of wealth and sovereignty. 

As at the time Susan and her kids passed by, there was a lady, a dainty lady with auburn hair, long enough for it to get wrapped in several kneads, and hang tilted towards a part of the lady's shoulder, exposing her clear skin. She stepped out of an expensive sports car, a Lamborghini Messiah to be precise. Her flowing red dress followed behind her while she walked into the building, stealth-like that of a cat. The building, expensive as it was, had an expensive skin carpet spread towards the direction of the President's office. The President of the ICONIC PLACE CENTER, Mr Richard Williams. This mysterious, rich lady was Joey. She was going to invite Mr Richard for her birthday dinner. Joey did all the usual rituals that females who were interested in a man would do when they were about to see this said man, and the fact that she was in the show business, made it easy for her to determine what he would like. 

The door of the sixty-sixth-floor penthouse office was swung open by Mr Richard's assistant after Joey had taken the elevator upstairs. She walked in gracefully. Joey smiled at the majestic, yet eerily mysterious man that sat behind an expensive mahogany desk situated in the middle of the spacious room that had an interior with an aura as cold as Alaska. This noble king had to have a penchant for anything grey because that was the colour that dominated the office space, with a sprinkle of black scattered here and there. The room was the perfect fit for his melancholic temperament.