Love and Curiosity

"Breakfast, Mr. Fitz?" one of his maids asked.

He barely gave her a glance as he mumbled, "No," moving along as quickly as possible, his briefcase in hand. Without waiting to hear another word, he walked out of the house and headed straight for his car where his driver was waiting. He opened the door and climbed in, settling into the backseat. 

"Good morning Mr. Fitz," his driver greeted and as usual, he ignored him, swiping out his phone and scrolling through his social media pages.

As usual his name was on every news, every magazine, every blog. He rolled his eyes as he scrolled through tweets and posts of people praising him, thirsting over him, making very inappropriate comments. His phone rang and he swiped the green icon to answer it. "What is it?" He asked briskly without exchanging pleasantries. He waited to hear what the other person had to say before answering, "Ask them to wait, I'll be there in a minute." He hung up immediately. "Drive faster," he snapped at his driver.

They arrived at the company some minutes later and Dominic Fitz immediately climbed out of the car, holding on to his briefcase. Just as he stepped out of the car, flashes of photographs came from nowhere and he was immediately surrounded by four hefty men in black suit and dark shades who led him away from the car into the office. 

As he walked into the office, a man rushed towards him and collected his briefcase . While Dominic walked ahead, ignoring the quiet greetings people gave him, the man - his assistant - followed behind and they walked into the elevator.

Once the elevator doors were closed, Dominic asked in his deep, solemn voice, "What do I have planned for today?"

"A meeting with Dylan Bass this morning; he's around already."

"What else?"

"Lunch meeting with the spokespersons from Grant Industries," his assistant read off. "Then, dinner with your parents."

A grimace appeared on Dominic's face. "Cancel that," he said, just as the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. He stepped out of it.

"Sir, we've been cancelling for the past three weeks. I don't think they'd like it if we cancelled again," his assistant said, running after him.

Dominic stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at the man. He narrowed his eyes, his icy blue eyes piercing deep into the man. "Are you questioning my decision?" He demanded in a gruff voice that was both quiet yet intimidating.

"No....no sir," his assistant stammered, cowering under his gaze.

"Good." He resumed walking. "You want to keep your job, James? Then, cancel that dinner."

"It's John," his assistant muttered under his breath as he walked after Dominic who pushed the door to his office opened and strolled in like he owned the place - which he did, obviously. Dominic plopped down on his chair while John rushed around, pulling the blinds and windows open.

"Would you like me to ask Dylan Bass in, sir?" John asked, stopping in front of Dominic who simply gave a slight nod that could have been missed if he was not looking. John immediately rushed out of the office, unable to bear the unwarranted tension.

Few minutes later the door was opened again by John but this time, he stepped aside for a huge, grey-haired man to step in. Dominic immediately rose to his feet. "Mr. Bass," he greeted, stretching his hands out for a shake.

Dylan Bass had a smile on his face as he slipped his hand in Dominic's and shook him. "Dominic Fitz," he murmured.

"You came very early, Mr. Bass," Dominic said as he gestured to the man to take his seat while he also sat back down on his chair. 

"Well, I figured you were a busy man and would want to get this meeting out of the way as soon as possible," Dylan Bass replied with a slight shrug.

Dominic gave what he probably thought was a smile but to a normal person, looked nothing like a smile. "You could have asked me to come over to you," he said.

"Oh, it's not big deal really, Dominic. I was on my way somewhere and I thought I'd stop by," Dylan Bass answered, waving a hand dismissively.

"Alright then," Dominic said briskly, entering into business mode. "Let's do this. Have you read my proposal, Mr. Bass? What do you think of it?" He asked calmly, careful not to show his eagerness.

Dylan Bass gave him a slight smile. "I have read you proposal Dominic and can I just say that you are one brilliant man." He paused and Dominic gave him a slight nod of the head to continue. "I'd be very much happy to give you this project of mine. However, I need you to be aware that you are not the only company seeking the project. There's another company just as good or even better, who are about to submit their own proposal."

Dominic felt a slight anger and jealousy at Dylan's last word. However, he shoved the feelings down. "I assure you, Mr. Bass, that no matter how good you might think that company is, we are better and we have our works to show for it."

"They have their works to show for it," he answered. "Casalengo Empire, you've heard of them, haven't you!" He asked.

Dominic gritted his teeth at that. Of course, it had to be......them. "Once or twice," he replied flippantly, looking away from Dylan to his laptop.

"Well, they are appointing a new COO and their proposal will be on my desk by this week according to them, so....."

Dominic shut his laptop. "Mr. Bass, when exactly do you plan on giving us a feedback?" He asked.

A frown appeared on Dylan Bass' face. "A week or two."

"Great, we'll be expecting you by then. James will see you out," he said flatly, reaching out to press the intercom on his desk. The door opened almost immediately and John walked in. "Help Mr. Bass on his way out, will you? And see to it that he arrives at his car in peace."

"Yes sir," John replied as Dylan Bass slowly stood up from his chair.

"Have a nice day, Dominic."

"And you too Mr. Bass," Dominic answered, keeping his gaze fixed on the man as John slowly walked out with him before closing the door. Once the door was closed, he let out a sigh and closed his eyes. He opened his laptop and clicked on browser. He inputed a few words including 'COO' and 'Casalengo' and sure enough, a few articles popped up claiming that Casalengo Empire had just appointed a new COO.

Dominic blinked twice when he saw the name and the picture of the newly appointed COO. Then, a wry smile appeared on his face. Of course, nepotism was a thing in their world and he was not one to judge. Why would he judge? He literally took over the company from his father.

But Maeve Casalengo?l

Why would anyone appoint Maeve Casalengo? The woman was all beauty and no brains, as far as he was concerned. He knew Maeve Casalengo even before she disappeared to Spain. She was always in the news for partying, drinking, shopping - nothing other than those three, nothing worthwhile at all. Then, she traveled to Spain for a year and a half and now she was the new COO? He scoffed. Whoever appointed her just made the biggest mistake of his or her life and the company was about to go into ruins.

He could not wait to watch his biggest competitor crumble.

Dominic clicked on a recent article that had a picture of Maeve Casalengo and her friend, Imogen Marin - a world class model - walking into a mall and he chuckled. Very early on a Monday morning and the new COO is at the mall instead of at work. Figures.

He stared at the picture, lingering way too long on it.

Dominic shut his laptop. He was not worried about Casalengo Empire, especially if that was their new COO. He doubt she could even come up with a proper proposal. Obviously, she would have people around to help her but he was not worried at all. Like he said, the girl was all face and no brains.

His phone rang and he picked it up. It was his mother calling. At first, he contemplated not picking up. Then, he sighed and swiped the answer icon, placing the phone to his ear. "Hey mum."

"I just received a call from your personal assistant asking to cancel dinner again. You've cancelled on us for the past three weeks. What's going on?!"

Dominic sighed again. "Nothing. It's just work. You know how it is."

"Do I? Do I really know? Is this about work, Dominic? Or are you cancelling because of your father? You still don't want to see him?" She asked.

"No, of course not. That's not why. I'm just swamped at work mum but I'll give you a call later. Bye!"

"Dominic, wait......" his mum yelled into the phone but he already hung up, throwing his phone on the table and closing his eyes. 

He massaged his head with his forefingers, sighing again. 

After spending the whole day at work, attending meetings, barking order at his employers, Dominic finally retired to his home around half past eleven in the night. The driver rolled the car to a stop in his garage and Dominic climbed out of the car. He walked to the door and pushed it open.

"Hey Noelle," he greeted the dark haired woman sitting on his couch.

Noelle glanced up at him. "You look like shit."

"I feel like shit."

Noelle Gentry was his step-sister and the reason for he and his father's estrangement. Just about a year ago, Dominic found out that his father - Stefan Fitz- was cheating on his mother and he had another family outside, except Stefan did not want to take responsibility for the other family which made Dominic mad. He eventually connected with his father's mistress and the daughter she had for him turned out to be Noelle.

"Sorry i came into your house without your knowledge," she said, lowering her laptop a little and staring at him. "But I have a shit ton of work to do and I need some place close to my office so I can get there fast enough tomorrow."

"It's fine," he groaned. His phone rang beside him and he raised it, rejecting the call.

"Another cancelled dinner?" Noelle asked but he said nothing. "You know you that have to keep your father at arm's length because of me," she said.

Dominic wanted to retort he's your father to but he kept quiet saying nothing. "I heard you have a new COO," he commented changing the topic and Noelle rolled her eyes. 

"Yeah, Maeve Casalengo. I'm her personal assistant. Why do you think I have loads of work to do tonight?" She asked.

"What are you doing?"

"Sending invitations for her party on Friday night out," Noelle answered, her fingers moving quickly across the keyboard.

Dominic let out a startling laugh. "You are joking."

"I wish I could say I was," Noelle sighed. "She thinks throwing a party would be a nice way to introduce herself to investors and connect with them."

There was a short pause, then Dominic asked, "What is she like? Maeve Casalengo?"

Noelle shrugged. "I don't know. It's still too early to tell but she doesn't seem like a sweet person."

"So, is my name on this list of invites."

Noelle looked at him. "Not that I know of."

What? "My name is not there? I'm one of the most influential businessmen in the States," Dominic said, in a matter of fact manner. "My name has to be there."

"Well, I've gone through this list from top to bottom and your name isn't there," Noelle said with a shrug.

Dominic said nothing, a thoughtful frown taking over his face. "You know what you have to do, right?"

Noelle eyed him suspiciously. "What?"

"Get me an invite."

"What? Why?! Ugh, Dominic. Why?!"

Dominic shrugged his shoulders. "I just need to check out the competition, that's all." He rose to his feet and grabbed his briefcase. "Get me an invite," he stated in a tone that left no space for questions, then walked away.