~ MARIA BELGRAVE ~ “What do you mean you don’t know where the files are?” I stood outside my office in the lobby in full view of everyone. We’d told no one about my identity, hoping it would spread among the building’s people. “They were here when I went for lunch, I swear. I know I locked the door.” Josy said to me in response to my question. I could hear her despair and upset as she opened other desk drawers and such searching for the missing files. It’s not anger that I felt toward Josy. It’s the shock that after Jacqueline’s invasion of my office while I was in there, someone else would invade to steal something. I revealed Jacqueline’s lie about taking an art piece to remember my father. She’d been there to steal the files. I couldn’t prove it, but it made sense to me. Jacqueline failed and gave an excuse for being there. The police in the end charged her with attempted theft because she’d not inherited the piece of art she’d mentioned
~ MARIA BELGRAVE ~ Following David and company down to his office was a simple, if embarrassing, affair. Yes, it shouldn’t be embarrassing, and I know it didn’t register as embarrassing to anyone else in the building. But it felt like that to me. As COO, he should come to my office not the other way around, but twice in one week my office became a crime scene. This was unreasonable. Thank God I’d left my laptop at home since Jacqueline was here. Sabrina had pestered David with calls, and she’d pestered Belgrave Tech to speak with me. She didn’t have my cellphone number. Thank heavens I’d not been stupid enough to give her my number. I’m sure it’s her trying to push me to not press charges on her mother. But I wasn’t the one doing it. The company was. It’s a security issue and out of my hands. “Josy, I require assistance with preparation before chaos ensues. Would you help me?” Jake asked her out of the blue. “What? Now? Why d
~ DAVID HARGROVE ~ Maria sat there before me, and for once in her life, she was silent. She appeared chastened, making me hesitate. I hadn’t told her what I’d done. My actions since learning about the situation. Maria had stood all but alone, without support from anyone beyond Josy and no resources. When we realized she didn’t have unlimited funds, and Maria had lied about her identity, Jake and I at the end scratched at our heads in confusion. I’d felt so much anger when I understood why she’d placed herself in the position she had. Those reasons behind each person I’d dealt with who’d used her suffering and loss to gain something for themselves. I hadn’t realized why I’d done it the first few times. Other than I’d felt anger at their selfish actions and how it affected my investments. When I understood who Maria was and how their actions affected her, I went after those people again and finished them so they couldn’t harm her again. She w
~ MARIA BELGRAVE ~ David’s talking to me. I’m surprised. He’s not talking business, which is surprising. He’s talking about our relationship and how he treats me. David’s not shutting the conversation down. “Why am I supposed to accept everything and carry on? Take everything with a graceful smile and be grateful of the apology. I hope any promise is upheld by the person. I don’t even have a person witness it. No contracts and not signatures. Why is that, David?” I couldn’t look at David’s eyes anymore. I didn’t dare. He may burst with anger soon. When he caught onto what I wanted. David kept talking about wanting to marry me. But he said nothing about me being equal to him. Nothing about respect. No protections unless it’s on his terms. “Maria, am I so bad to you? Have you ever gone without? When you asked for something, have I not given it to you? My expectations of you were simple. Be there for me whenever and wherever I
~ MARIA BELGRAVE ~ “Well then. Come here. I have something to show you.” David said. He turned and walked to his desk. I didn’t know if he felt angry. At least, he wasn’t yelling at me, odd. What did he want to show me? Curiosity and annoyance struck me. What was with his secretiveness? “David, I’m serious and I’m not going to accept a token offering.” This would not be a hand me a plane ticket to Paris with an unlimited credit card. A new condo option is now available. “Maria, sit here and look at this. Read it first before you say anymore. Please.” He sounded odd. A little too calm now. He’d taken a folder from a drawer, and I noticed his hand shook a little as he put the folder on the desk before me. David stood behind me and watched me read the document. “David. It’s disturbing and uncomfortable having you lingering over my shoulder. Why are you lingering there?” He made a grumbling sound. “I’m sorry. I’m i
~ MARIA BELGRAVE ~ “Maria, look at it and tell me it’s not what you want. Tell me that this doesn’t satisfy everything for everyone.” David pointed at the folder on the desk. “Read it again, Maria. I don’t intend to exploit you. Not this time.” Despite David’s lack of anger or annoyance, I felt grateful for his insistent demeanor. “David. I can see that. But I’m trying to understand why this is our plan when we never discussed it. It’s also more than business and marriage.” I returned to the documents and read a few additional pages. It’s all so overwhelming. Sitting here, I could feel his closeness while I looked at the documents proclaiming my deepest desires were in my hands. In my literal hands. I searched for a loophole to avoid this nightmare. Some twisted game to torture me. I couldn’t find that loophole, though. That’s what confused me and made me wonder what I had missed or if someone had given me a break. “Yes, Maria. I listened t
~ DAVID HARGROVE ~ I observed the monitor displaying in the conference room, where everyone mingled and settled into their seats for the meeting and announcements. They weren’t happy with the CEO’s office sending out this unexpected announcement and meeting. No one knew what its purpose was about, and I’ll enjoy this meeting. I’ll make these moves he’s always wanted to. I’d planned every step with care to carve out the dead weight and those who’re holding me back. My family doesn’t present themselves to the world as united. They’re as vicious with each other as they are with perfect strangers. Sometimes they were worse. I had to address divided members before they caused more problems. I sent a text to Jake, and I felt still curious about Maria’s situation, and I did not intend to uncover any trouble there. [How is it going? Any difficulty?] [So far, so good.] I couldn’t help but smile.
~ DAVID HARGROVE ~ “I don’t care Richard. No. You are out. Gone. I won’t debate this. You can leave now.” My Uncle Richard stood before me sputtering and protesting for the better part of an hour. He refused to listen or learn anything new. He wouldn’t carry a phone, take a computer class, use a computer, or any type of modern technology beyond the early seventies. “I’m your uncle.” He believed his relation to the founder entitled him to sit and receive payment. My uncle didn’t believe he had to do anything beyond the bare minimum. “I don’t care. You haven’t maintained your education and kept up with technology. I can’t email you or text you. Which means you can’t function within the modern business environment without assistance and in this business that exposes us to an extra layer of unnecessary staff that can be corrupted, blackmailed, or infiltrated. You have had a successful run and it’s time for you to retire along with my fathe