PLAYING PRETEND

After a quick goodbye, Callie made her way to the parking lot. Before she knew it, she was on the road and headed to her grandmother’s house - the default venue for all parties. Her hands were clutching the wheels a little too tightly as she weaved her way through downtown traffic. The neighborhood wasn’t that far from her office, considering that most of her grandmother’s neighbors owned the businesses in the area where Callie worked. Their homes were lined up perfectly on either side of the street, huge sprawling mansions that couldn’t possibly be occupied even if all their children and grandchildren lived with them. You could barely see the houses because of the towering gates and the long driveway that led up to the actual front door. Most of the properties had security at the front gates or dogs guarding the grounds. Even though Callie had grown up there, she often felt like an intruder when the guard inspected her identification at the gates. She was always relieved when they

Callie didn’t notice the time passing. Before she knew it, she was escorting Aiko into her car and instructing Benjamin, their driver, to take her straight home. Benjamin had been their chauffeur ever since Aiko was a teenager, so Callie trusted him. Once Aiko was safely on the way home, it was time to make sure the other guests also had a safe way of getting home or a spot where they could sober up before traveling. Callie also took care of any bills that were left unpaid and made sure to tip everyone that worked at the party. She was on her way to tip the bartender that had made her Ice tea when she noticed a lone figure still sitting at the bar. “James?” she called in surprise. She was further surprised when the man that turned to her appeared deeply inebriated, nearly falling off the stool. Callie had to rush over and hold her hands up just to make sure he didn’t slump forward, but thankfully, James was able to grab onto the bar. Up close, his beautiful blue eyes were red-rimm

Callie arrived at work some minutes late dressed in a corporate black dress that fitted her perfectly. She was still feeling dizzy and lazy but had to hurry to her office.“Good morning, Ms. Everett,” Ruth greeted cheerfully as she approached. At least one of them seemed to have gotten a complete eight hours of sleep. “I have your coffee and your calendar ready for you.”Callie took the large coffee cup that Ruth handed to her with gratitude. She made a mental note to give Ruth a bigger bonus for Christmas as her assistant also handed her the iPad. “Thank you, Ruth. I’ll see you in my office in 30 minutes, and we can go over everything together, okay?” Callie is just beginning her day when she sees the news -- Xander has been replaced by his brother as the heir to their family company, Hudson Corporation. There is another article that he got dumped by his girlfriend, heiress Veronica Sutton, because he is irresponsible and no longer the heir to the company. When Callie asks Ruth abou

Alaric Kinthe arrived at the firm with a 2021 Ferrari 812 GTS looking classy and smart. He walked straight to the company conference hall and waited patiently for the meeting to start. He was someone who didn't joke with time. He prefers to be 10-20 mins earlier than to give excuses for lateness. Callie was notified of Alaric Kinthe's presence and she quickly stepped out of her office to the conference room, she was impressed he arrived 10 mins earlier. Ruth was walking behind her with some files and an iPad. Callie welcomed the English investors and they complimented each other's looks with the remaining time left before the meetings commenced. Ruth was busy with the iPad, but she managed to greet and continue.Callie gave a presentation that lasted only twenty minutes, the meeting was solely for 45 min and she was operating with time. Alaric Kin was very impressed by her speech and the way she presented it, time was his thing and he loves it when people function with time, he has

“She went running her mouth in Grandma’s house, just to make me look bad”. Callie muttered. “She should have allowed me to make my engagement announcement myself. What a clown.” “She continued. Who are you talking about?” George questioned“Tia Elena, we met at the carnival.”“Oh that explains everything, Grandma’s house is booming with too much information. “Is he the guy that was dumped by his fiancé?” George inquired.“Elena should stop, I’m not the reason why she has many divorce stories.” She said Xander walked close, “ hope all is well?” Xander asked, and continued “Hi! “I’m James Alexander Hudson, your sister’s fiancé, she told me a lot about you”“Huh, hope is a reasonable thing?” pulling out his hands to greet, George Everett” he added.Xander smiled “ yes acceptable things.” As they hugged each other in a friendly manner. From the little he heard from Callie about George, Xander sees a lot of himself in George and tells him to be more considerate towards his sister. G