Chapter 3: Constantine's Childhood

FLASHBACK

Constantine was at the veranda when a bodyguard called him. “Sir, your dad, Mr. Victor was calling you at his office.” He made a loud sigh before answering. “Is it urgent?” Constantine asked while scratching his head. “He doesn’t say anything, Sir”, the guard replied. He looked at their garden for one last time before going to his father’s room. He knew his good mood will turn into bad when he reached that room. While walking, he kept on talking himself that everything will be alright.

Breathe in. Breathe out. He knocked at the door and slowly opened it. He saw his father looking out the window with a mug in his hand. The ambiance of the room made Constantine shiver. “Sit down”, his father commanded. Constantine made himself comfortable on the chair in front of his father’s working table. The nervousness that he felt made him look uneasy. He circled his eyes around the room. The usual room set-up of a busy businessman, the messy table full of papers that needed a signature, two chairs in front of the table, a coffee table at the side, big bookshelves around the room, and the big window behind the table where they can see the front gate and the people that will pass through the gate. “Do you want anything, Constantine?” his father asked and faced him. “I want… to end this through so, why am I being called?” Constantine answered straightly. “So cold.” Mr. Victor put his mug on the table and sat. He looked at Constantine. “Uhm? Okay? What is this for? You will just stare at me?” he said annoyed. “No,” his father stood up and walked towards the other chair facing Constantine. “This is an important matter, my son. Someday, you will inherit every business and every money I have and save. I want you to manage our business right now.” Constantine was shocked by all the words he heard from his father’s lips. “Wait, what?!” Constantine stood up confused.

“You should do it, early practice makes perfect,” Mr. Victor Dimiscus said.

“How am I supposed to manage that? I’m still in secondary school yet you expect me to have all the knowledge of our business?! How naive are you, Dad?”

“I managed your grandfather’s businesses when I was 17, what’s the difference if you’re 15 now? It’s just two years.”

“Well, the difference is that you are inclined with all this business stuff while I don’t have any interest in it! And, you were at a business school at that time and I’m just in a private school now. How many factors should I jot down first for you to see the difference between the two of us?!”

“You have so many excuses, Constantine. You will be my second whether you like it or not. You will be the second father when I’m gone, I didn’t know if you care about that.”

“This discussion is pointless as always. I care about you, Dad. I care for this family; I care for my younger siblings but you didn’t care about me. You just care about all these businesses that gave you money. I’m sorry if I’m not like you at your age. I’m not a genius, I’m not an optimist, I’m not the one who can see the future ahead, I don’t have any talent--- I’m just like this, a teenager who wanted to be normal since my teenage years can pass by a blink of an eye. Yeah, pointless. I will just breathe some air outside.”

Constantine walked out of his father’s office frustrated. He closed the door and stopped for a while to think things through. He walked slowly and to his room with a loud sigh. “How am I supposed to manage a big company with the knowledge I have right now,” Constantine said while lying on his bed. The confused boy stared at the ceiling for some time when his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Bro, want to hang out or… let’s talk about the project?”

“Uhm…”

“What? Are you okay? You sound weird.”

“I’ll pass, for now, something came up”

“Oh, sure. Talk to you soon”

“Thanks”

Constantine POV

I woke up feeling the hotness of the sun outside my window. It’s been a very long time since my mom woke me up from a good sleep. I missed those days when I’m just her only baby. Things changed when my siblings came and responsibilities were thrown over me. I stood up and drew the curtain to each side. Sun shined over my face and I felt a good day ahead. I went straight to my bathroom to change clothes and brushed my teeth.

I went downstairs to grab some breakfast when I saw my whole family at the dining table, what a miracle we have. “The prince woke up from a good sleep huh?”, my mom murmured when she saw me. I ignored her and went straight to my favorite chair and eat. They were all quiet when my dad started to talk about his business. I wonder if he has any hobbies other than meetings and business-related stuff. My younger siblings were listening like they knew what our father saying and here I am eating the whole breakfast at the dining table when my dad caught my attention. “You should be the one who listens to all the things I’m saying, Constantine.” I looked at him and saw his serious face. “Dad, I don’t want to be rude or what but is this the time to talk about those things? Isn’t it too early for that?” I asked confusingly. My dad’s expression changed when he heard my question. He stood up and didn’t finish his breakfast, it feels like he want to tell me things but refused not to. We watched him going upstairs when my mom talked. “What a good question, Constantine. Now, your father is in bad mood. Thank you for ruining it.” My mom stood up and get my siblings to go upstairs too, I was left alone at the table. I finished my food and went straight to my dog’s house. At least my dog wanted to see me unlike those people inside our house. My dog wagged its tail when he saw me. “Hello, good boy, good morning, miss me?” The dog jumped at me joyfully. He kept on jiggling around and running in front of me. I wonder how little things made a dog happy but people on the other hand wanted everything.

I went upstairs when I got tired of playing with my dog. I overheard two voices arguing, I slowly walked towards the origin of the voices--- my father’s working room. “Is he ready for the consequences? Are you sure he can manage that? What is wrong with you!?” I heard my mom shouting. “That’s your son and you didn’t know what he’s capable of? What kind of mother are you?” my father answered. I’m confused but the thoughts came across my mind when we were at the dining table. Am I the one they were talking about? I tiptoed and moved closer to the door. “Why don’t you just give me that position and I will manage that for you? You don’t trust me?” my mom asked. “You’re a girl and you can’t manage the business”, my father replied plainly. My mom was shocked at what she heard. “Are you listening to yourself?! Is that even a reason?! You looked at me like I’m a failure? Is that what you are trying to say?” my mom snapped. “No, that’s not what I meant. The earlier Constantine faces challenges the earlier he will learn things in the business industry. And this is not about you, Honey. Don’t be mad,” my father answered assuring my angry mom. There was a minute of silence when I heard footsteps approaching the door where I am hiding, I ran fast as I could toward my room before anyone catches me. I opened the door and stare at my room for a while. “What a day,” I sighed as I lay my body on the bed.

A few minutes later, someone knocked at my door and I heard a voice saying, “prepare for your first office venture next week.”

“Next week?”, there was a loud ping on my ear and all I can hear was the repeated “first office venture next week”. My nightmare will begin next week and I’m sure of it.

****

ONE WEEK LATER

Constantine showed up in his father’s office, Mr. Victor welcomed him wholeheartedly and introduced him to every employee. He seemed to be a different man whenever he was outside of their house. Constantine felt nervous. “May I have your attention please?” Employees turned down everything they were doing and looked at their boss, they watched him attentively and saw a young man beside him. Ladies started to gossip and giggle while looking at Constantine. “Quiet please, I know my son is quite a charmer, girls. Please calm down for now. I have something to say.” The noise went down and silence filled the room. “Okay, this is my son Constantine. I briefed you last week that he will be the one to manage here while I am away. Please, teach him thoroughly and patiently. This is his first time.” Mr. Victor smiled and pat Constantine, a signal that he must say something. “Uhm, hi everyone. I’m Constantine Dimiscus, I’m looking forward to working with you. And please be patient with me, this is my first time in an office setup.” Constantine scratched his head awkwardly. The employees laughed at his reaction. Mr. Victor patted his shoulders. “Well, he will know how to talk someday. Let’s continue our work for the company. Thank you for your time.” They went straight to his father’s office and briefly give him instructions.

“Okay, let’s get to business”

“You sound and looked different outside,” Constantine said plainly.

“That’s my other persona and don’t get me started with that. Listen carefully”, Mr. Victor said seriously

“Everything was a lie then, they saw the other you,” Constantine added.

“You will know why, soon enough --- Here, you will be the one to manage operations, checking financial records and you’re the only one who can sign every paper in and out of this office. Did you get it?”

“You sound like it’s too easy but you didn’t give me any knowledge how can I manage these things”

“You can figure it out yourself, you’re a Dimiscus after all”

Constantine was shocked by his father’s answer. No specific idea or any book was given to him on how he can manage a big company with big money inside. The only one he had was his Dimiscus blood like his father told him. Mr. Victor Dimiscus left a confused child in his office. He talked to his secretary and leave things to her before taking off the office. The secretary went inside the boss’ office to check on Constantine. She saw a confused child inside a big office.

“Are you okay?”, the secretary asked calmly.

“Yes, I’m good. Uh, can you tell me information about how the company works?”, Constantine asked plainly while looking at the papers in front of him.

“You didn’t know anything?”, the secretary hid her smile like there was a plan in the back of her mind.

“I didn’t, I assumed that you know because you are the secretary”

“Of course, I know everything. I am the eyes of everyone here. You can trust me”, the secretary added.

The secretary started to summarize the details that Constantine needed to know. It was an information overload for him but he can’t do anything. He read papers back-to-back to check the accuracy. They scanned every paper and jot down notes for new information that he first encountered. He memorizes dates and schedules meetings for a week even though it’s not necessary. Constantine did everything for him to not mess anything up before his father’s arrival.  

Everything went well for a week. Constantine knew how to manage operations now; he went to the site and checked every detail in the blueprint before tallying the financial status of the said project. He kept a record with him always to check the accuracy of the work and the blueprint and the speed of the workers every single day. He didn’t forget any details about their projects. He already mastered the art of talking to employees and their investors at every meeting. The company was stable for a week when big news came, there was missing money from their project, and they can’t find the receipt or any paper regarding the big amount of money that had been withdrawn from the company’s account.

“How did it happen?”, Constantine asked confused.

“I don’t know, Sir. We can’t find anything about that big amount of money. Every single receipt was kept tightly. We don’t know what happened right now,” the scared employee answered.

Constantine kept on thinking about what happened a week ago. He knew every minute that had gone by and what he did but he didn’t read the papers that were given to him for signature. He realized that the only person who keeps on helping was the secretary. He stood up and went to the secretary’s table but she was on leave.

“Where’s the secretary?”, he asked.

“Sir, she’s on leave for two weeks. We thought she hand over her vacation slip to you?”

“What? Vacation? Two weeks?”, Constantine frowned and went back to his office room.

The whole office was a mess that day. Constantine didn’t know what to do about the money, he doesn’t have enough money to give it back to the company. He knew this will mess him up with his father. He tried to call every person that can help him but they keep on refusing since it was a very big amount to lend. He doesn’t bother to call for help from her mom because he knew she will talk to his father.

The next days, there were reports of missing money again. The company started to stop its operations in different places because of a lack of funds. Constantine rushed to the office to see what happened. Employees were running back and forth to find the missing receipts because the audit department didn’t know where all the money goes. “Calm down, all of you!”, he shouted. They froze in their positions and looked at him. “Let’s talk in the conference room and please, don’t forget your papers and reports. Let’s see what happened here”, Constantine commanded.

Constantine went straight to the conference hall and waited for all the employees to sit down. All of them were tense and the ambiance was heavy. Some of the female employees were teary-eyed already. They knew the company will be closed sooner if they can’t find the missing money. Constantine started to check their reports one by one and he remembered the secretary that keep on helping him.

“Do you have any idea where the secretary is?”, he asked.

“We knew she went back to her province for a vacation but she didn’t reply to any of our messages. Even her social media was not updated anymore”

“Can you hand me every paper that she gave to you with my signature, audit department, and human resource department?”

Employees from the audit and human resource departments handed over tons of papers that the secretary gave to them signed by Constantine and there he saw everything about different bank accounts, different names, and different construction materials that had been sent to an unknown location. And he realized that he’s been tricked. Every paper that she reported wasn’t about the company, it was about something else. He figured out that he didn’t read any paper that had been given to him because he trusted the secretary too much—he allows her to give the summary of every paper before signing. All the realizations were coming through him. He slowly put the papers on the table and looked outside the window of the conference room. Employees saw the pain and heaviness he felt. “Sir?”, one worried voice said. “I’m fine. I’m sorry guys if I let you down. I messed up and you will face the consequences of the shit I’ve done. This is my fault. There’s no missing receipt because it wasn’t to buy any materials, it was deposited to other accounts. The secretary deceived me. Maybe, she’s laughing now because I’m stupid.” Constantine couldn’t contain the heaviness anymore. He cried himself out even though they were in the conference room. Employees started to cry for their jobs too. It was only a matter of time before his father went back to the office.

Two days later, they got news about his father’s arrival. He prepared himself for any consequences that might throw at him. The employees wore their worried faces. They didn’t know how to react when their boss came around.

It was already noon when Mr. Victor came back to the office. Everyone was quiet, no one took their lunch break. He was puzzled and went straight to his office and saw problematic Constantine on his chair.

“Dad…”, Constantine uttered softly

“You look awful, what happened here?”, his father asked.

“Doubt you didn’t know”, Constantine stutters.

“I didn’t, that’s why I’m asking. I didn’t have any news since I walked out of the office last two weeks so any progress?”, Mr. Victor answered straightly.

“I’m stupid. The company stopped the operation last week because of lack of funds…”

“How’d come? For all our money? Lack of funds?!”, Mr. Victor shouted. He couldn’t believe he was listening to nonsense.

“Your secretary made every paper to be company-related so she can transfer money, and I’m stupid for letting it. I know this is all my fault but please, don’t let those employees outside lose their jobs because of my carelessness. This is not for me, Dad. I know I mess up and I’m sorry. Maybe, I shouldn’t be here in the first place. I will pay the missing money when I got a job… Bye”, Constantine leaves the office sadly. The employees were watching him as he passed by them but no one have any strength to run to him. Everyone is silent. Mr. Victor was left alone in his office room when he reached for his phone and called someone.

“Good job, Ms. Secretary. I know you can do it.”

“My conscience can’t handle how your son felt after all this, Sir.”

“Stop with the Sir, don’t worry about it, Baby. I got this. Come back tomorrow, okay? I have something for you.”

“Sure! I miss you, Baby.”

After the phone call, Mr. Victor rushed outside and went inside his car, and rushed to their mansion. He alarmed the guards to call every family member of their house and told them to go to their office. Constantine’s younger siblings were confused about the urgent meeting that had been called out.

“What’s happening?”, Lady Minerva asked.

“Constantine messed everything up, sit down, all of you”, Mr. Victor said angrily.

“Where’s Constantine?!”

Constantine showed up. His eyes were red and teary, his skin was pale, and his body don’t have the strength to move faster. His mother can’t do any, she watched Constantine as he walked from the door and sat on the chair.

“Your good son made the company go bankrupt because he trusted a certain employee,” Mr. Victor said with his gritted teeth.

“I know I’m sorry. Do whatever you want from me. But don’t let your employees lose their job. I will pay you when I got a job,” Constantine said while tears fell down his cheeks.

“I will. I will throw you out of the country, that’s final. No buts, Minerva. He should learn his lesson. Go now, leave!”

Every one of them leaves Mr. Victor’s office room. They quietly walked through the hall to their rooms. Lady Minerva followed Constantine into his room. He looked sad and depressed. “Constantine…”, she said softly while walking towards her son. “Mom… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I… tried to enjoy. I want it to be the perfect three weeks for Dad but… I ruined it. I don’t know what happened but it fell apart”, he said sadly. His mother didn’t say any, she hugged his grieving son and let him calm down in her arms. She let him lie down by his bed and went back to her husband’s office room.

Lady Minerva’s POV

Constantine didn’t look good. I can’t understand what happened with his office venture, and what about being bankrupt? Did Victor allow it? How’d come? I’m already at Victor’s office door when I heard him talking to someone. “Put back the money in the company’s funds and start the operations again. Tell your co-workers that they won’t lose their jobs. I’ll explain when I get back there tomorrow, okay? And book a flight for my son, I need him to stay focused on business other than petty things. Okay, bye.” He put down his phone and was shocked when he saw me. “What did you do? This is your plan, all of it?” I asked without thinking. He looked away and tried to change the subject. “How much did you hear?”, he asked nervously. I started walking towards him and he doesn’t want me to know what he was planning. “Pretty much everything and why are you walking away from me?”, I asked annoyed. He seemed hesitant to say anything. I grabbed his chin softly and face him. “Why did you do that to our son?” He tapped my hand away from him and step away from me. “It’s none of your business. It’s a discipline to be given to any Dimiscus. I know he won’t be interested in no time so I made a plan to bring it out. Is there any problem with that?” he explained angrily. He looked at me like I’m judging his decisions. “But it shouldn’t be that way, big money? It will stain his conscience. He will blame himself.” I saw him shrug his shoulders and don’t want to listen to me anymore. “I don’t want any discussions, you can leave,” he waved his hand goodbye and I started to walk away from him. I wonder why did I marry a guy like him.

All this time, he’s planning to mess up our son for him to be independent and think about business it’s also the reason why he doesn’t want to entrust the company to me. He planned it all along for him to control our son. I don’t have any power to fight him because he has me in his grasp and I don’t have any work, to begin with. I went to our veranda and let my worries shoosh away with the fresh air breeze from the garden. I hope my son will be fine.