1 Chapter1

#Chapter1

/"Christopher Michael Brown, if you don’t come down here in the next minute you are not going to like me,/" Sasha screamed at the stairs before checking her bag to make sure she had everything she wanted. Then placing it on the dolphin fountain, she turned to the little girl beside her and wiped clean the crumbs of cookie she just finished eating from her mouth. /"Where is your bag?/"

/"It’s on the kitchen counter,/" she replied with her tiny voice, tucking a lock of her platinum blonde hair behind her ear. Sasha sighed and went back into the kitchen to get the bag and when she returned, she saw her nearly seven year old son standing behind the dolphin, trying to hide himself from her.

/"Christopher?/" She called softly and he peeked at her from behind the dolphin, /"what is the problem?/"

/"I don’t want to go to school today,/" he replied, looking like the miniature of his father with his pitch black hair and ocean blue eyes.

/"And why is that?/" Sasha asked.

/"Because Cindy won’t be in school today,/" Sapphire answered nonchalantly.

/"Shut up,/" Christopher barked at her and she stuck her tongue out at him.

Sasha watched the interaction with a soft smile before approaching Christopher after handing Sapphire her bag and squat down in front of him, /"who is Cindy?/" she asked softly, smoothening his hair back like she often does his father’s.

/"His girlfriend,/" Sapphire answered again.

/"Shut up,/" he warned once more.

/"Sapphire,/" Sasha called warningly at her and she squeaked lazily before taking her lunchbox and walking towards the front door. Sasha waited till she was outside before turning back to Christopher, /"what is it?/"

/"She is not my girlfriend,/" he felt the need to clear his name.

/"I know, but why don’t you want to go to school today?/"

‘I just don’t feel like./"

/"Why?/"

/"No reason./"

/"That’s not enough reason for you to stay at home, so if you want me to consider that idea you better give me a good reason./"

Christopher sighed and then shook his head, /"it’s alright mom, I will go to school./"

/"Christopher…/"

/"It’s alright mom, let’s go, you are getting late for work already,/" he said, dragging her up and out. Sasha quickly grabbed her bag from the fountain and followed him outside, although he didn’t want to talk to her but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t worried, so she decided to ask Michael to speak to him tonight. He always responds better to Michael than her and she wonders why. She thought it’s said that the son goes to his mother and daughter to her father but her kids are different, they are both their father’s children and always talks better with him than her.

After getting them into her car, she drove straight to their school and Chris was quiet all through the ride which wasn’t something new since he doesn’t talk much and she fears he might have taken after his father in everything including his isolation attitude. She had often talked to Michael about it but he doesn’t see it as a big deal and often uses himself as an example that nothing happened to him for being an introvert. But Sasha knows what she was afraid of, yes she loves Michael but they both know he had led a boring life especially in school and she doesn’t want that for her son. In their Children, Sapphire was like her and Chris like Michael but she really wants Chris to be outspoken, it would save him a lot of stress and life of solitude like his father.

Michael might be happy now but they must not forget the part that it was because of his isolation that they missed a lot of years in their lives as a couple and she doesn’t want that for her son and now about this Cindy girl, she really needs to know more about her and what effect she has on her son and if her presence is going to be good for him or bad. Pulling over in front of their school, Sapphire opened the backseat door immediately and jumped out as a teacher walked over to help her while Sasha stopped Chris from getting down, /"hey,/" she smiled lovingly at him, /"you know you can talk to me about anything right?/"

He nodded as a response and opened the passenger’s side door, /"Christopher,/" he stopped and looked at her, /"don’t hesitate to come to me for anything, please./"

/"Yes mom,/" he replied and got down from the car.

/"I love you,/" Sasha smiled.

/"I love you too,/" he closed the door and settled his bag on his back.

/"I love you Sapphire,/" Sasha shouted at her daughter and she smiled and waved at her before shouting, /"I love you too, mom./" She sighed and watched them get into their school before driving straight to work but unknown to her, a car was trailing behind her.

***

In the conference room of the Brown’s Empire, a meeting was going on in other to discuss the strategy to apply because of the excess loss in the market. Michael pinched the bridge of his nose and heaved a sigh, nothing makes sense, he has been wondering how the rates would drop so abruptly but no matter how much he thinks of it, he wouldn’t arrive at the possible idea of why it was so or the best way to handle it.

And now with all the plans being raised up, none seem to make any sense to him or even have the potential of sorting what it is needed for. /"Mr. Brown, what do you think?/" a man asked, calling him out of his thought.

He sighed and glanced at the board, making connection with all the dots in the line and immediately figuring out that it was not going to work, /"I’m afraid Mr. Mitchell, but that’s not what we need./"

/"But sir…/" Mr. Mitchell hoped to convince him.

/"Listen, the market sales suddenly started dropping drastically, running a discount or whatever is not going to help. It will only make us sale quantity but not much profit. What we need is to figure out why the sales are dropping. We don’t need to just create awareness, we need to find the problem and stop it. And I say dispatch the marketers, let them interact with the consumers, see what they want, let us get where we are going wrong, where we need to improve, that is the only sane solution to me. When we get that and make our improvement, then we can talk about creating awareness or the discount you are talking about. And Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe this is where this meeting comes to an end, call me when you have something I want to hear about,/" he stood up then and without a second glance, walked out of the room.

Gary met him on the hallway, /"sir,/" he greeted.

Michael pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh, /"what is it Gary?/"

/"Jack and Jones called, they want to know if you would be free to have lunch with them this afternoon. Apparently they are still having a little issue and need your help with it as mistress’s investor./"

/"Ah please I don’t need another trouble now, I have a lot on my plate and theirs is the last one I want to talk about. Call them and tell them I am busy, maybe next time,/" he replied, walking away and Gary followed.

/"Um…That’s what you have been saying for the past month sir, you keep brushing them away and I am afraid if you continue they may think you are avoiding them./"

/"I am avoiding them Gary, you know that,/" he said, getting into his private elevator and Gary followed, pressing their floor button. /"As you know, Gary, we are having a big problem already and it’s worse because I don’t know how to handle it, I have never been in such situation before and its…/" he sighed, /"its eating me up. Scaring me even,/" he added.

/"I know sir,/" Gary answered just as the elevator dinged and the doors opened. They stepped out and matched straight to his office, /"but it’s only lunch. Just meet up with them, tell them a few things and that’s that. We both know that they played a huge role in mistress’s company./"

/"And I would have still done it without them,/" Michael said stubbornly.

/"We both know that sir, but still, pay them that respect./"

Michael groaned, /"you know I am having a hard time figuring out what I’m paying you as Gary, my personal assistant or personal adviser./"

/"Well they are both PA, so I guess I will be claiming them both only that it would require a raise,/" Gary said and they both chuckled before entering Michael’s office.

Michael went straight to his desk and removed his jacket. He hanged it on his chair and walked to the floor to ceiling windows, /"what do you think is happening, Gary, this isn’t just the market failing or dropping or anything. I can’t help but feel like someone is responsible, I mean, it’s the first time we are encountering such, isn’t it./"

/"Ever since I have known you, Michael, when it comes to business, your instinct is always right./"

/"When it comes to business?/" Michael turned to him with a raised eyebrow, /"so my instinct is only right when it involves business, hmm?/"

Gary chuckled, taking the seat opposite his desk, they have gotten pretty close within the years that they are more like friends than boss and staff. Michael has even offered to give him a promotion but Gary has rejected, for some reason he prefers to stay by Michael’s side than to answer a big title in the company and it wasn’t a decision to regret since Michael was paying him so much more than an assistant and he is being respected in the company more than any other person apart from Michael. In the company, it was after Michael then him. /"Well, we both can’t deny the fact that you often react differently in things that are not businesslike./"

/"Hmm, is that so,/" Michael asked walking back threateningly at him and taking his seat opposite, /"will you dare to repeat that?/"

/"Not at all,/" Gary immediately said and they both laughed before getting interrupted by Gary’s phone ringtone which he excused himself to answer and when he was done, Michael could tell from his countenance that he had a bad news.

/"What is it?/" He asked, waiting impatiently for him to spill out.

/"Like I said, your instinct is always right. Someone is responsible for the falling in the market rate. The question now is, who? Who is after you?/"

/"Not me Gary,/" Michael said, shaking his head softly, /"who is after Brown’s?/"