Chapter 13- Family pt2

Penelope

"If you ever disrespect my wife and daughter ever again, you would lose everything you have ever worked for, including your life." Dad said in a cold voice. 

"Do I make myself clear?" James was clearly afraid and I was stunned, he has never spoken a word to James and now this? 

"Yes Sir" he said in a choking voice with a busted lip. 

"Good" with that he left him on the floor, picked up both their coats on the rack and opened the door for my Mom who also looked surprised. 

"Let's go Pam" Dad said, placing his hand at her back to guide her through the door. As they both walked out, I joined them immediately leaving James who still looked out of it alone on the floor. 

"Kelvin, get my Parents car" I said when we got outside. After Kelvin left to get their car, it was quiet till I started laughing and Dad joined in with me. Mom still hasn't recovered,

"Oh Dad, I thought I should only be worried about Mom. Who would have known you were the one to be wary of" I said still giggling. 

"Nobody disrespects my family," he said, smiling at me. Mom grabbed his head with both her hands, turning him to look at her "You looked so hot just now hon" she said with dreamy eyes. 

"Really?" he said, squaring his shoulders and puffing his chest. What the fuck!! "Very, we should make Nene a sibling" she said batting her eyelash,

"Gross! That is disgusting. Would you stop, please. I feel like I am in a scene of an horror movie" I said feeling disgusted at imaging my parents having sex and making babies, unfortunately they continued like I was not there at all till Kelvin brought in the car. 

"Where is your driver?" I asked both of them

"We drove ourselves" Dad said

"What?!" I can't remember the last time I saw my parents drive. 

"You are not the only one who doesn't like the extra company Nene" Dad said, still looking at Mom who was now in his arms.

"Kelvin can drive you back" I said looking at Kelvin who was also nodding his head.

"No! We need some alone time. Right babe?" Mom said, lifting her head slightly from dad's shoulder with a look on her face. 

Eewwww

"Uhm? I mean of course. We will see you later, Nene." he said, opening the car door for my Mom and running over to the driver's side. 

"Bye baby" they both waved as Dad started the car. I watched them drive off with a raised eyebrow, Kelvin also had a confused look on his face as he watched them drive out. They have been married for over twenty five years and you can still feel the chemistry between them, I won't put it past Mom to have Dad park by the roadside to fill their needs. I want that too. Someone who would forget all form of class and decency with me, someone who

would defend me, and love me even when I have wrinkles, with a sigh I went back inside only to find James with a bag of ice on his lips, groaning slightly as he went through the file Mom handed over to me.

The actual fuck!!

I stood and watched him coldly till he noticed me, 

"Shit!, you scared the hell out of me" he dropped the papers in his hand, moving the ice away from his face. I could see a bruise forming on his cheeks and his lip busted. How hard did Dad punch him? 

"What are you doing?" I asked him, looking at the papers scattered on the table. 

"Oh this, I saw it lying here and I could not help but look" he scratched the back of his head looking shy. 

"You should mind your own business and not touch things that don't belong to you" I said, moving to gather the papers and placing them back into the file. 

"I didn't mean to snoop but I can't help but recognize the excellent plan in that file. This would be a huge project and it is said to be worth close to a billion and I happen to know a very good upcoming construction firm that can take care of this project" he said shyly. 

"Oh really?! We already have one we are working with already" I picked up the file and was ready to walk away when he grabbed my arm, pulling me to himself. 

"Come on babe, they obviously need your input in the project that is why they were here today. You just have to say the word and I am in on it as well" when he noticed I wasn't yielding, he continued

"Do it for us, it would make the investors trust me further and remove that shitty condition. Besides, you are now a shareholder." 

"Imagine our first project costing a billion dollars," he said, trying to convince me.

"Are you nuts?" I just couldn't hold back anymore, I was losing my patience with his greed and lack of shame. 

"Excuse me?" he sounded surprised at my outburst 

"Do you have no shame at all? Because I do not seem to understand you or get your point right now." 

"You want to jump in on my project owned by my family when you just insulted my family? You asked them to leave a house you didn't pay a cent for" I said looking at this selfish man. The audacity. 

"I was just pissed at those damn bodyguards, they never do what they are told. It is like they don't respect me as the man of this house" 

"Babe, you shouldn't take that to heart. Besides your Dad already punched me, have I not suffered enough?" he tried to persuade me. 

"Suffered? You don't even know what suffering is" 

"And you do? You are just a sp-" he stopped talking, closed his eyes to calm himself. 

"Complete that statement, I dare you"

"Babe come on, let's just forget about the past and move forward…hmm" 

"What are you talking about? It happened literally ten minutes ago!" Past? He said the word like it was five years ago. 

"Typical Penelope!, just can't let shit go" he said, dramatically raising his hand in the air. 

"It just happened, how can I let it go?" it still surprises me the way he thinks sometimes . 

"Just put my name on the damn project and make sure I get it. You don't want to see the love of your life suffering right? Well I would suffer if I don't get it. So make it happen" 

"You know what? Fuck you!. I am not helping you with anything, you want the project? Apply like every other person" with that I walked away climbing up the stairs. 

"If you don't help me, I will divorce your ass. Don't test me Penelope, I am warning you" I heard him yelling down the stairs.

"You would be doing me a favour James" I muttered to myself. I got into my room and shut the door loud enough for him to hear. I decided to take a shower before looking at the content of the file. Ten minutes later, I was in the closet dressing when I heard a knock on the door. I walked over to open the door "Ma'am what would you like for dinner?" Charity asked

"Just make something for you and the guards, I would order in"

"Alright ma'am" I don't think I can ever get enough of how she doesn't bother to ask about James in every situation. It is always like he doesn't exist to her. 

"Can you bring coffee in about five minutes to my study?" 

"Of course ma'am" 

"Thank you." After she left, I gathered the papers in the file and rearranged them before going into my study at the end of the hall. It is password-ed specifically to keep someone out. Charity brought the coffee few minutes after I settled down, as I looked through the files I understood why my parents would approve this project, it would be more of a resort than an hotel. The target customer are honeymooners, married couples, married couples who have lost the spark in their relationship and any one in general searching for love. We would be playing cupid. The services to be provided are so in tune with the whole idea, this was well thought of that it makes me wonder if this partner also has love issues to want to create a place like this, it feels like something that came out of one's fantasy. Curious about this partner company, I went online to check out information about them, only to find out the CEO doesn't appear at events and would rather send in his brother. So the internet barely had pictures of him, the ones I could find were his back view or blurry face pictures. He looks like a private person. 

The next day I got a call from my new secretary informing me my office is located on the fourth floor of the company's building. I invited her to my house so she can drop off some file that has been assigned to me.