FAMILY BUSINESS

CHAPTER 1

Jonson Briggs was helped out of the ward material he was wearing. Even though the clothes were swapped daily, he always felt it was the same ugly maroon gown. The male nurse stationed to him in his private ward at St. Garvin's hospital carefully helped him to take off the long gown. He then placed the well-ironed plain trousers and cream tee shirt Mrs Briggs brought.

Two weeks ago, Mr Jonson, the famous C.E.O collapsed during a business meeting and the fifty-five-year-old was rushed to St. Garvin's hospital. When he opened his eyes after three hours he was greeted by the news of his admission. The doctor who was his childhood friend had insisted that Mr Jonson remains in the hospital where he will be treated for severe fatigue. It's been two weeks past and today; Jonson Briggs will be finally leaving the hospital.

"I'll take it from here." Mr Jonson said and tried to seize the outfits from David, the nurse.

David smiled and presented the clothes to him. "You are now fit and I wouldn't be surprised if you challenge me to a fight, sir."

Mr Jonson smiled and patted David on the shoulder. "Thank you for taking care of me."

David blinked. "I'm just doing my job sir. Stay safe," he said and walked out.

A few minutes later, Mrs Briggs, a tall curvy woman in her late forties walked into the ward and saw her husband fully dressed. He was sitting by the edge of his bed, adorning his wrist with his Rolex.

She walked up to him and planted soft kisses on his right cheek. "I'm glad you are finally coming home darling. We miss you so much."

Mr Jonson rose to his feet and smiled lovingly at his wife. "I can't wait to get the hell out of here. I miss home and I can't wait to find out what has been going on in my company."

At the mention of his company, his wife looked away and sighed.

"Is everything set? Shall we leave?"

"Yes, of course." Mrs Briggs replied and took the lead.

The driver had pulled the limousine and was waiting for Mr and Mrs. Briggs to step out of the hospital. He saw them coming from afar and stepped out of the car. He collected the bags Mrs Briggs was carrying and stuffed them in the car. He then led the couple into the limo.

"Did you thank Dr. Fred?" demanded Mr. Jonson after they got into the car.

His wife nodded and squeezed her right palm into his. "I couldn't leave without thanking him. He did a good job by keeping you here for a while."

"At last, I'm free from the annoying scent of this damn place." Mr. Jonson declared as the driver sped off.

They were driven to the mansion and when Mr Jonson stepped out of the car, he was greeted with warm smiles from family members and close friends who had been waiting for his arrival at home. His wife had planned an intimate welcome party for him.

The guests had dinner at his large round table and before 6 pm, they all dispersed. Jonson Briggs took a shower and decided to watch the news at 7 pm. His wife was in the kitchen giving orders to the chef while his youngest daughter Cassie had gone to her room upstairs.

"Matilda!" Jonson screamed and his wife was startled to the bone marrow at the sound of his voice. She ran out of the kitchen and met her husband fuming.

He turned to face her and she sensed the rage in his eyes. She swallowed some air and lowered her head.

"You told me our business was fine." he began.

Matilda lifted her head and fixed her gaze on the television. The business news was going on. At that point, she needed no one to tell her that her husband had just learned about the losses they had incurred in the past two weeks.

"I'm so sorry honey. Dr. Fred said you needed to rest and I couldn't just talk to you about the business. I wanted you to get better." she tried to explain.

Mr Jonson glared at her and pulled out his cell phone. He immediately called his secretary.

"Frances, I want you to schedule a meeting with the board of directors for 8 am tomorrow," he ordered and hung up.

He frowned at his wife and made his way to their bedroom in a fit of rage. She sighed and swung her head from left to right.

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The next morning, Mr Jonson woke up before his phone alarm gave the signal. He wore a gas blue suit with black leather shoes. He disregarded his wife's plea to have breakfast. He rushed outside after carrying his briefcase.

"I can't eat when my company is in the mud." he had told his wife before stepping into the car.

When Jonson Briggs got to his office, his secretary, Frances a middle-aged woman reported that the board of directors were already seated in the conference hall. It was a few minutes past 8 am. He dropped his suitcase on the table and headed to the conference room.

The company's board of directors consists of four people. Three men and a woman. They were speaking in low tunes but when Mr Briggs walked into the hall, a deafening silence fell upon the room.

Mr Jonson sat and placed both his hands on the round table. They exchanged glances.

"Collins!" he called out and the man whose name was mentioned pressed his eyes against each other. He is the company's managing director.

"You visited me two days back in the ward and you affirmed that the company was doing okay."

Collins adjusted his spectacles and cleared his throat loudly. "Sir, I can explain." he managed to say, his voice quaking.

"You better explain Collins because I can't believe what I saw last night. I left you in charge of my company for just two weeks and we lost two investors?" Mr Jonson screamed. "Damn it" he groaned and slapped the tabletop.

The other members lowered their heads. When Collins visited Mr Briggs in the hospital two days back, he wanted to tell him about the two investors that pulled out of the company but Matilda had asked him to remain silent. He had expected this outburst from Mr Jonson because he knew how much the man revered his business.

"We are sorry sir. We are working on fixing this." the lady amongst them said.

"Fixing this? What are you guys fixing? Two investors pulled out. Not just any kind of investors but we are talking about foreign investors here. It's a huge loss." Mr. Jonson fired back.

"Please stay calm sir. I assure you, we will have this fixed soonest. All hands are on deck." Collins promised.

"I pay you guys to make things grow around here not fix things." Mr Jonson said.

"We are sorry sir!"

"We tried all we could to convince them to stay but they didn't listen to us."

Mr Jonson stood up. "You know what? I don't have time for all this. I believe you guys are no longer competent."

All their jaws dropped and he went on. "My daughter Cassandra will be back in a week. She just graduated from the London school of business. She'll take over this company and guess what Collins, She'll take over your post as the Managing Director before I make her C.E.O and I assure you all that this company will flourish henceforth the way I always wanted." Mr. Jonson asserted and stormed out of the conference hall.