ISABELLA
“Good morning ma’am,” My secretary Nancy greeted me as I stormed through the reception headed to my office. I walked into my not so large office and sat on the creaking old wooden chair that belonged to my dad when he was CEO.As I sat on my chair, I finally replied to Nancy. “Good morning Nancy. Has Mr. Parker reached out to us yet?”“Yes ma’am,”My heart began to beat fast as I waited for Nancy to speak up. Mr. Parker is a crucial business partner that I badly needed to get this company back on its feet.“Well, what are you waiting for Nancy, spill it!” I said as I pounded my fists on the table showing my impatience.“He said he’s not interested in our proposition,” She announced, squinting her eyes probably in fear of what my reaction would be.I let out a sigh and stood up from my chair, looking at the tiny window in my office. Mr. Parker was the only option I had to get this company back on its feet.My father’s architecture company wasn’t thriving while he was alive but it was better than the way it is while being under me. No one wants to patronize us or partner with us.“Ma’am, are you okay?” Nancy said to me interrupting my train of thought.I began to blink my eyes trying to bring myself back to reality. “Yes, Nancy,”“Do you have any next course of action,” she asked with a worried look.“To be honest Nancy, I might have to sell this company because I can’t keep going like this. The company is bankrupt now. I do not have the money to pay the staff anymore,”“Ma’am selling the company shouldn’t be your last resort. You’ll work something out. I trust you,” She said with a tiny smile at the corner of her lips signifying hope.“Thank you, Nancy. Please can you get me the pay slip of all the employees?”“Yes ma'am. I’ll bring them to you now,” she said then turned her back away from me and walked out of my office leaving me to keep on thinking about the situation at hand.I picked up the picture of my late father sitting at the corner of my table and began to look at it “Dad, you know how much I want this company to thrive. Please send help to me from heaven. I'm tired as nothing is working out.”As I continued to talk about my father’s picture, I received a notification on my phone. I picked up my phone to look at who the notification came from. It was a mail from Steele Enterprise.“No way!”The email was from the CEO’s secretary. It said their CEO, Alexander Steele wants to have a meeting with me concerning the future of our companies. The meeting was scheduled for 3 pm and it was 1 pm already.I replied to them that I would be honoring the invitation. I immediately reached for my coat and stormed out of my office with determined steps. I bumped into Nancy which made all the files she was holding fall to the ground.“I’m so sorry, Nancy,”She bent down and started packing the papers on the floor. “No, It’s fine ma’am. Where are you headed to?” she asked.“I’ll explain when I get back,” I said then hurriedly walked out of the company’s building and called a taxi.“Take me to 18, Brooklyn Road,”“Steele Enterprise?” he asked me as he looked at me through his mirror“Yes sir,”“Alright ma’am,” he replied, stepping on his accelerator and beginning the trip.As we arrived at the towering headquarters of Steele Enterprise, my heart raced with a mix of awe and trepidation. The polished marble floors reflected the hushed conversations of executives in sleek suits, while the distant hum of the bustling open-concept workspace echoed innovation.It was different from how my company looked like, way different.I walked over to the receptionist’s desk to ask her to direct me to Alexander Steele’s office.“Hello there. My name is Isabella’s Bennet, CEO of Bennet Buildings and I have a meeting scheduled with Mr. Steele,”“Wait a minute ma’am, let me call his office,” she replied, picking up her telephone and calling someone probably Alexander’s secretary. She dropped the call and looked at me.“You may go see Mr Steele now. Just use the elevator to the last floor and you’ll see directions to his office,” she said pointing at the elevator“Thank you, ma’am,” I said and turned walking up to the elevator. I let out a deep breath as I entered the elevator and pressed the button indicating ‘Last floor’In no time, I got to the last floor and saw another receptionist’s desk beside the elevator door.“You must be Miss Isabella. Nice meeting you ma’am,” she said welcoming me with a smile“Thank you. Can I go see Mr Steele now?” I said sharply because I was nervous.“Sure thing ma’am. Follow me,” she said as she walked me across the hallway till we stopped in front of a glass door with a silver block on it that read: “Alexander Steele. CEO”As we walked in, I was welcomed by a bright light shining from the big glass windows that occupied half of the space for walls in the room. I marveled at the decor of the office and wished my office could look just like this.“Sir, Miss Bennet is here,” The receptionist said to Alexander who had turned his chair to face the windows. He swirled his chair till he faced us.He was a handsome young man with dark hair. He wore a sky blue shirt that wasn’t buttoned to the top with a navy blue suit on top of it. You could tell all his clothes were designer.“Alright Maya, you may leave us alone now,”“Alright sir,” she said as she turned away and exited the room.“Okay Miss Bennet, please have your seat. I’m going to make this meeting as brief as possible,” he said as he stretched his arm offering me the seat across hisI sat on the chair and it was more receiving than the one in my office.“What is the purpose of the meeting, Mr. Steele,” I asked him as I could not bear the suspense anymore.“Alright, I have a business proposal that I’m sure you would be interested in,” he said as he brought out a document from the drawer of his desk.“A business proposal which is?” I asked.“I will partner up with your company and give you some of my clients and share some profits with you,”The proposal sounded too good to be true.“Alright, so what’s the catch?” I asked with an arched brow.“That you agree to marry me, Miss Bennet,”ISABELLA“I'm sorry, what?” I asked with a widened eye, shocked by what Alexander had just proposed.“I believe you heard me right, Miss Bennet,” he said with an arched brow and a smirk formed at the corner of his lips.“I did but can you explain all this to me?”“My 30th birthday is on the way and in my father’s will it says that if I haven't gotten married on or before my 30th birthday, I will be removed as CEO,” he explained.“Okay, so why am I your best bet?” I asked still surprised about the whole situation.“You aren't the best bet. I don't even know why you're acting like this. We both know how badly your company needs the partnership. I'm even running at a loss by sparing you some of my clients and getting married to you also,” he said in a rude tone that infuriated me.“I'm sorry, but did you just say marrying me is running at a loss?” I said as I pushed the chair backward and stood up.“I didn't mean it that way. You know what I mean. So please have your seat and tell me if
ISABELLAMy luggage was taken by a staff of Alexander’s. As I walked up the grand staircase to the entrance of the mansion. “Good evening ma’am. You must be Mrs. Isabella,” One of the staff that stood by the entrance greeted me“Yes, I am,”“Alright ma’am, Mr Alexander is inside waiting for you. Allow me to take you to him,” He said as he walked me into the house.“Thank you,”The house was the most beautiful place I had ever been to. The walls were painted white, with golden furniture.It was definitely the house of a rich person. I was greeted by the cool breeze of the air conditioner. My father got us an air conditioner about 20 years ago but it didn’t take long before it got spoilt and he decided not to fix it or buy a new one.The house screamed luxury, from the exquisite paintings to the glass vases filled with different types of flowers.We got to the living room and I met Alexander sitting on a long C-shaped chair facing his 22-inch flat screen tv. “Sir, the lady is around,”
ISABELLAIt’s been over two weeks since Alexander and I got intimate and we never talked about it after that night. It felt weird that it was barely a week since I had moved in that we had sex.We both went about our daily activities like nothing happened.“Ma’am, John is waiting for you outside,” Lisa said, bringing me back to the present.“Oh, thank you,” I said as I stood up to walk outside and meet John, the chauffeur Alexander assigned to me.He was already standing by the car waiting for me to come outside so he could open the door. “Good afternoon Madam,” he said as he opened the door.“Hello John,” I replied to him as I entered the car and he closed it.“Where are we headed, ma’am?” He asked me as he slid into the driver’s seat fastening his seatbelt.“You should know my home right? That’s where we’re going,”“Alright ma’am,” he said then turned on the engine and took off.I was going to my home to visit my sister, Olivia, I hadn’t seen her since I had moved in with Alexander
Alexander managed to stay calm as he talked, ‘Hey man, isn’t it rather rude of you to barge into my house and cause a nuisance here? You don’t have courtesy for anything? Is that how you paupers behave? The mysterious man continues laughing, “Did you just call me a pauper, he said; If not that I am in a good mood, I should have landed a blow on your face. Do you think you can keep all this property to yourself? For your information, I am Nathan Mayors, the rightful heir to these properties and I have come to take everything from you…I mean everything!”. Alexander becomes furious; “You must be out of your mind! How dare you walk into my house and insult my personality?”, he said angrily. I was dumbfounded and didn’t know if I should calm Alexander or insult the mysterious man turned Nathan, I forced myself to mutter out some incoherent words, “Ehm Alex… Nathan cuts in, “you won't say anything in this matter young woman”. His face looks red and burning with some fuse of resentment. “
Immediately, Alexander snapped back to life... Oh, he had been so lost in his imaginations that he forgot he was on the road.He just escaped a near accident scene.He managed to get his head up as he slowly drove back home.Alexander still couldn't believe his ears. As much as he tried to forget the events of the day, reality kept pushing them back to him. “How could dad have a child outside wedlock and even keep it as a secret for this long”, he muttered as he blast the horn of his car to call the attention of the gateman.I tried sleeping but my eyes wouldn't close, I was so lost that I did not even know when Alexander went out, it was the sound of his horn that brought me back to consciousness. I checked the time and it was few minutes to 1am. “What could he be doing out this late”, I said to myself. I stood up to go down, that was when I realized I haven't even removed the clothes I had on. I managed to change into something light and shower before going down to check
In no time, I was done dressing up. I wore a navy blue gown laced with a red belt radiating with a flow that wasn't ordinary. I kept feeling myself as I walked down the stairs to the garage; John was already there waiting for me. “Good morning Ma”, he said with a thick voice that sounded like a rushing water. This was the first time I am particularly noticing his voice.“Good morning John”! I responded. “You look elegant this morning”, I said to commend his look:; my usual practice to everybody I meet daily.“Thank you ma”, he responded with a smile on his face; I could guess I just made his day with my polite complement. “Where are we heading to”, he asked.“My office of course, today is a money making day”, I said jokingly.John tuned in to a radio station as we journey, the music sounded so absent to me but John seems to enjoy every bit of it; in fact, he literally sang it as it was been played. So many things could have been responsible for my absent mindedness to
“Whether pay off or not, I choose to enjoy every moment as it unfolds” I snapped back to reality. My sister should hear this. I picked up my phone and dialled her line.“Olivia” I screamed almost immediately she picked the call, consider your father's company back and better, in fact going beyond the level our father left it”“How do you mean Isa” she questioned.Olivia is a meticulous girl who processes information fast and also like gist. We have just the two of us to look after one another so we don't take moments spent together whether on phone or physically for granted“I may just be signing a multimillion dollar deal!! ““Goodness God!! She exclaimed into my Sara's, how did you come by that??”“Elvis holdings!!” I responded“Elvis holdings?; the leading real estate firm in the country, how did you kill that through Isa”, she queried“All thanks to Steele Enterprise” , I responded“Steele Enterprise or Alexander, our soon to be husband”, she said hystericallyWe both l
As John zoomed off, I kept looking at the weird face heading towards the car , the face looked a little familiar but I can't place it and the fact that it's raising curiosity in me makes it more dramatic; I could swore I have seen the face before.“Who is that?” the weird looking man asked Quincy“It's none of your bloody concern, let's go straight to what we are here for”, Quincy responded as she walks“You won't talk to me like that, he said as he walks towards her in anger.“See Nathan, whatever it is we do is strictly limited to what we share, every other place I go, any other thing I do and any every other people I move with is non of your bloody business”, she shouts at him loudly“Oh, I know your plans, you think you can robe me and expose me rig, right? You are bidding, if I go down, we are going down together, get that into your number skull”, Nathan replied“Oh, so you think I will be gullible to tell a third party about this drug deal? How can you be so unrealist