"Will you marry me?" Mark asked again.
The look on Abigail's face was of utter confusion and shock. She wondered if she had heard him wrong, afterall the music was loud but after the second time, she knew it wasn't her hearing. Mark had really asked what she thought she heard. When he told her they needed to talk, never in a million years did she expect she was about to be proposed to."I heard you the first time, Mark. Is this some kind of a joke?""Of course not. I wouldn't joke with something as serious as a lifetime partnership" Mark smirked. There was something knowing about his smile that irked her.Abigail stared at him. A blank expression coursed through her face that she couldn't tell if this was some stupid prank he had devised yet again to piss her off. It wouldn't be the first time anyway, but this one was new.Mark was the son of the top 10 billionaires in the United States, and ever since his father retired and he became CEO, he had made it his life mission to try and sabotage her. And she understood she was a force to be reckoned with. She had worked her ass off to get to where she was, but he didn't seem like he had worked a day in his life."I know what you are thinking. Where's the ring, right? But it's not my fault that I planned on getting you a ring but unexpectedly met you here today. This is not the usual bar you frequent."Mark was met with a blank stare. Abigail didn't want to speak just yet. She wanted to give him the opportunity to expose himself. It seemed her suspicions were right. Mark knew something he shouldn't know."You seem a little confused, my love.""Explain yourself." Abigail gritted. Her patience was running thiner and thiner with every word he spoke. A sound that resembled a chuckle escaped from Mark's lips."You look so cute when you are confused."Abigail's eyes shot daggers at him. If he wasn't going to speak soon, she'd definitely have to leave."Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Mark raised his hands in mock surrender. "But is it so hard to believe someone would want to marry you?"Abigail's heart went stiff."I don't know what's going on here, but if you don't make yourself clear, I'm leaving." She answered in a taut voice."You really don't believe anyone is willing to marry you, do you?" Mark said, smirking in between his teeth.Abigail stood abruptly and snatched her bag off the table. She motioned to leave but was stopped in her tracks by Mark."Wait" She sat back down. Her hands were folded around her chest as she waited for an explanation. "First of all, what in the world would make you think I'd want to marry you?""Well, I'd assumed it would be a great deal for you since you need a marriage certificate to claim your company."She went stiff again. It was clear to her that this was what Mark knew about her. Her gut was right. He had somehow gotten the information that she was nothing more than an acting C.E.O. How he got the information was what she didn't know, but she was determined to find out and make whomever is responsible pay."I know the contract your father made with your grandmother before he died.""I do not believe I understand what you are trying to say." Abigail tried to play it cool, trying to see other things Mark knew for herself."Oh, come on, Abigail. We both know the only reason you are in that chair is because your grandmother still believes you'll eventually get married, and I'm only offering my services as a husband to you. We could grow the empire together. With Donald inc and Weston corp merged together, we'd become an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. A llegacy even. It's a win-win for both of us.""And if I say no?"“Well that would be an unwise decision considering you don't really have options. So, what do you say?""I'll think about it." Abigail didn't know how much more he knew, but whatever he knew, he didn't say anything.Abigail went home that night and didn't get much sleep. She stayed up all night going over what Mark had said. He was right, anyways. If she was going to get the rights to her company she worked so hard to get to the top for, then she'd have to get herself a man. But before now, she had been very content with just being the face of the company.Her grandmother's words echoed in her mind."If you wont get married for yourself, do it for your kids."She did not like the idea of getting married, she had seen firsthand what marriage could do to a person. What letting your guard down could turn you into. How someone you trust could betray you, and she wanted that far away from her.Her mother had suffered greatly when her father had decided to make his mistress his legal wife. It was since then Abigail had vowed never to depend on any man or get married. She didn't need a man; she was Abigail Weston, and she made sure her father knew before he died that she wasn't willing to share her empire or legacy with any man. Of course, back then her father, would protest but she didn't care.Now that she thought about it, putting a marriage cause on her inheritance was definitely something he could do. It was always his way of things, and even in death he was still that way. She knew one thing though, and it was that Mark was right. She did need to get married for her kids at least, but Mark wouldn't do. There was the likelihood that he just wanted access to her company, and if she were to initiate a divorce afterwards, she may lose half of what she worked for and even if there was a prenuptial agreement, there was still too much at stake.But she had no options unless… ****"Maurice, Elise, Denise. It's time for breakfast. Hurry up, Mama's gotta go to work."It was 7:30am, and Abigail hadn't gotten any sleep yet. She had stayed up all night, evaluating things and she had come up with a perfect plan. One that would both benefit her and her kids. She had made up her mind to get married, but not to Mark.Each of her kids came running down the stairs two minutes later, wearing matching outfits. The girls wore a blue T shirt and a skirt while Denis had a blue shirt and pants."Good morning, mama!" They all said in unison."Oooou. Toast and scrambled eggs, my favorite!" Maurice grinned."Mine too!" Elise jumped in. They all took their various sits and dug in."Denise, take your seat.""I don't want anything, mom." Denise said, folding his hands on his chest."Why not?""Because I'm not hungry.”Abigail dropped her coffee on the counter surprised at her son's behavior."Did something happen at school yesterday?""Nope""Girls?""Yes, mom. Denise almost got into a fight with this kid because he wouldn't stop saying I'm fatherless.""Shut up, Elise!" Denise screamed at his sister."Hey! Stop that. No fighting with your sister."Denise looked away."Now why didn't you tell me anything last night?""It doesn't matte. Plus, you looked tired and we didn't want to bother you.""Mom is it true that we don't have a dad?""No, Maya told us that everyone has a dad. When do we get to meet our dad, mom?" Abigail was overwhelmed with all of these questions. She was even more upset her kids were being called names in school.She'd have to fix that, if it was the last thing she did she was going to fix it. If she has to expell every single pupil that has insulted her kids she would.Walter walked into Abigail's office with a suitcase that unmistakably belonged to Stephanie. Abigail's lawyer."How's my favorite client doing." Stephanie sauntered in wearing her signature bright coloured suit. She was wearing a Yellow suit this time and somehow still managed to look good in it. Her red curls were packed in a low ponytail."Hey Stephanie!""Now tell me, what have you done now?""What's that supposed to mean?"Abigail protested. Stephanie was one of the handful of people Abigail loved and respected. "Well the only time you call these days is to get you out of some trouble, you got yourself into and most time it's trouble you cause on your own" "Accusations!""...That are true!Abigail smiled from ear to ear, she loved their little banter. Abigail met Stephanie in college, she was a sorority girl, with the biggest crowd in campus. They had met at a party and Stephanie saved her from a possible sexual assault. A bunch of people hated Abigail at that time, and some b
"Dude what the fuck, I asked For whiskey this is Beer." The voice of an angry customer dragged Marcel out of his thoughts. He looked up to find a furious brown haired man standing directly opposite him holding a glass of amber liquid. Marcel did not recall attending to this man or even taking his order. He must have been on autopilot when he took his order."What's going on?" Jerry, Marcel's manager asked as he made his way to the bar. He wore grey slacks and a green T shirt, his thick rimmed glasses were atop his head."Are you the manager?" The customer asked."Yes sir, what seems to be the problem?" Jerry asked again."Well, I ordered whiskey and this young man" the customer pointed at Marcel with his chin "...gave me beer or whatever is in this"Is that true Marc?" Jerry peered up at Marcel. A stern look that didn't seem to fit him etched on his face."I'm sorry sir, it was an accident..""You have to stop making accidents like this" Jerry turned to the customer to apologize. "I
Abigail admired the sun through her amber tinted sunglasses. She was on the rooftop of her favorite restaurant. It had been ages since she went out just by herself without the kids and truth be told she had not really planned to go anywhere after she finished from work, her plan was to pick up her kids from Maya, then tuck them into bed and reward herself with a relaxing bath in her Jacuzzi. But when Stephanie came barging into her office with a promise of sponsoring her lunch she couldn't exactly refuse. Taking her champagne from the table She took a small sip and proceeded to bask in the sun. She turned as she heard footsteps to see Stephanie walking back to their table. "You took a while in there. Got lost?" "I was there for 5 minutes!" Stephnanie countered, smoothing her short skirt before taking her seat. "Nope, you left at about 5:19 , its 5:31." "Oh my God, no wonder your workers can't stand you, you are a fucking control freak." Stephanie yelled throwing hee hands up
"So what do you think?" Marcel asked, concluding his story. He told his sister everything, from the first time he met Abigail to the proposal. By the time he was done Hailey had gone through several different emotions most of which was disbelief. "Are you fucking joking, of course you are going to take it" The look on Hailey's face suggested that it should be obvious what her brother should do. Hailey had always been a head first kid. Marcel knew this but he always admired her for it and how quick she made decisions and how rarely it ever backfired. She was only sixteen and she had acquired so much that Marcel was more of a proud father rather than an older brother. Out of his three sisters, Marcel was closest to Hailey. She was his little baby sister, feisty and strong-headed just like their late mother. "You think so?" Marcel asked, running his fingers through his hair like he was unsure if it was a good idea. "Do I? bro, you can't possibly be thinking of passing up an o
A bouquet of flowers arrived at Abigail Weston's office on Monday morning. She was busy getting ready for the monthly board meeting when Walter burst into her office holding a huge rose bouquet that covered his face and almost the top half of his body. He was doing his best not to look surprised at what he was carrying as he placed the flowers on a brown marble table close to the entrance."This came for you ma'am." Abigail looked at the bouquet of flowers as if any moment it would sprout out snakes and bite her. "For me?" She questioned, her tone flat. She was still staring cautiously at the flowers."Who are they from?""A Mr Marcel Williams Ma." Walter read the card out loud.Walter handed the card to her and Abigail took it, dismissing Walter.*Start your week with a bouquet of flowers and enjoy good fortune.* Abigail's brows furrowed in confusion. What did that even mean?? She thought.A tiny piece of paper fell from the card and she bent to pick it up. "In honor of our contrac
It was a Tuesday evening and Marcel had just come back from his evening run. All he wanted to do was take a shower as he was sweaty. Wiping sweat off his forehead and with the anticipation of getting into the shower, he opened the door to his apartment to find his sister, Hailey on his couch. "Hey Bro." Hailey smiled at her brother as soon as he entered. Marcel jumped in surprise, cursing under his breath. He had not expected to meet her there. Of course he decided to give her a key to his apartment. He briefly regretted his decision. "What the hell are you doing here?" He asked a slight annoyance in his voice. "What I can't come say hi to my favorite brother anymore?" She asked. "Wow, money really do change people." She added huffing. "Why didn't you call first at least?" He groaned internally, didn't need any of snide remarks. "I have to call to be able to get into your house now? You gave me a spare key!" "You know sometime I regret giving you a spare key to my apartment."
Marcel walked past Eustas who was holding the door for them, into the study. Hailey towed closely behind him looking out of place. She wore a Blue Jean and grey T shirt and held a back pack. Marcel wore something similar, A T shirt and Jeans. He locked eyes with Abigail who was sitting behind her desk, and smiled, Abigail didn't reciprocate his smile.. even though her eyes were fixedated on him. She watched as he approached her, like a hawk would watch his prey before striking. Her hair was in a bun again, Marcel was almost convinced that the bun was permanently glued to her head because of how often she wore it. She wasn't wearing any make up or if she was he couldn't tell. She truly is a beautiful woman. Marcel couldn't understand for the life of him why she would need to pay someone to act as her husband. There were plenty of men who'd be lucky to have her despite her rude nature. As he got closer he noticed another woman sitting beside Abigail. A slim curvy woman with curly
Abigail sat at the edge of the couch looking uncomfortable and out of place as she waited for Marcel in his apartment. She was surprised at how small it was, she didn't realize houses could be this tiny. The living room was significantly smaller than her bathroom. how do people live like this?... She pondered. She glanced around, surveying the place... though it was small but it was well decorated for a man's place. Her eyes moved around the room, wondering if at any moment the building would cave in and trap her inside. When she had stopped by this morning to pick Marcel up, for shopping, she didn't think she would have to be kept waiting and worse in a tiny box but when he said he had to shower, she couldn't exactly refuse even though it irked her. She hated people that did not have regard for time, after much persuasion from Marcel she had decided to wait in his building till he showered and changed out of his running clothes. How long does it take one to shower? She mused q