Begin (1)
1687 Words
Chapter 1: Begin (1)
***
In a luxurious neighborhood, with
a high tech security system and living in one of the most expensive newly
renovated apartments is Elizabeth Raymore a thirty year old business woman
often called the “Ice Queen” in the industry…
“What did you say? It must be that my hearing is getting bad, because I just thought I’d heard you say you can’t do it?” Elizabeth’s voice was harsh and nearly stone cold, there wasn’t a single note of any human emotion in there, not even anger.
“Miss Raymore, I-” The man tried to speak but the woman didn’t allow him to.
“Mr. Birmingham… I thought you knew the importance of this presentation when you agreed to work on it a month ago… but I guess I was wrong. If you’re not able to present on the 20th when our biggest investors are coming in, then… I’ll be expecting your resignation letter instead.” Elizabeth said as she ended the call, not even waiting for the man to try and explain himself. Because it didn’t matter what kind of reason he had, the presentation was due to a couple of days and there were few people that could take the man’s place.
She holds a chain of luxurious cafes all around S and V city in some of the most expensive neighborhoods there are… Other that that she is a major investor in MT Corporation. She currently lives in V city where her main office is. She’s a tall woman with very light blond, almost silver life hair and a curvy body. The reason she’s known to be cold in business matters is due to her incredible skill and her ‘no bullshit’ attitude towards working matters.
She’s known to be someone that
isn’t easy to approach and many men have tried to do just that, despite her
reputation. But just as many have tried, that many have failed… Elizabeth was a
woman that knew exactly what she wanted and would never settle for less just to
find a partner, it was never her priority to do so either…
But… a woman that is so cold and
distance when it comes to work, what kind of person is she in her day to day
life? Unexpectedly that so called ‘Ice Queen’ was a rather gentle, helpful and
caring person…
“I’m… really thankful you allow
me to stay here with you.” Gabriel said as he walked in a bit shyly into the
woman’s apartment. The place was huge, so spacious in fact the very hallway
they were in looked much bigger than his entire apartment.
“No, problem… The thing that
happened to you really wasn’t fair. And I could use some help around the house
as well. It’s always fun having someone to talk to as well.” Elizabeth quickly
said as she took her heels off and put on her home slippers instead.
Gabriel is a worker in the
woman’s café, he is known as a handy man, someone who does various tasks not
one specifically. So on some days he helps with deliveries, others he unloads
heavy boxes with flour, sugar, milk and coffee beans, and on others he works
part time in a bar to make up any difference in paycheck…
*
*
*
The day
before…
There was a lot of chattering
between Gabriel’s two male co-workers. Since he’s a handyman at a café. He goes
there every Saturday to unload trucks of products and do other small tasks that
would require physical strength…
“Gabe! Can you imagine that? The
young one is falling for our Boss!” The elder one of his co-workers yelled out.
He was as usual teasing the newbie as every self respecting worker would.
“Don’t you have anything better
to talk about than the Boss?” Gabriel asked with a kind of indifferent
expression as he put the last box down on the ground. At that point even he
didn’t know why he was so annoyed at the two men talking about Elizabeth like
that.
“Don’t be like that! We’re just
having a bit of fun!” The elder man said as he smiled at Gabriel who didn’t
seem to care either way.
“I’m done for the day.” Gabriel
said as he headed out, the other two men sending him off with but a simple wave
of the hand. That day he felt miserable…
It might not have been one single
reason that made him feel that way but one thing was for certain, everything
around him felt more tiresome than ever…
The worst part being that he had
to go to his second job that day, which was a barman which meant long hours and
a lot of socializing, neither of which sounded enjoyable to him. But he had to
do it, given he was struggling for cash.
Well struggling might not be the
best word to put it. In reality the man had some money put aside for
emergencies, he kept them in the sofa in his apartment. He felt like it was a
safe place where most people wouldn’t even think of looking. Buried within one
of the cushions and sewed tightly so that nobody would notice.
He lived together with his ex
girlfriend Lexi, who he’d broken up with a long, long time ago. It’s already
been a year and a half since they’ve dumped each other yet they still lived
together because neither of them had anywhere else to go.
Lexi didn’t take long to recover
from the break up and began inviting her new boyfriends over to the apartment
much to the annoyance of Gabriel. He wasn’t annoyed because of any lingering
emotions he might have had towards the woman but rather because he hated
strange people entering his apartment. And Lexi’s boyfriends were the very
definition of strange, only… in the worst way possible…
With the little money Gabriel
makes, it wasn’t like he could afford to leave his apartment at this point in
time. Even though he was working two jobs, it’s not like either of them was
particularly well paid. The café only brought him about 700$ from unloading
trucks of products every week. And his other job as a bartender only brought
him the humble sum of 900$ that the small bar he worked at could afford to pay
him… So there wasn’t any way for him to move out from his current apartment
either, he was stuck there with is ex girlfriend…
*
*
*
That day
while leaving his apartment…
Gabriel was just about to head
out but when opening the door, a woman that he’d never seen before was standing
outside with a worried expression on her face. “Hello.” She said in a panted
voice, she looked like she had been running to get there.
“Hi.” Gabriel said as he stared
at the woman. She seemed to be a bit older than him. “Can I help you?” He
asked, his voice still rather indifferent to the woman’s presence.
“I’m looking for Lexi, I’m a
friend of hers. Is she here? It’s a bit urgent… what I want to talk to her
about…” The woman said as she continued to stand firmly in the doorway. It was
obvious she had no intention to leave easily.
“She’s not here, come back
another time.” Gabriel said as he finally managed to walk outside his
apartment.
“Can I wait for her?” The woman
asked, “It’s very important…”
“I don’t really care what you two
have to talk about. You can wait for her outside or go away and come back
another day, it’s none of my business.” Gabriel spoke in a indifferent tone as
he walked away, not even turning while speaking to the woman.
“Very urgent! Please let me wait
for her inside!” The woman persisted more and more…
Gabriel didn’t have the time nor
the patience to continue talking with the persistent woman, so with not much
resistance he let her in his apartment which might have been one of his huge
mistakes in life…
Gabriel harried and by sheer
chance managed to get to the bar…
“Sorry that I’m late.” Gabriel
said as he headed to the back. He took off his jacket and clothes, quickly
changing into his uniform. His boss on the other hand stood there to the side
talking to him as if he had nothing else to do.
The Boss didn’t seem to be
annoyed at the other being late so he spoke to him excitedly even. “There’s
going to be a huge bachelorette party tonight. It was organized by some big
wigs and the entire place is rented out for today. You better get ready~” He
tapped his employer’s shoulder.
Gabriel sighed once more and went
to stand behind the counter. Just as his employer had promised, the bar was
full of women and busier than ever. It made Gabriel even less likely to talk to
anyone.
There were several women that
tried to have a conversation with him but quickly lost interest after hearing
Gabriel’s dry responses. He made it painfully obvious he wasn’t interested in
absolutely anyone at the bar. In fact his attitude made him seem like he had no
interested in anyone on earth.
The night continued like that
until he noticed a familiar face in the crowd… Among all the women in sparkling
dresses with the fanciest jewelry and the most expensive hair done… it was
Elizabeth who didn’t need to wear a sparking dress to stand out from the crowd…
‘I
must be imagining things… There’s no way that’s her…’ Gabriel thought to
himself. The woman surprisingly resembled his employer at the café. No… it was
in fact her but he didn’t believe it off the bat. After all, what would a woman
like Elizabeth be doing in a bar like that?
- Writer
