UNIQUE LOVE (G X G) Completed

CHAPTER: 1

                                                                New York-Manhattan; July 6th, 2018

The empire would one day be Zeenia's. 

She assured herself of that as she looked out of the twentieth floor of "The Royal Sheraton Hotel -1" building in the heart of Manhattan. Only two neighborhoods away, beneath a thick layer of clouds, was "The Royal Sheraton Hotel -2," the smaller hotel that Zeenia managed as if it were her obedient child. The only child I'll have. To see it still standing made her proud as a professional; to see it shining made her proud as a Mascarenhas.

"The Chairman will see you now," the secretary said from behind a large oak desk. Zeenia flashed her teeth as she approached her Uncle's office. The secretary held firm until the last moment when Zeenia winked at her, then she covered her mouth to contain her girlish giggles.

"May I come in," Zeenia excused herself as she entered the executive office of her family's business empire. While it was not a large room, it was expansive, with old wood and musty tomes lining the walls, flanked by the portraits of every chairman who had come before her uncle. The second last portrait was of a man Zeenia stopped to glance at every time she entered; her father, who died when she was young.

Joe Mascarenhas sat behind the desk, quiet and alone. His gold-rimmed glasses shielded his eyes from the light and from the dark hair falling into his face. A short man, he did not lack for confidence or authority. He had been chairman for all of Zeenia's adult life. He was family, the man who saw to her well-being after the death of her parents, but he had the power to make or destroy her professional life. Zeenia wished she knew what that frown on his face meant.

"Sit," he said. Zeenia sank down into the nearest chair, her back straight and her hands clasped on either thigh. She sent a silent prayer to God, 'Please let this be the day.' She dreamed of it since graduation school- the day she would be recognized as heir to the Empire. 

"You are looking well, Uncle," she said.

Joe glanced up and snorted. He finished signing the document before him and set it off on the side, nostrils still flaring. His small, wrinkled hands folded together as if he were about to deliver a sermon. Zeenia knew she had done nothing wrong or against policy recently, so she pretended this was not a repeat sermon, of the time she was caught smoking in high school-five times.

"And you are looking like yourself," he said with too much candor. Zeenia bristled. Her usual attire of matching jacket and trousers, covering a silk blouse matching her cropped hair did not sit well with some of her extended family. "Do you know why I summoned you here?" Joe asked.

"No, I do not." She hoped it would be quick. Although she worked only a couple of neighborhoods away, Zeenia did not like to be gone for long.

Joe's eyes wandered towards the portraits hanging above the long bookcase and lingered the longest on his father and brother. "How long have you officially been an employee in the family business now, Zeenia?"

Zeenia controlled her annoyance, and also hid her suspicions. Her Uncle knew damn well how long she had been out of school. "Fifteen years," she said. "General Manager for six." The day she was promoted to her first management position at "The Royal Sheraton Hotel -2," was one of the proudest of her life. It not only meant her family recognized her education and skills, but that she was also on track to achieving her ultimate goal, the chair her uncle now sat on. After he retired, of course.

"Yes, you have been quite accomplished. But you knew that already," he said.

Something pinched Zeenia's heart and mind. Joe was not a man who had a flair for love or affection. His idea of telling Zeenia she was now a legal heir would be sending her a memo via courier. "I am ready to hear what you have to say." She ignored the pulsing excitement flowing through her veins.

"Are you?" Joe pulled out another piece of paper and his official seal. "Do you want me to laud you for how valuable and how intelligent you are? Do you want me to say that your father would be proud of you? That I am proud of you? Those are meaningless words. You are a Mascarenhas. Nothing less is acceptable. In order to be a woman of distinction, you must go above and beyond what is expected from someone of your bloodline. The bare minimum gets you one of the smallest hotels in our chain. I know you, Zeenia. You want more." He stamped the paper and signed it. "You are, after all, your father's daughter."   

She nodded, throat choked.

"Tell me. Do you think I should name you my heir?"

Zeenia grasped the armrests beneath her hands. She knew her face paled from how cold her skin had become. "I think you should name the best person," Zeenia replied.

"Are you the best person?" Joe asked her.

"I strive to be," she replied.

Another paper signed. "I believe you think you do. But that isn't enough. I won't name you heir because you are my older brother's daughter. I have a son as competent as you."

'Competent,' Zeenia wondered. Her cousin scraped through University with passing grades, and could barely hold his own. He was the night auditor of "The Royal Sheraton Hotel -1" a position considered beneath hers in the realm of the empire. The guy could barely check guests in and out without passing out from an anxiety attack, and forget him having any managing experience! The idea of him being named heir was the vilest form of nepotism. If Zeenia didn't know her uncle as well as she did, she may have been worried. This was a test and nothing more.

"You are suffocating here." Joe licked his fingers and flipped through more papers, each white sheet slicing through the air like a blade. "Your talents are wasting." He stamped with fervor. "Your brain is turning to mush. If you want to be heir someday, you need to settle in a place better than the commoner's 'The Royal Sheraton Hotel -2,' establishment."

That piqued Zeenia's curiosity. Was he promoting her to 'The Royal Sheraton Hotel -1' the flagship hotel of the entire dynasty? Her father was a manager at 'The Royal Sheraton Hotel -1' for decades before ascending the chairman's throne. Her uncle managed it after his brother.

Her uncle continued, "That is why I am transferring you to the Michigan branch, effective next week."

He stamped another document before that sank into Zeenia's frozen brain.

Michigan? Michigan? "I..." she began, her mouth turning into cotton. "I..."

"Yes? Is there a problem?" Joe handed over her transfer papers, freshly signed and stamped. "You should be happy. Michigan is a much more prestigious branch than 'The Royal Sheraton Hotel -2.' Much more befitting someone like you. You will lodge in the Mascarenhas Suite until you can secure your own residence. Since it is more expansive to live down there, you will also be earning a 30% rise in your salary. It is a promotion, Zeenia." He handed her the last of the documents.

"I...what?" Zeenia tossed the papers onto the desk, her face was as incredulous as a dying ghost's.

"Why are you sending me all the way to Michigan? I cannot believe this. Who is going to take over 'The Royal Sheraton Hotel -2' from me?"

"My son, Mark. It is about time he learned some real responsibility. And I would appreciate it if you did not speak to me in such a vulgar manner. It is unbecoming as a leader, and as a woman."

As a woman! Since when did that mean s**t to Zeenia? Was she doomed to always be nothing more than the confused orphan with a short haircut? Her Aunt Mabel, Joe's own twin sister, was the general manager of the California branch, the largest hotel in the empire's clutches. No one treated her like this.

"See this as an opportunity for you to learn some more responsibility as well. You start next Wednesday Zeenia."

"You are giving me a week to move to Michigan?" She still couldn't believe it. No matter how many times she said that city's name, it was like a foreign word. "What about my flat?" she asked him.

"My wife will look after it in your absence. It would be unfitting to sell a Mascarenhas estate."

That was her damn flat! The same one her parents bought before she was born, and the one she inherited when they died. "How long am I going to be down there?"

"However long you need to be down there. Maybe a year, maybe a decade."

"A decade?" she asked.

Joe sighed, brows sagging and patience thinning. "I suggest you take this opportunity with grace and optimism. I will relieve you for today. You have some packing to do."

Zeenia got up and bowed to her uncle, as was customary, but she did not walk softly out of the office. No, she stomped like an angry teenager, grinding her teeth and slamming the door behind her. The secretary outside jumped in alarm. When she asked Zeenia if she could get her some tea or a cigarette, Zeenia merely said, "You can get me my birthright." 

She growled her way out of the 'The Royal Sheraton Hotel -1' building, aware of the distance set between her and her uncle's chair.