In this meeting room, Ethan took the highest seat and he sprawled against it. His suit was stretching out to prove just how physically fit he was, the black tie was easily eased back to give him a manly charm. Miranda Matthews Merlin stood there, bewildered, absolutely astounded. After seven years, she stands before the face of 'BLACK & LIME', Ethan Duke Masters was the owner of the multi-billion company! He looked different, Miranda felt as though his gaze froze her on the spot, she felt as if his very presence in the room was definition of power. Everyone was silent, as though frightened by the man in front of her.
"Proceed." He says calmly, a grin appearing on his face and Miranda knows she is a prey locked in a cage; surrounded by sharks.
"First and foremost, I'll be talking about DINER'S. Our company mostly-
Ethan cuts her off with the raise of his hand, "Miranda Matthews Merlin, can we get straight to the point; what do you have to offer?" His gaze clarified that he meant business, his tone was smooth yet; yet why was she so frightened that she forgot what she had to say next? Why were her hands sweating and her eyes stuck to his gaze? What was this feeling of uneasiness she had never felt before? Why was she seeing him as a big silhouette that had her under his thumb? What was this? Oh my! How she was sweating and her heart threatening to break, she could feel those cocoa brown irises on her, she couldn't look away, she couldn't move. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears, felt dizzy and she was about to collapse. Goodness! Realization hit her that the Ethan Duke Masters she knew from seven years ago was not the same man sitting before her. This was terror, a terror she only felt when she was on the brink of death. Fear that only came on a life-threatening situation! What was this man?
"Mrs. Matthews, are you okay?" Grace asks coming close to her, Miranda comes back to her senses before taking the bottle of water Grace was handing her. She gulps in down and looks around the room, representatives were already whispering, Ethan was looking at his phone. Then what had she just felt. What was that? Was she the only one who noticed? She recomposes herself and looks at Maggie, her partner who urges her to proceed with their proposal.
"What DINERS has to offer to BLACK & LIME is simple. We both manufacture and produce beverages, furthermore, we don't specifically produce wine and beer, however, we produce fruit drinks, a variety of them. Your company will gain more profits if you invest in DINERS because we are currently working on a wine-based fruit liquor." She says exhaling a breath she'd been holding for a long time. The representatives nod, while Ethan sets his phone down.
"Is that all?" He asks bored. "If that's all you really have, am not interested. Its boring, plain, so what if its wine based whatever, Mrs. Matthews, next time you want to waste my time, perhaps you could do it in bed." He concludes and leaves. Maggie urges her to follow him, because they did need his help. He dominated the business too much that they had few and lesser opportunities for investors to even consider investing. Ethan walks like a predator ready to pounce on his prey before Miranda shouts,
"Ethan, can you please just listen to me!" He stops in his tracks and turns to face her, staring deep in her eyes. There it is again, that sudden chill she'd never felt. What was this? Looming danger, no something far worse, what had he been through to turn out like this? Why was Grace his secretary? What on earth was happening, what had happened over the past seven years? An evil smile spreads across his face, he takes her in, she was dressed in a green suit jacket, with a sleeveless top that showed just the right amount of cleavage, her official dark green jeans just hug her in all the right places. She looks striking, good enough for me to take a bite! Ethan thought.
"Miranda Matthews Merlin, I will listen to you under one condition, it's quite simple really."
"What condition?" It comes out more than a whimper. She doesn't like his smile, doesn't like his gaze,
"Good, perhaps why don't you offer up your bo-
She cuts him off with a slap, however, that slap lands on Grace's face. Miranda gasps before she sees Ethan smile. Just what had he done to Grace? "Since you're still rejecting my offer Mrs. Matthews, I will give you a week to make sure your next presentation is worth my time, a week Miranda. Impress me." He begins to walk away before he pauses, "Oh Miranda, its Mr. Duke Masters, next time you try and hit me, I think you'll know why businesses shut down." He leaves but at least he'd given her a chance, a chance to redeem herself. In her peripheral vision she sees Grace, her cheek was swollen from her slap. She was just a secretary yet why did it seem like she was a slave. Miranda had tried contacting her over the years yet, not once had she reached back, Grace even changed her number, she lost all contact with her after she went to England. Then how on earth is she with Ethan?
Ethan was in the car, his thoughts drifting into nothingness, his headaches were coming back, now stronger than ever, "Sir, sir." Grace snaps him back to reality, "SILVER & DINE are requesting for an appointment." She says briskly.
"Hush them off, I'm exhausted, I am in no mood to deal with people." He says with lofty unconcern.
"Nevertheless, sir I have been doing that for the past seven months, cancelled eight meetings, put off ten meetings, however they are coming with more fighting spirit than ever, they have refused to back down sir. They are a group that has refused to give up." Ethan picks the tablet from her and scrolls down, that is when he realizes, that something sparks in him like a lightning bolt. His interest grows bigger, his grin grows wider, his mind goes wild, there was suddenly this blazing fire in his face, a fire that was threatening to break through. He was going to that meeting personally.
"Grace, cancel all my meetings, reset my schedule and book a flight to Peterborough, tomorrow we are heading out." He says enthusiastically, his headache completely disappearing, over the seven years she'd been with him, he'd never had that look, just what had he seen on that tablet. Why was he suddenly interested in SILVER & DINE? That was a look of interest and wickedness. Like a mystery box that needed to be open. Why can't you look at me that way Ethan, why not me? She asked as she faced the window and a tear dropped from her eyes.
*. *. *. *.
"Aah, I'm so exhausted." Samantha groans burying her head in a heap of documents in front of her. Arthur stands up and heads behind her, massaging her shoulders.
"Do you want me to drive you home." Arthur says concerned. With that statement, Samantha's head jerks up fast, retrieving her spectacles and Mark giggles. She has produced and reproduced proposals; she has practiced in front of a mirror over and over again. She didn't give up, she couldn't. Whoever was the face behind B & L he was rather a picky person, perhaps he was rather too idle or he had too much money to care. Samantha always thought he was a man because, can women be that ruthless? Still, she had hope, for them and for the company, without them, she wouldn't be here. Most of all she was grateful to her grandmother, she can't give up now. Henry swings the door and enters the office, he's silent and takes a seat. They all stare at him.
He exhales before saying, "Fucking finally, finally, BLACK & LIME has accepted a meeting with us!!" He shouts and they all rise, shouting and jumping. The staff look at them like they've gone crazy till they hear the news, Samantha jumps and hugs Arthur and he twirls her around in the air, she giggles, scream and laugh in joy.
"Next week on Monday at exactly 9:00 AM, they are here!" Henry says and they all celebrate in unison. This meant a great deal to Samantha; this was her chance to prove it was worth it. None of them knew the risky trick that Henry had used, changing the business portfolio to Samantha's was the only way he'd bring Ethan Duke Masters to Peterborough. None of them knew that he knew Ethan was the owner of the famous multi-billion company. It was just like a little surprise, perhaps this would bring Samantha to what she was before. He thought pleasingly, a dark smile appearing on his lips.
*. *. *. *.
William Regan Merlin looks at his surroundings before crossing the road. The town is boisterous and this is among the reasons he avoids coming into town. On his left arm, he holds a big brown envelope. The sun is scorching and sweltering to no end. Vehicles hooted and honked, pedestrians made hurried footsteps to their destinations. Hooting and cursing of expatriating motorists on the right side of the road. Eminent shouting radiating from street vendors and food stalls. He takes a left turn and walks into an alley muttering apologies as he brushes past passers-by. The tall building was still standing tall despite its old age, Pinewood Police Department finally came into the view of his eye, he exhaled a sigh of relief. William was glad he'd maneuvered out of the traffic, out of the hot menacingly sun in the sky! He entered the building and removed his straw boater hat and walked to the receptionist,
"Hello, Mrs. Gerald." He says enthusiastically and the cold chilling woman forces a smile on her muscular face.
"Mr. William, for what purpose would you grace us with your presence today?" She says meekly feigning interest. He smiles at her revealing his teeth and she snickers,
"I would like to see deputy Nate Pescoli Regan." She dials some numbers on the telephone and she smiles at him. She speaks over the phone and hangs up after a nod.
"You can go up to his office Mr. William." She squints her eyes and forces another smile. While William was walking upstairs, he thought on how he would tell Nate that Mrs. Gerald should not be a receptionist. The woman was bitter and tough; her face would even chase away visitors. He softly knocks and a "come in" comes from the voice behind the door. Nate is reclined on his seat, intently focusing on a specific document. His eyes looked sleepy and he looked disheveled due to lack or rest and sleep. The dark lines under his eyes were vivid and some stubble's had started to grow out. William takes a seat in front of his desk before saying,
"Son, have you looked in the mirror lately?" He laughs before looking at the documents and pictures scattered on his desk. "Have you gotten any further with the case, or its still closed, waiting for more evidence?"
"Dad, thanks for your help but I am still stuck at the same point, the case is closed." Nate addresses steadily.
"Then you're in luck, I got something very important in this envelope." William says handing him the brown envelope he was carrying. Nate removes the documents and his face goes pale. His face lost color and he was stricken. The autopsy team never said anything about this. How was such an important information hidden,
"Natalie Alec Merlin was expectant with one month old twins before her death?" Nate answers himself more than questions William.
"I was shocked too son, Richard is dead, so who was the father to those babies? There is still more, pull out the blue document." William instructs.
Nate was still recovering from the shocking news, yet there was still more, he reads the document quickly and he shudders in silence. He didn't care what means his father had used to get this kind of information, as long as he finally had a starting point. After all these years, he had somewhere to begin in finding the suspect. Just how much time had gone by, just how those people needed justice.
"Who is this woman by the name Alayne Jalicia Ramsby? I can see from this document she worked for the late Tabitha Alec Merlin, but where is she now?" Nate asks enthusiastically, grinning at his father.
"That son, is your job, I know you can find her, if not try and ask Samantha, she was seven years during her mother's death. Yet I suspect the incident was too traumatic for her to recall such things, perhaps we should ask a psychologist to put her under hypnosis, though son everything is risky." William says with concern. Nate is in cloud nine, Samantha had to know something from those years ago, risks would come later, while answers came now.