Let's Give it a Year

Chapter 5

"So what's your plan now, Thorald?" Mr Brighton asked the man sitting in a large armchair in the middle of his office.

Thorald's office was large but wasn't enormous enough to fit more than 5 people around the small table in the middle of the room. At one side of the room, directly to the left of the door, sat Thorald's desk where he had odd bits of papers and files strewn across the desk as though a hurricane had just passed through. To the right of the door, Thorald had set up five large, spacious armchairs. These armchairs all rested close together and were all sitting around an oval coffee table. It was there that Thorald was sat with Mr Brighton, discussing his current plan.

"My plan?" Thorald spoke up, his hand cradling his face in its palm as he was lost in thought.

"Yes, I mean..." Mr Brighton cleared his throat carefully, "Your daughter is getting married to the chairman's son, Hiccup, isn't it? Are you really going to try and remove Stoick from the board before then?" He asked worriedly, leaning forward in his chair as he curiously questioned the thinking man adjacent to him.

"Of course not, that would be a rather stupid move. Betray my future family before a major wedding." Thorald chuckled, "No, that wouldn't be right, and besides it would reveal my plan before I was truly ready. No," Thorald stood up and made his way over to the large windowpane that lined one wall of his office, "I think I shall wait until after the wedding." He decided confidently.

Mr Brighton leaned back into his chair, thinking over Thorald's words whilst Mr Hofferson looked out the window thoughtfully. Neither man knew the correct course of action, because this was an extremely risky strategy. Their reasoning for removing Stoick from the board was shaky and unproven at best, besides Stoick's large company of trustees was strong and unrivalled.

However, Thorald had been offering favours and benefits to those who would agree to remove Stoick from the board, and those who were more resistant to the plan... He blackmailed them.

Thorald wasn't proud of his actions, neither did he think they were the right course of action for his goals. Yet, he could not see any other way of doing it and so he was already committing these actions before he knew it. Nothing was moral about his repertoire and nothing was certain either, but it was something that his greedy, selfish mind was determined to do.

Thorald turned back round to face Mr Brighton, the sun hitting against his back like a fiery canon and the heat of its rays burning through the black threads of his suit. He smiled at his friend, despite the light shadowing his face, and cleared his throat harshly.

"Unless, you have a different plan, Mr Brighton. I would much like to hear it if you do." Thorald offered, but Mr Brighton eagerly and fearfully shook his head rather quickly.

"No, sir. You know what's best. I assure you, that whatever your plan is must be the one to follow." He spoke hurriedly, his words tripping over his tongue haphazardly as he spoke. Thorald smiled, amused by the fear he was striking into the man in his office.

"Good, good." He muttered to himself, slowly turning back around to look out the window.

"Aren't you worried about an heir, Thorald?" Mr Brighton spoke up, causing Thorald's shoulders to tense up. "I mean, wasn't the planned marriage between the two of them for the express purpose of creating an heir for the company, so that Stoick can hand his position down to his son?" Mr Brighton spoke thoughtlessly, the words and questions in his mind spilling from his lips before he could truly think about them.

"Yes, that was the reason for the marriage. But haven't I told you that the idea of handing down the company to your son is highly unethical and extreme disregard for proper management!" Thorald yelled in frustration, his emotions surfacing and boiling beneath his skin.

Mr Brighton whimpered in his seat, lowering his head in apology as Thorald turned back around and proceeded to approach the armchairs once again. Flinching at Thorald's movements, Mr Brighton lowered his gaze and avoided looking at the approaching figure and stayed rigid in his seat.

"Besides," Thorald patted Mr Brighton's arm in a friendly, jovial manner, "That young man Hiccup wouldn't know what to do with a girl, even if she dropped her clothes in front of him." Thorald chuckled. "Let's just say he's not the most impressive man to look at, especially from a woman's point of view. He's weak and lean, as though he hasn't been fed properly since he was born. His hair is untamed and messy, as though he hasn't brushed out his fresh bedhead each morning." He joked, laughing at the appearance of the gangly Hiccup he had met the night before.

"But what about Astrid? What if he's to her taste?" Mr Brighton asked curiously, but he looked away from Thorald quickly when he was given a scornful look.

"Don't worry, did you think I hadn't thought about that?" Thorald smiled as he thought back to a year ago, "The last relationship she had, I had manipulated slash blackmailed her boyfriend to date her for a few weeks and then cheat on her purposefully. With her knowledge." Thorald let out a soft chuckle, leaning back into his seat comfortably. "I made sure that the guy actually had her fall head over heels for him, actually had her fall in love with him, and then..."

"He broke her heart?" Mr Brighton finished for him. Thorald nodded with a menacing smile.

"Exactly." He pointed at the man sat adjacent to him with a confirming finger, "And now, she will be so broken and distrusting around men that she will be unwilling to give herself to Hiccup. I doubt she will ever have feelings for a weakling like him, I mean, he was called Hiccup for a reason. All runts of the litter are 'Hiccup's." Thorald explained, the words spitting from his mouth like a snake spraying poison.

Mr Brighton had a whisper of disgust cross his features before he quickly wiped it away, afraid to show his reservations about Thorald's attitude to the man himself. Instead, he nodded along to Thorald's words and agreed to every pitch he put forward.

In actuality, Thorald was blackmailing Mr Brighton with evidence of his previous sexual harassment scandals, enough evidence that could either end him up in jail or just be fired from his job. Either eventuality didn't bode well for Mr Brighton. But, Thorald covered his tracks well, managing to keep every evidence of his own corruption top secret so that Mr Brighton couldn't blackmail him back.

He was stuck.

Astrid arrived back at the office, her takeaway coffee cup cradled in her hand with a tight grip, so that she didn't drop it. Looking at the door into her father's office, and at her watch, she realised he was still in his meeting with Mr Brighton and a curious, confused expression crossed over her face.

"What are they possibly talking about that is taking so long?" Astrid wondered, before shrugging her shoulders and wandering over to her desk, "Whatever, it's not my place to criticise."

Sitting down at her desk, Astrid looked at her coffee cup and saw a small message written on the side of her cup. The writing was small and barely readable due to the weird material of the coffee cup, but Astrid could just about make it out.

"What is this?" Astrid asked herself as she squinted at the message, straining her eyes to read it.

'Thank you for giving me a chance, and if you don't read this, then I hope you don't think too lowly of yourself in the future. You are a wonderful person, and don't let your father's words tell you otherwise.'

Astrid felt her heart warm by Hiccup's words. Such sweet, caring words with barely much meaning, but to Astrid, they meant the world. She couldn't help the smile that spread onto her lips as she read the message that Hiccup had left for her.

However, she shook herself out of her trance and threw the empty coffee cup away into the trash, reminding herself of why she was doing all of this.

"No." Astrid scolded herself. "Stop it. You are not supposed to like someone like him. Not again, we can't do this whole thing again when we know the end." She told herself as she looked at the scrunched up coffee cup in the trash.

She couldn't let herself fall so easily. Not again.