I really hated my birthdays, they reminded me nothing than bitterness and there was nothing that was going to make today different that my past birthdays.
I was on my way to one of my clients for whom I worked as a financial adviser. It was a fast growing IT company founded by 2 collage friends, who have started there company as a hobby during their college days.
In my second year they had approached me to ask for my help regarding their financial situation, apparently my teacher had recommended me to them when they wanted to turn their hobby in to a money making machine but they had some difficulties in the financial department.
After having done some background research I was actually surprised that no one had seen the potential in their idea, if it their idea was managed and invested well they had the potential to change the current IT industry. While being their financial adviser, I convinced and encouraged them to think bigger and by invested my savings in to their business they had given me 20 percent of the company shares. Over the years, with their hard work they had managed to bring the company in to the top 20 best IT companies in UK. At the end of the 3th year the value of my shares had exceeded my actual investment.
Despite my age, with the income of my shared, I had invested in new firms with potential to succeed. In the past five years I did make mistakes but with those mistakes I had gained the necessary experience to be the best in my field. I had shares in many fast growing businesses that no one would have known several years ago. In order to have a close look at my investments I had offered most of the businesses I had invested in to be their financial adviser, or I made sure that there financial adviser was up to the standards.
When most of the small businesses that I worked for started to exceed the market expectations a lot of bigger business started to require my services. So with the help of a friend I had opened my ‘own’ financial advice and investment management– Roberts & Griffins wealth management firm.
On paper and behind the scene I was the sole owner but we made it publicly known that is was a joint venture between an American investor and my best friend Elizabeth Griffins and I was just merely an employee that was good at her work.
Even though Elizabeth was the member of the ‘prestigious’ Griffins family, she didn’t act high and mighty when I met her and she wasn’t even close to the most rich people I had encountered with. Instead she was down to earth and very sincere about her request.
As a law and management graduate, instead of joining her family business, she wanted to join my (at that time small) wealth management firm. Due to my experiences with her kind of people I couldn’t take her serious, so on the spot I rejected her proposal, but few months later she applied for the ‘vacant’ secretary position.
Even though she had excellent qualifications, she wasn’t experiences enough to qualify for the position. Which I was happy about; it gave me a reason to reject her again.
When the interview was over, her last remark made me reconsider my decision.
“Ms. Griffins, if you want to be successful you can’t build a business on your own, if you would ignore my last-name you will see that I am the right person to build this firm with you.”
She was right, I needed people to grow this firm, and I needed people that I could trust so that I could start to bring my plans in to action.
Before she left my office, “Ms. Elizabeth Griffins, there are some additional points that were not mentioned on the job advertisement. If you take this job, as my secretary, you will be my link to world. Everyone will know you as the owner of this business and I will be known as your employee. While in fact you will take care of my schedule and the internal work in the firm when I am working for my clients. Will this suit to your expectations? If it does, I would like to see you tomorrow at 8.30” without replying on my offer she left the office.
I assumed that she wouldn’t take the offer I didn’t expect to see her the next day and our ‘partnership’ had started. If I look back, it was really odd how we became friends considering the fact that I didn’t care who she was if she was good at the job.
She was really quick at learning the way how I operated the firm and after 2 weeks she had enough information and experience to start the announcement of the new financial advice and investment management– Roberts & Griffins wealth management firm.
As a marketing stunt I transferred all the shares I had to the ‘owner’ of the Roberts & Griffins wealth management firm. When it became clear that it was Mr. Roberts who invested in most of the promising firms we started to receive new job offers for companies that would usually have ignored us.
On event let to another and we started to get more close with Elizabeth, I learned that she is the second granddaughter of the current CEO of the Griffins Corporation. Her sister Sophia was trained and educated to become the next ‘heir’ to the business so Elizabeth never was given the chance to prove her skills in management so she wanted to build her own career instead of being in her sisters shadow.
Elizabeth Griffins had earned my respect and perhaps also my trust. On our one year anniversary reception I had more drinks than I should have and for the first time in nine years I had told someone about my life. About grandma’s death, who my father was, how my mom had abandoned me and my plan to have my father pay for everything he made me go through. I didn’t care about my image, I was used to have people see me as dirt but instead Elizabeth didn’t judge me, as a good person she was; she told me that everything was going to be fine and that she would help me if I asked her too. I think on that day I had made my first friend.
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I was planning to go home when I was done with all my meetings but Elizabeth called me to come to the office apparently there was a package delivered by an American law firm.
Could it be something from Mom? While being mentally prepared with the worst case scenery I hurried to the office. The moment I saw Elizabeth, I asked for the package.
It was a small package sent by a lawyer from Mr. Peters Law firm. It only contained a letter and a small key.
_____________
12-11-1999
Dear Ms. Hannah Griffins Hylle,
As per request of our client Hannah Griffins Roberts we have arranged that his package will be sent to you on your (15-03-2012).
With Kind regards,
Mr. X
Lawyer at Peter’s Law Firm.
__________
A key? Grandma took the effort just to have this key delivered at my? Why a key and why on my twenty-sixth birthday? Again, I had so many questions that I wanted to have answered but I had no one to ask them too. Again a ‘worthless’ present from grandma. First, a locked box and then a key without a lock? Wait a second a key and a locked box? She wanted me to open her beautiful wooden box, but then again why on my twenty-sixth and not on my fourteenth birthday?
There was only one way to figure that out, and that was to see what the box has been hiding for over twelve years.
YOU ARE READING
Thank You For Leaving Me
Non-FictionFor my best friend, I have seen, I have seen a lot, perhaps too much for what I am but nevertheless I have seen a lot to know you. You my friend, are the one that was promised to me, the one that was supposed to love me, the one that should care fo...
