Heart of Glass [ON HOLD]

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Micah

Since I was seven years old, I was only sure of two things. One, I would be inheriting my father's company, and two, I would be marrying you. 

It wasn't by choice. Oh, God, no. I had only seen you three times in my entire life. The last time was ten years ago. I couldn't get over the fact that I was babysitting my fiancee. Needless to say, it was awkward.

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There was a knock on my door two seconds before Brooke, my secretary, walked in. 

"I was going to say 'come in', but thank you for saving my the trouble," I said sarcastically.

She ignored me. "Mr. Pierce, your father wants to see you. Immediately."

"Send him in," I sighed reluctantly. Meetings with my father almost always left me more stressed than before and slightly pissed off.

"Micah. How have you been?" My father seated himself on the couch. "You missed Elizabeth's birthday on Saturday, you know. It's not every day your sister turns eighteen."

"I had Brooke send her flowers," I grumbled. "Look, Dad, I'm a little busy right now, so can we continue this conversation later?"

My father shook his head, shrugged, and exhaled loudly in disappointment. Quite pointedly too, I might add.

"We'll talk later. Promise," I said, not even looking up. 

A pile of papers was sitting in front of me, taunting me. Hell, I was doing more paperwork than I was doing women. 

"Have you talked to Arielle yet?" Why the hell was that man still here?

"I shook my head. No, Dad. Please, please leave. I really need to get this done."

He sighed. "You have less than two weeks before we fly down to Florida, and two months before you get married to her."

"I know," I snarled through gritted teeth. "You've been counting down the days since I was seven."

By some miracle, Dad took a hint and got up to leave. Just as he was opening the door, he turned to look at me.

"What?" I snapped, throwing my pen down. "What do you want now? I thought we were done here."

"It's Arielle's birthday today. You really should call her."

I focused on my breathing and rested my head on my desk. When I looked up again, my dad was gone. I stared at my computer without actually seeing anything before shutting it off. Scribbling my name on a few more dotted lines, I grabbed my coat and told Brooke to cancel and reschedule my appointments for the next day. I was going to get wasted.

New York never sleeps. You had never been to the city. You were born and raised in Tampa. I hailed a cab and settled in, relishing the warmth. January in New York wasn't friendly. The cold often felt like needles.

I gave the driver the name of a nearby club and closed my eyes. A feeling of guilt washed over me as I thought of you. 

It would have been easy to just blame you for all this, but I knew that this wasn't your idea. It was our parents' idea. That didn't keep me from hating you any less, though.

To be completely honest, my life had been so much more complicated because of this. Because of you. All through my high school life, I could never have a steady girlfriend because of you. Indirectly, I mean. I broke hearts. I was the player in high school. 

I spent freshman to senior year of high school trying to convince my dad to break off the marriage. Those four years were spent getting good grades and fighting with my father. I did my undergrad at UCLA, and spent those four years rebelling. I partied as much as I could, slept with as many girls as I could, and drank as much as I could. There was hardly a morning where I didn't wake up totally hungover with a girl whose name I didn't even know. Sometime in the middle of my senior year, I woke up in the hospital after having my stomach pumped. Well, you could say that I still managed to wake up to a woman. Of course, this woman was sticking an I.V. needle into my vein.

Somehow, I managed to survive and graduate from UCLA. My father made me move back to New York to start working at the company while getting my Master's from NYU.

I basically sold my soul to the company. That's all I cared about. Family and friends took a backseat to Pierce Enterprises. Our international trade skyrocketed, and our revenue increased by nearly 100%. All in the four years I was working there. I was able to change everything but my parents' minds.