The Ties that Binds Us

Chapter 1 "Start of something new"

 This one is dedicated to KaylaFrederick. For my new title! I loved it! :) This by the way is already edited. :)

I have been running my company ever since I can remember. I built this company from the ground up with the love of my life, my husband Tristan. We married young at the ages of eighteen and twenty, which was complete surprise to our families. Tristan and I knew each other for over twelve years before we got married. Both our parents went to school to college together and were partners in business, which made it easier for us to develop feelings for each other.

We weren’t exactly a couple all at once. We never really had a talk about our feelings for each other, we just happened. I was really happy with him. And on that terrible day, he got into a car accident. Investigations were done; people who knew us were interviewed and questioned. It got to a point where the police just stopped asking questions and they just declared the death of my husband as an accident.

We never really thought of it as an accident because in my gut, I knew that it was arson. Deep inside we knew that he was murdered. I should have been there with him but he wanted me to stay behind that day. It’s as if he knew something was about to happen he wanted me out of it. I should have been there with him, instead I’m here living my life alone, building an empire that used to ours and now it’s just—mine.  

Ever since the death of my husband, I never thought of anyone but myself. I didn’t trust anybody but myself. In fact, I just barricaded myself from people. I became too stiff, too cold towards people that everybody just stir away from me. I intimidate people and kept them at arm’s length. And deep inside, this is what I wanted and it would make my life a whole lot easier with no attachments or commitments to anybody but myself.

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I woke up and my head was pounding like crazy. I felt nauseous and my vision was spinning. I thought I was about to throw up. So I stood up from my bed and headed towards the kitchen to fix myself a cup of tea. I drank myself to sleep last night, again, knowing that when I woke up, I'd be in the right mindset to set everything at its proper places as I always did. I’ve been feeling restless lately like something was about to happen and its coming soon.

When I finished drinking my cup of tea, I decided to grab lunch at a joint called Northern Spy Food Co. I took my car and absentmindedly drove my car past the busy streets of Manhattan. Keeping my focus on the road, I thought about how my life has been and what might have been if Tristan was here with me.

As I arrived in the joint, I took a seat and started to watch people as they come and go. I watched the students going insane, trying to cram everything before their exams; businessmen and their colleagues having a break just like myself; and couples in their own little bubbles, not minding anyone but themselves. There used to be a time when it was just Tristan and I doing the same things these couples were doing. We would put our little bubble around us and just minded our own business as if we were alone in the world.

Once I finished my burger I went back home to my unit in 45 East 74th Street in New York. Many people would think that my apartment was a little too big for me. The reason why they say that was because I lived alone. It was just me and no one else. Occasionally, family would visit me but my father lived in Madrid where I grew up after my adoptive mother took me in. And my mother, well, she was in and out of rehab for her alcoholism. My brother of course has in own life outside of our family and I wouldn’t want to burden him.

As I arrived back home, I opened my computer and I found three emails from my secretary. By the looks of her emails, there was an emergency in the office and that I had to go to work immediately.

I grabbed my things exasperated. When I finished getting my things, I walked towards the elevator that was just outside my apartment door and pushed the call button. The elevator doors opened immediately, I stepped inside and pushed the button that’d take to the basement garage. As the elevator came to a stop, I sauntered towards my car. I drove a midnight blue 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera, which would make people think that I spend too much.

I didn’t have a driver because I loved driving myself and I didn’t like people driving me around. Why you ask? Because for me, when you know that you are capable of doing things like driving yourself, cooking your own food and things like that, you shouldn’t ask people to do those things for you. If you do, you’re just being lazy.

As I arrived in the office, my secretary Stacey debriefed me on what happened to one of the most important assets of my company. The publishing house that I was handling was just about to liquefy when I decided to buy it from the former owner, change board members, and structure of that company. Basically, all I retained was the name of the publishing house, which were SGT Publishing House and its location. After I funded all the changes, an asshole company wanted to buy the entire publishing house and was threatening to do it today.

"Ms. Grant, I'm so sorry to have bothered you, I know you wanted to have the day for yourself, but Mr. Michaels is threatening to buy the publishing house you have been supporting ma'am." Stacey, my secretary looked frantic and panicked. Sweat covered her forehead and her outfit was a little bit disheveled from panicking. I looked at her with a tight line forming on my lip.

"Mr. Who? I'm sorry I don't know him at all." My eyebrows shot up showing my confusion. I didn’t know anyone named Mr. Michaels.

"Uhh, he's the CEO of Michaels and Peterson’s, Inc. ma’am." Answered my secretary. I gave her a stern look and she was intimidated all at once. I expected that she’d be a little jumpy; she was just new. I stayed silent for a while as I sat on my chair in my office and turned it around towards the window that overlooked all of New York.

"Stacey, get the address and the schedule of this Mr. Michaels. I shall give him a visit. A visit that he will never forget." Keeping my gaze outside the window, I gave my secretary the instructions. I heard her walking out of my office when she stopped in her tracks to ask another question.

"Shall I call his secretary and schedule an appointment ma'am?" she absentmindedly played with her pen in hand and she tapped on her notepad waiting for my answer.

"No Stacey. Just get me the address and his schedule and some coffee please. Thank you."  I'm going to give this man a piece of my mind.