Imagine Us

Chapter 3: Million Dollar Baby

To my surprise, the first person I see is a middle-aged woman sitting at a front desk talking on the phone with piles of paper surrounding her. She had short, ginger hair, a white scarf around her neck tied in a bow to the side, a white business shirt and strikingly vibrant, red lips. She seemed very professional for whatever her profession was. As I opened the door wider, a man walks past me and out the door.

I close the door behind me and walk up to the front desk. The woman was still on the phone and her head was down so she hadn't noticed me yet. I waited patiently for about a minute until she finally said bye to the other side. She put the phone down and when she looked up at me, she screamed, pushed her chair back and put her hand on her chest, panting like a marathon runner. My eyes widened. I'll have to admit, that startled me too.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm just here to see someone." I said blankly and sighed.

She paused for quite a while as she placed her hand on her chest, still processing what just happened to her. She wheeled her chair back in and slowly lifted her head again to look at me. "Dear gracious, child. Nearly got a heart attack there. Haha. Not to worry." She laughed it off. "What can I do for you today?" She shot me a wide smile.

All of a sudden, the same short man from the cemetery comes running into the reception seemingly startled as well.

"Martha! Are you alri- Miss Delavine?" He looks at me dumbfounded. Guess he thought I'd never come.

"Bit of a late reaction there, Ian." She scolds him.

"Sorry, I was in the bathroom." He straightens his suit and tie and fixes his glasses.

The woman, presumably called Martha, brushes it off and turns her attention to me. "Ian, this young lady is here to see you."

"Ah, yes! Very pleasing to see you, Miss Delavine. Now if you will, my office is just right here. Please, have a seat." Mr. Benson's office was literally right next to the reception and so I follow him inside and take a seat opposite his at his desk. What a clutter it was. Is that a bottle of Smirnoff in the bag back there? But that's none of my business. Mr Benson seemed sober...as of now. Was this even a legal business? "Miss Delavine. I want to disclose to you, and only you of what took place on the day of your mother's death which very much involved your mother."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Um, in what way? She was unconscious pretty much the entire time."

"I heard that you had fainted and were in the room down the hall from her. During this time, and miraculously and luckily, I was there when she had awoken for a few minutes. As soon as I learnt that her husband died on site of the accident, I needed her to set out the will as soon as possible."

"This is about a will?" I had no idea what's going on. The confusion was scaring me. What's so urgent about this? I doubt mother would have left anything to me.

"As you you know, your step-father owned and ran a multi-million dollar software company that is doing outstandingly well and is predicted to do so still in the future, perhaps do even better. A new CEO will be elected soon but fifty percent of the company money, rightfully your step-father's, is just sitting there accumulating, unclaimed and cannot be claimed unless someone was stated as direct heir of the company after your step-father would pass. I know this is a lot to take in right now and I won't be surprised if everything is flying out the other ear but it will make sense soon. It's just that it's crucial you know the backstory to everything." As right as he was, I was still excruciatingly curious, despite how tired and emotionally drained I remained. I tucked my seat in closer and sighed. "So I will say, your father never left any documentation as such - stating his direct heir. Marcus also owned thirty-million dollars worth of luxurious penthouses in numerous major cities all over the world which are all for investment. Now may I ask, Miss Delavine, were you aware of any this?" ... "Miss Delavine?"