The Secret's Out

Chapter Three: Secrets

“So, what’ve you been up to all this time?” Miranda asked, sitting next to Mr. Carter on the couch.

“I’ve been taking care of my father’s company,” he said matter-of-factly, as if it isn’t something out of the ordinary. Because everyone takes over their father’s multi-million dollar company, right?

“It’s taken you this long to get hired for your own father’s company?” She sounded incredulous, like she couldn’t believe it.

He chuckled. “It was more than getting hired, Miranda.”

“Then what?” she questioned relentlessly.

“M, aren’t you being a little nosy?” I intercepted.

“I wanna know, though~” she whined.

I sighed. Exactly like Val.

“My father passed away over ten years ago, so my mother was originally taking care of all of his assets. But, as you can guess, a woman at the head of such a big company caused many problems. People insisted that she step down, even threatened her, but she kept at it.”

“Mason’s mom’s a real character,” Valery said from the kitchen, “Resilient old bat.”

“I’m guessing she doesn’t like, Val,” Miranda muttered.

“They have an interesting relationship,” Mr. Carter agreed. “Anyway, because of mom’s personality, she purposely flaunted all of the power she had just to irritate those around her, but she’s not as young as she used to be and her body can’t handle nearly much as it could, so when she was attacked again, she decided it was time to call me home. If they wanted a male CEO, then she’d give them one.”

“So your job was to take over for her…?”

“Yes. The moment it was announced that I was the soon-to-be CEO, the death threats lessened. All that was left was to prove that I was my father’s son.”

“It shouldn’t take that long for a DNA test!” Miranda argued.

“Well, it didn’t, but there were other problems,” he explained. “After it was proven, the company started having problems with rivals, others trying to buy out our smaller, less developed buildings. You see, our company has a nice, big building in London, but we also have several, smaller companies in more remote areas. In order to test my capability as the head of a big corporation, people kept trying to overthrow the company, using bribes, blackmail, and other illegal means to get employees to quit or revolt. It’s been a hectic time.”

“Wow,” she breathed as Valery brought in “homemade” tea (it was actually just a gallon bought from McDonald’s; she had an unhealthy obsession with it). “So, you really are an impressive person, Mr. Carter.”

“Yes,” he said confidently, chuckling at the awe in her voice.

I blinked, still staring at him like an idiot.

Head of a company, huh? CEO of a corporation? Was this man really my English teacher three years ago? He looked like him, more or less. His dark hair was still cut the way it was three years ago; the side bangs covering his icy eye a little. If anything, his hair was maybe a little longer, messier. His muscular arms were outlined well in the dark purple long-sleeve, showing a little more definition than I remember. The grey sweats wrapped around his waist were different from the usual khakis or jeans I was used to, but they still looked good.

He was still him.

Miranda waved her hand in front of my face. “Way to go, Mason!” she scolded playfully, “You broke her.”