Day 10

The speed-o-meter on Nancy’s dash board read 240km/h! But Nancy couldn’t slow down, she almost ran two red light and speed past a zebra crossing, and still had no intention of slowing down. Jesus, she yelled in her head, what kind of person does that! It’s currently 9a.m that Tuesday morning and Nancy half expected to get a speeding ticket! She’s just drop off a cranky Will and Philip at school and raced off to the other side of San Antonio…….the business side.

The previous evening’s event still etched in Nancy’s Brain. When Nancy had found Phebie in her dad’s office searching through her father’s things, the first thing that came to her mind was that Phebie turned to thievery. Nancy accused her friend of sneaking into her family’s house to steal their possession since Phebie’s family had none of their own. A teary Phebie tried to explain what was happening but Nancy couldn’t have dealt with that problem seeing as she had another waiting in the sitting room.  Nancy accidentally grabbed the key to their biggest guest room but had no intention of turning back to change it and moved out the room ……Phebie didn’t follow. Nancy had trusted the key into Izabell’s hand, and marched back to the office, golf club still in hand, wanting either to throw Phebie out……or shatter her skull.

“Out of the way!” Nancy blared her horn at an old woman who just decided to cross the road as the red light turned green. “C’mon grandma, move it!” It looked like the old woman deliberately made herself go slower in front of Nancy so the car’s beside her passed by, leaving a cloud of grey smoke in their wake. “C’mon old lady! Cross this road before I grow a beard!”

By the time the old woman reached the other side the lights turned red again and Nancy pounded the steering wheel with both hands. She turned to glare at the old woman who was evidently sticking her tongue out at Nancy.

Note to self, Nancy said never stop for an old lady again!  As Nancy waited for the light to turn green again she remember the sob story Phebie had feed her and if it wasn’t for the fact that Phebie’s eye’s didn’t hold a trace of dark blue Nancy wouldn’t be driving like a lunatic right now.

She rounded a corner just like Angelina Jolie did in the movie ‘Wanted’ and smoothly parallel parked in fronted of a 28 to 58 story building with the words “A.A. Incorporated” in by white block letters placed at the top of the building. Nancy marched into the building past the receptionist who kept calling her back that it wasn’t visiting hours yet and other lame exercises like that.  Nancy got into the elevator and punched the last button, as the lift began to ascend Nancy went over what she wanted to do and hope to accomplish.

The elevator doors slide open to reveal a lavishly furnished waiting room, the secretary, a skinny blonde in a well-tailored suit, looked at her with a phone to her ear, no doubt get a warning about Nancy’s coming from the receptionist.  Nancy charged past her down the long white and brown oaked corridor.

“Miss, you’re not allow in their”

“Tell it to someone who cares!” Nancy spat back, making the blonde jump back in fear. Even though Nancy’s face would make you think a tigress was on the prowl she came across a wide wooden door with the letter’s ‘A.A.’ on either sides of the door. Nancy shoved the door open with all her might, and then stomped into the room toward the 5 meter long mahogany desk with an obvious $5,000 leather chair behind it. The seat was empty. Nancy felt a cold shill run though her veins as she thought she had acted like a lunatic for nothing and the person she hoped to scare wasn’t even there! Nancy felt a wave of embarrassment as she already began going out of the room to face the secretary and receptionist who probably wanted to warn her that the person she wanted to see wasn’t even there.

“May I help you?” aroused a low voice.

“You!” Nancy’s head snapped a whole 90O to the right to see the wood-brown hair coloured man standing next to a small cabinet filled with different sizes and colors of brandy. Nancy raced across the room and grabbed him by the collar. “Andrew-”

“A pleasure to see you too again, Miss Parker” Andrew said in a lazy voice. His red tie coming undone by the share force with which Nancy caught him.

“Don’t give me that crap, why are you doing this to her!” Nancy yelled.

“I believe you’d better change your tone and attitude else I’ll call security” Andrew just looked down at her with a wicked grin on his face.  Nancy slowly let go of his collar, took a step back and took a deep breath.

“Why did you make her do it?” Nancy repeated

“Her, who?”

“You know who I mean”

“I make people do a lot of things” Andrew rounded his table and sat down “Refresh my memory”

“Okay” Nancy stood in front of the table, wanting to look down on him “Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? Why is it that when you walked into Phebie’s life she miraculously got more miserably, huh? Why is it that you’re shipping her off away from those she loves? And why the hell is it that you threatened to cancel the wedding between you two if she doesn’t break into our home and find documents on my father!!

“Waw” Andrew plainly said “You two must be really good friends for her to reveal that much to you” his expression was calm almost bored even.

“We’re not just good friends, we’re best friend. So much so, that I didn’t call the police to tell them that my best friends fiancé is threating her! ...wait, that didn’t sound right” Nancy paused.

“Of course it didn’t. You hate your friend so much that you wouldn’t call the police” Andrew twisted her words.

“No one loves Phebs more than me!” Nancy retorted

“Even more….than her parents…?”

“A lot more!”

“That means her parents don’t love her enough” Andrew smiled a devilish smile.

“Stop that!” yelled Nancy though silently battling a smile “And don’t try to change the subject” Nancy leaned across the table fighting the urge to claw his face with her freshly manicured nails.

The door to the office swings open and then came in the blonde secretary with two huge men behind her.  “Sorry for the disturbance, sir, this maniac will be thrown for the building immediately” said the blonde, the two guards moved forward.

“No need for that. Miss Parker here is an…….unexpected guest” Andrew said from his seat.

“So she’ll no longer be of any trouble?” the blonde inquired just for good measures.

“None whatsoever” Andrew replied.  And with that they were gone, leaving Nancy alone with the civilized tyrant.

“You were saying Miss Parker?”

“What I am saying is that why on earth would a multi-business billionaire threaten his fiancée to break into her best friend house to steal the father’s document or break his engagement to her!” Nancy said with fierce animosity.

“Because I am just as dumbfounded as you are by the fact that an equally rich man’s daughter would not report to the authorities of said father’s disappearance” Andrew intertwined his fingers on the mahogany desk and looked at her intensely with vivid green-grey eyes. Why is it that a rich family whose sole source of income depends solely on the father, would not charge blinding into a police station to file a missing persons report? Just when the father’s company is on the verge of a 64 billion dollar merge with my company”

“Your company?” Nancy interrupted “Isn’t this company owned by a Mr. Shellevaski? A Norwegian”

“Hahahahahha” Andrew chuckled, something Nancy didn’t think he was possible to do “that’s is the fake identity I’m known by”

Nancy raised her brow “Fake identity”

Isn’t that illegal?

“You can never be careful in the world of business these days.  Twice I’ve heard on the street of people trying to assassinate the elusive ‘Mr. Shellevaski’ ”

“That still doesn’t matter and nor answer my question of why you did what you did to my literally poor friend’’ Nancy said.

“Because” Andrew stood up fiercely now “I needed evidence to prove that it’s your family behind your father’s disappearance”

Nancy thought she’d swallowed a bug at how fiercely she gasped “US!” she managed to sputter “what possibly good reason do we have of hiding our own beloved father?”

“Because just as your father went missing at this crucial time of our companies merges the authorities would obviously suspect and arrest me. Leaving the huge amount of wealth of both companies to their families, and since I haven’t wed Miss Jackson yet, then the money could easily be owned by you and your family…..” he trailed off as if positive that he had just figured out a master plan.

“Wow, that is a good observation Mr. Andrew but you are mistaken for my family can’t so much as touch our fathers money without his permission and signature” Nancy thrust her chin upward, feeling as if she shattered Andrew evidence to piece’s.

“Not unless you’ve killed him so as to inherit his wealth” Andrew retorted, getting up from his sit slowly.

Nancy went numb at the fact that a human being could even imagine her or her family killing her father for money! Then a thought came to her.

“How did you know about my father’s disappearance if we haven’t even told the authorities yet?” Nancy eyed him as he walked round his desk to the cabinet “unless you have some sort of involvement?”

“Your mother should be a lot less chatty when investigating about someone else. In her haste to learn about Mr. Shellevaski she let slip to my guard about her true goal” Andrew said carefully, study a bottle with both white and violet mingled inside.

Could it be? Nancy wondered. Could it be that in her mother’s haste to find suspects connected to her father disappearance that Rebecca revealed too much? Or was Andrew making all this up to lead her off his trail….and then there’s still Izabell to input into the whole equation…….

“Care for a drink?” He casually offered.

“Non-alcoholic, please” Nancy approached the cabinet to accept the tumbler filled with white liquid. Oddly, halve the questions Nancy intended to bombard on Andrew ebbed out of her mind as she watched this cool and careful man study her intensely from the rim of his glass.

“Permit me to ask” he began “but how did a destitute such as Phebie meet and became friends with a rich girl like you”

“Phebie’s not a destitute……completely. And we grew up as next door neighbors” Nancy answered more calmly then she intended.

“You grew up in the gutters?!” Andrew was surprised.

“No!” Nancy laughed. “Phebie lives in a house that has been passed down for seven generations”

“How fortunate for them”

“Not for long” Nancy said gloomily

“How so?” Andrew inquired.

“Cause when she moves-sorry, I mean- when she gets shipped away her family’s gonna have to sell their house and move away”

“Why?” Andrew still couldn’t comprehend Nancy’s meaning “Because without Phebs, her family would’ve died a long time ago due to abject poverty’’

Andrew looked slightly shaken at Nancy’s announcement “But there a family of 9! Couldn’t someone else have loan a hand?’’

Nancy gave him a sympathetic smile at his sheer nativity and lack of knowledge of his fiancée’s life.

“Her parents are too old and her siblings too young. So Phebie took the responsibility as breadwinner of the family when she was just seven! Washing cars, walking dogs, mowing lawns...that sort of things’’ Nancy sipped her wine and enjoyed the liquids motion down her throat.

“She must have afew siblings older than seven, they should take some responsibility off her” Andrew waved his glass around, obviously feeling bad about not knowing his fiancée’s difficulties.

“Ya, all the boys were above seven…do you even know theirs ages or names?” Nancy anger was quickly being replaced by disgust. When he didn’t reply: - “You’re going to marry her! That means you’re not only taking her but her whole family”

He refused to looked at her, then he replied solemnly “When my mother told me to marry someone from humble beginnings…I told her she should pick whomever she saw fit. A week later she called me from Spain and said I should come down to the family house down in San Antonio, when I came I saw Phebie working in my mom’s room, not so much as sparing me a glance. My mother called me her parlor and told me that the woman I just met was to be my future bride”

He paused just long enough to look Nancy in the eyes, “I’m a practical man Nancy, I don’t believe in ‘true love’ or ‘soul mates’, but imagine what it felt like to a grown man to be paired up with someone who they don’t even have a spark of attraction with”

“Not so very good I imagine” Nancy replied over the rim of her glass.

“But it doesn’t matter now, we’ll soon be married and she need not worry about any financial problems’’ Andrew retorted in abstain.

“What? You think Phebs would just sit around and let you hand her the money?’’ Nancy gave a short laugh.

“Won’t she?’’

“Phebs prefers to earn her things, not have it handed to her! She’s too proud. I think she planned to open a small business for herself with the little money-which she’ll probably never get from you-to be sending to her parents frequently’’ Nancy said “But if you ship her away it’ll delay the process and seeing as her parents are oblivious to technology, sending it through a bank account would be useless’’

“What of the others? You’re trying to tell me that of all her six siblings none of them can go to the bank? Hell they don’t even need to go to the bank! There’s such a thing like credit cards? Just keep sending money to it monthly”

“And who will be in charge of it? Kevin? Kyle? HA! Leaving her brothers incharge of money is alot worst then hiding your wallet on the porch!”

Andrew began cogitating on what Nancy had announced and his face contracted in what looked like shame, embarrassment and annoyance.

“I didn’t know’’ He finally admitted.

“Of course you didn’t’’ Nancy said in a mock sweet voice “You’re too much of a git to care’’ she leaned forward and pinched both of his cheeks teasingly. She decided to be friends with him, maybe if she got close enough to him she could get him to change, to treat Phebie better then he would.

“Stop that’’ he smiled and hit Nancy’s palm.

“ANDREW!’’ came an angry Phebies’ voice. “I can’t do this anymore!” The doors swung open but apparently Phebie hadn’t seen them for she was rummaging through her bag for something.

“You just made me ruin nearly two decades of irreplaceable friendship, just so you could get some stupid incriminating documents that wasn’t even their! What do you-” she paused as she looked up and saw Nancy’s hand on Andrew’s face, a face she herself hadn’t yet touched. “What the heck is going on?”