Chapter 1 Tommy

I stand tall in my corner office on the top floor of green hill conglomerate, overlooking the metropolis, a city without match, my city. Vinal city. I close my eyes and took a deep breath, appreciating this moment, this victory. After year's of sleepless nights and concerted efforts from me and my trusted subordinates green hill industries has become an international giant, owning a monopoly on both the construction and communications industries in the country, and with the CEO of volt companies, our only rival, a rival that I allowed exist to evade monopoly laws, now in my pocket I owned this city. Owned it!

Yet standing here with a bottle of whiskey in my hand, wearing a suit worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, I felt nothing, empty, alone...... void.

I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the wall of glass, a middle-aged man with sharp features, blonde hair greying at the edges and a muscular frame indicative of an extensive exercise plan. I was not bad looking; in fact, most women I've met refer to me as fairly handsome, though that might have more to do with my money than my appearance. Still, those icy blue eyes that rested on my face looked utterly absent of life.

I couldn't help but wonder if it was worth it. At that thought, my gaze strayed to the picture frame on my desk. A picture of a young woman, dark haired and caramel skinned, who seemed to be of both of Caucasian and African descent, she was beautiful.

She was worth it.

Thinking up till this point I could help but think about "It". My life, my journey, the story of how I got here, well like most good story it has a rough start, a very rough start.

I was a junior in high school and also an orphan, I had been in the system now for three years ever since I lost my parents when I was thirteen, I was an angry kid, starting fight getting in trouble the usual, but after my parents died there was a lot of pity. No sincere sympathy of course but a lot of pity, and that pity made me even angrier, but I wasn't stupid I was angry butt never stupid, I knew pity would run out people would lose patience and like all angry kids I would end up in juvy I wasn't going to juvy, so I shut myself off from everyone. Can't get angry if you don't care.

After my parent's death I was sent from foster home to foster home, not because I was a trouble maker, quite the opposite actually, at first my silence was comforting to my care takers it proved that I was not a problem child, but then they would expect me to open up, it got very uncomfortable when I didn't and down right hostile when they knew I never would, some times I wonder if maybe I had to much luck with the system, I would have much preferred if I ended up with people who didn't give two fucks about me and just wanted the government money, it would be so much easier.

So there I was on family three in three years, a nice couple with two daughters, it had been more than a couple months and I could tell they where getting uncomfortable with my silence but Veronica, the wife, seemed to be the persistent sort so I was probably sticking around for a while. Anyway, there I was about to finish junior year when it turns out we are getting a new English teacher, it's a Monday morning and I'm sitting at the back like I usually am not bothering to pay any attention, since I could probably teach this class myself, when an angel walks in.

Curly dark hair frizzing every which way in a wild black afro, chocolate brown skin that glistened in the morning sun and a God send body that her modest outfit of a sweater and a skirt down to her ankles could do nothing to hide, I was transfixed. Me, and just about every other boy in my grade but transfixed nonetheless.

Her named was Celeste Garnier. Ms. Garnier

I spent the last few weeks of class crushing so hard on Ms. Garnier that if I didn't already know the material I would have flunked the class. We where about to move to the next year and she wasn't going to be my teacher any more, I would probably only see her around school, so I gathered all my courage and asked her if she could introduce me to some new literature, not really being a fan of books myself outside of the more technical stuff, but hoping to spend any amount of time with her.

It worked.

At first it was only a few sentences here or there maybe a quick chat when we bumped into each other in the hall, but as I caught up to her literature wise, in transformed into long conversations even some drawn out arguments, I began visiting her office , and sometimes even walking her to her car after school.

We were now friends but I realized that somewhere along the line I had fallen in love with her, it was no more some childish crush, I now knew Celeste as a person, and I loved her.

I tried to say nothing, I tried to hold it in but somewhere in the middle of the school year, I was over at her place helping her move in, me and a bunch of her other friends, it all some how ended up with me and her alone, I tried not to say it I tried to keep it in. But then she laughed at one of my jokes.

God, her laugh. Even now, decades later the thought of it brings a smile to my face, and then the words just left my mouth.

"I love you"

Laughter ceased in fact she froze up and we just started at each other for minutes on end, me getting more and more nervous as time passed at some point I couldn't take it any more, stuttering out an apology before running out of her apartmen. I didn't see Celeste again for weeks, I thought it was over that I had ruined the one spot of happiness I had been able to scrounge up in my life.

That is, until Celeste called wanting to talk, we met at her place. She seemed nervous and fidgety, maybe even a bit guilty. But I was just happy to be there, she started talking to me about boundaries and rules and society and about how it wasn't my fault that she should have seen it that she led me on. At this point at least internally I was furious. What was she saying, was she reducing my feelings to the puppy dog crush of a foolish teen. That really got to me.

So I kissed her.

I don't fully understand why I did but I did, and as much as she tried to resist she kissed me back, the next thing clothes where discarded and the rest was history. I dated Celeste for two glorious months, for two wonderful months; I wasn't so angry or in pain or alone; I was complete. Then somebody found out; somebody always finds out. We were in the papers, in the news, we were everywhere.

I was the stud that banged his hot English teacher, and she was the whore that couldn't keep her hands of her student, every word infuriated me, if I was angry before, now I was downright furious and after they took Celeste from me I was furious and alone. Over the years I got into more and more trouble the family I was with was able to put up with me for a time at least up until I started stealing from them to feed my gambling habits, then there was the drugs oh the drugs any thing to make me forget the pain and quell the rage maybe even for a bit.

I followed this downward spiral for a couple years up until I turned twenty one and got a letter in the mail, turns out it was a message that was to be sent to me in the event her death, Celeste's death. Since according to the law the only way she can communicate with me in this life time was from beyond the grave.

Looking back on it now if that was all that was in the letter then I would have died that day, I had already been contemplating suicide but with this I was sure. If this was all she had to say I would have followed her into the after life, only to finish the letter and to discover that at the time this letter was written she was pregnant with my child.

I was twenty years old at that point, that was over three years ago. Our baby, MY baby would have been two years old at that point.

That got me of my ass, that got me off my ass very quickly. I looked for my child but at every turn I met a dead end, I realized what I was lacking was power and resources, so get them I would.

I went back to school I graduated with honors and in a few years my company was on the fortune five hundred. It was around that time I found her, my little Gabriella, she was nine years old already and was in a family with two parents who loved her. She was happy, it was the happiest yet most painful moment of my life, to realize that she was okay, but she didn't need me.

I had nothing to offer her but my wealth so that is what I did I worked and worked fought and won, made all this money did all this so that when the time came she could have it, she could have it all, she would never have to work another day in her life her children would never have to work a day, heck maybe even her children's children wouldn't for matter, for the security of my child's future it was all worth it I was now forty one she was twenty three, I was already devising ways to get the cash to her without exposing to much I would like her to enjoy the fruits of my labor while she's young enough to really use it and while I'm alive watch.

Deciding that is more than enough introspection for one night, I finished of my glass of whiskey picked my coat of the rack bid my secretary goodbye and started the drive home my personal security in tow.

Excited for the future because finally after all this time I would meet my Gabriella even if I couldn't meet her as her father.

But then I heard a bang go off as my car was shoved of the high way, then everything went black