ELITE SUNRISE
CHAPTER THREE
"Good thoughts follow a good man. Bad thoughts hover above a dangerous man."
The cold air of the mountain stings his delicate skin.
It is 5:00 AM; the mountains are saturated with dew. The mist from the sky cascade on the hill and along the roadside. Mild saturation spreads on the dry land, the leaves and trees are wet and fresh, frogs croaking, horns hoofing, birds chirping, and the smells of newness permeate the atmosphere.
The alarm is blazing deep into his eardrums. He raises his hands to put off the alarm clock, but he missed.
Eyes puffy, head spinning, throat dry, body feeling heavy, he rises half asleep to put the alarm clock off.
The room is freezing; he noticed the windows were wide open; he forgot to close them and turn on the heater.
The cold tingle on his skin makes him shiver. Dressed in his sleeping garment, he sits upright on his bed and knocks the alarm clock off.
He looks through his room, and it was a big mess.
His clothes were scattered on the floor. The tray was full of cigarette ash.
Empty bottles of whisky was on his table, wrappers of sweets, and junk foods litter the floor.
He drags his feet into his flip-flop slippers. He heads towards the window, tiptoeing through the mess he created last night with his cousin Violet.
He bolts the large windows close and turn on the heater to stop the cold from affecting his lungs.
He returns to his enormous bed and tries to recall what happened last night. His cousin is the life of the party.
Let's say he knows how to spice things up. Last night, Violet drank till he became a mess. He wonders how he will be this morning.
It's been a while since he had such fun. He is grateful for the gifts his parents gave Emily. He has never seen her so excited as she was last night. A huge and lovely surprise came from his siblings. This all made her thrilled.
Lance moves out of his room wearing his fluffy orange flip-flop slippers into the hallway. He walks from the hallway into the kitchen to make some hot coffee to kill his cold. He is not familiar with the kitchen settings, but he felt the maids and housekeepers should be awake.
In the kitchen, he saw nothing has changed much except for a few arrangements.
He grins and says so softly, "Mum and her ways."
"Good morning, Master Lance."
Startled, he almost jumped out of his skin; Lance turns around to see who was behind him.
he sees a dark-skinned, slim woman in her middle age with a sweeping broom in her hands and a brown apron tied around her black gown.
"Oh, God! You scare me." He said, placing his right hand on his chest.
"Am so sorry, I never meant to scare you." She says.
"Good morning, Tara," Lance says.
Tara is a maid his mom brought to Texas on a trip to Kenya in Africa; She has been with the family for a long time.
She looks at him with a wide smile on her face and says,
"How may I help you, Master Lance?"
"I want to make a cup of coffee," he replies.
She drops her broomstick and starts moving towards the coffee maker and says,
"You can go back to your room. I will get it for you."
Lance moves towards her and holds her hands and says,
"No, I will make it myself; you do what have to do, I will be fine," he says.
"Bu… t," she says.
"No buts Tara, I got it covered," he says with a smile
"Ok… if you say so."
She turns back to take her broom and heads into the hallway and begins cleaning while Lance moves towards the coffee maker.
Minutes later, Lance moves back into his room, holding a cup of hot coffee in his hands.
He enters the room and sits on the chair; he wonders what the time is.
Sipping his coffee slowly, he reminisces on what he will do today. He hates an encounter with Hudson, but he must bear it for the moment.
"He is such an asshole.," he grunts between his throats.
Lance stares at the big clock ticking silently on the wall. He gives it a thought to go for a run before his family wakes up.
He drops his cup half full and checks the closets for what to wear for his run.
He finds some thick clothes good for the long run. The cold is descending through the hillside, and he does not want to catch a cold or worse pneumonia.
He takes them out of the closet, lay them on his dresser, and goes to the bathroom.
He moves towards the mirror and opens the tap. water splurges out of the tap running into the handbasin. He splashes some water on his face, feeling the warm effect of the water on his skin.
He takes a towel to dry his face, pats his hair, and heads back into the room. He changes into his thick clothing with a pair of sneakers he found in the closet and heads into the woods.
The sky is partly golden and misty, the light-yellow rays splashes on the sky and the thick fog is dissipating.
Lance prefers to take a shortcut from the mansion to the road cos the distance to the main gate is quite exhausting for him.
He runs through the woods onto the main road next to the mansion. The cold is less intense than an hour ago, so he felt he should not have worn the thick clothing, but it kept him warm though.
THE MAFIA
Hudson Bond is an austere businessman who is practical and ruthless in his dealing. He is successful, and he believes nothing goes for nothing.
His slogan is "tame them or they tame you." So, most business gurus dread him for his stern influence and power.
His estate agency is the best firm in the city, and he has risen in so much power that no one could beat him at a deal or contract.
He is sneaky in his dealings, and he pushes too hard and does not have respect for people's feelings. They know him as a savage when cutting deals and offers. He never likes to lose.
In the city of Texas, it is 7:00 AM; he visits Lance in his office, contrary to the time scheduled.
He had a long talk with Lance on the phone that resulted in no conclusion about the construction site Lance has been supervising; he believes Lance is not managing things the way he expects, and he likes to take matters into his hands or end the contract.
He went over the details of the construction with his assistant. He barely slept. He hopes Lance gets the message he sent by midnight. He is not ready for Lance's lame excuses.
He sits comfortably in his car; he holds the newspaper to his face, a thick brown cigarette hanging in his mouth, and a bottle of whiskey by his side.
He prefers to take a shot of whisky each morning to calm his mind. He believes he must be calm and alert.
He glances at his diamond-crusted gold wristwatch and nods.
"Am right on time," he says
He breached the time scheduled for the meeting with Lance. He wanted to see how things operate in the company and find an ally who would update him on what goes on in the company.
His car stops at the front of the gigantic-story building. He heads out of his car with his cigarette in his mouth and enters the building.
He heads towards the elevator. There were few people around, so he presses the bell and steps into the elevator. He presses the button to the top floor; he relaxes in the elevator and waits to get to the top floor where Lance's office is situated.
Lance is the acting vice-chairman of his company. His father, Brian, never loved doing business with him (Hudson) and it surprises Hudson that his son is giving him a chance, although it came with an offer Lance could not refuse. He knew Lance would take it, just like he says: "To catch the mouse, give it cheese."
He wants to make use of this opportunity to gain more power. To his knowledge, Lance is too soft to be the president of this multinational cooperation.
The indicator stops at the top floor, and he steps out of the elevator, towards the lobby.
He realizes the secretary (Julia) had just arrived, and he has to wait in the lobby for a few minutes.
Hudson cursed and grunted under his breath. He wished someone could run affairs differently here.
"What a bad day I will have!" He says to himself.
The deadline is behind schedule and Lance keeps asking for more time. He is fed up with his lack of speed.
"Well, I must put up with this mess, if I want to get what I want." he thought with a mischievous grin.
Several minutes later, Julia ushers him into the meeting room and apologizes for the delay.
"Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea?" she asks.
He looks at her indifferently and says,
"No, thank you. I am fine."
"I will wait for your boss. Once he arrives, let him know am waiting."
"Right away, sir." She says.
She exits through the transparent glass door back to her office.
She heaved an enormous sigh of relief as she closes the door behind her. She dreads his temper.
FLAME REKINDLED.
At the mansion, Lance approaches the road, cutting the backbend corner that leads to the mountain. He has been running for fifteen minutes and his lungs are tired.
The road is silent and lonely. The inhabitants of the mountainside are sleeping.
The town is on the country's outskirts, and the population of people in the town is fewer than the woods. The country has a vast plain and green land good for farming.
Most inhabitants of the town are ranchers and farmers. It's a great place to start a ranch, but his father insists on not buying or starting one.
Lance could see some kids running down the road. He loved the view of the sun as it splashes in the sky.
He wished he could take some time off work.
His mind wandered over to the ongoing construction for Hudson, and he wished he had never taken such a deal.
He needed time to finish the construction project. Hudson does not understand the saying, "Quality result takes quality time and effort."
"How can he expect me to finish a 6-month estate plan within 2 months without giving the right materials?"
"I must be nuts for accepting this deal." He thinks.
Hudson left him several messages on his pager this morning. "he's a real jerk." he says out loud to himself
"I can't just understand why I gave him a chance."
"I am going to quit this contract, am fed up with his hassles." He thinks.
He was so engrossed in his thought; he never saw what was coming toward him and he collides with the lady that came out of the woods. He staggers and fell flat on the floor.
His head landed on a soft material, and he wondered what hit him.
"Hey Mister, can't you watch where you are going?" she says with sarcasm.
He tried to rise to his feet, but he stops and says,
"You push me down and still have the nerve to scream at me."
She rolled her eyeballs with annoyance and says out of guilt, "How could I have known a jerk like you were coming? You bashed on me right after I came out of the woods."
Now Lance becomes infuriated, but controls his temper.
Lance lay still on the floor and says, "I will love it if you could be gentle with your words, Miss."
"You bump on me, and you still have the guts to insult me."
"Where are your manners, missy?" he asked.
The lady, feeling a little more guilt at her outburst, says,
"Ok, am sorry, but you are sleeping on my baby."
Lance, confused at her utterances, looks at what he lands on and sees it's a big teddy bear.
He rose to his feet to give her a dose of her medicine. He stood transfixed in his gaze as he stared at her.
She is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen, with black hair, green eyes, long lashes, cherry lips, and a long nose. Her curves were outlined in the dark blue leggings she wore, with a black sneaker and a white crop top.
She carries a huge soft white and pink teddy bear, but it has become his cushion that saved his head from suffering from a blow from the fall.
He picks up the teddy bear, now dirty and rumpled, and handed it over to her amidst her constant rambling for an apology.
"Here you can have it." He says with a smile on his face.
She gets cut back by his change of attitude and relaxes a bit.
"Am sorry if I sound so rude." She apologizes.
"Why didn't you watch where you are going?"
"A bike could have hit you." She says.
"Am sorry I was deep in thought," Lance replies.
She looks at him and says: "I don't mean to pry, but you should be careful of what you think as you run." She says.
"I will take that as a compliment and advice, dear." He says.
"By the way, am Lance." He stretches out his hand towards her for a handshake." And you are?" he asks.
"Shelia," she replies
"Am sorry I bumped into you." She apologizes once more.
"Am sorry I got carried away, but it's nice meeting you, Sheila." He says.
"It is alright. It's nice meeting you, too." She says.
"So where are you heading?" he asks
"I am going to the store. I need to get some milk. The delivery guy is late, and my cat needs milk."
"Oh! Your cat" He exclaims. He can't take his gaze off her eyes. He felt spellbound by her dazzling eyes and wishes to know her more.
"Am in a rush now. I wish I have the time to talk to you longer, but I will love it if I can see you another time when the meeting will be appropriate for us both." Lance says.
"Is that okay with you and I live in the mansion on the hilltop?"
Her eyes widen with surprise. "You live in that big house, so you are Lance stone." She screams.
"Oh, my God!" she exclaims. She put up her hands to cover her face for a few seconds.
Lance gets accustomed to people overreacting when they get to know him. He wonders if she would differ from all other people he has met.
"I must go, Sheila, it's nice meeting you." He says.
"My pleasure." She says.
She snuggles her teddy bear in her arms and walks down the road. Lance could not move but looked behind him as he watches this beauty move with an alluring grace he could not tell.
He faces his front, shrugs his head, and says to himself, "Lance stone! what are you thinking?" "You still love Cynthia. You cannot be thinking of another woman."
He holds himself together; he looks down and sees a shimmering object on the floor.
He bends down to pick it up and discovers it belongs to the lady who just left, but she has disappeared, and he cannot reach her.
He puts the object in his pocket and his face lit with a smile.
He continues his run and heads back home with a feeling of satisfaction after a long time.