Matt Wolffe seldom worked on Saturdays. Saturdays were for social activities and he honored every social invite religiously. Acquaintances were made at such social events and for someone like him, they presented opportunities to strike business deals. Today was not one of those days, however.
His chauffeur was waiting outside with the door of his car open. He slid into the back seat. The chauffeur moved round the back of the car and took the driver’s seat.
This was a visit to the only father figure in his life. Simone Pierce.
As a child under the iron hand of his father, he was forced out of his comfort and thrown into the jungle of business. At age 18, against his wish, Zach Wolffe forced him into business school. He was intelligent, graduated with good grades and was introduced to the business world. Groomed to take over his father’s banking-investment company, he was introduced to several of Zach’s colleagues and friends in business. When his father began to fall apart and rumors of bankruptcy got out, Simone Pierce, his father’s business partner had taken him under his wings and taught him the mechanics of business. After Zach got himself killed from a deal gone wrong, Matt closed down Zach Wolffe’s business and started a new one of his own, untainted with his father’s cruelty and bloody hands. Simone Pierce was responsible for his success, responsible for his climb in the business world.
After a long drive away from the busy city, the chauffeur rounded a bend on the road and a large white house surrounded by a tall, white grill fence and a wrought iron gate came into view. The security cameras attached to the sides of the gates moved slowly, taking in the perimeter of the property. The gates slid open and Matt’s chauffeur drove in. The house was serene, surrounded by manicured lawns with various pretty flowers growing among thick branches. There was a large foot-shaped pool at the side with a shaded patio and garden chairs around a metal table painted black.
Even before he got out of the car Simone was already outside in a loose flowery shirt and white shorts. The man was in his early sixties with a full head of wispy graying hair that he kept at shoulder length. There was a huge smile on his face as Matt walked toward him. The house and every other property he owned were a testament to his successes in business before he retired to the countryside.
“Golden boy.” His voice was deep and firm.
Matt took his hand in a firm handshake and Simone clapped his shoulder. He led him to the patio where a servant dressed in casual clothes brought glasses of whiskey for them.
“How is the business?” Simone asked as he waved a dismissive hand at the servant.
“Great.”
Simone cocked one graying brow. He knew Matt too well not to know there was more to his visit.
Matt cocked a smile at the old man’s watchful gaze. “Not too great. I have nothing on Ethan Lowe.” Ethan Lowe was the obstacle in the new business deal he was trying to close. Ethan was the current owner of a small but successful packing company. It was a family business run by the eldest son with 6 members of the family, including Ethan Lowe, making up the board of directors. But recently, under his leadership, the business was failing. The other members of the family wanted to sell since there was no hope of restoration for them, the only option left was to take a loan but they were in debt. Ethan held the majority vote and he refused to sell. Matt was frustrated. The company had a promising future if it was under his control. He offered a merge and Ethan refused.
A month ago, he learned from an insider that Ethan was planning to sell to another company, a rival company run by an old nemesis, Noel Greer. Even though he offered more money to Ethan he still refused to sell. Now he needed to play the dirty game to get Ethan to surrender the company to him which was why he was pissed at Ricky for the delay.
“Be patient. That’s the rule of the game. Ethan will fall into your hands in no time.” Simone sipped his drink and leaned forward. “But I am worried about Noel Greer, he is not a man to be played.”
“Noel is not a problem for me.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To see my godfather,” he said with a charming smile.
Simone laughed. “This is one of the reasons you’re successful, your smooth lying tongue.”
Matt laughed with him then he turned serious. “I am worried about Ricky.”
“And you need my help looking into him?”
“Yes. I trust Ricky but every man has a price and he is human. I hate to think he is delaying this assignment because Ethan has paid him for it but I need to be sure that that is not the case.” He looked at Simone over the rim of his whiskey glass. “I know you have the resources to watch him without his knowledge. That is why I am here.”
“You could have just said this over the phone.”
“I told you old man I really wanted to see you. It’s been a long time since I saw you, old man.”
“You appeared in the gossip column with Penelope on your arm again.”
“I always appear in the gossip column,” Matt retorted with a roll of his eyes. “The media want something to talk about and I give them enough fodder to feed their hunger.”
“And is Penelope the one?”
The one
He never believed in The one. Believing there was someone out there meant for him, someone to spend the rest of his life with was a fantasy. His parents made that obvious with their disastrous marriage. Even if that fantasy did exist, Penelope was not the one. Although she knew him better than the others since they had grown up together, they both knew that what they had was just a fling. They would part ways when one of them grew bored of the other. People grew bored of each other, no one stayed forever.
But he wasn’t thinking about Penelope. He was thinking about Sophia who has left his hand hanging in the backroom of Ricky’s club. Her eyes were feline-like with how they turned up at the corners. She had the most expressive brown eyes he had seen. When she cocked her brow at him there was a slight hint of amusement in her eyes.
Sophia.
That was all he knew about her. If he asked Ricky he was sure to get more information about her. And he would. He would find out about this woman who captured his attention with her voice
On Monday morning a frustrated Sophia walked into the section of the St. Peter’s hospital that held the lab. Passing by workers and a few patients she headed to the front desk and slapped her hand on the hardwood. The two ladies sitting behind the high desk barely glanced at her as they chatted about something.“Excuse me,” she said to get their attention.They kept talking.“Excuse me,” she said through gritted teeth. They looked up at her with bored eyes.“Yes?”Straining to keep her anger under control she said, “I brought the blood sample of one of my patients last week and I am yet to get the results of his test.”The one with low-cut curly hair gave her a droll glare before slowly moving to the monitor at the side of the desk. “Name?”“Sophia Blanc my patient’s name is Freddie.”The lady took a long time scrolling through the lists of name
Rosa narrowed her eyes at Sophia as she playfully glared at her. “You have been seeing a guy without my knowledge, Sophia?”Sophia opened her mouth to respond but just then the door swung open and Stella walked in about to say something but she stopped at the sight of the flowers. She looked between Rosa and Sophia.“What is going on here? What are we celebrating?”Rosa tilted her head discreetly at Sophia. Stella’s eyes widened.“You got flowers?” She asked as she closed the door behind her and approached Rosa’s table. “From Nate?” But she didn’t need to wait too long for an answer. She picked the card from the table, read it and her eyes stretched wider. “Matt Wolffe?!” she turned slowly to face Sophia. “Matt Wolffe?” she repeated.“Yes, Matt Wolffe…”“How the fuck did you meet Matt Wolffe, Sophia? You’re a herm
Matt was in a good mood. There was no drizzle today and his drive to his office was great. Looking out of the floor-to-ceiling glass window that overlooked the city from the twenty-fourth floor of the building complex that held his office and other firms he appreciated the view. The view was good. His excitement and light mood were from the good news he received from Simone. According to him, Ricky was clean, nothing shady about the man which meant that Ethan Lowe really lived a secretive life but nothing was hidden for too long, especially not from him. Ricky had called to inform him that Cheryl now had a lead on Ethan. She was getting cozy with him and he knew Cheryl very well, she was as beautiful as she was persuasive. If anyone could get him the information he needed on Lowe it was her.More than that he was looking forward to his date tonight. He had sent Lawrence, his secretary, on a very familiar assignment. Send a dress and large arrangements of flowers. Lawrence was
Sophia swallowed nervously as she tilted her head back slightly to look at him. He was tall and beautiful. The intensity of his blue gaze suddenly made her feel small. His dark suit added an air of danger to him, highlighting his broad shoulders and lean muscular form. It suddenly felt like she was seeing him for the first time. She had barely given him more than a glance at the club but she thought he was good-looking, now she felt her breath catch in her throat. When his gaze fell to her scrubs she suddenly felt conscious.This isn’t going to work, I should have at least worn something different.His smile waned and his eyes flew to hers again.“Leave now,” he said to the host who stood behind her. His voice was deep deceptive smooth. She heard the glass door open and close softly. They were alone.Matt walked around the table and held his hand to her. “Nice to finally meet you, Miss Blanc.”The last time this happen
“She’s holding out on us.”“Yes, she definitely is.”Sophia ignored both Stella and Rosa as she made reports on the patients’ files in front of her. Since they started their routine that morning they both tried to subtly get her to talk about her night with Matt Wolffe. She tactfully avoided them since there really was nothing to tell. But now with her schedule cleared she was finding it harder to avoid them especially since Stella decided to camp in her and Rosa’s office. Once she was done writing she went to drop the files off at the card/records desk where the reports would be transferred to the patients’ database. As soon as she came back she found Stella sitting at her desk with a mischievous glint in her eyes.“Spill.”“Spill what?” she laughed.“What happened last night? Come on! You promised you would give us the details now you’re being selfish with them. W
“Morning.” “Morning,” she replied with a smile as she walked down the hall where Stella’s office was located. The doors were identical, all painted white and the windows had identical shutters. She pushed open the fourth door. Stella shared the office with one of the specialist doctors. The room was lit with bright white lights like hers, there were medical charts on the wall, books and journals were arranged on a small shelf that was set against the wall beside the desk. There was another door to the right, it was open to reveal the stretcher used for medical examination of patients. Stella was sitting behind her desk looking blankly at an open magazine in front of her as though she was lost in thought. Since it was late morning the sun came in through the window highlighting her red hair. She looked up when Sophia stepped in. “Stella, I’m really sorry for what I said back there. I know it sounded like I was calling you a slut and I am sorry for that.” “Actually I should be apologi
What is he doing here? She was aware of his eyes on her as they left the room and walked into the hallway. She turned to him as soon as they were alone.“So, Mr. Wolffe, do you want to invest in the hospital, or are you here to invest in me?”He laughed. She was watching him with her hands crossed in front of her. She was beautiful under the glare of the lights above them and her eyes held the same challenging glare they did last night. He had cancelled his reservation at the hotel last night and skipped dinner much to the disappointment of his housekeeper who had prepared a meal for him regardless of his instructions not to. When Lawrence reminded him that morning of the appointment he made with the hospital Director weeks ago he suddenly found that he was eager to see Sophia again. Since he messed up yesterday it was only fair that he was given another chance. He seldom got rejected so her rejection yesterday had come as a surprise. Still, he was determined to know Sophia Blanc, th
She read through the reports as she made her way to the doctor who was in charge of Freddie’s treatment. It was as she suspected. The series of tests suggested he had AML which affected the myeloid cells that produced red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Freddie’s cells were excessively producing premature red blood cells, suppressing the white blood cells which would explain the red spots she noticed on his chest and arms. Since he had acute leukemia treatments would need to begin as fast as possible. She met his doctor and they discussed the possibility of a bone marrow transplant to replace Freddie’s. After much deliberations on the best actions to take they decided it would be best to invite specialists from the other branches to decide what steps to take with Freddie’s condition. After a 2 hour conversation, she left the doctor’s office and made her way to the ward where Freddie was. His mom was there by his bedside like always talking and laughing with him. He held a