Dilemma of a CEO

REYNOLDS MACPHERSON

For the second time since he stepped out of the car onto the pile of snow and the tiny flakes slowly amassing on everything he could set eyes on, Reynolds adjusted his frock coat and tugged at his head warmer. Perhaps, to see if they were still in place. He was cold. Very cold. He had stayed in Cairo for the past two years and had not been braced for the cold which he had to face back in New York. The sun had cracked the sky open and had peeked out lazily but did not give warmth.

"Like the English sun during winter, this sun shines but never gives warmth."

He muttered under his breath as he reached for the door of the car. He had asked his chauffeur, Louis to never open the car for him, not when he was bubbling with energy and could do it himself and so Louis always did well, to let him open doors by himself.

"What did you say, sir?"

Louis asked as he turned to the driver's seat.

"I was commenting on the weather, Louis. It is nothing to concern yourself with."

He replied dismissively. Louis knew better than to press the question or even make another comment. He started the car and drove out of the Airport.

Reynolds tried severally to convince himself that this was the same New York he had lived with his father as a boy before moving to san Francisco for high school and eventually to France where he attended high school and then proceed to spend a few years in Cairo. He had liked the sun and the heat and the dryness of Africa and he had become tanned. He had tanned so much that one could easily take him to be an Egyptian or one who has resided in Egypt for a very long time. He liked it. His friends, Abu and Vladimir had been the fun-loving tourists who constantly took him into the most rural parts of Egypt for endless tours and camps. He had spent a good two years of his life not doing business _for the first time in ten years_ and he had had fun. As the driver peeled through the busy streets and headed for his home, he found himself looking out of the window intently. He had been away from New York for twelve years and for all the years he had been away, he had only seen his father three times when he had come for meetings in France. They had met and he had felt too grown up to get too close to his father so he had extended a hand for an handshake which his father disregarded and instead locked him in a tight and embarrassing embrace.

He sighed. He had missed his father and now, he would wake up everyday with the man under the same roof. He could not be any closer.

"A lot has changed about New York, Louis. I have not stepped into this town for the past twelve years and here, there has been so many changes I can not even keep up with the pace. I can't even spot my favorite waffle houses and Kebab spots."

He said. Louis nodded.

" So it is, sir. A lot has changed indeed".

He agreed. They rode in silence until they arrived home. The house did not seem like anything he remembered. The house had been remodeled and it now wore a new and different look from what he had imagined he was coming back to. He was pleased.

He took the few stairs into the terrace and the butler opened the door even before he could touch the doorbell. Louis had his bag behind him and he smiled at every chance he got. Apparently, everyone was glad to have him. Reynolds was surprised to find that his father had retained the same domestic staff over the years. Most of them had become too integrated into his home that he could not have the mind to replace them and none of them, from what Reynolds saw, seemed to want to retire yet. Right from when Louis had appeared at the airport with a sprinkling of white hair and a face that had grown a bit saggy and lips that had thinned from age, he had suspected that his father would never let his domestic staff retire. Not when he saw them as family.

The cook, Imelda Clinton remained as ebullient and happy as ever as she appeared with her apron to say hello to Reynolds. She did not seem to have aged. She had the same color of apron that Reynolds remembered seeing every time as a child. Imelda had a habit of always being in her apron and no matter what was said to her, she would always appear with her apron. They were happy. At last, Reynolds knew he would have good homemade food from Imelda whose meals did a good job of tickling his taste buds.

No sooner had he settled in his room than his father called. The man had been in a business meeting in South Carolina and had cursed and swore over not having anyone good enough to represent him in every single meeting. Reynolds listened to him only long enough for him to vent.

When the old man returned, Reynolds was tensed. He did not know what one said to a father one har not seen in four years. The old man did not make it any difficult for him as he locked him in an embrace and shed a few tears.

"I am glad you are back son. You mongrel, why stay away from home so long?"

He asked. Reynolds was going to tell him that he was an adult and would visit whenever he wanted to like he always said over the phone but he decided against it. It did not make much sense to him that he should mention that to his father now.

"I have been working away from home and you know it. The branch in France had taken me three whole years to set up so it could start functioning on its own independently".

He said instead. He did not have any excuse and he knew his father would not stop until he had made him speak the exact words he wanted to hear.

"That does not answer my question, Ray. I have asked why you had refused to visit home all these years and you intend to hide under the guise of work?"

"I'm not trying to hide under anything, I have been busy sir and the most important thing is that I am here now, just like you wanted,"

He said as he lifted his hands up in mock surrender. His father smiled. The same smile he had only seen his smile a few times on the video calls when he promised to visit home soon

" Tomorrow, you resume work. Ever since Cheng had to go back and oversee the branch in China, there has been no one competent enough to run the headquarters here in New York. By next week, I will retire".

ALICIA OLIVERS

The first time Alicia had had to wait tables and run the errands for Mr. Ford, the owner of the bar down town New York, she had hated every bit of it. The stares of the leery men ogling her and the indecent smell of cigarettes mixed with gin repulsed her. She hated everything that the bar shoved at her face. She had hated the job more when one of the men sitting on a barstool asked her if she would spend the night with him for a measly $50. She had been so angry that she had thrown him a threatening look before stomping off. The man had watched her leave without muttering a word. At the end of the day, Ford had paid her well, enough for all her pains and discomfort for the night and she had gone back home with head banging and feet aching from having to wear her flats all the time she was at work.

"Where is Tony?"

She asked Helen, the moment she stepped into their two bedrooms apartment where she shared a room with Helen while Tony had a room to himself. Helen was sitting at the dinning, scribbling away in a notebook. She was the book warm. The one who would go to college and was happy at the prospect.

"He left with Josh and Pete early this morning while you were yet to return".

Helen said without looking up from her book.

"Did he say where he was going with those punks? Told him never to hang out with those two, didn't I ?"

"Guess you did, sad that he does not listen to anyone around here,"

Helen said as she finally lifted her head and looked up at Alicia. She tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ears and smiled up at Alicia.

"Let us not talk about Tony now. He will mess up our mood. How was work? Was it really easy as Lucy had said it would be? "

She asked. Alicia scoffed.

" There is no easy job out there. At the end of the day, it was worth the pay and that is what I am grateful for. I'll take only the night shifts so I can do something reasonable during the day. And yeah, Lucy works at McDonald's now! "

Alicia said as she breezed into the room leaving Helen wowed. She soon got over her surprise and continued to scribble on her notebook.

Lucy and Ruth had been Alicia's friends for as long as Helen could remember and she had been told that the three used to do everything together when they were younger and still had their parents. Now Ruth lived in London while Lucy worked at McDonald's as a chef. That was a lot.

Alicia did not have a steady job yet. She had quit her old job because she thought the pay was not good enough for her qualification and she had left when she did not get a raise. She had said severally that the cost of living in New York was high and she wanted something that could earn all three of them a decent life and some savings. She had not gotten the raise from her mean boss even when she had grown the company as an individual with her many contributions to different sectors and had even been a representative of the firm for a short time before she quit. Now that she had no steady job and the job offers she got were either from San Diego or Dakota, she had decided to stick around a little bit to see if there would be a good enough job for her in New York. She had used up her savings and they now owed the landlady but she was sure there would be a way to sort the bills.

As Alicia stepped into the tub, she remembered the mail that had come from the land lady only two days ago and she had threatened to have her evicted from the apartment if she did not pay up her rent in the next two weeks. How she was going to raise the money, she had no idea yet. Perhaps, she would ask Mr. Ford to lend her the money for the rent and then she could spend the rest of her life working for it. The idea seemed ridiculous. She just started working at his place and he would definitely find it amusing that she wanted to get a loan from him. And what if he demanded that there be an interest and if she eventually could not pay up?

She shuddered at the thought. There were bills to pay. Helen had been accepted by three colleges and she was yet to pick one of her choice. She needed money to fund Helen's schooling. And Tony? He had dropped out of college just the previous year when things had become a bit too tough and he had taken to doing menial jobs around town until a friend helped him secure a decent job where he earned well for the next six months until he had had too much to drink one time and had messed up before his boss. He was fired. They were back to scratch again. These days, Alicia worked extra hard to make sure they had groceries and everything they needed to be comfortable_except their rent which was the latest cause for fear_ .

She would take another job during the day before running down to Ford's at 8pm to work her shift that usually ended by 1am. She had been compassionate enough to stay with Ford and clean up the place with a few others and left by 6Am. She had her head throbbing and her feet aching by the time she boarded a cab back home. Things could not be any more difficult then they already wer. For her. She did not made up her mind on what to about her rent.

CLAYTON WESTMORELAND

Clayton westmoreland, first son and heir of the viscount, Hugh westmoreland is an Arrogant billionaire and lover, ruthless and brutal in his pursuit of endless wealth and fame and definitely the most desired man in the dating market. With his rich brown hair and sea blue eyes that always enchanted even the hardest and toughest of ladies. His hair was always trimmed to rest on the collar of his tank tops that he id fond of wearing and his skin, tanned and hard with muscles rippling are definitely worth dying for. Clayton was a man that knew the power and influence he possessed and never hesitated to put it into good use when the occasion presented himself. He knew he was in charge and would never settle for less in any setting. Clayton had never been known to simp over the ladies as they all drooled over him and he definitely was not known to make losses in business, probably why within the four years he had been the CEO of the company, they had become the multi billionaire firm dealing on real estate across the world. They bought, sold and owned properties across the globe and one could not deny that it was for Clayton's presence and seemingly unending wisdom that they achieved all of that in such a short time. Now they were recruiting people from all over the world and creating employment for many different qualified people from all around the globe. Clayton at thirty six did not think that marriage was a compulsory thing for anyone. He had all the women he wanted and had all the fun in the world when he wanted to but his father, viscount of Westmoreland and his mother, the viscountess, shared the opinion that as the only child and heir, Marriage was to be a very important aspect of his life. Infact, since the previous summer, they had bothered him so much and had made his life difficult by making him go on dates and meet with the most influential women from royal families some of whom he had once dated and had no desire to reunite and rekindle the old flames. His father had made him fly into England more than six times in the past few months just so he could be Introduced to several of the young women whom he thought would make good wives. It amused him on some occasions and irked him at other times that hos his parents would be that extreme in their pursuit for a future for him.

Clayton knew he already had his future planned, without a wife and kids but with more money than he could ever spend and at will, a mistress who would submit to him at all costs and would never question how authority. He was not exactly mad as he made his way to their home in England, the Westmore.

His mother, Abigail had been extremely nice and had touched his cheeks endlessly with her gloved hands. She still loved all the colors that she used to love in her youth, pink and yellow. Her dress was embellished with bright pink and yellow and so was her hat and gloves!

She looked dazzling as he looked at her and she made so much fuss when he had stepped down from the carriage. Coming back home compelled him to ride in the carriage and sniff the green leaves and thereafter, the cow dung and horse feed at the stables. Again, he would live the typical English life In England for the time he was to spend.

"Why, my dear, you look so tanned! Have you been running around in the sun?"

His mother asked. For as long as he could remember, she made no jokes with her complexion and her skin care routines, she had all the anti wrinkling creams from the best stores in london and she definitely did her best to look good at every hour of the day. One would see her at every hour of the day and she would look good and perfectly dressed at all time. Once, he had asked her if Perhaps, she did all she did because she did not want her husband, the viscount to keep a mistress and she had shook her head in defense.

"Hugh loves me. He would never keep a mistress. I am only doing all these for myself son" , she had said, even though the words did not sound true to even her ears. Two months later, she had called Clayton, crying. She had found out Hugh's mistress, a women who was divorced and was living off money of the rich English men as Hugh who funded her exorbitant lifestyle. It had saddened Clayton that his father had done that and then he had become very angry that he had called his father and demanded why he would hurt his mother so badly and his father had had no good excuse for his action. It was not a scandal. His mother had not made a show out of it. She had been quiet until her husband had disentangled himself from the mistress and had began to the husband she was satisfied with.

Clay had always thought that his parents were not happy together and he was right. Their marriage was one that had been arranges for political reasons by their parents. Once, while he was growing up, he had been aware of a scandal caused by his mum. She had kept a lover outside her home and she had planned to elope with the man but the words had gone round before she could do it and it had been one of England's big scandals for a family as influential as his. The man she had planned to elope with happened to be the lover she had kept since she was seventeen. Her first love.

His father did not divorce his mother after then . They had probably decided on something and they had agreed to remain together.

All of those things, the fear of losing interest In a wife and the demand to stay faithful to one woman or even the fear of ending up with a woman he did not love was all that made Clay decide to stay single. He did not want to have an arranged marriage like his parents did and he did not want to have kids whom might have to live all their lives trying to please him and practice the savoir faire of society and royal life. He would really hate to have them carry such burden..

His father was in his study and he turned swiftly when he heard the doorknob twist.

"Father, good to see you. How are you doing?"

" I am fine, my dear. I am fine."

" I see you were busy with that".

Clayton said, acknowledging the pile of books and magazines lying on top each other on the low table that sat right in front of his father.

" Yes, I was reading.... The london times. Have you seen the latest marriages in the news? The Earl of Edinburgh finally got himself a bride but it has caused so much trouble. She is American and she had been divorced twice."

" I do not follow the news, I never knew of the marriage and everything you just said but still, none of those things concerns me. "

" You sure it does not ? "

" Absolutely"

" Then, what is the news circulating about you? I saw in the papers that you have an affair with a woman of noble birth whom I know nothing of. How true is this claim, son? "

Hugh asked. Clayton was as surprised as one would be if he was told he was not a human being!

" What news? "

He asked as he reached a hand to his father and grabbed the papers he had been holding, sure enough, there was him holding a certain lady by the waist. He recollected very fast and burst into laughter. Hugh watched him keenly to see what he would do next.

"I am not involved with any woman. Definitely not that one in the papers. I had only been twirling with Mary Clark in a ball I had attended in london two days ago. A friend had invited me and I had gone. I have no affair whatsoever with the woman in the news.. what's with these London papers circulating fake news?"

He asked suddenly. His father only touched his glasses and balanced it on his nose bridge..

"So what now, what would you do now that the news is fake?"

"What do you mean, sire?"

"I had wished the news was true and I had been ready to accept this woman, but now, there is no woman. You do realize you just turned thirty six, don't you?"

" I know my exact age, sire. "

"I was married at twenty six. Ten times younger than you are now. Your mother had only been twenty one and we had been married. "

" You two were so young and hardly in love. You were match made, sire. "

That reminder was not necessary but Clayton could not help pointing that out. He had said it to his father several times and now, like every other time, he began to speak in defense of his marriage and confessing all over again his love for his wife, Abigail.

"It had not been very easy the first few years of our marriage but we had grown accustomed to being married.. everyone grows accustomed to marriage. There is no one person who does not adjust to marriage."

Clayton was relieved that his father had not taken offence at his words and that eased the tension that was beginning to build between them. Damn. He was not a child anymore. He was a grown man who would have to make his own decisions himself.

" If I want to get married, I will do so without being match made or forced. I have met enough beautiful women to choose from if I want regardless of patrician birth. I do not want to be pressured and trust me sire, I have no desire to be bound to one woman forever".

He said. He had risen to his feet as he spoke and Hugh watched as he headed for the door.

" Do have a good day sire. I shall meet with you during dinner. For now, Adieu" .

He opened the door and walked out into the hallway and Hugh could only nod his head. More from surprise that he could still remain adamant on the issue than from acknowledging the greeting with which he had made his exit.

When it was dinner time, the family sat to dinner, still talking about the many things that worried england and what they planned to do next and of course, the weather and fashion.

"The weather has been indeed incredible! This summer is one like no other. One enjoys the sun and relaxes at night in the cool evening air. What do you think about the weather?"

Abigail asked to no one in particular. It was typical English style to talk about the weather all day and not do anything about the weather _ not like anyone could _. It bored Clayton to death each time he had to make unnecessary conversations about the weather. There never seemed to be a good enough conversation without talks about the weather.

"I do think the weather is lovely. It is good indeed as you have said, Abigail".

Hugh agreed as he picked up lettuce from his plate and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Clay, my dear, do we old folks bore you? I'm so sorry. What would you rather talk about? Tell us about london! Your father and I will visit soon. Maybe in the winter".

And she knew the winter was not soon. She had read Clayton's mind and was able to tell that the conversation bored him for that, he was genuinely happy but he had no idea what to talk about. Was it the very few events he attended or the business he was running and building legacies all around the world?

"There is not much to talk about london, Ma. Perhaps, you two could visit earlier than winter?"

He suggested. He knew he had made a vain suggestion. He looked in the Direction of his father and the man looked away. He hated the hustled and bustles of town and he would rather remain in England. His mother on the other hand was always needing an excuse for which she could visit London and stay for a short while but Hugh never let her stay for more than a day. She did her shopping in London and got good fashion magazines in london and most skin care products, she got them in london but she was never allowed to stay longer than a day.

"What do you think father? I know you detest travelling but It would be convenient for you. My private aircraft will bring you two."

"That is good enough, Hugh. We should go. I ache to go have a look at London ".

Abigail said.

RUTH MCCURDY

Ruth was teetering on the brinks of depression and it did not help that she too, like Alicia, had no job. When she had first told her friend, Alicia that she was involved in office romance with her boss, Alicia had expressed so much fear in her words and when they had eventually met, she had spoken about it.

"I Love Mark and I'm sure he loves me too. Why don't you chill out and let me give him a chance?"

She had asked Alicia when she would not have the idea of being entangled with one's boss at work. To make it worse, the relationship had been kept discreet. Totally ways from public stares and mouth. Not like too many people cared about her. But they did care about her boss, Mark!

She had had the best one year of her life dating her boss who was thirty nine at the time. She was twenty eight and more than eager to get married and Mark had promised her endlessly that their relationship was leading to marriage. Now she was twenty nine now, single and heartbroken. She had quit her job and had been on the brinks of hysteria when she had realized that her boss, Mark was a family man who did all he could to keep his family from the media and the general public. She had decided after one year, to Start making little findings about him since she had intentions of marrying him _ he was never in the papers for any reason other than business_ . The first sites she had visited did not provide enough details about him but she had been sure it was mentioned that he was married. She had been horrified. He was married, not divorced?

She had called in sick the next day at work and had locked herself up in the room, making online search about her boss, Mark. How totally foolish she had been to not have done this earlier!

He was married with two kids and a Japanese woman. The names of his kids and wife were witheld but the sources indicated that he was very much married and his family lived in New York! The same New York where he worked and dated her?

She was too tensed to believe it. She had built her life around the relationship and had been sure she was getting married soon. Marriage to her was very important and she had not been able to marry earlier as she had always wanted as a young woman . With tears in her eyes, she had called Alicia, her hands shaking and her lips quivering. Alicia did not pick the calls. She was probably busy at work. When Alicia called back, she was shivering. She picked up the receiver and held the chord in her left hand. Her lips trembling and her hand twisting the chord to still herself.

"What is wrong? "

Alicia asked Immediately she took the phone. She heard the sniffs and it worried her.

"Alicia.... I'm sorry I never listened to you. Mark is not a single man!"

She said the last word hastily and broke down crying. True, Alicia had had her misgivings about the relationship but not once had she pointed out what could be wrong and so Ruth had dismissed her worries and had taken it for paranoia.

"He is married?"

"Yes".

"How come you never knew? How did you find out now?"

"I searched on google and there it was. I am disappointed I trusted him so much that I never tried to find out things about him. I messed up big time Alicia and I feel like I should drop dead".

She was sobbing again and her sniffs was loud enough to disturb her neighbors.

" Don't think like that, Ruth. You should confront him and hear what he has to Say."

Alicia had adviced. Ruth took the advice. She had spent the previous night crying and scribbling away on paper after paper and eventually, she had typed her resignation letter. As she stepped into his office that morning, he saw in her eyes that she had learnt something about him and he did not look like he would ever apologize for whatever it was. He was braced for whatever bombshell she had come with and he took one last deep breath before she reached him. He flashed her a smile but she did not grin in return. He waited.

"You never told me you were married , Mark.."

She stated. She obviously had no desire to make small talks with him and he knew that much

"Well, are you asking or telling me?"

He asked. He had never been known to be apologetic, no matter how wrong he was . He was the boss, was he not?

Ruth looked at him then and hated herself for ever having thoughts of marrying a man like him.

"You are married, Mark. Why did you ever tell me you will marry me? Why did you ever lie to me, Mark?"

"I know this building is soundproof, still, I would appreciate if you did well to keep your voice down".

"Mark! "

"Don't shout. Whatever finding you made on your own about me, I have no desire to debunk the claims".