THE PROPOSAL

Chapter One:

Fiona's POV:

"I love you and I'm proud of you," my Dad said.

"Thank you, Dad, I love you too," I replied.

"Congratulations, Fiona," Thomas chipped in.

Thomas was my younger brother and as stubborn as ever. I wonder what life would be like without him or Dad.

My mother left us 12 years ago, just when she had given birth to my brother Thomas. I do not know if she was scared or something else.

I was only 8 then and too young to understand. So it's just my brother and dad attending my graduation.

"Now, would you look at that? I am looking at the best graduating student," Uncle Victor said as he made his way to us.

Uncle Victor was my father's best friend and the only one of his friends that I know.

"You can come to work at my company if your dad's company refuses your job application," He said with a laugh, and I smiled.

"Now, why would she go to work at your company?" Father asked.

"Well, for starters, you could just offer her the job but you want her to be interviewed and tested," Victor noted.

"What type of man would that make me? Or how do you think my employees will look at me from now on? I'm just trying my best not to be biased and show my children and employees that business is business. And not even family should influence that," Father explained.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Doing the right thing will only get you into trouble," Victor warned.

After eating and drinking with a few of Dad's employees in attendance, the house became as it was before, empty.

The graduation was over and I wondered, what next? I never really planned how or what I was going to do aside from working for my father and that too hung on a balance, being a probability.

"Prepare for your interview in two days. I hope you understand why I have to do this. Life doesn't always come easy," He explained but I didn't need to hear it.

"Yes, I do," I answered curtly.

Two days later, I was in the queue waiting to be interviewed. I cannot believe Father wanted me to go through all this.

If anything, at least, I should not have to be in the queue.

"Miss Lawson, they will see you now," The receptionist informed me and I quickly stood up.

The receptionist led me into a room where I was met by a pair of gazing eyes. There were about 8 of them in the room and I tried to calm my nerves.

"Miss Lawson, you do look familiar," One of them noted.

"Are you Mr. Lawson's daughter?" Another asked.

"Yes, I am," I answered, and they looked at each other, whether in shock or excitement, I could not tell.

It turns out my dad never mentioned to them that I'd show up here. He must have wanted them to torment me with questions.

They did ask me a few questions and I attempted to answer all. Only the last question tried to unnerve me a bit.

"Do you think you're entitled to this job just because your father is its founder and owner?" One of them had asked.

Not that it was a bad question, it just threw me off balance as I did not expect them to be so reckless with their questioning.

I took a deep breath and said calmly, "No, I do not. I believe everyone out there who is here for the interview is entitled to the job. Not because of who my father is, but because I am capable of doing this job, it is the only thing I know how to do well."

They dismissed me and I went home with my father refusing to want to hear anything about the interview.

"I think I must have spoiled you a bit too much. You complain about almost everything," He had noted.

"Daddy, that is not true," I opposed.

"It is. You're 20, Fiona. You should grow up for life is not always as it seems and I won't always be here to answer to your every whim," He had warned.

"But Dad, I just need the job so I can fully grow up and be a woman of my own. Just give me the job," I begged.

"It is not in my power," He answered angrily, I moved to my room.

Two weeks and still, nothing. Not even a rejection email from the company and Dad was silent about it.

Just when I thought to forget about the job, Dad walked in and said, "8:00 a.m. on Monday, do not be late. I'm sure you can find your way around it. You better make good use of this opportunity."

And like hell, I did. For three months in a row, I have been crowned the employee of the month. It has been two years now of working here and Dad seems excited about it.

He was celebrating with the employees today.

"Just a few months ago, we could have gone bankrupt had Fiona not come up with that brilliant idea of hers," He started with them cheering in applause.

"Thank you all for being very hard-working and dedicated to the growth of this company. I promise it's only a matter of time before we take over the world," He finished and they cheered him on until he sat down.

"Dad, I am tired and would like to go home," I complained to him.

"Oh, dear. The celebration is just getting started. You can go on, I'll finish up here and meet you at home. Thomas must miss us too. Drive safely," He said as I turned to leave.

I got home just in time to tuck Thomas into bed and decided to take a warm bath, thinking of all the memories at the company today and all the many possibilities we could achieve.

Dad was right, it was only a matter of time. And the world was not ready.

Took a while to get out of the bathroom and I got back to the room to a ton of missed calls from an unknown number.

Who would call me this late? I wondered.

"Hello," I started when I answered the call.

"Miss Lawson?" The caller asked.

"Yes," I answered cautiously.

"I'm afraid you have to come to the hospital..." The caller began to say.

Chapter Two:

Fiona's POV:

"The hospital? Why? What happened?" I asked.

"I'm guessing Mr. Lawson is your father?" He inquired, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Yes, he is," I answered almost in a whisper.

"I'm afraid he was involved in an accident," He noted.

"My father? No, this is not true. I just left him at the office; he was all well," I denied.

"Miss, I'd advise you to come to the hospital as quickly as you can get here," He advised.

"Is he well?" I asked.

"Miss, you'd find out if only you came to the hospital, I'm sending the location address to you now," He insisted and hung up the call.

I quickly checked in on Thomas to ensure he was still asleep and decided to go to the hospital.

"God, please, let him be all right. Let him be well, I need him, Thomas needs him. He's all we got, you know," I prayed silently as I made my way to the hospital.

I rushed toward the Emergency unit on arrival and began to ask for my dad. I was directed to where he was and I ran there.

"Why is he not on any oxygen?" I shouted to the nurses and doctors as I saw him.

I rushed to his side and held his hands, wanting to tell him that all was well. And that was when I noticed, his hands were cold, and he could not lift them on his own.

"What happened to my father?" I yelled.

"What happened to him? Someone please, explain it to me. Explain to me, why he looks like this and why he doesn't try to move or look at me," I continued my body becoming weak.

The health team rushed to my side to hold me as I was about to collapse.

"We are so sorry, Miss. We have tried everything we can but unfortunately, we could not save him. The injuries were severe and he was brought here late, if only he had been brought a few minutes earlier, maybe we could have done something about..." The head doctor was saying and their voices began to fade away.

My father was gone, nothing made sense to me anymore. How was I going to explain this to Thomas? How would we live? We were now without parents.

My whole world was crashing right before my eyes and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

*****

A few days later, we were at the funeral service for my dad. A lot of dignitaries attended the service, most of them whom I could not identify or recognize.

It was a sad day for us, Thomas cried his lungs out and I tried to console him. I could not let him see me cry. It was my responsibility to care for him now.

The company decided it would be in my interest if I took a break for a month to mourn and heal.

It's ironic how they say time heals the wounds but it does not, the wounds never heal.

Thomas took it harder because it took him a few days before he could accept it. He wouldn't eat or even drink.

Dad's friend, Victor, had been God-sent as he had covered everything for the funeral services. He had told me not to worry about it.

*****

A month later, I think I was ready to resume work. Not that I was psychologically or emotionally fit to return to work yet, but it has been a month!

One had to work to feed and cater for our needs. Thomas was in no position to help looking at his age.

I sighed deeply as I entered the company premises. For some strange reason, I felt nervous about work today.

"Must be because of Dad's absence and the one-month break," I thought to myself, brushing it off.

"Finally," I muttered. It took me about 15 minutes to get to my office door.

Lots of persons who were unable to attend the funeral or reach out were offering their condolences and asking about Thomas.

"Bunch of hypocrites," I thought.

I bet a lot of them were happy when Dad died and they didn't like his way of handling things or his management.

I planned to see to it that they were all accorded what they were due when I finally took over the management of the company.

Dad would always pretend to be oblivious to whatever they did. He'd say, "Provided they get the work done, I have no other issue with what they say about me."

"At least warn them," I'd advise.

"No, I'll let karma be the judge," He would reply.

"These people always have a way of dodging karma. We are karma," I'd insist but Dad would not hear the last of it.

A security guard was standing at my office door, and I wondered what the problem was.

"Can you move, please? This is my office and you're standing in my way," I begged.

This was only my first day at work and I wasn't ready for any surprises or trouble.

"No, ma'am. I cannot do that," He answered.

"Excuse you? Did you hear me? This is my office and I can have you fired this very minute," I warned, raising my voice.

"I'm sorry, ma'am but I have been giving strict warning not to let you or anyone else enter this office," He replied.

"And who gave you that order?" I ask.

"My employer," He answered curtly.

"Who is your employer? And why?" I ask again.

"I do not know. I have no right to ask such questions. I'm given an order, I do just that, nothing more or less," He says.

I kind of pitied him at that moment but there was no time for pity. I shook my head and before walking off to the Manager's office said, "You just keep standing right there and watch me get you to lose your job."

"Oh, Miss Lawson, I see you have resumed," The General Manager said standing as soon as he saw me.

"Yes, I am. But I'm confused," I confessed.

"Why?" He asks.

"I have a security guard at my office door and they would not let me in," I let out.

"Christ! They have assigned one to your office already?" He says in shock.

Chapter Three.

Fiona's POV:

"They? Who are they?" I asked, raising a brow.

"The bank people," He said in almost a whisper.

"The bank people? What business do we have with the bank?" I asked, raising a brow.

"You do not know?" He looked more confused than I was.

"Look, explain it to me. I have no idea what you are talking about," I added.

"Okay, your father, Mr. Lawson took out a loan from the bank just a few months before he died. I thought you knew," He explained.

"My father? No, he did not," I fired.

"Yes, he did." He insisted.

"Even if he did, why?" I ask.

"Well, the company was almost going bankrupt at the time. We borrowed from a lot of powerful people, and when we couldn't pay it back, we decided to take a loan from the bank to pay back those people with the hope of paying the bank when we were stable," He finished.

"I do not understand. My father would never do a thing like that. He always had this principle of business he held so dear, 'To never take a loan to repay another loan.' He warned me a lot about that," I objected.

"Well, maybe he broke his principle this one time as we had no other options at the table," He says.

"But we were celebrating the day the incident happened. The project worked," I said.

"He only did that for you. He always said you seem to think he wanted you to suffer always and he wanted to prove you wrong, just that once," He answered.

"What can we do with the bank?" I ask.

"Nothing. Your father used the company as collateral so now they're taking over the company," He replied.

"No, no, no. This cannot be happening. Have we tried other means? Other banks? Our partners? Our stakeholders? Anyone at all who can get us out of this mess?" I ask, my words almost choking me.

"No bank would give us another loan without collateral. And we all know that this company is all we have. Our partners have all withdrawn and our stakeholders do not want to be involved in this mess. They might even consider suing us as your father did not inform any of them about the debt," He explained.

"There's nothing we can do?" I asked again, only this time, I was disappointed.

"I'm afraid so, Miss. We have looked at all options and there is no chance except you have some ideas that we can work with," He says.

"Why didn't anyone tell me anything?" I asked.

Perhaps, if I had known earlier, I would have come up with an elaborate plan as to how to sort this out.

But at this time, it was just too late. Too late to do anything and the bank would sure as hell not waste time in taking over the bank.

"I'll do one more thing, I'll meet with the bank manager and see if anything can be done," I say to the General Manager.

"I already tried," The Manager revealed.

"Well, I am the daughter of the man who took the loan. Surely, he must listen to me and maybe we can reach an agreement," I retorted.

I was angry at the Manager Did he think I could not make it work? Must be my father's fault they all look down on me.

I mean, he couldn't tell me about the loan! And do you know the most embarrassing part? He had staged a celebration for me and every other person knew except me.

I imagine the other employees laughing behind my back as I had no idea what was going on.

How shameless of me to brag about it and blush that day like I had done something important when it was all staged.

Alexander's POV:

"Mr. Alexander Harrington?" A stranger waved at me as soon as I stepped out of the airport.

"Who is asking?" I ask.

"Oh, sir, It is an honor. Your father, Mr. Harrington has asked me to pick you up from the airport and ensure that I get you home safely," He replied.

"Why does he still treat me like a boy? Had to send me a ride? If he cared so much about my being safe, he should have come get me himself," I complained.

I wonder why he always does this. I'm a grown man for heaven's sake.

"Sir? He loves you and..." He was saying before I interrupted him.

"What's your name?" I ask.

"Sebastian," He says.

"Good. Now, Sebastian, this should be the last time I hear you mention love, do you understand?" I warned.

"Yes, Sir."

"Good," I said, nodding.

"Now, take me home. I need to get some rest."

He got the door for me and I got in the car. I had just come from Italy after spending a month there.

I was there handling all of Daddy's dirty business that he wouldn't dare let himself do.

I'm just glad I made it back home safe, I almost died out there. The only thing I dreaded being back home for was because of my fiancee, Eleanor.

Yes, you heard that right. Not that I loved her or anything like that, let's just say I felt like it was about time I settled down.

Besides, she loved me so much and that was good. To always have someone who loves you more than you do.

"We are here, Sir," Sebastian had announced.

"And if it isn't my prodigal son," Dad had announced coming for a hug.

"Yet, you sent me out there to die," I retorted.

"Well, you didn't, did you? Eh? Come on," He says.

"Where's Eleanor? She told me she'd be here?" I ask, my eyes searching for her. I needed a woman's touch to help with the stress.

"I stopped her from coming in," He answers.

"Why Dad?"

"Come son, there's something important we must discuss. Especially about Eleanor," He says, sounding serious.

"Did something happen?" I ask.

"We will find out soon," He replied.