The Hot Mess

[Ten years ago]

(Tony- 20 years

Sophia- 16 years)

[Tony's POV]

I just arrived at my hometown for a small vacation and I called my friends immediately letting them know of my arrival.

I was changing my clothes as mom called, "Tony! Come downstairs! Your friends are here..."

A smile crawled on my face as we were going on a short trip to another city nearby. For booze...and girls...

And I heard Mathew had broken up with his girlfriend which was a shock since they were inseparable.

Well, that was the reason I never liked to be committed in any kind of romantic relationships. Who knows what will happen later and you might never find out that your 'inseparable' partner might be screwing around with others behind your back.

My eyes went to my dad as I was going downstairs. Mom was making his favourite snacks since he had come home after a week of a business trip.

My dad looked at me and gave me a smile before greeting me, "Good morning."

I didn't return the gesture as I crossed past him, my face was cold and emotionless. Mom had noticed and came out with a tray full of snacks and a coffee mug for dad. She said, "Tony! Don't be rude. You always return the gesture to someone when they greet you."

"Yeah. I would have if he was a 'someone'." I said as I took the keys of my motorbike.

"Tony!" Mom shouted behind me but I had already crossed the door of our entrance and she muttered, "I don't get why he sometimes acts this way..."

Dad joked, "It is okay. He is growing up now so it is okay to act like this once in a while."

Mom glared at him and said, "You spoil him too much!"

I heard them laughing as I went outside, my chest feeling clogged with the dark feelings that I had been buried inside of me.

They were acting like an ideal couple but in the end, were they?

Last week, when I sneaked out of college and flew to Dallas with a few friends, that was when I saw him. My dad. With another woman on his laps.

I hated it.

For years, they were my ideal couple and now, I hated him. He has been cheating on my mom and I can't even tell her.

I didn't want to break her heart but it was making me suffocated instead. I didn't want to break the house when it was already broken.

As I went outside I saw Mathew, Kelly and Derek. Including me, we were the four musketeers of our previous school.

I discarded the feelings and smiled at them. I didn't want to tell that to anybody so I decided to keep acting like it was never happened.

We were meeting after two years since I was going through a practice session of basketball on last winter vacation. When we were leaving school we decided to meet on every winter vacation.

"Hey! So, where will we buy our stuffs?" I asked as I took out my motorbike.

Derek said, "On our way, we will get enough shops to buy beers."

I nodded and suddenly Kelly cursed under his breath, "Shit!"

"What happened?" Mathew asked, he seemed so gloomy and out of his cheerful characteristics. I didn't wanna bring up about his relationship.

"I forgot my bag..." He said as we all groaned. Damn! Kelly would never change. Even though he didn't look like it, he was a clumsy guy.

"We can go back and take his bag then..." Derek suggested as we all agreed.

And I said, "It would be better since I forgot to pee..."

They all looked at me and gave me a face.

I shrugged, "What! I traveled for six hours and I was about to go but I forgot."

"How anyone can forget that!?" Kelly asked.

"Hey! You have no place to say that since you forgot your bag!" I said.

"At least I don't forget to pee..." He muttered and I glared at him while Mathew and Derek laughed.

As we reached Kelly's house, he said, "While you are going in, can you just take my bag with you? I have left it on the couch."

I glared. "No! Go take your own things."

"C'mon man, I will give you a kiss."

I cringed. "No thanks, I don't need a gayish kiss from you..."

They all laughed as I grumbled and went inside. I saw his bag on the couch and noted to take it when I leave.

I went directly to the bathroom but saw it was broken. Damn! I couldn't hold it longer.

I knew Kelly's mother had died and after that his dad was trying his best to look after him and his sister so, he must have forgotten to fix the problem.

I huffed and went upstairs since they had a bathroom there as well.

I was in a rush as my bladder had started to give me warning signs and I dashed into the bathroom. I opened my zipper and brought my man out and suddenly I felt a pair of eyes were on me.

I froze and slowly turned my head to my left side. I saw a thin ghostly girl was there standing just after the transparent curtains, naked. Her pale skin was wet and currently she was frozen while her hair stucked on her face from every side.

My heart stopped.

The time was frozen from my shock but my little man didn't stop from flowing. It was an emergency, after all.

A naked ghost!

"Ahh!" I was about to scream but I heard that ghost screaming instead.

She covered her thin body with stick like hands and I looked at her with my brows knitting on my forehead. My mind couldn't register what was happening.

I swear she looked like a ghost. But who was she?

Wait! The only female from Kelly's house would be...

Shit!

It was his sister!

And we both screamed.

----

[Ten years later]

[Sophia's POV]

The papers were all scattered on the table as I leaned back, my shoulders resting on the back rest of the chair. My whole body felt an aching sensation as if someone had beaten me up real good.

I stretched my hands and letting out a sigh, I stood up.

"Kelly! Your next meeting is going to be in half an hour!" I shouted from my desk and it reached him as I heard a groan.

"What?! Again?" He asked as he came to my office chamber and gave a frustrated sigh. "I am so tired right now."

"Can't help. You should blame yourself for rushing things like this." I glared at my elder brother as he grinned sheepishly. He had rushed the meetings in order to make another branch thus we had a marketing strategy meeting which might take long to finish.

"Sorry?" He said but I could see he had gotten large darkened eye bags under his eyes and he lost so much weight. I felt bad for him.

"Don't give me that look. Just eat your meal, will you?" I said as I started to place each papers in the files, "You look like a skeleton."

"You are looking way worse than me." He tapped his foot as I turned back to gives him an eye.

Well, he was right. We both were looking horrible. My hair was a mess and my skin looks like the rough surface of concrete. My lips were dried and I looked like I hadn't slept, bathed or eaten for years. No doubt, I looked dull. Even my make up was loosing against my exhaustion. People would assume I might have ran away from some someone's captivity.

This was getting bad.

I exhaled a breath and suggested, "Let's eat together then?"

He nodded. "Let's go."

As the owner of the company Kelly needed to look healthy and great especially for the coming meetings and promotions but we barely had many recruits as our employees. Which was why we both have to do all the work ourselves. We roughly had a few hundred employees and they all were working hard each and every second in here. Some even doing overtime like both of us and we couldn't ask them for more.

A few had left already but the remaining employees were mostly here due to our good behavior and the market had no other good jobs. They were desperate for a job and some of them had no important qualifications so they had no choice and we needed extra hands. But there was another reason some of the girls stayed in our headquarter. It was because of Kelly.

I roamed my eyes around and saw the women's eyes checking Kelly out with their lust filled eyes. I shook my head. Kelly certainly had a charm and with his black hair and blue eyes, he was very handsome but unfortunately, my brother had no idea how much he had an effect on a woman. He was dumb in that matter which was why he was still single. Even dad had been worried that he wouldn't get any heir from him if he still couldn't get a single woman.

Nonetheless, we needed some good investors and also we needed to recruit some more employees. Not to mention our loans. We were currently in a lot of debt and we needed to make another manufacturing building.

As we were heading to the cafeteria Kelly asked, "Have you spread the news of getting worker?"

"Yes. I have sent it to the HR department." I said and entered the cafeteria where the cook greeted us and Kelly ordered us food.

He sat before me as he scrolled on his phone and cursed under his breath as I looked up. "What happened?"

"The meeting I had been trying to set with the investors are arranged..." He said as a smile spread on my lips.

"Then it is a good news!" I exclaimed. "What's the problem?"

"It is in Hawaii..." He said and my smile faded. Why the important meetings had to have that far?

Our schedule was already pretty much tight but now we had to squish it in that. Kelly had to be present in the meetings as he was the owner and for the investors, he needed to go there as well. It was a hectic schedule and I felt worried for him.

After mom died, our dad started this tire manufacturing company but he could only manage to make it spread locally. Kelly and I did everything we could. It might be not that big yet but we were trying our best to spread it worldwide. With all the loans and debt, we were struggling a lot. Our financial crisis was already knocking at the door so we needed a good investor and more than that a good promotion to boost our business. So many work to be done and we had limited time.

"Why in Hawaii?" I asked.

"Because he lives there." He said.

"Can we get the materials there if we try to make a branch in Hawaii?" I asked.

He shook his head. "It is only for the meeting, Sophia. And if we happen to manufacture tires there, the shipping and transporting charges will be a lot. I don't think we can manage to make much profit if he wants us to make a branch there."

I knew it. All we wanted to get a good investment and right now we needed him.

I asked, "Kelly, why don't you get a personal secretary?"

He looked at me with wide eyes. "Why do I need one?"

"Because she or he would be able to manage your schedule and also would give you some snacks or maybe remind you to have lunch at least?" I shrugged. He was too busy to look after himself and I was worried about him. He might exhaust himself and I didn't want that. As much as I wanted the company to grow, I didn't want to sacrifice my brother's health.

"Nah! I am fine." He dismissed it as our food arrived. "Besides, I have you for that."

"I am more busier than you, you dumb!" I hissed.

He grinned. "Then you maybe need a secretary."

I rolled my eyes. He won't change. He always had been like this. After mom died, he became a mother figure of me and my dad, taking every burden on his shoulders and he still won't complain. I wished he just get a girlfriend or a wife who would take a good care of him because he wasn't going to do that anyways.

We ate as we chatted and suddenly, his phone rang as he said, "Oh! I need to take this call. Coming right back." And he stood up.

I was about to shout at him because he would forget to take his meal again but suddenly, he halted and I saw the phone he had fell on the floor and not long after that his body tumbled down.

My heart started to hammer in my chest as I immediately went over there. "Oh my god! Kelly!"

[Tony's POV]

Ten years later

A sweet scent lingered in the air as I turned and twisted in my soft bed and paused immediately. One of my hands had grabbed onto something very soft and squishy and it certainly was stressed relief to squish it more.

A moan came to my ears and I stopped doing what I was enjoying a while ago.

But what the hell was that?

I slowly opened my eyes and found a woman was lying naked just beside me and my hand had mistakenly found a really intersting part of her.

Oh!

The sheet that was covering us had fallen to her stomach and making her very profound assets exposed in the sight. Not a bad thing to start a day after watching it...

I took my hand away and sat on the bed while she was still asleep, snoring softly.

My eyes went to the clock and I groaned. I had a meeting in a few hours. Damn!

But before that I needed to throw her out of my penthouse.

I recalled I had a dinner date with her yesterday. I met her a week before the production house was recruiting the actors and the actresses and she was one of the leading actresses.

I even forgot about her until two days ago she came to me in a party and I wasn't into rejecting her. I'm a man after all. 'If opportunity comes your way, you gotta grab it' that is my motto.

I looked at her sleeping body and nudged her as she groaned.

"Fiona... Wake up. I need to go to office." I said but she didn't wake up instead she covered herself with the sheet and turned around.

I sighed. "Can you just get off my bed now?"

"But it is still morning..." She mumbled in her sleepy, hoarse voice.

"And I need to workout."

"Okay... Do that..." She said and started to snore again.

I exhaled a breath and this time I said with a cold tone. "Just get out of here already, will you? I have so many work to do and I can't entertain you now."

At this she woke up and looked at me with wide eyes. "But my name is not Fiona."

"Oh!" I nodded, "Then are you Katherin?"

And the next her face turned red with anger as she glared at me. "I am Vanessa! The famous actress of the movie, 'Your Heart'!"

"Ah! Sorry. I tend to forget names," I said smiling and added, "Now, could you please get out of my penthouse? I am busy."

She gritted her teeth as if contemplating if she should slap me or not but she knew doing that would hinder her career and said while hopping out of the bed, "You are a jerk!"

"And you slept with that jerk, honey." I said as I stood up, the sheet that covered my bottom part fell and exposed her my length as her face reddened. I added with a smirk, "If you don't mind me reminding you, you were enjoying the ride and were clearly moaning this jerk's name loudly."

"You are the biggest jerk I have ever seen, Tony Wilson!" And she stomped out of the room taking her clothes and things with her, not caring her smudged make up which made her seen like a clown.

I shrugged and mumbled. "Your fault. I had never said I was the nice guy."

As she went out, I got my boxers and wore it while my bodyguard cum my assistant came in. Tyler.

He said, "This was the 36th woman who went away..."

"You don't have to remind me the numbers. I don't really care..." I said as I went to the bathroom.

"Well, you should. Senior Wilson has said to find a suiter for yourself, you know?" He said.

I turned around and said, "Don't take dad's orders too seriously. You know marriage is not my thing."

"But you have to since you need an heir." He said. "Or your cousins will snatch all of these you have made."

I scoffed. "To snatch away everything from me, they need to born another hundred times."

"What if they join together to take everything you own?" He asked, raising a brow and I got a hint he had gotten something.

My dad had three brothers and a sister and all of their sons and daughters wanted to take everything my dad had built especially the profit which never belonged to them. Not to mention, because our grand father had given 60% of the property share to my dad, they were furious.

Well, it couldn't be helped since both of my parents were pretty good at handling businesses. They had more potential than them which was why he had to give my dad that much. Others were still stumbling while I made the companies more profit. I have expanded the companies and now it was one of leading companies in the whole world. I had even invested on a production house which made a huge profit and all those shares had grown under my watch made the whole Wilson family pretty jealous.

But if Tyler was implying them joining together to fight against me that means, he had gotten some clues.

"They have?" I asked.

"Well, there are some theories and actions which I have been monitoring for a few months now..." He hung his words in the air and it kind of pissed me off. He would always do that.

"Oh! C'mon! Just tell me already!" I said.

"After your breakfast." He said and left as I groaned. Breakfast was after I do my workout and shower. It was still too early and I was dying to know what did he get.

As I sat before the dining table, the cook served the food and Tyler stood beside me with a file. His brown hair combed back and he had been wearing the same black suit and trousers for the last eight years.

My eyes sparkled as he said, "These are the movements that are recorded of your cousins and your uncles."

He placed the file and spread the documents on the table as I ate but my eyes were on them. Tyler was always careful thus he had always made sure to keep an eye on everyone who might trouble me.

He said, "Your elder cousin sister is going to be engaged with the Thompson's elder son."

"The T Enterprise?" I asked as he nodded. I smiled and was pretty impressed as Thompsons were our rivals after my friend Mathew. Well, one of my best buddies, Mathew and I were already in a joint business and he wasn't into any rivalry with me at least. But The Thompsons had notorious ways to make their competitors suffer. Not bad if my younger uncle was going to be in an alliance with them.

"Hmm... But why did you say they are joining together against me?" I asked.

"The Thompson's only daughter is going to marry your cousin brother from your elder uncle, next month." He informed and I coughed.

"What?!" I asked. "Really?"

He nodded. "I am assuming they have tied up already since the marriage is next month."

I was surprised. Well, I should have been scared or terrified even but I wasn't as I grinned.

At that, Tyler seemed to be a bit irritated as he asked, "Why are you grinning like you are happy?"

"Because at least my family is trying hard to get there where I am now. I should be happy, you know?" I said and sipped on my juice. "Especially after all these years, I stopped helping them."

My father used to help them no matter how many times they had stabbed his back. For my dad, family is closer than any one else but not for me. I knew they were like this so when the company became mine, I stopped funding their useless theories of making profit and also stopped every help they were getting for free. 'You have to give something to me if you want to gain something from me' that is the biggest motto I believe. Of course, there were many mottos but I want profit if I have to invest even a single cent.

"Are you serious?!" Tyler asked, his voice coated with anger.

He was never the type of a man who would lose his composed self even when the situation was critical. He would always plan ahead something and execute which was why I hired him as my right hand man. Of course, he was my bodyguard as well but more than that he was intelligent and his assumptions and strategies were always right. But he was loosing his patience which means the situation was indeed dire.

Well, I knew it was. Because if the 40% of the company tied up with The Thompsons, they would become the top five ruling companies and also they had a good market value which meant it would be harder for me or any other companies to reach there. And I heard they were planning on a new product recently to take the market of all the car companies.

Of course, I didn't want that. My cars were leading right now and I had plans to keep it that way but I needed to plan my next product.

I smiled as now I have finished my breakfast and was wiping my mouth. "It doesn't matter if they tied up or not, Tyler. Even if they tied up, the market is already mine to rule and they know it."

I looked at him and said, "I am actually enjoying this since now is the time I make my move."

"What move?" He asked, "Well, I have some ideas on what would be the best move here from now on..."

"Like?"

"Like you can marry the daughter of Grandson's. They maybe are a small company but their product sells well. They even have a good value in their estate business and it is rising. With your help, it wouldn't be much of a problem to raise your company to top five." He suggested, "Also, Mr Grandson has only one daughter and no son so you get everything...including all the properties."

I laughed. Tyler suddenly was good at foreshadowing but I wasn't really fond of making an alliance by marriage. "You know, I am not into marriages..." I said.

"Just marry her already!" He exclaimed which made me laugh more. Lately, my dad and mom was eating Tyler's mind a little too much.

"I will only marry someone who won't ever give into my charm." I joked as he glared at me.

"You are certainly very confident of your charming self..."

"Of course, I am." I said as I raised my chin, "You know if I say the word, even the thompsons' daughter might call off her wedding..." I winked.

Tyler's eyes narrowed to the slit as he eyed me and said, "Then just marry already! Your parents and I are very worried in case you don't know."

"No." I rejected and said, "Just get an appointment with that Hawaiian company... What was his name again? The owner of MNS?" I asked.

"Mr Hudson?" He asked.

"Yes, that one." I stood up and went to take my laptop as I said, "I heard he is preparing for a mining project. I suppose it is time to expand my hands more."

[Sophia's POV]

Kelly was hospitalised due to over exhaustion and lack of sleep and I waited outside. Dad came running as he huffed, his eyes moistened with worry, "Sophia! Where's Kelly?"

"He is resting. Don't worry." I said.

He grumbled. "This lad! Someday I will die because of over worry! I told him not to rush things but he wouldn't listen!"

I chuckled at him but inside I was worried as hell. I knew Kelly was like that and I was worried exactly because of this. I knew he would collapse one day. If we didn't do anything now, he would only get more sick.

I took a breath and patted on dad's shoulder. "It's okay, dad. He is fine. He just forgot to eat."

"Ah! He is such a forgetful brat!" He growled angrily. "Can't he just settle with the small establishment I have created?"

"You know, he can't." I shook my head. Since my childhood I have seen him talking about how he would make it bigger. It has always been his dream to make an empire. And after mom died, I would make sure I would always watch over him like mom did. But today, I failed.

I should have been careful with his schedules but I got caught up with work too.

"Sorry, dad. I should have been taken care of him..." I said.

Dad shook his head and patted my head. "You should be taking care of each other. Did you eat anything?"

"No."

"Oh! What am I supposed to do with this children!" He exhaled a frustrated breath as I chuckled.

As Kelly regained his consciousness, dad and I went to him. He smiled sheepishly which earned him glares from both of us.

Dad scolded both of us and after a while he left as I stayed.

Kelly said, "Sophia, can you do a favor for me?"

"What?"

"Tell the doctors to discharge me from the hospital! I have a meeting to attend in three days!" He said and I eyed him. Was he serious?

There were still so many tests and he needed to take rest this week without tiring himself.

"You know, dad will be furious..." I said.

"Yeah but you know it is Mr Hudson. We have to get this contract otherwise there won't be much investors to invest on us"

He had a point. The market was competitive enough and there were a lot of tire manufacturing companies who had tied up with big companies. We had this opportunity and I didn't want to miss it.

I suggested, "How about I go instead of you?"

He looked at me for a moment and said, "Okay... But won't he get offended that I am the owner and I should have been there?"

"I will tell him that you have collapsed?" I asked.

He exhaled a breath and looked up. "Okay. Then you should go instead of me."

Now I was nervous as I had never been really good at cracking a deal. Kelly had been doing that all along. "What if I mess it up?" I asked and he seemed to read my nervousness.

He smiled and said, "Don't underestimate yourself, Sophia. I know you can do it. And in case it doesn't go according to our plan, we can just start from square one. Alright?"

I nodded, my hands and feet shaky from the thought of going in a meeting.

"I am arranging everything while you, go make the preparation for the deal." He said as I stood up.

"Okay..." I muttered.

"Don't worry. I know you can do it." He said as I left the hospital.

****

I had prepared the files and our deal to get Mr Hudson in it. I just hoped he would see he would be gaining profits too. I was in my house as I was going over the papers one last time.

Kelly had called me saying that he had booked tomorrow's flight. I would be reaching a day before and he had also booked a hotel for me.

My phone vibrated and I saw it was Kelly. I picked it up.

"I am sending you the tickets and the hotel's details." He said.

"You haven't slept yet?" I asked as I saw it was past midnight.

He chuckled and said, "Well, I was going to but I was a bit scared."

"Scared that I can't get this deal?" I asked.

"No. You know I hate hospitals! And I am alone in this ward!" He complained, "How come there are no patients here?"

I laughed. "Because it is the vip ward, you dumb!"

"Why didn't you get me a normal one? You know I am scared of ghosts!" He shouted over the phone.

"You are thirty, Kelly! Ghosts are for children!" I said and laughed again.

He was still a child. Outside he would seem like a really strong guy but inside he was a scardy cat. He was afraid of cockroaches, he was afraid of ghosts, he was even afraid of rides. He had never set his foot on any rides after the last time we rode on ferris wheels when we were children.

"Can you just call the them and tell them to move into a normal ward where I can see people?" He said.

"Well, the morgue is really close from the normal ward. If you want to be moved there, I don't mind." I said and I heard a gutteral gasp. I tried so hard to restrain my laughter as I knew he might be terrified now.

"Don't remind me of morgues now!" He hissed and I couldn't contain my laughter anymore.

"You are making fun of me!" He said as I laughed then he joined.

"Anyways, go to sleep. You need to take the flight tomorrow morning." He said, "Also, good luck!"

"Thanks. You need to sleep too. Don't try to sneak away while I am gone." I said.

"Fine! Fine!" He said, "You have been working nonstop as well. How about you go to on a vacation?"

"No. I am fine. I will come back as soon as I get the deal."

"No. Stay there for a week and enjoy Hawaii." He said, "I heard the food is really good and also the beach."

"Do you expect me to have a vacation alone?" I asked.

"Then call some of your friends..."

"I don't have any friends..."

"Then you have to visit the places alone, I guess..." He said.

"I will just come back the next day." I said.

"Okay." He said, "Thank you, Sophia."

"For what?"

"For helping me always. You have been doing a lot of work lately to give me some time to rest but I haven't even thought of it for you. So, I want you to have some time off and have fun there."

"I am fine... Besides, if we both take rest together, we will miss out the meetings and all."

"True." There was a silence then he said, "Why don't you move on from Mathew?"

"I have already."

"Then find a boyfriend already!" He said.

"And what about you? Won't you find a girlfriend for yourself?" I asked, crossing my hands over my chest.

"I will but first, I am going to make this company bigger and larger." He said, "Which is why I need to recover quickly and go back to office. Oh man! I have so many work!"

I sighed. He was in the hospital but his mind stayed inside his office room.

I strongly felt he needed a secretary since he had to do everything on his own while he should be taking rest now.