by Rachel Burns
You Look Just Like
Your Sister
By: Rachel Burns
You Look Just Like Your Sister
Copyright 2015 Rachel Burns
Published by Rachel Burns
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act 1976, no part of the publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by and means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
Text Copyright © 2015 by Rachel Burns
All Rights Reserved
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Meeting The Big Sister
Chapter 2 – Meeting The Little Sister
Chapter 3 – Graduation
Chapter 4 – Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Chapter 5 – Caught
Chapter 6 – Resentment
Chapter 7 – Sacrifice
Chapter 8 – The Christmas Party
Chapter 9 – Confessions
Chapter 10 – A Cup of Coffee
Chapter 11 – Getaway
Chapter 12 – Monday
Chapter 13 – A Little Spy
Chapter 14 – No College
Chapter 15 – Impossible To Hide
Chapter 16 – Confessions
Chapter 17 – Asking For Help
Chapter 18 – I’m Marrying You
Chapter 19 – A Name
Chapter 20 – Promising To Obey
Chapter 21 – An Uncomfortable Sunday
Chapter 22 – What A Man Expects When He Comes Home From Work
Chapter 23 – An Expensive Meal
Chapter 24 – Broke
Chapter 25 – Showing Off The Baby
Chapter 26 – He Forgot Us
Chapter 27 – Giving Up Everything
Chapter 28– Her Duty
Chapter 29 – Merry Christmas
Chapter 30 – Everybody Loves You
Chapter 31 – Mistaken Identity
Chapter 32 – The Doghouse
Chapter 33 – Amends
Chapter 34 – Packing Up
Chapter 35 – Suffering
Chapter 36 – Like Brother And Sister
Chapter 37 – Courting
Epilogue
Chapter 1 – Meeting The Big Sister
Derrick pushed the big boss’s office door open and walked in. He was in a room that was more lavish than anything he had ever seen before. He pretended not to be impressed as he stepped past the drop-dead beautiful secretary and shook Mr. Marshall Montfort’s hand.
“Derrick, it is so nice to meet you in person. Ashton, darling, this is the young man who is going to clean up the mess you made. Derrick Davis, this is my daughter, Ashton. She’s the one who blew a million dollars last month,” Mr. Montfort informed him.
The beautiful long-legged blond goddess walked over to Derrick with her hand stretched out to him, but her eyes were on her father. “Daddy, you were the one who taught me you have to take risks in life to gain what you want,” Ashton addressed her father.
Her eyes flashed back at Derrick. She was looking him up and down, making Derrick hope he was up to snuff in her eyes.
In a second, Ashton saw that he was a tall, dark-haired man with nice blue eyes. She saw that he was one of those men who should shave twice a day. Already stubble was starting to show. She could also see that he was a dominant man because of the set of his jaw. She didn't like that kind of men. No one told her what to do.
“Yes, but what risk do you have when you use my money.” Marshall wasn’t mad about the money. He was jesting playfully with his daughter.
Ashton rolled her eyes, and Derrick immediately lost interest in her. She was a spoiled brat, a beautiful spoiled brat, but still a brat.
They sat down at the huge conference table and brainstormed about ways to solve the problem. Derrick noted that Ashton got bored quickly.
He had to think back to when he was a kid, and he had lost his lunch ticket money on the way to school. He had been given enough money to buy tickets for the whole month. His father had used the belt on him that night, and Derrick had learned that you didn’t play with money.
This woman had lost a million dollars and didn’t care.
A picture of her over his knees flashed in front of his eyes. Her bottom would be bright red, and his hand would be burning from the heat of smacking her cute little backside. That thought made him grin, but then he stopped himself.
Ashton was clearly too high maintenance for a relationship.
Derrick was once again walking up to Mr. Montfort’s office. He was getting used to making the trip up to his office in the meantime. He been working here for over three months now.
He had been head hunted by Montfort Industries. Derrick had been working in a city near his hometown in Maine, but the company had offered him more money in a year than what he had hoped to earn in a decade. He was no fool, so he packed his bags and moved to Boston.
He hadn’t regretted it yet.
Derrick noticed his heart was beating a little faster. It always did when there was a chance he might see Miss Montfort. He thought about Ashton a lot. Sometimes, he pictured himself making love to her and other times he was smacking her naked hind cheeks crimson.
When he went in, he saw Ashton working at her father’s desk. She was always very cold to him when they were alone. She clearly thought of him as an annoying insect, especially now that her father had told her Derrick had to approve every cent before she was allowed to spend it.
“I need you to sign those documents, over there.” Ashton didn’t look up as she spoke to him.
“Good afternoon, Miss Montfort.” He waited to see if she would respond in kind, but she only huffed a little.
Derrick went over to the documents and looked through them. There were five different projects she wanted to invest in. Two were definite no’s; one a maybe, if she could persuade him; and two were sound investments that would bring in money. Those project ideas he signed right away.
He got up and went over to her. “You have some great ideas, but these two are very risky.”
Ashton looked up at him. He had glanced at them and decided so quickly. It gave her the impression that he hadn’t looked over them well enough to make an educated decision.
Her lips were pressed together, and she was faking a smile. “You know how I feel about risks. Perhaps you are just too boring and set in your ways to try something new?”
“I won’t sign these two. However, this one you could maybe sweet talk me into signing it.” Derrick gave her a wistful smile, thinking he would like to try out a few things with her.
Ashton picked up the file and ripped it in half. “I won’t stoop to that. Once my father retires, you can consider yourself fired.”
His right hand twitched. He wanted to flip her over his knee so badly that he had to press his hand against his leg, so he wouldn’t give her a well-deserved swat.
With his jaw tightly clench, he responded in kind, hoping to show her that he wasn't intimated by her. “Your father isn’t going to retire anytime soon. So it would be better if you learned to live with me.” His face relaxed. Now he was picturing her naked in his apartment, living with him. He liked the idea of that, but daddy’s princess would never live in anything that wasn’t a penthouse or a mansion.
“I don’t like you or your attempts to flirt with me. I l
oathe you. Just leave.”
“Listen here, Miss Montfort, you aren’t as great as you think you are. You’re a spoiled brat, who needs a babysitter, or you would ruin the company your father worked so hard to build up, but you don’t care about that. You’re too self centered.” Derrick turned away from her and stormed out.
He could probably pack his bags and leave. She would run to daddy and tattle that he had been a brute to her.
He sat in his office and waited for the call.
It didn’t come.
Maybe there was hope for her after all.
Chapter 2 – Meeting The Little Sister
Elise Montfort went up to her father’s office. His secretary, Mrs. Linus, told her he was in a meeting at the moment. She asked her to have a seat in the waiting area. “Can I get you anything to drink or eat while you wait, Elise?”
“Could I have some water? It’s getting really hot outside.” She didn’t want to be a bother, and she knew that Mrs. Linus had plenty of things to do, but the air conditioner on the bus was broken and it had been a long ride here from school.
“Sure thing.” Mrs. Linus got up and looked around the little kitchen that she had for making coffee and drinks for Mr. Montfort and his visitors. “We’re out. I’ll pop over to another kitchen and get you a bottle.”
“Only if it isn’t a bother.” Elise’s forehead wrinkled up with worry.
“Of course, it isn’t a bother.” Mrs. Linus left the girl, thinking the difference between the two girls was night and day.
She could hardly believe so many people said they looked like twins. She could tell the difference with one peek in their eyes. Elise’s eyes smiled, and Ashton looked like a snob no matter what happened. Besides, Elise was still a schoolgirl.
Derrick couldn’t believe it. Miss Montfort was trying to get her stupid half-cocked plans through again. This was the fifth time already. It was simply too much.
He would speak to her father and get this settled once and for all.
He stormed to the elevators and then pushed the button for the top floor. His temper wasn’t cooling. In fact, it was getting worse and worse.
It wasn’t worth it, he told himself. He would quit and find a job for an adult man, and this babysitting gig would finally be over.
He stopped when he saw her lazily sitting on the sofa in her father’s waiting room. She was paging through a magazine without a care in the world. He was starting to see red.
“Miss Montfort!”
Elise jumped as the man called out for her.
“I can’t believe it. Do you have any idea how much money you’re costing your father each month?”
Elise shook her head. She had no clue how much she cost her father. She just knew that her father said she could have whatever she wanted.
“Then I guess the question is; do you care?”
Her mouth dropped open, but she nodded. Of course, she cared.
Derrick was surprised that he got her to feel guilty. He would have sworn that Ashton Montfort didn't possess those emotions.
Derrick felt his blood coursing through his body. He needed to get away from her before she noticed his penis. If she did, she would never take him seriously. “You’re costing him way too much. How can you be so selfish? It is time for you to grow up and take responsibility for yourself. I don’t want to have this talk with you again. Am I being clear enough?” Derrick waited for her to nod, and then he took off.
Elise wiped her eyes, but new tears were replacing the old ones. What had she done that had cost her father so much money?
She had too many clothes, the latest iPhone, and her private school was really very elite, which equaled expensive. She would try to cut back, and she wouldn’t go out with her friends anymore.
Elise had had no idea her father’s company was in trouble, but she had heard talk that Ashton had invested in something that hadn’t panned out.
Still, she hadn’t realized things were this bad.
Was her family in trouble? If they were, then so were all of their employees. That would explained why the man had scolded her.
“Elise, I found a bottle in Public Relations.” Mrs. Linus was back and she poured a glass for Elise. “Are you all right?” She was shocked to see that Elise had been crying. She guessed the girl had problems at school.
“I’m fine.” Elise shook her head. She felt so guilty that she was getting a tummy ache.
“I’ll just buzz your Dad, so he knows you’re here.”
“Mrs. Linus, how are things going? Here, at the company,” she clarified.
“Oh, fine, just fine. Nothing for you to worry about.”
Elise nodded to herself. There was nothing for ‘her’ to worry about, but they did have worries.
Twenty minutes later, her father came out and got her. It had been his idea for her to come in today. He wanted to talk to her about college. He felt a little crestfallen that his daughter needed an appointment to see him and have a real talk with him.
“Elise, come here and give your dad a hug.” He held his arms open wide.
Elise almost knocked him off of his feet when she sprang up and flew into his arms.
Had he called her in to tell her the truth? Was the truth that they had lost everything?
“Whoa, darling. I’m not that young anymore. Let’s go into my office.” He was grinning from ear to ear now.
He would miss the little girl she still was now when she grew up. As it was, he could hardly remember Ashton as a little girl. He could only remember her stubborn and pouting.
His girls were so uniquely different, and he was missing so much of their lives. Time was moving by so quickly, and his baby needed to choose a college to attend. Where had the time gone?
Elise grabbed her water and the glass. She didn’t want to cost her dad anymore than she already had.
Mr. Montfort pulled out a chair for his beautiful daughter. “The reason I called you in today is to talk about college.”
College, now she understood. Her father couldn’t afford that. She wouldn’t force him to admit that. “I was thinking I would skip college and start working here. You know, at an entry-level job, and then I would work my way up. I could help.”
“What? You don’t want to go to college? But – ” He didn’t understand. She had talked about becoming a journalist, and now she wanted to work here at an entry-level job? That didn’t make sense.
“Yes, and I was thinking that because you’re my father, I really don’t need to finish school either. I could drop out now or go to public school. Yes, that would be best. I’ll finish up at public school, and I could work here after school. Would that be helpful for you?”
“Elise, did something happen at school?” His eyes pinched together, as he took a moment to study her face for signs of trouble.
“No, of course not. However, I’ve had an epiphany. I’m only one person, in a world filled with millions of people. It’s crazy what my school costs, and then to add college to that. Well, it’s clearly decadent and disgusting. I want to be a productive member of society. Will you hire me, Dad?” She looked at him hoping her face wasn’t showing how disappointed she was that her childhood would abruptly be coming to an end.
“I –” Marshall didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to do anything that might push her away. Elise had always been a sensitive child. He had to word this perfectly not to hurt her feelings. “Elise – If you honestly feel that way – Your mother and I always said we wanted you to be happy. I wish for nothing more. Having you here every day would be nice. Still, you would be the first person in our family not to graduate from college. College is an experience you shouldn’t miss.”
He remembered the hell Ashton had put him through while she was in college, drinking parties, vandalism, drunk driving, and the car accident that resulted from that. No college meant no partying.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t be selfish. “Elise, you’ve been accepted to four fine colleges and not because of
my money but because of your grades. Do you really want to give that up?”
No, but she couldn’t admit that. “I would have studied business anyway. I can do that for free right here.” She tried to sound upbeat, but she could feel tears building in her eyes.
Her father saw that and figured he was hurting her feelings. “Is this because you want to travel a year before you start college?”
“No, that would be way too expensive. I’ve already received enough. It’s time I pulled my own weight a little.”
Marshall pinched his fingertips to the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t sure what to do. This conversation wasn’t going as he planned.
He looked up at his child. “I have an idea. You can work here for a year, and then we can have this talk again. If you want to go to college then, you will. How does that sound? We wouldn’t be completely forgetting about college, only postponing it.”
Elise sighed relieved. That sounded perfect. In a year her father’s company could be turned around, and everyone would be proud of her for helping out and putting the company ahead of her own selfish wants.
She threw her arms around her father and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, Daddy. You’re the best.”
Marshall kissed her cheek and prayed he had done everything exactly right.
After his wife’s sudden death several years ago, all he truly had were his girls, and he loved them more than his own life.
Seeing Elise smile was more important than being able to brag that she was a graduate from some Ivy League School.
Chapter 3 – Graduation
Ashton was fit to be tied. She knew what kind of person she was. She didn’t always like herself, but if there was one thing in this world she loved, it was her baby sister. Still, there was no talking to Elise lately, because she had such nonsense in her head. Nevertheless, Ashton tried to persuade Elise to go to college.