by A. Valentine
“I… I know. You’ve just been so stressed out here at the office that I thought a change of scenery would help you.” That wasn’t a complete lie. Lydia did want David to get out of the office so that he could unwind a little, but she wanted him to relax with her because the truth of the matter was she was head over heels for the man. After working for David for two years, she saw a particular strength behind his elegant and rough exterior. Lydia was highly attracted to strong men and she couldn’t help but be attracted to her sexy boss. When they first had sex, David made his attentions clear that this was all she was going to get from him and that there was no chance of them dating. Lydia thought that if she waited a little while longer, all of that would change. Apparently she had been wrong about that.
“No, I’m fine please do not worry about me. Now, I’ll be more at peace if you’d leave so that I can do my work without interruptions. You’re being a nuisance.” Tired of the verbal abuse, Lydia took her leave.
“Have a good night, Mr. Marshalls.” After closing David’s office door behind her, Lydia made her way towards the entrance with fresh tears streaming down her face.
“It’s about time I cut her off, she’s becoming bothersome.” David said and logged into his email. As soon as he was logged on, his thick lips produced a feral grin. In his inbox were several emails about his mail order bride ad. “It’s show time,” David said and clicked onto the first email.
*****
Daniel walked through the ranch inspecting every animal to make sure everything was alright before he made his leave.
“Alright everyone, let's round up,” Daniel called out and the several people who maintained the ranch walked over to him covered in all sorts of filth. “You’ve all did well today and I’m sure my father would be pleased with how well you are maintaining the ranch.”
“It’s cause we love what we do,” Jordan said smiling as he placed his hands behind his head. Daniel smiled back at him and then looked at the rest of them.
“Ha, you’re only saying that because it’s pay day and I’m the one with the checks.” Daniel reached into his jacket and pulled out several white envelopes with each of their name on them. “Alright, take the money and go home.” Everyone walked up to Daniel and took their envelopes.
“Have a good evening,” they said and made their way towards the locker rooms so that they can get themselves cleaned up before they went home.
“Right, same to you,” Daniel said and looked up at the sky. He was exhausted and he was ready to get home as well.
“Any plans for tomorrow, Daniel?” Jordan asked.
“Yeah, sleep.” Daniel said and Jordan laughed. The workers were going to get a three day weekend because veterinarians were going to be on call to make sure the cattle were doing well health wise. For the next three days, the animals would be looked after by the vets per the request of Daniel’s father. Daniel didn’t know why the vets agreed to pretty much do someone else’s job, but Daniel was pretty sure it had to do with money. Jeffery Marshalls after all had plenty of money.
“Well, I hope you get some sleep boss man and stop stressing so much about what your father told you. I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.” Jordan said and made his way towards the direction that his co-workers just went.
“If only it were that easy,” Daniel mumbled and started making his way back to the building so that he could pack up. Just as he reached for the door, the door swung open with so much violence that he thought whoever it was that was opening the door would run him over. “Jesus!” he shouted as the door narrowly missed him.
“Oh! I’m sorry, I should’ve been more careful.” Daniel paused as Lydia stood in front of him wiping at her eyes quickly. Is she crying? Daniel wondered to himself. He tried to get a closer look at her eyes, but Lydia kept her head down as if she was trying to avoid making eye contact.
“Is everything alright? You look like you’re having a bad day.” When he saw Lydia earlier that day, she was as happy as can be. This sudden change in her left Daniel perplexed.
“Yes… yes, I’m fine. I’m in a hurry though so I’ll be leaving. Enjoy the rest of your day.” Lydia pushed passed Daniel and hustled towards the parking lot.
“Damn, what’s gotten under her skin?” Daniel asked smoothing down his shirt. He walked through the massive doorway and went straight to his office. It was apparent that something was definitely wrong with Lydia, but she didn’t seem like she wanted to talk about it. Daniel thought that even though she worked for David, she could talk to Daniel about things that she didn’t feel comfortable talking to David about. “David,” Daniel said as a thought finally occurred to him. Whatever was wrong with Lydia, he was sure that it had something to do with David. Grabbing his car keys and wallet, Daniel made his way to see his stuck up, brother.
Daniel hated to see women in pain, especially when he knew it was his brother’s fault. Daniel didn’t like the stereotype, but he was aware that he was the type of man who wanted to save any ‘Damsel in Distress’. Daniel was still crossed with his brother from earlier, but he had to, at least, tell him he should treat Lydia with more respect. Unlike other times, Daniel barged into David’s office without any warning. Daniel was surprised when he found the room empty.
“Tsk… I guess I’ll wait then.” Daniel said and walked towards David’s desk. He wasn’t trying to be dramatic or anything like that, but that looked to be the case as Daniel lowered his muscular frame into David’s chair. As he waited for a few minutes, Daniel decided to check to see what games were going on over the weekend on David’s computer. What Daniel didn’t realize was that David left his email opened and Daniel couldn’t stop his eyes from getting wider. “What the hell…” Daniel said unable to believe what he was reading. “David’s looking for a mail order bride?” Daniel knew that David would stoop to any means necessary to get what he wanted, but this… this was an all-time low for his older brother.
Chapter Six
Rachel,
You are definitely a beautiful woman with a good head on your shoulder. You cook, clean, and you’re educated? That is definitely a rare thing with younger women in today’s age. No, I do not mind that you’re only twenty-three years old. Age is nothing but a number, but don’t worry, my eyes are not on women younger than twenty-one, so don’t think too much about my previous statement. You asked me about what I enjoyed doing in my spare time and that is simple; I like catching up on my reading, working out, and playing golf with some of my friends. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a date because I haven’t found the right woman. I guess that’s why I’m on the internet now looking for companionship. I’m not getting any younger and would love for my father to see me married and with a family. Believe me when I say this, I’m sure that you’d find me favorable. I respect the fact that you’d want to correspond with me a little bit before you’d consider becoming my bride and I agree with you. Tell me a little about yourself that would make you stand out from the crowd. You’ve already said great things about yourself, but I’m sure there’s more.
I look forward to your email.
Regards,
David Marshalls.
David grinned at the contents of his email before hitting send. After a few days of going through the incoming emails regarding his ad for a mail order bride, David had finally found someone who was attractive enough to get him to compose an email to her.
“I had to tweak a few of my characteristic, but I’m sure the outcome would work out in the end.” David had done more than ‘tweak’ some of his attributes; David intentionally lied to have a favorable outcome. It pissed him off that Rachel wanted to ‘get to know him’ a little more before giving him the answer that he knew that she’d give. “Life can’t be that easy I suppose,” David told himself and signed out of his email. This was definitely one of the many reasons why he didn’t date. Women took too long in coming up with answers for everything in David’s opinion.
“I hope this part goes by quickly. I don�
�t have the time or the patience for this to drag out too long.” David was willing to spend money on getting her to him. Rachel lived in New York, so he knew that the expense was going to be a little bit on the pricey side. The money was not a problem though; it was the mere fact that he had to spend it on someone else that angered him. “What am I going to tell the old man though?” David hadn’t considered what to tell his father once he up and married this woman out of nowhere. Would he take Rachel to meet this father first, or will he just spring her existence on him when they were about to tie the knot? “This whole thing is becoming such a pain.”
David shut his computer down and got up. He had to admit that he was starting to feel a little overwhelmed with work, but at the end of the day, he loved what he does. “I’d like it even more once I’m the owner of this company,” David said and a feral grin marred his handsome features. Daniel was starting to butt in more and more in his affairs, but no matter what his younger brother did, David was still going to become the owner of this company and not Daniel. Daniel would be incredibly naïve if he believed the outcome would be any different. “I just need this whole thing with Rachel to move along,” David shook his head then. The longer he kept obsessing about it, the more stress he would bring upon himself. “I’ll stop thinking about it for now.”
“What are you trying to stop thinking about?” David heard his brother’s voice before he saw him. David looked over his shoulder and saw that Daniel was walking behind him. David didn’t try to stop the frown from forming on his face.
“Nothing and didn’t I tell you to find some business of your own?” David snapped at Daniel and Daniel frowned in return.
“Haven’t you heard that talking to yourself makes you look crazy?” Daniel spoke to himself all the time, but it wasn’t like he ever got caught speaking to himself. “Besides, Dad wanted to talk to you and asked me to come and get you since you weren’t answering your phone.” David pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and noticed that his father had called him several times. David also saw that his phone was on silent so even if he did want to speak with his father, he wouldn’t have known that his phone was ringing.
“Fine, are you coming too?” David figured that their father had something else under his sleeve, but when Daniel shook his head, David felt himself growing a little more intrigued about what his father possibly wanted with him.
“No, he just wants you. I’m glad he doesn’t want me because whenever he calls you and me to a meeting he tells us something crazy.” David stopped listening to Daniel as soon as Daniel said that their father only wanted to speak with him. David wasn’t usually enthusiastic to see his dad, but maybe the man finally came around and was going to tell David that he was going to inherit the company. It was only natural since he is the firstborn. “Tsk… I am speaking to you, you can, at least, pretend that you’re listening.” Daniel said and David looked at him for a brief moment.
“I’m going to go see dad. I don’t have time to listen to you nag.” With that said, David made his way towards his father’s office. When he was in front of his father’s door, he knocked twice before he entered.
“Ah, so I got to have your brother go fetch you whenever I have to talk to you?” Jeffery asked looking up from the stack of paperwork that was on his desk. David’s long legs guided him towards his father’s desk, and he sat down with ease once he got to his destination.
“My phone was on silent so I didn’t know you were calling.”
“Why was your phone on silent Dave? What happened if it was an emergency?”
“I do not like to be disturbed when I am working, dad. Besides, you typically send him to my office whenever you want something, so I’m sure if it was an emergency that’ll probably be the first thing that you’d do.” Jeffery looked at his son and David looked back at his father.
“There’s no winning with you and that smart mouth of yours,” Jeffery said and David grinned.
“Nope, I don’t know why you’re mad. Mom used to tell me all the time how smart you were with your parents.” Jeffery didn’t counter attack David; he just looked at him carefully. “So what’s going on? Why was I asked to grace you with my presence?” Though Jeffery said David was acting like a ‘smart ass,' to David he believed that he was acting more ‘inviting’ than he normally did.
“What’s going on with you? I’ve heard that ‘mean old David’ has been walking around like he’s hit the lottery. What have you done and what is so damn good that your very own appearance freaks out my employees?” David’s previous look of amusement immediately turned to that of agitation. Were David’s emotions that transparent? Daniel asked David the exact same thing and David was starting to believe that people were able to read him like a book. Well, this could be a good thing so let’s see where I can go with, the accountant thought to himself.
“Well since everyone around here doesn’t have the common decency to mind their own business I guess I have no choice but to tell you,” David took a deep breath so that he could make himself sound the part that he was trying to portray. “I’ve met a woman that I’m going steady with.” Jeffery’s eyes went wide at this. Jeffery knew that David never went steady with anyone. He’s heard through the grapevine that he’s messed around with several of his female employees in the past, but Jeffery had not even once knew of his son settling down with any woman seriously.
“Well this is the first that I’ve heard of it,” Jeffery said and cleared his throat. He stared at his son for a while as if the other man’s head had just fallen off and then a sly smile went across the older man’s lips. Oh, someone wants this business bad enough to come up with a lie. Jeffery thought to himself. He honestly didn’t understand how he let his son fool him like that. David saw the quick look of disbelief on his father’s face and he thought about a plan quickly to erase that bit of doubt out of his father’s head.
“It’s because I don’t want people in my business. Rachel is a very shy woman and if people were all on her asking her questions…”
“Rachel?” Jeffery asked furrowing his brow.
“Yes dad, her name is Rachel and she’s one of the first women that I can honestly say that I like. I don’t want anyone messing up my progress with her so far. Who wouldn’t be happy for finding someone that is just as good as them?” David’s lie was so good that he almost believed it. Jeffery was at a loss for words at this.
“I… I guess that’s true.” Jeffery wasn’t planning on hearing that response when he called his eldest son into his office. “I’d like to meet her if you don’t mind. I want to know what kind of woman captured your heart.” David’s poker face fell flat at that moment. His lie was convincing enough, but the whole charade would quickly be found out if he couldn’t get Rachel to speed this process up. David also couldn’t tell his father no because his father was sharp, he’d find out quickly that David lied.
“Fine, I’m sure she would love you.” David said trying as much as possible to regain the composure that he’d lost moments earlier.
Chapter Seven
Daniel sat down at a picnic table outside of Georgiana’s, his favorite Mexican restaurant, during his lunch break and as he ate his burrito, his mind kept replaying the contents that were found on David’s computer.
“Is he seriously considering buying a woman to marry? Is he seriously that desperate and messed up in the head?” Daniel tried his hardest not to knock anyone’s profession; however, being a mail order bride was far from a typical occupation. “It’s practically prostitution for Christ sakes.” Daniel heard of mail order brides, but he didn’t seriously think anyone in the town would buy into that. “What kind of woman would subject herself to that kind of humiliation?” If Daniel was right, and he hoped he wasn’t, that was certainly David’s plan to get married first. He thought many things of David; Daniel thought David was vain, manipulative, arrogant, and a jackass, but this… this Daniel had no words for.
“May I bring you some more coffee?” Daniel
blinked and focused his eyes so that he was looking at the waitress.
“Yes, thank you.” Daniel said and handed the woman his mug. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t realized the woman was in front of him. The waitress took Daniel’s mug and walked away. Once she was a good distance away from him, Daniel loss himself in his thoughts again. “Maybe I should tell dad, I mean there should be some type of rule against this.” Though, Daniel was pretty sure that his father wouldn’t have been able to foresee this new development. “Then again, David is so full of himself he might immediately realize that what he is doing is not a good idea.” Whatever the case may be, Daniel had to sit this one out and watch from the sidelines.
“Here you go sir,” the waitress said and Daniel smiled at her.
“Thanks,” taking the mug from the woman’s slender hands, he placed it to his lips and took a long swig.
“Let me know if you need anything else.” The waitress walked away then and Daniel looked down at his Rolex that his father bought for him a few Christmas’ ago.
“My break’s almost up,” eating the rest of his food quickly, Daniel asked for the bill. After paying the bill, Daniel left a hefty twenty dollar tip and made his way back to the office.
“Welcome back, Daniel” Jordan’s greeted Daniel.
“Thanks, I had a good lunch.” Daniel said walking in closer to the man. Daniel looked around and saw the rest of the employees doing their own things. “Looks like those doctor’s worked their magic on the animals. They’re up and moving a lot more lately.” Jordan nodded his head and followed his boss’ stare.
“Yeah, I got to agree with you on that. So where did you go?”