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Meet Peter Kingsley. A tall handsome man in his late 20's, who works an office job at Fair Heights.
Meet Maria LiverBotum. A stout shy youngy lady, who has been in love with Peter since middle school and has been working as his secretary for two years now.
Fair Heights Company makes and distributes airplane parts. The company is the biggest of it's kind and has been successful for fifteen years. Mr. Malford has been the president for many years and is finally retiring. He already knows who he wants as his heir. His wonderful nephew Peter. He loved his sister dearly but he was overjoyed with her son. He treated Peter Kingsley as his own son. Peter had great leadership skills and a professional demeanor, surely no one would oppose. Mr. Malford had it all planned out in his mind. He even wrote it down and gave it to his assistant for future reference. Mr. Malford wanted his brother's son, Mark Malford, to be the future adviser for Peter. These two cousins were polar opposites in every way possible. Peter was platinum blond, dark blue calculating eyes, and perfect posture while Mark had dark hair, burning brown eyes, and was always sporting a playful smile. Yet President Malford wanted them to work together at Fair Heights. For Peter's right hand man it took a while to decide since it was important to find someone with great skill and who could handle Peter. He had met her a long time ago at one of Peter's piano recitals.
Peter was in eighth grade playing a wonderful Chopin piece and Mr.Malford was captivated as he sat in the audience. Peter had gracefully finished playing and there was a silence. Before anyone could respond a girl had jumped from her seat, clapping vigorously, and threw him a bouquet of yellow tulips. The way she had looked at Peter caught Mr. Malford's eye that day. A year or so later in high school Peter was in a play so Mr. Malford came to see his nephew. It was rehearsal and everyone was frantic to find their scripts, costumes, and props. Peter was having trouble with his toga costume. Everyone tried to safety pin it but ended up sticking Peter in the back. The same girl from the piano recital came up and began working on his toga. She smiled softly as she pulled and gathered the extra material. She had tied the fabric in a way it could not be undone simply by moving about. Peter gave her a thankful nod then ran off to his waiting uncle. A few more years and Mr. Malford saw the timid girl sitting in the waiting room to be interviewed. She had clerical training, was organized, and punctual so, of course, she got the job.
Maria LiverBotum was a great worker. No matter what time of the day, no matter how much work was piled up she always wore a gentle smile and would welcome any one with a friendly hello. In the beginning she was at the bottom rung of the company latter. She was a office grunt worker. She did supply runs, made copies, and typed up memos. Now after two years she worked under Peter who was next in line. Maria was wonderful to organize a meeting or to send out orders to any underlings. She did important things that could change the whole airplane world which coincides with the human world. Yes, she was quite amazing but she still picked up coffee for everyone in her section of the building and brought donuts. Her sharp office skills plus her friendly demeanor made her the perfect candidate.
Mr. Malford had been sick for the last four years but never told anyone except his wife and doctor. Tomorrow would be the day he announced everything. He would retire, Peter would take over, and there would be some new administration. It wasn't that big of a deal, right? Maria obviously adored Peter so that would be just fine. Everyone he met greatly respected the Kingsley boy. Well there was that one tiny detail that nagged at him in the back of his brain. What was it that bothered him so? Ah yes....Peter Kingsley hated his cousin Mark Malford. For some reason or another they despised each other.
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It was the day of the big announcement. Everyone in the company would be there, even the stock holders. Mr. Malford was nervous as he pulled on his tie but shook it off as if it were snow on his shoulders. He kissed his wife as he walked out the door toward his car. He stared at his reflect lingering in the window of his old car. Peter had loved taking rides in that car to the ice cream shop. "All A's on the reports card, eh? Good job! You deserve a large bowl of ice cream." After a joyful trip to the ice cream parlor he would drop him off at his mother's house. "You be good, o.k.? Don't let your stepfather get to you. He doesn't mean it half the time." In reality Peter's stepfather really did mean it, but the young boy would let it slide off him like a slab of lard.
Mr. Malford's eyes focused back on the old car as he came back from his brief trip to memory lane. He drove to work going over the speech in his head a few times. He took a quick trip up an elevator to the biggest room in the building. It was full of chairs all pointing toward the ominous podium. He walked slowly and dutifully to the stage as everyone waited silently. He cleared his throat and said those words. Those words that changed people's lives, "I am retiring. Not because I am bailing a sinking ship but for another reason," There was a pause then he continued gravely. "I have cancer for which I can not be cure of. The doctors don't know when I will die but they are all estimating pretty soon. I leave you in the care of Peter Kingsley. He will be the perfect president of Fair Heights. He is a hard worker and strives to make the company better every day. His right hand, his assistant will be Maria LiverBotum. She has been here a short time but has made a large impact on this company and all the people who work for it. She is a great pleasure to work with as you all know and has a great talent in this line of work. Lastly I must tell you that I have already chosen an adviser. I know this is not common but it is my last and only wish. The adviser will be Mark Malford." At this point he let out a breathe he didn't know he was holding and he looked out at the people he had lead for so long.
Everyone's jaw dropped at hearing who the adviser would be. That guy who wore headphones playing video games all day? He would talk at the water cooler for at least an hour. Wasn't he the one that was always cracking jokes in the cafeteria? Why Mark was always late for meetings, no matter how important! Only one person wasn't surprised. That person was furious as he sat in the back of the room. His face flushed scarlet with anger as he gripped the sides of the chair, his knuckles turning white. Peter Kingsley was not happy in any sense.
***To be Continued***
 Zabethlyburn · Thu Jul 15, 2010 @ 04:16am · 0 Comments |
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