DON'T FORGET ME

CHAPTER 3

The flight was a long, quiet, and an annoying one. The turbulence made Sebastian

nauseous, and the loud snores Tim made only got on his nerves the more. He hated when

people snored.

"Wake up!" He rigorously shook Tim on his way to the little kitchenette at a corner of the jet.

He reached for the orange juice and watched as Tim sluggishly pulled himself up.

"He has to, San Francisco was a mess!"

That was Arthur Miller, Sebastian's manager, or in lame words, babysitter. He was screaming

off the phone in the bathroom, and Sebastian just wanted to get off the plane. San Francisco

was terrible, not only had they lost one of their biggest contractors, but also got in a public

scandal, tarnishing MacChip's name. Sebastian rubbed his temple and took a deep breath,

just an hour more.

"You're awake?" Arthur barged out of the bathroom and headed for his seat.

"The turbulence is messing with me" Sebastian took a sip of the orange juice.

"Well, you have to get ready, Dr. Smith, is having an all white party this evening, and you

have to be there" He said fixing his belt "San Francisco was terrible, there is so much

damage to be fixed"

Sebastian had nothing to say, he just really wanted to get off the plane. He returned to his

seat and fastened his seat belt.

"How much do you want baby?" Tim said drowsy, smiling like a fool at his imagination.

"Tim! How many bottles have you had!" Arthur yelled

"You're dunk? Seriously?" Sebastian with all disgust stared at his cousin

"I had to" Tim laughed, obviously oblivious of the matter at hand

"Pathetic" Sebastian laid back

"Tim you moron! You always pick the worst times to f**k us up!" Arthur yelled, grabbing a

cigarette

"Ay don't put all the blame on me, you old hag!" Tim yelled back

"Old? You are so unbelievable! You know that!" Arthur laughed

Sebastian wore his eye covers, plugged his ear muffs, and shut out those two. Everyone

was so anxious and tense, and only God knew how it'll be when they got to New York.

***********

Charlotte stood under the scorching New York sun as she waited for her boss to come down

from the private jet. The jet had landed at least 20 minutes and Charlotte was already tired of

standing under the sun, without sunglasses.

The jet doors opened and Charlotte gripped the coffee and diet coke in her hands. Two

bodyguards came down first, followed by a middle-aged man, with little white hair, having a

face off with a man in his early 30s who was right behind him. Then he stepped out in a light

blue shirt with his sleeves rolled up, a Louis Vuitton hand luggage in his hand and the other

was adjusting the sunglasses on his eyes.

"Where's the diet coke!" A voice brought Charlotte back to her senses. It was the

middle-aged man.

"Right here sir" Charlotte handed over the drink

"Who is this!" The 30-year-old man yelled and pointed in Charlotte's direction

"I'm Charlotte Reese"

"Charlotte! Arthur Miller, Mr. Stone's manager" Arthur held his hand out to Charlotte. "Ignore

that one, he's drunk out of his head"

"He's an old hag with poor memory!" The other man yelled, throwing his hand luggage to the

butler and getting into the limo

Mr. Stone walked up to Charlotte, grabbed the coffee and gave her a little smile before

nodding at the butler and getting into the limo.

"Well no time for chit-chats, get in the limo, a long day awaits" Arthur smiled.

*********

The meeting was a chaos of thoughts and rambles. The advertisers had presented an idea,

Arthur wasn't comfortable with. Some ideas were shared, disagreements were aired,

quarrels were fired, and a bodyguard had to stop Tim from throwing a paper holder.

"It's clear that we were on different terms" Mr. Stone sighed "Please make adjustments as

discussed, we'll schedule another meeting and let you know"

Mr. Stone walked out of the conference room with Arthur right behind him. They separated at

the front door," 8pm sharp" Arthur reminded Sebastian on his way to another limo at the rear

end of the building.

"Next stop, home" Charlotte welcomed Sebastian on his way to the limo.

"No" Sebastian sighed "I need to be at a dinner party, I'll share the location with the

chauffeur"

"But that's not in the Itinerary" Charlotte contested, "Mrs. Frances..."

"Listen, I am your boss! I am Mrs. Frances' boss! If I change the itinerary, that's none of your

fucking business! You take my orders and you get paid!" Sebastian blared and marched into

the limo.

Charlotte stood astonished for a few minutes, until the car horns brought her back to reality.

So far, her new boss, seemed to be a pain in the ass.

**********

Arthur had sent a new wardrobe change to the hotel room Sebastian met him at. Charlotte

stood at the door, staring at the man being tailored for the perfect suit. His sudden outburst

earlier had altered Charlotte's view of him. She couldn't get past it, his aura, his egotistical

responses, how his shirt hugged at his arms, how his jaws clenched when he was stressed,

the way his eyes lit up when he smiled at her at the airport.

Stop.

She had to stop herself from fantasizing about Mr. Stone, after all, he was her boss, and

that's all he needed to be.

"Is he ready?" Arthur barged in and shoved Charlotte a little. He was dressed in off-white

trousers with a white polo. Minimal effort but his 24-karat gold necklace dangling on his neck

and his Rolex watch, made enough statement. Charlotte stood straight and watched as Mr

Stone, got down from the fitting stool. He was dressed in a white two piece custom design

tailored to his specific measurements.

"I just finished talking to Mr. Manuel, you need to be talking to him in the next 20 minutes. He

needs to introduce you to Dr. Smith, so you can bring up the business idea." Arthur said,

taking a sip of the alcohol in the cup in his hand

"I'll be there" a deep, husky voice let out. Mr. Stone was in the chair having some final touch

ups done to his hair and makeup.

"Stay according to plan, don't get drunk, don't emphasise on San Francisco and laugh at all

his jokes" Arthur cleared the cup and placed it on the table " I'll be hanging around till 11pm, I

expect to hear good news tomorrow"

Arthur walked out of the room and nodded at Charlotte. Charlotte responded with a weak

smile and fixed her gaze on the floor, she was so tired she hadn't even realised when she let

out a loud yawn.

"You can go!" Mr.Stone said more of a command than a suggestion.

Charlotte looked bewildered not sure if it was her it was directed at. The room seemed more

quiet than it already was, she didn't know if it was the hairspray or the liquor that filled the

room that made her feel nauseous.

Suddenly, Mr. Stone rose up from the chair and grabbed the sunglasses on the table, the

hairstylists weren't done. He walked up to Charlotte "I'm going into the party, i think you

should leave, you've hung around enough" his voice was deeper and had a hint of disgust in

it, Charlotte wasn't sure if it was because of her, so she just stared Into his eyes, his crystal

blue eyes, as his lingered trying to leave an encoded message . He shoved her on his way

out, bringing her back to reality. Charlotte put herself together and got her things ready,

again he was her boss and that was it.

**************

Charlotte struggled to find her key in her handbag as she balanced her sleepy toddler on her

shoulder. She had gotten home by 10:45 and all she wanted to do was go to bed. As she

approached her apartment door, she noticed a huge flower bouquet on her doorstep. She

opened the door and layed Amelia on her bed before turning her attention to the bouquet

curious to know who had sent it. It had a little card in it and she opened it, already with

someone in mind

I'm sorry for my behaviour

That's all the card read. Could it really be Micheal? Had her prayers been answered and

Mike had come back to his senses? She smiled and sniffed the flowers, hoping this was a

permanent fix to her marital problems. Squealing in her head she did something she hadn't

done in months, she dialed Mike's number. Voicemail.

"Hey Mike! Its Charlotte, got your surprise, never knew you were that romantic" Charlotte

laughed "Could we catch up later?"

She hung the phone and smiled at the letter, she just hoped this time it'll be permanent.