FATE'S SECOND CHANCE

HOW LONG HAD IT BEEN?

CHAPTER 2

TOM.

“Those stupid self righteous pieces of…” my voice trailed off as I slammed my hands against the steering wheel in frustration. I was disgusted just remembering their stupid faces.

I took a quick glance in the rearview mirror, a glimpse of myself staring right back at me. I looked tired, worn out, frustrated.

Everyday of my life for the last couple of years had seemed to be a battle, but today was certainly worse.

My mind wandered back to the cause of it all, “That damn Jerry.” I growled to myself, “The bastard's the reason for all this, siphoning company funds for his own personal benefit? I should've fired his ass years ago.”

But I hadn't, he was an employee of my father who had worked there before I took over, and that had been his only saving grace up until now. His greed had finally caught up to us, and the company was paying the price. Sales were plummeting , and now the loss was on me to fix.

I rubbed my temples, a slight headache starting to bug me as I started to recall the events of the evening up until my drive in the car.

*********

“You're fired.”

“What?” Jerry's shaky voice spoke from behind me, causing me to turn to him as I repeated, “I said you're fired.”

He stared right back at me with a confused expression, “You can't fire me.”

“Oh, but I can Jerry. You see, that's what it means to be the boss around here. I get to do whatever I want, and right now you're fired.” I said as calmly as I could.

There was a brief silence before he spoke again, “This isn't over Tom.”

I put my hands into my pocket confidently as I smirked again, “It is Jerry, I assure you it is.”

With that he stormed out of the office angrily, banging the door forcefully as the sound echoed through the office.

“Well… that went well.” Julie's voice cut through the silence. She had been present all through that, but barely made a sound.

“Could've been worse right?” I chuckled and made my way over to my seat. The piles of documents in front of me forced me to let out a huge sigh as I leaned deeper into my chair.

“Now we'll have to find a new accountant sir.”

I sighed again, rubbing my head, “Yeah, that's a priority right now, but it's quite difficult to find one who isn't mishandling company funds for personal gain. The damn bastard.”

Julie turned open the file in her hand, “Well sir, there have been a few applications, and a few of them have quite impressive resumés.”

“He had an impressive one as well, that didn't stop him. You know what Julie, you handle the funds and accounting for the next couple of days till we find someone else.”

“Of course sir.” She nodded.

Tapping my fingers on the table, I hated to ask the next question, “What's next on my schedule?”

She turned open the file once again, humming quietly while her fingers moved around some papers. “You have a board meeting.”

I raised an eyebrow, “When?”

“In about four minutes sir.”

“Great, now I have to see their smug faces again.” I said as I jumped to my feet. I grabbed my suit and made my way towards the door knowing I couldn't keep them waiting.

I honestly hated board meetings, they were dreadful and always had something about me to criticize.

After a few steps, I finally arrived in front of the board room, I could hear their murmurs inside and it made me a bit sick to my stomach. I took a deep breath, bracing myself as I turned open the door.

“Good evening beautiful ladies and gentlemen.”

The room instantly fell silent on my arrival. I inhaled the familiar scent of the polished wood as I made my way to my seat.

Wasting no time, Mr Lonto, a strict looking man with a taste for tailored suits cleared his throat to speak.

“What's going on Thomas?” He asked, adjusting his cufflinks.

I asked an eyebrow, acting confused, “What do you mean sir?”

His expression remained serious as he went on, “The board has noticed, same as the public, that the company is undergoing a major dip in sales. It's affecting the company's overall performance.”

“I know sir, but—” I tried to reassure him when Mrs Tasha cut me off in the most condescending of tones.

“Whatever you're doing Thomas, it's not good enough. You're the CEO, and it's your job to put the company first.”

Her words hurt, but it was the next sentence that really struck a nerve. “It's what your father did.”

It ticked me off, and heaven knows I had a sharp tongue, but out of respect, I decided to remain calm. I raised a finger asking her to pause, “Mrs Tasha, I understand your concerns, but please do not compare me to my father. I've only come to realize recently he left quite big shoes to fill.

“Then perhaps you're not worthy of being in those shoes.” She chuckled after her insult.

I chuckled, a wry smile forming across my face as I turned to the rest of the board members, asking, “Does anyone have any other side remarks they'd like to share?”

The room became silent once more with only the sound of the air conditioning filling it. I finally turned back to Mr Lonto, “I assure you, I'm working on it. We'll get the company back on track.”

I stood, pushing my chair backwards, “If that will be all. I'd like to take my leave.”

And with that I walked out of the board room, more pissed than disappointed. It was one thing to question my qualifications, it was another to compare me to my father. I found the latter more insulting and Mrs Tasha certainly knew that was a way to get under my skin.

I opened the door to my office to find Julie still in.

“You're still here?”

“Yes sir, I had a feeling the meeting wouldn't take too much time.” She explained. “So how did it go?” She asked.

I dropped my suit back on the chair and crashed into it, letting out a frustrating groan. “Those people piss me off Julie, they really do.”

“I can imagine. Well, your schedule for today is done.” She revealed.

“Thank God.”

She then rose to her feet, “Will you be needing me for anything else sir?”

I shrugged in my chair, briefly thinking before saying, “No Julie, you can head home now.”

She nodded and turned to take her leave, leaving just me in my office. I turned to look at the clock and realized it was almost night time, another lonely night at home? Nah I didn't want that.

I quickly picked up a few documents to sign before heading out, knowing time was ticking away and nighttime was just around the corner. Just as I finished signing the last document I muttered to myself, “Perhaps I'll head over to Luigi's.” A drink or two sounded like just the thing to take the edge off.

I left my office, greeting a few of my employees as I walked to the parking lot where the refreshing evening air greeted me as I got to my car. I hopped into the driver's seat and drove out.

******

The replay in my head finally came to an end as I arrived at the bar. I however sat in the car for a few minutes to collect my thoughts. Mrs Tasha's harsh words seemed stuck in my mind. “Perhaps you're not worthy.” I repeated to myself, but quickly pushed the thought aside just as I grabbed my phone and walked out of the car and towards the loud and brightly lit bar.

Pushing open the door, the noise grew even louder and the smell of alcohol even thicker. There was laughter and music as well. It had been ages since I'd stopped by Luigi's, work was really pulling me away, but being there was a good break from the workaholic billionaire lifestyle. As I made my way towards the counter,that's when she caught my eyes— the woman sitting by the counter nursing her drink.

I could recognize her from anywhere, the long blonde hair, the doll-like complexion, but most of all those unusual shades of blue in her eyes— Yelena Davidson, aging just like wine.

“One more.” She said to the bartender who was just about to pour her a drink when I spoke from behind, “Make that two, my good man.”

She instantly turned, and that's when our eyes met. Those soulful blue eyes were even more beautiful up close, coupled with those intoxicating looking lips which curled into a smirk as she saw me.

“How long has it been, Yelena? Seven years?” I started.

She chuckled, “Tom Griffin, who would've thought I'd meet you again here of all places.”

“Mind if I have a seat?” I gestured to the chair directly beside her.

“Of course, go ahead.”

“I'll have whatever she's having as well.” I told the bartender just as I had my seat. “So what brings a beautiful woman like yourself to a rowdy place like this?”

She scoffed, gulping down her drink as the bartender poured down our next shot, “Life's been tough.” she grumbled.

“Take it easy.” I said in worry as I watched her take the next shot.

She then turned to me with a sneer, “And what about you? Why is someone of your status hanging out in a place like this?”

I shrugged a bit in my seat, “I uh, needed to clear my head is all.”

She chuckled, “That makes us both then.”

There was a brief silence before she spoke again, “I never thought I'd see you again after that night.”

I felt a bit guilty at her statement, but just before I could respond, she added, “I guess life could be full of surprises.”

The bartender poured us another drink, but just before he poured hers, he stopped with a concerned look. “Sorry ma'am, I think you've had enough.”

Stumbling on her chair, she scoffed again, “That's fine, it's about time I left anyway.”

I rushed and followed her out of the bar into the cold night. As she walked she stumbled, forcing me to quickly grab her by the waist to balance her.

“What's wrong?”

She then suddenly collapsed to her knees, tears pouring down her face as her voice began to c***k, “I'm tired… of everything. Today has been the worst…I …I just lost my job and my divorce got finalized. It's just too much.”

I wasn't exactly sure how to comfort her, but I did my best and lifted her off the ground, my arms still around her waist, “It's okay, we all have bad days okay? But if there's anything I know, it's that it gets better.”

We stood there for a few minutes while I allowed her to cry into my arms. And then without thinking, the next thought I had was to kiss her. She leaned in closer, her fingers rubbing my face. Our eyes met as she whispered, “I never thought I'd see your beautiful brown eyes again.”

Our lips touched for a brief moment before we both pulled away from each other.

“I'm sorry.” She quickly apologized.

“Not it's fine, that was my fault.”

My phone suddenly rang in my pocket. I pulled it out to see who it was, the caller ID showed it was Julie, making me pick it up quite fast.

“Hey Julie, is anything wrong?”

Her voice on the other end was quite shaky as she spoke. I listened till she revealed something that caught my heart in my throat, causing me to blurt out in shock.

“What do you mean he's dead?”