EVERYTHING I HAVE.

ELAINE’S POV Last week my mother died. In all honesty, the day seemed surreal. It was hard to believe the woman I loved the most had just been killed. Death by gunfire, the police claimed it was unplanned or it might have been a stray. To them, it was unclear, all investigation leading to dead ends. It was saddening and it was all I could think about at that particular moment. I stood there in a black dress surrounded by business heads who were family friends and friends of my mother’. I couldn’t trust a single one of them, I mean, how could I? It was how the business worked. I was certain in the back of each of their mind they were contemplating how best they were going to take the family business. Of course, the only one person I could trust, was my elder sister, Cassey Billman. She was, of course, next in line to inherit Billman Enterprises. She was the epitome of charisma and was certainly beautiful, she had this slightly intimidating aura. She is 29 and I’m 24, so she has more experience with people and in life. She was the successful over-achieving daughter, I envied her. I stood beside her during the funeral as we watched our mother's coffin being laid in the dirt. She was gone, it was still so hard to digest. Tears rolled down my cheeks. My sister who was handling the situation better than I was, gave the eulogy. After the ceremony, people paid their respects and departed. Everyone had left, and there I was alone staring at my mother’s grave. Thinking back, I only had a few memories with her, memories from when I was much younger. When Dad died, she had to step in as CEO, and then I saw her less and less. Anytime she got back home, she couldn’t be bothered, she didn’t have the time. I eventually went to college in another city and my sister had left the country entirely she probably must’ve felt so alone. “Miss Elaine?”, said a man in a suit, probably in his early 40s standing behind me attempting to grasp my attention. I turned and walked over to him. “My condolences, your mother was a lovely lady”, he says politely. Considering his appearance, he was probably one of the representatives from the company’s executive office. “Thank you, Mr. …”, I replied. “Benjamin Kilt but Mr. Ben is fine. I’m the Billman company lawyer. The company would like to meet with you and your sister tomorrow. They would like to discuss the next course of considering the vacant role of chief executive.” “My sister would be more than capable for the role. I will not be present” “I know that she said she wanted you there”, he says as his phone begins to ring. “Please be there, Miss Elaine”, he walks off and enters his vehicle. I wondered why my sister would’ve wanted me there. She was by far a better candidate to be the CEO and I didn’t want anything to do with the company that may have allegedly cost my mother her life but I seemingly didn’t have a choice. BILLMAN ENTERPRISES. It was morning, the office wasn’t necessarily rowdy or bustling with energy. I was seated in an office with the company’s executives and managers. The office was mostly quiet as we waited for my sister but I couldn’t help but think someone in this very room was responsible for my mother’s death. Eventually, my sister walked in, you could almost feel the slight shift in authority in the room. “You set a meeting at 10 only to be present at 10:45? You may not know this, Miss Cassandra but we are running a company here”, said one of the men seated at the other end of the table. “We? Excuse me, Mr. Campbell, what do you mean we?” “I am this company’s Chief financial officer.” “Well not anymore, you’re fired” “What? You can’t fire me” “Oh, I can, Mr. Ben, would you please read my mother’s will”. “I, Mrs. Helen Billman, appoint my daughter as the executor of my company, Billman Enterprises”, Mr. Billman says as he reads from a piece of paper in his hand. The murmurs fill the room as the other executives begin to mutter to themselves. “Are you all surprised? It was clear and obvious that I was going to be the next CEO. So, Mr. Campbell, kindly excuse yourself before I make security help you”. “You will regret this”, he says as he exits the office. “As the new CEO I refuse to accept any incompetence. Would anyone else like to lose their jobs here today?”, she asks but the whole room remains silent. “I thought so. The new chief financial officer of the company will be Elaine Billman, my sister”. Hearing this, my confusion spiked, I was trying to wrap my head around the decision she had just made. I wasn’t told I would be getting that job so I was quite shocked. I was too shocked to even say anything but at the time I couldn’t particularly decline the job, I couldn’t, I wasn’t given a choice. I did have a degree in finance and accounting, so I didn’t try to decline the job. But, somewhere in the back of my mind, some part of me didn’t want the job but I ignored it and took the job anyway. Later that day, I and my sister had a talk and a couple of coffees at a café. As I sat opposite her at the table, I knew she could probably tell that there was something on my mind, but she didn’t pry. “Why did you pick me to be chief financial officer?”, I asked. “Simple, trust, familiarity and you just so happen to be an accountant graduate. I don’t trust half those people in the company, I would lay off all of them but that would cost the company so I just made an example of one of them”, she replied as she sipped her coffee. “You know, I miss her too”, she said staring out the glass window next to her. I looked at her as tears rolled down her cheeks. It was the first time I saw her cry in my life, it was her first time crying since we heard our mother had died. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her I didn’t want the job, she needed me though it didn’t seem like it, I knew. Eventually, she left claiming she had some things to take care of. I decided to take a walk home to clear my head declining the ride my sister had offered me. I loved walks, it helped me think and clear my head whenever I had a lot on my mind, and this particular evening, I did. Between mourning my mother and my new job, my mind was enterprises