58 Revenge Begins
1645 Words
Mr. Locke walked along the halls of his mansion, with an aura of intimidation and power. Everyone in the vicinity would bow and would hold their bow until he had passed them by a good distance. The rings on his fingers were a symbol of his power, and the lifelessness in his eyes was a representation of his potential brutality, as everyone in the estate was well aware. He then entered his room, which was just as luxurious as everything else in the mansion that he had for himself. It was dark, cold, and was only lit by a few warm lit lamps in each corner of the room.
His eyes didn’t land on any of these amazing items and artifacts that he had hoarded for himself. But rather they landed on the person that lay on his bed. Just next to her was a whole array of medical equipment hooked up to her, as if she were a part of the machines that sustained her. In this moment, this was the only time that he would allow himself to ever feel vulnerable. He walked up to her, and stood by her side.
“You sure do know how to break a man’s heart...don’t you.”
He knelt down beside her.
“Why do you need to sleep this long?”
She didn’t respond. The only thing that he could take for a reply was the beeping of the heart rate monitor that collected dust just beside him. He clenched his fist in frustration.
“I gave you everything, didn’t I? You have all the things that you could ever want here. Why’d you had to do this to me? Why’d you have to do this to me, my love?”
There was still no response. She slept there as if she were dead.
“I only did those things so that I could keep this life. The life that you always wanted! We got a house! We might as well be alone together. We got all the food we need and more. We could get any kind of entertainment we want, at the snip of your fingers. The way we got here doesn’t matter! All you have to do is wake up and take it all in. I’ll never mention any of the sketchy business anymore if it’d make you feel better. Just… just wake up! Damn it wake up! I’m on my knees here!” he yelled frustratedly as he clenched the sheets.
Yet again, he was met with an almost unbearable silence.
“It’s your fault that you’re here, you know? Barbara… Alexander. It’s because you raised them to be law abiding, goody two shoes, justice filled...good people. I had to do it. And there isn’t a day I don’t regret what I did. But they ain’t here because of what you did! Why’d you have to do it? Why’d you have to tell them about me?! You’d be awake if you didn’t...”
He pounded on the bed in anger, which was immediately replaced with remorse.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I know. My temper. You would always tell me that. Why don’t you come back? Please. For me? I’ll forgive you! I’ll forgive you in an instant, all you have to do is wake up. I’m Marco Locke. The most powerful man in the world. And you have me at your fingertips. You have me on my knees begging you. Please. Please wake up.”
The silence mocked him. He pressed his face into the sheets and wept bitterly, at the fact the one thing that he wanted to have back, he could not have. And no power in the world would ever be able to bring her back.
“Vanessa...”
Suddenly, Marco’s phone rang. He regained his composure and picked up the phone, facing away from Vanessa, as if she could hear the conversation that was to take place.
“My friend. It is going to happen within the week.”
He wiped the tears from his face, and cleared his throat.
“What is?”
“The meeting with the nuisance kids.”
He nodded solemnly and walked toward the door of the room he had just entered.
“And how long until you can have that damned company in shambles?”
“Not long at all. If everything goes right, then they should be bankrupt within the year.”
“What month is it now?”
“July.”
“Indeed, that is not long at all. I look forward to the results. Then we can return to normal and this whole fiasco will be behind us.”
“You still remember your promise, yes?”
“I am not some senile old man. Watch your damned tongue,” Marco said as he snapped at the caller at the end of the call.
He turned toward Vanessa, and toned himself down. He knew she would have not approved of his tone.
“Temper,” he whispered to himself.
He returned to the person at the other end of the call, who was already in the middle of apologizing profusely.
“Quiet. I remember. You will all be paid handsomely after this. And I will have you partner with some of the best companies under my control. That is enough… yes?”
“Yes. More than enough. It is always a pleasure working with you, Marco. Anyway… How is everything on your end? How is Vanessa and the kids? I haven’t seen them in a while.”
Marco could feel the rage build up inside of him. But he suppressed it. His wife would have said that it was an innocent question, from someone that he called a friend. He bit his tongue and replied with as little emotion as possible.
“They are… all ok.”
“Ah. Well I’m not surprised. Being one of the most powerful men in the world, you can definitely treat your family incredibly well. It was stupid I asked.”
Marco’s guilt set in this time. It was as if this call was destiny’s way of punishing him in little ways.
“Is there anything else?”
“Nothing else. I will return to you with updates. Goodbye for now.”
Marco hung up the phone and let out a deep sigh. As he reached for the doorknob, he turned back to the woman who still had the most influence on him, even without being present.
“You still have a way with me… Vanessa,” he said sadly.
He turned back to the door and opened it.
“Don’t worry. You don’t have to watch this. And if you wake up, you won’t have to see any of it anymore.”
He walked out and closed the door gently behind him, before walking off to his meeting room. He had a lot more planned for the nuisance kids that think they can get away with embarrassing him, not once but twice.
“You’re in for it now… Maximilian Burner.”
----------
“Max! What are you doing?” Jules said as she walked up to Max’s desk.
“Oh! I’m just working on my pitch for Sharpen Co. I’m just wondering how I can sell the usefulness of being partnered with us as an up and coming tech giant.”
He looked at Jules and remembered just how beautiful that she was.
“Hmmm, well I think that you should focus on these points here on the script,” she said pointing at the bullet points referring to the program used to develop the software. “This should be given more priority as they are- hey are you listening?” she snapped as she realized he seemed to be spacing out.
Max jumped a little.
“Oh! Uh sorry!”
“What were you looking at, Max?”
“You.”
She started to flush red a little, and fidgeted with her hair as if she was embarrassed.
“You... y-you. You should focus on the script, babe.”
He pulled her in and kissed her on the lips out of nowhere. She closed her eyes after the initial shock from the gesture, and then looked at him lovingly just after she pulled away.
“You think being a smooth operator is going to get you out of writing this pitch?”
He chuckled lightly, in a slightly bashful manner. Looking back into her eyes, a worry flashed through his mind really quickly. However, Jules knew Max too well at this point, so she was quick to ask about it.
“Something the matter, Max?”
“Oh… I was just wondering if we can really pull this off.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I mean like. Will we be able to really hook a Forbes top forty company to like our stuff? We haven’t been in the game for more than two years. It feels like this might be too good to be true,” he said genuinely concerned.
She looked at him calmly, and wrapped her arms around him.
“You being nervous about this kind of thing isn’t like you, Max. You’re normally the one who carries us and makes us feel like we are the best workers in the game. But, it’s ok to feel this way. We really are a new company and this is just reality. But if they see potential in us, then it’s our job to show them what we are made of. After all, no one knows the potential of this new tech than you yourself, Max. I mean, most of it comes from you anyway. So if you don’t have faith in yourself now, then you don’t have to force it. Instead, have faith in the technology that you worked hard to develop. And the rest will follow. Ok?” she said as she pressed her cheek against his own as she hugged him.
“You think it’ll work out, Jules?”
She nodded.
“I really do, babe.”
“Well, if that’s how you feel about it, then I don’t need to worry… do I?”
“Absolutely not,” she replied with a wink. “Now get your ass back to writing that script! We need it in a few days,” she said before walking back to her desk with a little skip.
With a newfound determination, Max knew what he was going to do. There was no way that he would let this worry stop him from bringing his best to the meeting with Sharpen Co. With the goal just along the horizon, all he had to do was keep going.
- Writer
