That slimy pig, he thought. I will see that he pays even if I have to kill him myself. George Van Cleef, still staring out his office window, considered all Sable told him through eyes of rage. He could not afford any mistakes.
His gaze finally focusing on the traffic below, “Joseph Chadwick will pay and pay dearly.” His voice etched with controlled rage echoing the rage in his eyes. The intercom interrupted his thoughts before they could descend into darker depths.
“Mr. Van Cleef, Mr. Hart is here to see you.” Refocusing on the plan at hand, he took a deep breath. Seating himself behind his desk, he was in total control of his emotions…he had to be, a lesson learned long ago.
“Please send him in, Ms. White,” he said absently while reaching for all the information he had gathered against his enemy for the last several years. There would be no mistake, he thought, the Chadwicks are most certainly going to suffer.
Stephen entered the office just as he reached for the final folder in his bottom drawer, which he kept locked even when he was at work. Glancing up, he signaled for Stephen to take a seat. George liked Stephen.
When Stephen had approached him five years ago for a job, he hesitated at first, because Stephen had no experience, just a college degree in architecture and right out of school, but after several meetings and discussions, George Van Cleef decided to give him a chance; after all everyone had to start from somewhere, he did.
Since hiring Stephen, he had no regrets. “Hello Stephen, good to see you.” Extending his hands, Stephen greeted George with the same valor. He not only liked Van Cleef, as he called him when they were alone, but he also respected him.
Standing again, George went back to the window. He did his best thinking when looking at nature. “Well, what brings you to my office?” He already knew, but he wanted to hear it from Stephen. He learned early in life never to take anything or anyone for granted.
Once people voiced their opinions about something, or stated what they desired, it was not easy for them to back out. Therefore, he learned to ask questions rather than assume.
“Well Van Cleef, I gave Ms. Van Cleef the Chadwick project to complete.” He confidently stated since he had discussed this with George before approaching Sable. George turned from the window, gave Stephen a leveled look, and for a moment said nothing.
“Well…I trust your judgment…if you think she can handle it.”
“Yes, I believe she can handle it; before making the change, I did check her past performances.”
George Van Cleef showed perfect white teeth at Stephen’s announcement. No one but him would have dared give Sable an assignment she did not want and have the audacity to check her past performances on other jobs. He liked this guy. “Well is that it?” George asked quietly.
Stephen gave him a leveled look, “No.” He leaned forward in his chair, concern written on his face, “Joseph Chadwick has been nosing around the site,” there was a moment of pause, “I don’t like it.”
George shook his head in agreement. This news coupled with what Sable told him made him wonder and he did not like the idea that Joseph Chadwick was nosing around the site.
Turning toward Stephen, “Did you put extra security out around the place?” Things were getting down to the wire; he could not afford any mistakes.
“Yes, that’s how I found out,” Stephen stated.
“For the record, I don’t like it either; tell security to keep a sharp eye on things.”
“I already have,” Stephen said with a sinister smile.
After much discussion about other issues, they agreed to have lunch on a nonprofessional basis when the project was completed. When Stephen left, George knew he had much to consider.
Stephen made his way back to his office after contacting the security guard at the mall site for an update. He knew that the time was almost near for his revenge on the Chadwicks. Uncharacteristically slamming his office door, he locked it.
Calmly walking over to his desk, he slowly sat down; then interlacing his fingers and resting his chin upon them, he closed his eyes. He wanted to hit something. Someone.
Each time he thought of him, he got so angry he swore he could kill Joseph Chadwick if he knew for sure that he could get away with it. He had his reasons for wanting to work for Van Cleef Enterprises. He already knew that they would be the ones building the new mall and that Chadwick, the greedy bastard, could not let such an opportunity pass.
With every laboring breath he took, Stephen remembered how Chadwick ruined his childhood and how his father died. As the memories slammed through his defenses, tears burned behind his eyes.
Stephen’s father, Ben, was a self-educated man who always expressed to Stephen how important education was in this world, especially for a black man. His parents sacrificed much so that he could go to school.
Although his dad was self-educated, he had a mind for building. One day, Joseph Chadwick noticed that Ben was using an instrument that he had never seen before. Ben was using an instrument that not only told him the best wood to use for his barn because of the climate and location, but also because of the soil.
By punching in a few numbers and answering a few questions, the instrument would tell you what kind of wood, how much wood, best roof for the structure being built and what type of paint or stain it should have for preservation.
Joseph Chadwick was so intrigued, and seeing how the barn turned out, he asked Ben if he could use the instrument to build a tool shed. Ben agreed; he had no reason not to trust him.
When Ben went to pick up his instrument, he was told that it had somehow gotten broken and Ben believed Joseph Chadwick. After all, Mr. Chadwick felt so bad; he paid Ben one hundred dollars, which Ben did not want to take because he made the machine out of bits and pieces that he put together. However, Joseph had insisted, saying he would feel a whole lot better if he could pay Ben for damages.
Two months later while Stephen was reading the daily paper to his father, he unknowingly read how Joseph Chadwick had invented a machine that revolutionized building and was now one of the richest men in the world because of it. Ben was stunned. He told his wife what had happened and said that he was going to the Chadwicks and demand his machine back.
When Ben went to Joseph Chadwick’s home, Joseph first claimed ignorance. Then he became angry and told Ben that he sold the machine to him and had therefore forfeited all rights, and he had a check for proof that he had paid for the machine. Ben was devastated.
That night, Stephen’s dad, unable to sleep because not only did he feel like a fool, but he also felt like he had ruined the one chance his family had to escape poverty, unknowingly took sleeping pills with the medicine he normally took for his back pains.
The combination was a deadly one; he had a severe adverse reaction and died in his sleep, choking from his own blood.
Tears silently rolled down Stephen’s cheeks as the painful memories played in his mind like an awaking nightmare. After his father’s death, Stephen’s mother, usually a strong woman, became withdrawn. She continued to cook, clean, and talk to Stephen when he asked her a question, but that was all. It seemed to Stephen like she had somehow died too.
Because Stephen was not only good in sports, but also excelled academically, he received a four-year scholarship that paid for everything including room and board. All he had to do was go to school and he did.
His mother was very proud of him and they talked about how proud his dad would have been had he lived to see it.
His once interlaced fingers had now formed into a hard fist. Eyes open, he did not see his current surroundings, but vivid colors of rage as the memories continued.
During Stephen’s second year of college, his mother committed suicide. She left a note saying that now that he was on his way, her job was done; she could no longer live without her beloved husband and asked for his forgiveness. Stephen was devastated.
Then he remembered Anna. Both fists hit his desk with a force so hard it sent a glass paperweight shattering to the floor. Thoughts of her, he hit his desk again, and Mac made him want to kill something…them. Living with so much pain, he plowed into his schoolwork like a mad man. Determined that he would finish what his dad had always wanted for him, kept him from thinking about his father, his mother, Mac, and strangling Anna with his bare hands.
Reigning in his emotions, he got himself under control again. I have made it, he thought. I am right where I need to be to make him pay. Seeing his office again clearly, he felt saddened by the broken paperweight; it was a gift from his mother.
Joseph will pay for this too, he thought, as he carefully picked up the shattered pieces dumping them into the wastebasket. He stood staring at the pieces for a few seconds.
“You have made my life just like those pieces, Joseph, broken…shattered…you will pay,” he vowed in a deadly whisper.
Taking several deep breaths to further calm himself, Stephen deliberately walked slowly toward his office door, then turning the knob and unlocking it, he stepped further into his plans to destroy his enemy.