Strictly Business

Strictly Business: Chapter 2

Elizabeth couldn't stay in the office a minute longer. There was no way she could do any work now anyway. She had to go out and get some air. She grabbed her bag and walked out to her secretary. "Nancy I need to get out for a while, take my messages will you?"

Nancy, a young brunette with bright hazel eyes, looked up at her boss. "Sure. You don't have anything urgent on your calendar. I'm sure I'll be able to hold anything that comes in until tomorrow. Are you alright?" asked Nancy, noticing Elizabeth's flushed face. Elizabeth sighed and looked at her secretary. She 'discovered' Nancy years ago when she started working in the Business Development department and found her to be bright, hard-working and a lot more mature than her peers. When she became Director, she had requested for Nancy to be her secretary and in their time working together grew to confide in her and respect her sound advice.

"Just the most ridiculous proposal you've ever heard this side of the millennium. I'll be back tomorrow." Elizabeth took the elevator down into the basement carpark and retrieved her car. She drove her Porsche up through the ramp and was soon driving out of the city on the wide highway towards the family estate.

Arranged marriage, gosh that sounds so medieval. She knew that this was a common practice hundreds of years ago as a means of fortifying inter-country relations or as a peace treaty. Marriage with a political agenda. But in the 21st century??

Elizabeth turned her thoughts instead to Preston Global. Now that her father had brought it up, they are the perfect company to work with for Eco-City. Not only do they have more than adequate resources, they have a well-developed research institute which was leading the field in agro-technology. Their contribution would be invaluable. Elizabeth could also start envisioning potential projects which would benefit greatly from a collaboration with Preston.

Turning her car into the softly curving driveway, she stopped in front of a large mansion. The house's white facade with it's four tall columns in front gave off an impressive air. The land on which it sits on was an astute buy by her grandfather years ago. Adopting clean classical lines for the mansion, he built a timeless, beautiful and warm home for his beloved family. Instead of entering the house, Elizabeth walked towards a small side gate which lead to the expansive gardens at the back of the house. Here, her grandmother had created a vision in flowering shrubs and trees. It even has it's own stream flowing through the back of it. Elizabeth strolled through the beautiful landscape gardens and though lost in thought, could not help noticing the riot of colour blossoming everywhere. She could also almost see her grandmother pottering around the flowers in her large sun hat and apron. 

If only she were around right now, Elizabeth thought. I sure could use some advice. She walked to her favourite spot in the gardens, a small wooden bench by the bubbling stream. She loved the sound of water, it was one of the most comforting sounds she ever knew.

Actually if you put aside the ludicrous marriage aspect aside, collaborating with Preston Global is a smart move. And grudgingly, she could see why her father and Uncle William wanted to fortify the partnership with a marriage. She knew both of them had longed to bring not only their companies but their families closer. They were almost like brothers, being so alike in their personalities and principals. 

Slowly she realised that this union could work and to great results. But only on my terms, Elizabeth decided. Uncle William would never force me to fulfill all my wifely duties like sleeping with him, she shuddered, and nowadays most couples are able to lead individual lives despite being married. A woman does not have to lose her life and career after getting married. Elizabeth rarely dated after a few disastrous attempts when she was younger. The men she went out with were either power hungry coat-tail riders who was with her because she's a Westville or could not take her obsession with work. After a while she just gave up. I'm married to my work, she thought, and with this arrangement, I'm literally doing that. 

I wonder what Shane would think of this arrangement.  Shane Preston, she thought with a huff and rolled her eyes. Though Uncle William watched her growing up, she had very little contact with Shane. After the unfortunate death of his wife, Uncle William had been so devastated he nearly fell apart. That was also when Shane was sent to a boarding school. He was only ten then. After that, she heard very little about him. The next thing she knew, he was all grown up and a regular in the society papers, living out the playboy cliche with a different actress or supermodel on his arms in public appearances. He was blessed with leading actor looks and women fell all over him. He was also rarely in the country, jet setting wherever he pleased, a lifestyle easily accomplished by his rather generous trust fund. Why would he give up this life for a wife? I'll bet he's more against this than I am.

Shane Preston with the proverbial ball and chain, she almost laughed out loud. That would be quite interesting to see. They had played together quite a lot when they were both very young and she remembered how proud he was, never backing down from a challenge or admitting he was wrong. The number of screaming matches they had! I was no less stubborn than he was, Elizabeth chuckled. He also had the tenacity of a leech when it came to seeing things through. Elizabeth recalled the tree house they once tried to build in his backyard. Try as they may, the two little ones could not get their house to stay tethered to the branches. Refusing to get an adult's help and not believing it was impossible, he worked at it for days before he successfully made it safe enough for the two of them to crawl inside. And they had hours of fun there. 

How is Uncle William going to convince Shane to accept this proposition?

I need him to agree to this union. I am this close to fulfilling Grandma's dream!

A challenge. That's what I have to do to make Shane go with this. I must goad him on and make him a challenge he can't refuse, Elizabeth smiled.