For the Love of Business

Baggage

She begged the bank for a loan, after spending months on a proposal. Her business entailed advertising infant business. So essentially, her companies sold patents that allowed entrepreneurs to start their business, and if swayed enough, she'd enter partnership with them for an equity stake and advertise their product. Through the years she has helped hundreds of people create successful buisnesses because she understood how important a strategic partner could be in the buisness world. She worked hard to abtain her buisness identity and credibility. It was not making millions that the made her happy, but the idea of helping someone realize their dreams, giving then the ability to. The money was just a plus, most of the time, she donated to local charities. The charity Lives for Wives, a charity for victims of domestic abuse, had a special place in her heart. She made sure to donate monthly to it, anonymously, of course. She never liked publicity, and she knew that donating publicly gave critics ammunition to question her motives, so she kept it a secret. She was nice but was a ruthless buisnesswoman. No one got the upperhand because she was always steps ahead of her competition. The only thing she did not do was invest her money. She invested her time, connections and expertise to a prospective business; but she was not a financial investor. Her specialty was advertisments and patents. There were special cases, but she was never big on loaning unless she was completely sure of her returns. Besides, her not financially investing did not hurt her business, she knew that there were plenty of other investors, happy to take chances with their money, somewhere. Maybe, a merge with an investor would not be a terrible idea. She pondered. I'll look into it. She stood intending to leave for the day. Maybe she would actually get a good night's rest.

*********

"Sir, we are nearing landing." Solomon nodded, feeling tired. It had been three  years since he'd been in America. After college, he worked locally with businesses but had always craved more. He caught a break when Cindy's second cousin, an accountant told him about the foreign markets. Impusively, he took all of his savings, moved to Spain and started an accounting firm. He developed a modernized accounting software which after two years he sold for 4.2 million dollars. Financially set, he decided to become an independent investor who specialized in economics and the buisness cycle. His life became one of luxury and yet he remained grounded. He remembered his roots and did not allow success to get to his head because he realized that he still had a lot of work to do. That never stopped him from occasionally enjoying the women the country had to offer. He smirked at thought of his last relationship with a model named Gloria, her dark beauty attracted him; personality not so much. He subconsciously avoided redheads and their tempers but occasionally fraternized with blondes. He thought back to a certain green eyed woman who haunted conscience sometimes and wondered how she fared. Thinking about roots he recalled a conversation he had with Genevieve all of those years back.

They laid on the couch watching Star Wars when he glanced at her. Her fizzy hair tickeled his neck. "What's your natural hair color?"

She stared a little caught off guard by his abrupt question."Whyyyyyyy?"

"I don't know, I kind of want to know."
For some reason he just was not coninced that she was a natural blonde.

"Red. My hair was red."

"You're a ginger?" He asked amused. The green eyes and light freckles that fanned her cheeks and nose made more sense to him.

"Was a ginger."

"Why do you dye it?" I'm sure you would not look much more terrible as a redhead." She punched him lightly at that and ran her hand through her bob.

"I like it blonde."

"Come on don't give me that! Now tell me what the real reason is." Within two months, they had reached a point in their relationship where the other could see through the others' lies. He knew she was keeping something from him. He ruffled her hair playfully and softened his voice. "You can tell me Eve."

"The red hair. I hate it. I hate long hair too. It's too much like my father." She admitted.

"Whhhh--"

"My father left my mother and I when I was eight. I remember wondering why Mama cried at night and where Papa was. I was not housted onto his shoulders anymore, he just up and left." She said, her voice emotionless.

"I'm sor--"

"No, don't apologize." She figured if their friendship would evolve even more, he needed to know that she was not without her own share of baggage. "He returned when I was fifteen. Long red hair, easy smile, and a Harley. My mother fell all over again. I remember being so disappointed when she took him back. She seemed to have finally became happy again, she even regularly started seeing a nice physician. It all changed when he returned though." Solomon let her talk and just hugged her when the tears begin to fall. "They were pseudohappy for awhile and at times it seemed like old times, but then he found about the physcian. Clark had remained Mama's friend and accepted her decision to remain with my father. He supported her in a way my father never had. Emotinally. So when my father  found out, he begin to 'discipline' her. I did not know about the abuse until I turned seventeen because the bastard had always hurt her where he knew her clothes covered her skin. I find out when I walked in her changing." She clenched her jaw, "I saw the damn scars. My mother beat often, while I obliviously lived a teenage life. With friends, boyfriends, parties as she cried herself to sleep."

Solomon felt angry. He felt angry at her father for the pain he caused her and her mother. He held her close as she cried into his chest, and gained even more respect as she opened up to him and allowed herself to be vulnerable.

"Thank God, Clark stopped by one day while I was at school. Papa was drunk and would have beaten her to death had he not. He called the police and my father went to jail. Not without a beating of his own though." She laughed a little. "Clark did a job on him. He convinced Mama to press charges and my father was out of our lives. They convicted him of attempted murder. I should have done more, but I thank God for Clark."

Solomon asked what he'd been dying to ask. "He never hurt you did he?"

"No, my mother sure of that." She shook her head.

"How's your mother now?"

She grinned. "Happily married to Clark."

Solomon smiled back at her, "That's good. I should not have pushed you, I am sorry--"

"Don't, I wanted to tell you because I trust you. Now that you know my baggage, if you want to leave..."

"My mother and father hated each other..." he started.

They had spent the rest of the night discussing there families completely unaware that Star Wars had gone off.

He sat up, shaking away the memories, he really regretted the way their friendship ended but figured she was better off without him.

He still did not fully understand his spur of the moment decision to return to the United States. He figured he helped foreigners, why not move domestically. He also figured a potential partnership would help his buisness expand even more. It was all about finding the right partner.

"Sir, we are landing." Let it begin. He thought.

To the side side is an image I found (I own no rights to it) that reminds me of passing time.