Damien's fingers moved feverishly over the keyboard of his computer, as he typed out all the information he needed for a project at hand.
He needed to forward it to his business partner as soon as possible, and he couldn't afford any delays at all.
He was supposed to have finished last night, but of course he had to entertain Katherine, who like always never got enough.
He had woken up as early as possible this morning, partly because he had to rush down to the office and finish up his work and partly because he also really didn't feel like talking to Kathrine first thing in the morning. He had a feeling that talking to her would put him in a bad mood, and he was doing his best to avoid that.
As he neared the last paragraph of the document he was writing, the office phone rang stalling him down for a while, and Putting it on hands-free, he listened as his secretary informed him that Mr Rudiger and the lawyer were here to see him.
Instantly, his fingers on the keyboard paused, as he said, "Let them in."
They only had one job, so if they were here this early then it surely had something to do with the Connors.
Trying to round up the file he was working on quickly, so he would be able to pay attention to whatever they had to say, his fingers resumed their typing, and he finished just as they walked in.
Shutting his computer close, offering them seats right across his desk which they immediately too, Damien folded his arms across the table as he stared at them.
"Morning sir." They greeted in unison.
He was already beginning to get impatient, wanting them to belt out the details of their visit already, but he warned himself to calm down as he replied curtly, going straight to the point, "Morning. Were you able to get anything on them?"
To his surprise and relief, Mr Rudiger nodded promptly, "Yes. After some days of digging, we managed to coax a few people into giving us information, with some of the money you gave us."
Damien nodded.
That was the reason why he had given them the hefty cheque. People would always talk as long as there was money involved, and scrunching up his face in disgust, Damien's mind wandered back to the past when money had been his biggest problem, and how he had almost lost his life too.
Shaking his head slowly and discarding the thoughts, he furrowed his brows lightly as he listened to Mr Rudiger who continued talking.
"We were finally able to locate the current residence of the Connors."
Damien held his breath. Finally, the information he craved was here. After months of waiting, and searching irrelevantly.
"They still live in Kettlesworth, Birmingham. However, Mr Connor put his mansion on sale two years ago, and it must have been bought we have no idea about that. Now though they live in a two bedroom flat, it's rented property and amounts to quite a measly pay for rent."
Damien was taken aback for a few seconds, with what he just heard.
Yes, something bad had happened to them.
Something that warranted Madison, working menial jobs and waitressing here, but he didn't expect it to be so terrible that they would move to a completely different place than what they were used to. And as tenants at that!
Wow! Just wow! He mused within himself, a smirk on his face as he exhaled in relief.
He felt like he could breathe properly now.
Oh how the mighty have fallen, he thought smiling to himself.
This was progress, very good progress and he would make sure to dig into the root cause of whatever had made the Connors lived this way.
With all the pride Mr Connor had, Damien didn't think he would stoop to the extent of being a tenant but life really was full of surprises, wasn't it.
Turning to Mr Rudiger, and clearing his throat, Damien asked. "And their finances? What about their finances?"
This time, it was the lawyer Mr Paul who answered.
"From our investigations, he's obviously no longer powerful or influential like he used to be. Most of his partners have no idea where he is now. His political career seems to be in shambles too, and upon deeper investigation we found out that, he's a local town chairman now. His family lives on the stipends he receives, and it's such a small amount that it's barely enough to cover their living expenses. They are basically living from hand to mouth now, to put it lightly."
Damien placed a hand over his upper lip in disbelief, as he listened to the second shocking news today.
A local chairman? Oh this was even worse then he had imagined.
Finally a semblance of karma on the Connors, and honestly this was great! Mr Connor better get ready, because there was a whole lot more that was yet to come from him actually.
"Good job, good job." Damien said after some time, to Mr Rudiger, "Do a little more digging. I want to know who he's in contact with, and more about the rest of his family too. I need to know every little detail about their present life so leave no stone unturned okay."
When Mr Rudiger nodded, Damien turned to the lawyer, Mr Paul, and said, "What I need you to do now is gather more information about their current residence, the rented property and the former mansion too. I need to know the owners, the nature of the documents and ownership, how much it would cost and if the owners are willing to sell any of the properties. If they aren't, coax them with numbers, and huge offers. Money won't be a problem, all I just care about is gaining ownership of those properties." Pausing, he coughed a bit before adding, "I need this information as soon as possible."
Both of them nodding, Damien waved them away, thanking them profusely and dismissing them.
He was suddenly in a jolly mood.
The first thing he did as soon as they left was walk to his wine cabinet. This new piece of information called for celebration, and he would do so by popping some champagne all to himself.
So the Connors were finally suffering, living like paupers. The mere thought if it made Damien smile, and he was more than elated that they would finally get a taste of abject poverty and know how it felt like.
More so, if they thought this was how bad it could get for them then they were in for a big surprise, because he was coming for them.
Damn! But he would make them suffer... Make Mr Connor, and his children suffer more than they could ever imagine.
The promise ringing within his head, Damien grabbed an expensive wine of the counter, taking a huge gulp of the drink, he began to rejoice.
His day, was fucking made.
.......
The rays of the sun which had been mild at first, now beat down heavily on Madison as she walked down the semi-busy streets of New York, but she was too happy to care.
It was surprising how glad she felt now, as opposed to his surly she had felt last night, when she had left Alvarez's house.
The trio, consisting of Alvarez, his wife and their little daughter had been sad to see her go, but Madison had been adamant, her mind already made up.
After she had thanked them for their hospitality, she quickly boarded a taxi and waved them goodbye quickly so they wouldn't see the tears in her eyes, and looking forwards as the cab passed the rowdy street.
At first she wasn't exactly sure where she was going, but she knew she just had to find a roof over her head, and then a job too.
She finally found a tiny motel that was hidden from the city, enclosed in the tiny shops around the streets, and she wondered why she hadn't seen this motel the first time she had scouted the city looking for a place to stay in.
It was very small, dingy, and basically in a state of disrepair, but it was cheaper, with little or no access to the public, and she had quickly paid for it. It was the kindest to her budget, and she didn't exactly have a choice. Besides, the people around this area didn't seem to care so much about the media, so she doubted that she would be noticed here, which was exactly what she needed at the moment and she was more than grateful.
Next in line, was the job she had to find.
If she wanted to survive in this place, then she had to work and make some money to take care of herself, till she got herself together, paid of her debt, and drag herself back to London again.
To Madison's greatest surprise, she landed a job at the first place she had walked into that night.
She had decided to start her job hunting the night she moved into the motel, and luckily for her after walking for hours with no luck, she finally sighted a night club.
It was huge, with a VIP lounge at the top floor, and the minute she had entered she was instantly filled with doubt that she couldn't get a job here, and coupled with the fact that she didn't exactly fancy clubs, it would be hard to manage her, but she had no choice than to try.
The interview had lasted for a short while, and the moment she had been given the opportunity to work, Madison felt like squealing in embarrassment.
It still felt unreal when they hired her as a waitress to work at the bar which was situated at the ground floor of the club, although the employment would only last for a month, but still she had taken it sharply. She had been hired, so so quickly, and that was the only thing that mattered!
Suddenly she felt optimistic, that maybe things were finally working out for her!
She looked down happily at the certificate of employment clutched in her hands which she had collected this morning, and as she remembered it all, a smile formed on her face.
She still couldn't believe her luck, and then the added fact that the pay was nice was enough to put her in cloud nine .
The only downside to working at a club was the unwanted attention and leering from men, who were almost always drunk or horny, but she decided to swallow all of that and toss it aside.
After all she had no choice in this matter, and the pay was so good that she would be able to pay for the dress in about two weeks, if she saved well and didn't spend thriftily.
She still needed another job though, na sir one would not be able to sustain her, and this was why she had continued to scour for a second job until she found one this morning as a baker.
The job was at a pastry shop about three blocks from her motel.
The only available job had been one as a baker, and reminiscing back to the moment, Madison thanked the heavens for her mother who had forced her to learn baking when she was a teenager.
Having gotten the job after baking some cookies as a test, Madison had concluded with the old lady who owned the shop, before leaving.
She already had her schedules mapped out for her, and she would be at the pastry shop in the mornings, and then at the club in the evenings everyday.
Now though she was strolling toward the ATM machine to withdraw the money her mother had sent her, earlier today.
Swallowing her pride, and basking in the lie that she had told Alvarez last night she had called her mother, and in the confines of the motel room, crying her heart out she had narrated her situation, leaving some parts out and instead telling her mother that she was stranded in New York and needed some money.
Her mother had taken pity on her, promising to send her some money from her savings and luckily for Madison, she had gotten the alert early this money.
She couldn't help the happy smile that formed on her face, as she recalled it all and once again she thought to herself that maybe things weren't looking so bad after all.
Getting to the ATM, she withdrew the money, and counted it. It wasn't much, but it would do at least for the time being.
She began to walk down to her motel, a smile still plastered on her face, when the sound of someone yelling made her look in that direction.
She frowned when she saw two little girls who had their hair in ponytails and looked about the same age fighting. Looking around and seeing that no one seemed to be paying the kids any attention, Madison quickly hurried to the scene when they began to pull on each other's hair, in a bid to separated them.
On getting closer to them, she realized they were twins, and sharply pulling them apart, she picked one of them up just in time to avoid the other girl clawing at her twin's face.
Using her free hand, she grabbed the other girl gently, pulling her to the side, as she started to dissolve the sibling spat.
"Okay girls, that's enough. Let's all relax, okay?" Madison cooed as she pushed them further away from each other, "Why are you fighting? You both should be best friends seeing as you're twins. You're to pretty to be fighting girls." She mumbled and they just stared at her in amusement.
The two girls still glared at each other making Madison hide a smile, and after some persuasion she was able to get the issue of the fight out from then and after she had listened to both sides of the story, she pacified each of them, explaining each person's side of the story to the other person.
Soon enough they were best friends again, hugging and apologizing to each other.
Madison smiled, pinching their cheeks affectionately as she put the one in her arms down, handing them some money for sweets which they gratefully accepted, their faces beaming.
"What's going on here?" A middle aged woman who Madison realized was their mother from the resemblance, suddenly appeared from nowhere, slapping the money out of the girls hand before glaring at Madison.
"What did I tell you about accepting gifts from strangers?" She hissed haughtily at the twin sisters, and looking at Madison accessing her from head to toe, she gave another hiss before dragging her girls away from Madison as if she were going to harm them.
"You don't go about touching people's kids." The woman mumbled inaudibly but Madison heard her squarely, watching as she took her children with her.
A tear slid down Madison's cheek as she watched them leave. Her heart squeezing as the thought of how much she liked children, and the painful reality that she would never be able to have any of her own.
She didn't realize her hand had flown to her stomach as she stood as if in a trance, with tears falling down her cheeks and her head shaking absentmindedly.
Wiping her face, she picked up the money the woman had thrown away and slowly, trudging back she continued her walk back to her motel.
This time though, she was no longer happy anymore, and the sun did not look as bright through the tears in her eyes...
.......
Thanks for reading. 💕