Two days later...
The jolt of the elevator came right after the hum. The doors slid open. Jacob stepped in while his father followed behind. The older man pushed the command for the twentieth floor and before long, they soared through the insides of Mayce's headquarters in silence.
Jameson had just concluded a formal introduction between the staff and Jacob at the lounge. He assigned an assistant on Jacob's tail and made it clear to all of them that his son was now the second in command. They headed straight for his new office, and according to his father, it was the building's very best.
The elevator's doors slid open again, and Jameson continued in the lead. Jacob had latched his gaze to the cane in his father's right hand the whole time. Without the help of that stick, his father couldn't walk on his own.
Jacob understood his misfortune to some extent. Getting betrayed by his other half and managing a deteriorating health was something all the wealth in the world couldn't contain. Even though he was only a child when his mother had abandoned them, he knew his father was happier than now. He was so sure of that.
He sighed under his breath. He would make him proud, no matter what. The old man deserved everything his former wife couldn't give him, things his new wife could never give him.
They steered right and arrived at a section of the floor that had no rooms or office doors. It was a passageway that held a wide front desk to the left, and a row of case windows to the right. Once past, a door surfaced at the tail. Jacob felt a strange pull the second he entered. It was his office. His corner inside Mayce.
He found it elegantly furnished and spacious. The matte black colour of the neat cluster of couches at the centre of the room gave it a domineering touch. Jacob relished the dominant black colour. There was just this sinister energy about it he loved. He connected to it.
Jacob took in the warm brown wallpaper and the terrazzo flooring that rhymed effortlessly with the dark furniture. It didn't take long before he noticed it, the oak monster with a lacquer shine placed at the head of the room. But he didn't even have the time to process the sight. The massive floor to ceiling window behind it stole his attention right next. A thick, black curtain shielded it. After doing the honours and rolling the shade away, mild afternoon sun rays flooded the space at a shot. The smile he had on was in epic proportions.
He just had to test out the desk seat. You know, to make sure it was the right fit...
"You like it?"
Oh, he loved it.
"It's okay."
Jacob had downplayed it and shrugged, but his father saw through him like glass. Jameson gave a deep chuckle.
His father plopped down on one couch, resting his cane against the centre table.
The urge to pry came like a strong wind.
Jacob recalled he had seen their family doctor in the parking lot on arrival. The man had carried a brown envelope with him, and more than ever; he wanted to know what its contents were.
"Is everything okay? I saw Dr. Olsen on my way in."
Jameson stalled for a second too long and said, "Forget Olsen. That man won't stop pestering me—"
The hard knock that sounded on the room's panel door didn't let him finish.
Jacob had suspected that his father was grateful for the distraction, but he would not let this go that easily. He made a mental note to find out what had happened.
A girl walked in on his father's consent. She was in her early to mid-twenties and was slender and petite. Back when he was still interested in things like that, she would be the exact opposite of the type he'd spend a night with.
"The snack you requested, sir," the new assistant his father had introduced to him during the meeting said bleakly.
She presented a shiny gold tray of croissants and juice.
Really?
Jacob laughed silently at the sight of the tray. He could bet all his money that the gold used wasn't counterfeit. Jameson Mackay was royalty within these walls.
His father picked a glass from the two. Jameson said nothing as he drank, slowly chewing on the bread. Jacob watched the girl stand like a sentry awaiting orders he knew would never come.
"That would be all. Thank you," Jacob said with a small smile from across the room. "You can leave it there."
As he instructed, she left the tray on the centre table, but instead of the door, she approached his desk.
What was her name again?...
He thought hard as she drew near and near.
"Sir, I have the documents required for your meeting with the advertising agency ready," she said, sounding like a program on the run.
The girl placed a tablet that had thousands of files on display in his palms.
Jacob frowned at it. "What meeting?"
The girl wanted to reply, but Jameson was already there.
"From today, you will see through the real estate project with Zeta construction," he said.