SHIMMER'S POV
I could not help but fidget a lot, waiting eagerly for the video to show. My tablet flicked a few times…blink, blink…and then it showed a white screen. The screen soon disappeared, and in its place flashed Toast's face, very clear.
"Hello, can you see and hear me, madam de Milo?" he asked.
"Yes I can see you. I can hear you," I answered with much excitement.
Toast told me that he was going to make the call now, and I would be able to hear everything loud and clear. I nodded my head in approval, licked my lips in fear and anticipation, and I sat on the edge of my seat.
He dialed Lisa's number. It rang twice before she answered it.
"Lisa Everdeen, I need you to meet with me." Toast spoke with authority, leaving no room for negotiation.
There was dead silence from the other end of the line.
"Cloud Nine restaurant. 7PM tomorrow without fail." Toast continued to bark the orders.
"W...who is this?" Lisa finally found her voice.
"You will soon know," Toast said. "And, no one is to know about this meeting."
Silence followed. I heard a small cough from Lisa's end, followed by dead silence. I was about to ask Toast to say something when I remembered that he had instructed me not to make a sound during his phone call with Lisa. In disappointment, I pursed my lips and continued to watch the video of Toast making the phone call.
Suddenly, the woman's voice came through, "I am sorry. I made a mistake, please forgive me. I know what this is about. I have never been to Cloud Nine, that is a place for the rich! That's why I believe that whoever you are, you are calling in connection with what I did to Anisha…. ah, I mean…madam Anisha. I shouted at her in error. I really should not have done so. I wasn't aware that she is the fiancé to the de Milos' son. Forgive me, sir."
Toast did not say anything, and Lisa went on, "This is about Anisha, isn't it? I was not aware that she belongs in the de Milo family. Honestly, if I had known, I would have never shouted at her and embarrassed her in public; not even in private! I would not dare! I made a mistake, I beg you to forgive me. Please…I will never mess with the de Milos again! I cannot stand against the de Milos, I am too small for that! Please, please, punish me in any other way, but please allow me not to meet with you. I fear to meet with anyone or any representative of the de Milos. Will madam Anisha forgive me, I beg? Never in my life will I cross her path again! I only thought of her as my sister in law, and she had never mentioned to us that she was in a relationship with the young billionaire of the de Milo Group. I treated her unfairly, kindly forgive me. I will apologise to madam Anisha, and she won't ever see my face again…..forgive me. I have two sons, and I need to be there for them. If I die now, who will take care of them….I never thought one day I would cross the de Milos' path…please, I have learnt my lesson..."
When I saw that Lisa was talking on and on, with no sign of ever ending her speech, I felt itchy, as I wanted Toast to interject. As if he had read my mind, I heard him say,
"7PM tomorrow, Cloud Nine. Goodbye," and he ended the call.
Feeling a bit unsure, I quickly shut down my laptop before Toast said anything more.
I sat with the tablet clutched to my chest. I had both fear and anxiety...and maybe joy as well.
I sat in front of my laptop and started scrolling through my laptop. Previously, I had asked the HR manager to send me the database of all female employees within the de Milo Group. As much as I hated doing it, I found myself having to choose a wife for my son.
"Dylan…see what you're making me do now! I have never believed in this thing of searching for a wife for one's son; but you have driven me to this point! I feel so Victorian right now," I spoke out loud to myself, massaging my temples in desperation.
I classified the data according to marital status, and I quickly deleted all the married, widowed and divorced ladies. Remaining with the single ones, I sorted the data once again, using date of birth. I screened out all the ladies older than Dylan, leaving only those who were at least one year younger than him. The list was dwindling. I started looking at their home addresses. I checked their educational backgrounds, the schools they went to, and how their degree classes were like.
I was getting disappointed. At most, they came from some poor places, and that to me was a big no. I decided to sort them according to home addresses, and I chucked out all those who had questionable backgrounds. The list was much smaller than how it was at the beginning.
Educational background…I checked for those who went to the best universities. I checked closely, until I managed to pick one girl. Her home address, interestingly, was very close to our hospital in Yellowleaf. Her dad was a prominent man in Yellowleaf…not really my class, but decent enough.
I shrugged as feelings of desperation started to cloud me. My mind went back to the who is who's of Lakeworld. The Rockridges…there was no daughter in the Rockridge family. The Octavias….Keith Junior did have a sister, but I was not sure if Dylan could fall for her. Besides being too rigid like her brother, she was also a couple of years older than Dylan. I have always not liked men marrying women who are older than them. And then there was Harper…Harper was in our league. Her family was well known and rich; but instead of fighting for Dylan, she had narrated to me some story about Dylan being in love with A.N. – Anisha Meyerton. My heart blamed Harper for all the mess that we were in. And one other family which was doing very well was Raelynn's family, but of course I could not even begin to think about Raelynn.
Oh Lakeworld, show me some rich families! Where are the families which have done well and have daughters? At that point I did not even care whether the girl was beautiful or not. She simply had to come from a decent family; a family which I could proudly talk about. I cursed the country and Southrain, its capital city. How could a whole nation have such few billionaires?
Yes there were other rich people around, but they failed to meet my needs. I had a standard to be met. Harper was the one who had met that standard, and yet she chose to shy away, giving way to that girl who grew up being referred to as nothing but a number. It was time to accept that my son was not going to marry a billionaire's daughter; but surely a millionaire daughter was still possible. I needed to intensify my search.
Sighing in resignation, I checked the Yellowleaf girl's details again. I zoomed in on her picture. She had bright blue eyes, and she smiled sweetly into the camera. A physiotherapist by profession, her profile showed that she was pursuing her studies. She seemed the best bet at that moment. I cropped out her information, and sent it to the HR manager.
Immediately he called me, "you sent me details of an employee, ma'am?"
"Yes, I need to know more about that girl. Do you have more information about her parents?"
"Her parents...umm, just hold. Here I have information about them….umm, let me see. Her dad owns the Zamara Shipping Company; the one that is into shipping goods to and from the country."
"Oh? Really? He does?" I began to get excited.
"Yes he does." He answered.
I had never been interested in any other shipping company, because as a family and as the de Milo Group, we used the Rockridges' Company. In addition to running his law firm, Hayden Rockridge also ran a very successful shipping company.
"He also owns numerous haulage trucks...I am checking his details now online. Haulage trucks …his wife…the wife runs her boutiques, and they also have a mall… Oh; that mall which is about ten minutes drive from the hospital, that mall is owned by the Zamaras. They use one whole floor, and all the other floors are rented out. They have one boutique here in Southrain…."
Excited, I too searched online for this Zamara family. Of course I must have heard about the name once or twice before, but it had meant nothing to me. I mean, they were rich, but definitely not billionaires. Their company was doing well, worth some good money…although all that money was something that Roderick and I could just blow off on a weekend away. But all the same I thought they were decent. Haulage trucks…shipping business…..the mall…the boutiques.
I dialed the HR manager's number again, and gave the instruction for the girl's promotion, "The promotion must come together with a transfer. I want her transferred to the de Milo Children's hospital, as soon as possible."
"Oh!", his voice showed that he was unsure. "I don't mean to be rude…but I thought doctor de Milo junior was responsible for the children's hospital."
"Get the job done, and stop asking questions. I will make sure all the paperwork is done and finalized. Otherwise, I need that girl to be transferred to Southrain as soon as possible. We're offering a lot of incentives. Do your best on it, and come for my signature."
"Yes ma'am."
It was only after I had ended the call that I realised I had not even picked the girl's first name. D.P. ZAMARA was all I had seen and that's all I remembered . Well, who cares? D.P. ZAMARA, you will soon be my daughter-in-law, I smiled to myself.
"And as for you, 0028, wait until you see what I have in store for you!" I said it aloud, and a wide smile formed on my lips. My plans, according to me, were all well on track!