Social Path

Chapter 1

I was sitting at my desk in my office, looking at the sales of our company. My fingers were quickly moving over the keys on my keyboard. I sighed as I looked at the time, it was 12:43 PM and I still had five more hours at work. Time seemed to drag on further and further.

My breath hitched in my throat as I felt lumps cascade down my throat. My breathing started getting faster and I felt another panic attack come on.

I wheeled my chair a little ways away from my desk and my computer screen as I took a deep breath and heard a soft knock on my door.

"Yes?" I asked towards the door. I heard the kick jolt and turn as the wood opened. There stood my assistant, Julia.

"Anna, there is a man here to talk with you." She said, gesturing for the hallway behind her.

"Who is he and why is he here?" I asked her and she shrugged her shoulders while looking behind her.

"I think he is a lawyer. He wasn't specific." She explained to me.

I wheeled back to my desk and shut off my computer monitor. I then looked back at her and nodded my head for her to let him in.

She opened the door wider and one man walked into my office. He looked familiar but I couldn't place my finger on who he was until I examined his face more. He was my family's lawyer.

It was never necessary to get a lawyer in my situation because I hardly got into legal trouble and my husband is a lawyer. So if I ever have problems, he always knows what to do.

I flattened my Burberry dress with the palms of my hands to subtly mask the clammy and sweaty texture of my hands.

I smiled when I looked up at the lawyer and reached my hand outwardly to shake his. He cleared his throat softly and took my hand in his, shaking it sternly.

"George Philbrick. Your mother, Wendy Thinas sent me to your workplace. A personal and urgent matter has risen in your family and I am here to sort it all out with you." He explained and my face dropped, I was terribly nervous at what he could possibly say next.

I gestured my hands out to the chairs across from my desk for him to sit down in. He obliged and placed his briefcase on the ground next to himself.

"Can I get toy coffee or water?" I asked him, trying to show him my good, adult side. He was a lawyer and being married to one was bad enough. I knew how they carried themselves with wit and serious manners.

He promptly shook his head and waved his hand in front of himself. "No thank you, I am fine." He stated and I walked over to my desk and sat down in the chair and wheeled over the edge of my desk again.

"So what brings you here today?" I asked, prompting the conversation with George Philbrick.

He sat up straighter in the chair and grabbed his briefcase. He opened the brass locks on it. He pulled out some filing folders and handed me one across my desk.

"This is the last will and testament of your late aunt Shelley Marie Grady. She was 56 years old." He explained and abruptly paused.

I furrowed my eyebrows and wondered what I had anything to do with this will and testament l. Then George began speaking again.

"Ms. Grady left several things to you, Mrs. Anna Vada Thomas-Styles." He spoke and my attention was definitely sparked.

I opened the folder, finally, and immediately saw a picture of a huge mansion in and cars and a beach house somewhere.

My eyes widened and it was like I as a little girl in the corner store candy shop.

"She left you her 158 million dollar estate, which includes her mansion in Ohio, her six vehicles and bee Beverly Hills vacation home." He emailed and I thought this was a prank.