Sparks Fly

Chapter 2

I arrived at work before Mr. Lester and began to prepare for his meetings. When he came in, he didn't seem to be in the best of moods. He went into his office, and I could tell he had wanted to slam it. I left him be until I had to give him the file holding the papers he would need for his meeting.  I knocked on the door before opening it. He was typing furiously on his keyboard. I held out the file, "This is for your one o'clock meeting." He looked up from his screen to look at me, "She was secretly feeding some of my money into her account over the six months we were together. She stole over three million dollars and I was so oblivious to it. She admitted she snuck into my office at home and took the account information." My eye brows rose, "What do you plan to do?" "Take her to court with the recording from my security camera that caught the whole exchange. Needless to say, the engagement is over," He told me. "I've been dealing with my lawyer all damn morning over this matter." He shook his head, "Why is it that I'm always screwed over by the women I date?" The question was more for himself, but I answered it anyways. "It's not entirely your fault. The women around you tend to be shallow and after your money. They're like sharks, they swarm men with money when they catch sight of them. It's your fault for encouraging them." He raised a well groomed brow at me, "And how do I encourage it?" "You bury yourself into your work and anytime they come up, you give them whatever they want to make them go away so you can go back to work," I explained to him. 

"And how do I find the right woman," He asked me next. "Use your heart Mr. Lester. It'll get you further than you think. Good luck with your meeting." I then left his office. Was I a personal assistant or some kind of advice columnist? I was great at giving it, but I couldn't bring myself to try and find it. When lunch rolled around Mr. Lester came out of his office. 

"How does Italian sound for lunch," He asked me. I nodded, "Sounds amazing." He nodded, "Email me what you want. When it gets here, you'll eat in my office." He then went back into his office before I could protest. I sighed and pulled up my email. I sent him my order then began to check the rest of my emails. Most of it was spam, except one. 

I'm Romeo McGarth, you're younger brother. You're probably wondering how I attained your email address, and the answer is simple. I had hired a private investigator to find you. I did it because I wanted to know my older sister. Our parents had adopted me when I was ten, shortly after you moved away. Never once did they mention you. Never had I seen a picture of you, until Smith, our parent's driver and body guard, slipped one day and told me I would like you. I then made him tell me about you, the woman my parents forced the entire staff to never mention to me or them, the daughter they wanted to erase from their lives. They don't know I know, and for both our sake, I'd like to keep it that way. I would love to meet you Lydia. This email is my private email, so we can safely communicate without anyone finding out. 

                                                                                 Sincerely, 

                                                                                             Romeo. M. 

I didn't know how to feel or even respond to the email. I read the email several times, trying to absorb it. I had known my parents had adopted a child to replace me. The whole world knew that. I just didn't know how I felt about being in his life. He was the child who our parents loved, so his face was in everything our parents could put it in. If our parents found out, that would give me a whole new kind of hell I wanted to avoid entirely. I saved the email when the food arrived and went into Mr. Lester's office. 

"You're very quiet today," Mr. Lester pointed out as we ate. He told me about his troubles, would it be okay if I told him mine? "What do you know about Romeo McGarth," I asked him hesitantly. "He is a well rounded man. Young, but he already has a steady foot in the business world. Rumor has it though, he enjoys playing with computers than he does looking at business deals. Why the sudden interest? I thought your parents disowned you?" He asked me with a raised eyebrow. "Well he emailed me today. Got it from a private investigator," I confessed to him. "Says he wants to get to know the older sister our parents erased from their lives." He nodded in understanding, "I see. How does that make you feel?"