Deception

A Long Snooze

de·cep·tion
/dəˈsepSH(ə)n/
noun
the action or practice of deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth

[~]

P R O L O G U E :

The Markham family was well known for their lavish way of living, constantly being exposed to the public eye. My grandfather, Reuben, was to thank for our status, due to his knowledge and navigation of entrepreneurship. That expertise unfortunately didn't carry over to his personal life, and he soon found himself in the midst of a career ruining scandal.

My parents didn't want to jeopardize their celebrity rankings for any reason whatsoever, so they did what any other millionaire would do; erased him from existence. They destroyed Reuben's positive image and replaced it with a shitload of lies. I too was removed from the equation for my unpopular ideas on trying to discover who really set him up.

There are a lot of things in life that we want to change, might they be from the past or the future. We also know that we will never bring about change without effort being put into the cause as well.

I'm a stubborn, lazy, fool, so of course I didn't know that. I couldn't stand the way my grandfather was exiled, so I tried my best to expose my family. I thought everyone would listen to me since I was semi-famous, but I should've known it wouldn't be that easy.

My parents knew full well that I was irresponsible, but I wanted to prove them wrong by being an independent woman. With a garbage can for a car and twenty years worth of debt, you could already tell I was winning a losing battle.

Everyone has that one motto that they follow in life. Some of us actually embrace it, while others use this motto as an excuse. I was gullible; I let money get to my head, and you see what that got me— misfortune. My excuse is desperate times call for desperate measures.

[~]

Chapter 1/// A Long Snooze

My skinny fingers reached for the 'snooze' button once more, but my alarm clock wasn't having it. I guess that I had used up all of my extra time for sleeping because it wouldn't stop beeping until I got out of bed and shut it off correctly.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and stared at the time in amazement. It was half past noon, and I was expected to be at work promptly at nine forty-five. How could I let this happen? Stupid 'snooze' button. I thought.

I quickly pulled on my work uniform and grabbed my phone and keys off of the wooden nightstand. I skipped brushing my teeth, and dashed out of my apartment door that led to a very unstable stairway.

After nearly breaking my leg on my way down the creaky steps, I then hopped into my car, strapping my seatbelt into place, and sped off in the direction of the small café in which I worked.

Once I had entered the building, I clocked in and started towards the table nearest to me. I carefully wrote down the old couple's order on my notepad whilst making my way to the kitchen.

I worked, unnoticed, for about ten minutes until one of my good friends who also worked here stopped me.

"Hey Jess! What's up?" I greeted her.

"The manager wants you in his office pronto. He wouldn't tell me why." She told me.

I groaned. "I was just running late. You didn't have time to clock me in?"

"No... About that... he knows what I've been doing, and cut my salary in half. I'm sorry, but I can't take anymore risks. The next time it happens, I'm going to get fired and he won't refer me to ANY other businesses," Jess said before returning to the cash register.

Ouch. That wasn't a good sign.

I slumped towards the office doors. Sat across from me was my boss, Mr. Douglas. I twiddled my thumbs making no effort of eye contact. You could say that I was very intimidated by rich, important businessmen.

"Good afternoon Ms. Markham," he greeted me.

I gave him a small nod as we began the meeting.

"I wanted to speak with you about your attendance here at the café. You don't seem to be keeping a consistent schedule."

"Yes. I am very sorry about that. I promise to be here on time." I apologized.

"Is everything all right on your end of the situation? Any family problems?" he asked, trying to pry more information out of me.

"No, everything's absolutely perfect on family matters. I thought that this meeting was about me, not personal things," I reminded him. I hate nosy people. It's not like people really cared about my infamous family anyways, since they never paid attention enough to realize that I am a part of the Markham clan.

"Well, my investments have finally paid off, and now The Coffee Spot is making a major breakthrough in the stock market. I am now opening new stores nationwide, and we have a standing chance against Starbucks. People would love to be in your position, Ms. Markham," he spoke.

"So..." I prompted.

"I don't think that there's much work that needs to be done around here. The job applications just keep coming in. I have quite a few people in mind for open positions." he finally said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned.

"Your help is no longer needed here at The Coffee Spot," Mr. Douglas stated simply.

Just to let you know, I've included some strong language in this book, so if cursing is not your thing, I suggest you stop reading before your mind gets corrupted.