Chapter 2: Chapter2
#Chapter2
Michael drove into his property and parked in front of his garage, not in the mood of driving in. He watched from his rearview mirror how the automatic gate closes and sighed. It was such a tiring day at work and he could feel his head exploding with the news Gary just provided him with and the question was still eating him up, who is responsible, who could it be? He groaned softly and ran his fingers in his head tiredly before reaching for his briefcase and stepping down from the car. He locked the car with the remote and walked to the front porch, climbing up the stairs tiredly. In front of his front door, he heaved a deep sigh and put on a smiling face for his family before pushing open the door to see his daughter running up the stairs and turned at the sound of the door opening.
/"Daddy’s home,/" Sapphire shouted running back down the stairs and Michael placed his briefcase on the floor and squatted down with his arms open wide for her to run into. He picked her up with a little laugh. With Sapphire, it never changes how he was greeted whenever he gets back from work, starting from when she was just a year, she took her first steps trying to get to him and the memory has been etched into his heart since that day.
/"How is my angel doing?/" he asked, placing a noisy kiss on her cheek and she kissed him back.
/"I’m fine daddy and you?/" she replied.
/"With you around honey, nothing would go wrong,/" he praised and she giggled before he looked up to see his wife standing beside the kitchen door in an apron and holding a spatula. She was smiling at their father and daughter conversation and he put Sapphire down who carried his briefcase and rushed to one of the double stairs.
/"You are a little late,/" Sasha said as he approached her and he smiled, leaning down and kissing her softly before unbuttoning his shirts collar and walking past her into the kitchen.
/"It was a busy day,/" he replied, heading towards the refrigerator for a cold drink.
/"And from the looks of it a tiring one as well,/" she observed before going back to her cooking.
/"You have good eyes,/" he praised deriving a chuckle from her, /"where is Chris?/"
/"Where else?/" she asked with a raised eyebrow, making him smile.
/"Don’t worry, if he is anything like me, he will loosen up in a while./"
/"If he is anything like you, he is going to be like that for the rest of his life./"
Michael placed a hand on his chest feigning hurt, /"you hurt my feelings./"
Sasha rolled her eyes, /"stop being dramatic./"
He chuckled and approached her, hugging her from behind. He placed his head on the crook of her neck, breathing in her scent, /"well, it got me you didn’t it?/"
/"No it didn’t, I just happen to love a certain black haired boy with piercing blue eyes and I have no choice but to accommodate the whole package./"
/"Now, who is the dramatic one?/"
/"It will always be you, you know that./"
He sighed, still holding her and breathing in her scent, /"someone is responsible./"
Sasha was confused at the change of topic, /"I don’t understand./"
/"The fall in the market, someone is responsible./"
/"Oh my goodness, I thought as much, who?/"
He shook his head, /"I don’t know, Gary is into the case, I’m expecting answers in a few days./"
Sasha turned around then and hugged him, /"I’m sorry, I’m sure you will find out who and settle the whole scores. Do you have anyone in mind?/"
/"Well, it could be business competitors or such,/" he replied, really needing the hug.
/"Well, you are Michael Brown, there is nothing that is too hard for you in business. I’m sure you will kick his back in the next few days and everything will be back to normal. I am married to the most intelligent business tycoon so I have nothing to worry about./"
Michael rolled his eyes but still smiled at her compliment, /"I am aren’t I?/"
/"Of course,/" she concurred.
He chuckled before sighing, /"I should probably go freshen up before you are done with that./"
/"Yeah and do you mind checking in on Chris, that boy is giving me a headache./"
/"That’s my son, he is the most intelligent and quiet boy that I know,/" Michael defended.
/"You are his father, I’m not surprised,/" she rolled her eyes and went back to her cooking and Michael chuckled and left the kitchen. He climbed the stairs in twos and stopped in front of his son’s door.
He knocked twice and when he didn’t get an answer, he turned the knob and pushed open the door, he saw him lying on his bed with a book on his face and he chuckled, /"mind if I come in?/"
He didn’t reply and Michael entered anyway, shutting the door softly after him, he strolled softly towards the bed and sat beside his foot. /"I know you are not sleeping Chris, been there, done that, so I will advice you stop the act./"
Chris groaned then and pulled down the book, /"hey dad./"
/"How are you?/" Michael asked with a chuckle.
He shrugged and placed the book beside him on the bed, /"good, how was work?/"
Michael shrugged, /"good, how have you been? Your mom is complaining you are giving her a headache./"
Chris sighed, /"she always complains about that doesn’t she?/"
/"And we both agreed that you would stop./"
/"I can’t help it dad, I am not doing anything./"
/"You sure you are not?/"
/"Yes./"
/"So I should talk to her then?/"
/"I think so, whenever I am quiet, she always assumes that something is wrong. But you know something is not wrong dad, you understand me more than anybody./"
/"I probably do because I was once like you and I always tell you, it didn’t get me anywhere, I ended up not making any memories and you will be surprise to know that I only start making memorable memories when I married your mother and I think she is afraid of you living the same life that I did and yes I do defend you in her presence but deep within me, I agree with her. I have lived a boring life Chris, and we both don’t want that for you. We want you to have fun, make the best of childhood, don’t do it stuck in your room reading like I did. It made me lack in a lot of things social, and to be honest I am still learning that. Sometimes I don’t even understand some things people talk about and it was all because I didn’t have the experience.
I am not happy with my childhood, Chris, yes I didn’t do anything bad like smoking around the corner or living like a thug or all the bad things, but I didn’t really get a life and sometimes it affects my discussion with your mom, maybe things that was not supposed to be mean anything will just…/" he sighed and smiled to his son. /"It’s not all fun Chris, sometimes you are gonna get lonely and you are gonna wish someone was around but when you look around, they will be no one and your life would end up being a routine. Wake up, go to school, go to work, get home, go back to bed only to wake up and repeat the same process, nothing new, nothing changes. It’s going to get pretty boring. I’m a living example./"
/"I think you are cool dad, I love how you always mind your business. You know, whenever you come to my school, I am always proud, especially hearing what people have to say about you. Especially my teachers, they always have something nice to say about you. I want to be like you dad./"
Michael smiled and ruffled his hair, /"why don’t you be like me while dropping the boring part?/"
/"I always hear mom say ‘when you order something, you take the whole package’./"
Michael laughed, /"no, in this case don’t take the whole package./"
Chris chuckled, /"yes dad./"
/"Good, I need to freshen up, why don’t you join mom downstairs and I will meet you guys there in a few?/"
/"Okay,/" Chris replied and climbed out of the bed while Michael stood up, they both walked to the door and on opening it, he saw a glimpse of Sasha climbing down the stairs and chuckled. Of course she wouldn’t have let him have the talk alone. He ruffled Chris’s hair and pushed him softly towards the stairs while he entered his bedroom.
After his shower, he was dressing in his pajamas when he heard his phone ringing and reached for it to see Gary was the one calling. He frowned but still answered the call, /"Gary?/"
/"Bad news, I have found who is responsible, they left their code open for a few seconds and I was able to get in. I am forwarding you the file as we speak, trust me Michael, you are not going to like it./"
/"Why don’t you just tell me?/"
/"You always like having details. It’s bad Michael, and he is not working alone. I’m still trying to figure out how it happened./"
/"Thanks Gary./"
/"Anytime,/" he replied and they hung up.
Michael immediately opened the file he sent him and just like he said, it was really bad but for him, it was good news because now he knows what he is dealing with and how to handle it. He found himself stuck in the same worry as Gary, how did it happen? How was he able to get the connections? The sound of the door opening called him out of his thought and he turned to see his wife.
/"You were taking longer than necessary, the kids and I have been waiting for you,/" Sasha smiled but on seeing his countenance, she asked, /"is everything okay?/"
He nodded immediately then, /"yeah, everything is fine,/" he forced a smile.
/"Michael?/"
/"I’m good, it’s all good. Come, let’s not keep the kids waiting,/" he grabbed her hand and pulled her out with him towards the stairs but Sasha could feel something was different, he was not the same man that came back home nearly an hour ago and he was certainly not the same one that chatted with her in the kitchen. She could feel something was different, and she knows it could probably be what he read from his phone that she saw him looking at earlier. What she just can’t understand was why he was trying to act like all is good and won’t tell her about it. She could feel worry growing inside her and she had no idea that whatever he just read about was about to change everything.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone