A New Hope

by M. L. Ray

  “What’s up, buttercup?” Jane laughed as she leaned over the desk.

  “I have a question for you…” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. Jackson looked over at his coworker who had her ears plugged with her headphones.

  “What’s that?” He leaned forward toward Jane.

  “I met a guy in here today.” Before she could finish speaking Jackson’s eyes widened.

  “Oooohhhh, tell me more! Was he tall dark and handsome?” Jane shook her head.

  “You and Mags are just as bad as each other! It wasn’t like that. I just wondered if you knew anything about him, his name is Charles Lincoln.” Jackson’s eyebrows knitted together.

  “Honey, you mean THE Charles Lincoln?” Jane’s eyes shifted from side to side before she shrugged.

  “I don’t actually know who THE Charles Lincoln is?” Jackson shook his head in disbelief.

  “Seriously? He’s only the CEO of one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world and a huge art buff.” Jackson sighed loudly. “If that man played for my team…I’d have no problem letting him get a homerun.” Jane laughed.

  “Wow. Well I guess now I know how he could afford Moscow I.” Jackson looked confused.

  “What’s that now?” Jane pointed in the direction of the Kandinsky painting where she had met Charles Lincoln.

  “It’s a painting by Kandinsky. Apparently he owns it and he’s been trying to buy Mr. Frankoff’s piece for a while now.” Jackson waved his hand.

  “Oh no, that man won’t let any of his pieces slip out of his claws!” Jane nodded.

  “Yeah…that’s what Mags said too. It’s so unfair that the people who have the money to buy these pieces almost always lock them away in some stupid vault somewhere.” Jackson shrugged.

  “No skin off my nose. I don’t care what they do with them, I’d rather watch a good movie than stare at some old painting anyway.”

  “Watch your tongue!” Jane chastised him and Jackson smirked.

  “Hey, I’m just being honest. I only work here for the paycheck.” Jane shook her head in mock disappointment.

  “So what else do you know about Charles Lincoln?” Jackson raised a single eyebrow.

  “What do you want to know?” Jackson had made it his business to know everything he could about every eligible bachelor in New York. It made for a very time consuming hobby, but it also kept him informed of every potential date with the money to afford a lavish lifestyle.

  “Well…what else does he have in his art collection?” Jackson shook his head. “Honey, I wouldn’t know something like that…but I bet Inspector Google might?” Reaching over, Jackson reached over and pulled one of the reception area laptops in front of him. “Now, let’s see. Anything in particular you’re looking for? Or do you just want to know whatever I can find?”

  “Anything you can find would be good.” Jane crossed her forearms on the reception desk and peered over to see the laptop.

  “Okay. Charles Lincoln. New York. Art Collection. Anddddd go!” Jackson struck the enter key forcefully and sat back as though he expected something shocking to happen. “Ooohhh, okay.”

  “What?! What is it?” Jane tried to lean further over the desk but her short stature made it impossible.

  “Either your guy has his own private art gallery or a really big vault somewhere.”

  “Why?” Jane was getting frustrated.

  “Okay, so according to this he currently owns two hundred and three famous paintings. Of those, three are on the most valuable paintings in private collections list.”

  “Wow…does it say what they are?” Jackson read more of the article he was looking at and shook his head.

  “No, but it does say that he has two Picasso’s, three Kandinsky’s, a Cézanne, a Jasper Johns, a Kooning and a van Gogh.” Jane exhaled a long exaggerated breath.

  “Wow…” Jackson shook his head.

  “That sounds expensive.” Jane laughed.

  “You have no idea. I like his taste though.” Jackson grinned.

  “Want me to find out if he’s dating anyone?” Jane shook her head.

  “I told you, I’m not interested in him like that.” Jackson squinted his eyes and stared at her.

  “You are not fooling me with that mess. If you weren’t interested in him like that then you wouldn’t be asking all these questions.”

  “Seriously though, he’s at least thirty six, that’s a tad too old for me.” Jackson looked at her skeptically.

  “You’re what…twenty?”

  “Twenty one,” she corrected.

  “Twenty one, that’s only…ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen,” he counted out loud, “years older than you. For a guy that loaded I’d say that’s an acceptable age difference.” Jane shook her head.

  “Maybe if I was interested.” Jackson didn’t buy it, the look on Jane’s face told him that she was definitely interested in Charles Lincoln for something and money seemed like the clearest motive.

  “Mmm hmm…Well, I’m just saying, if you were interested in him there’d be nothing wrong with that.”

  “Well, thank you for your approval Mr. Matchmaker, but I’m pretty sure I’m good.” Jackson shrugged and looked back down at the laptop.

  “Anything else you want to know? Like his net worth?” Jane rolled her eyes playfully and laughed.

  “I’m pretty sure it’s more money than I could imagine with an art collection like that. I do want to find out what he does with that art collection though…is there any way we can find that out?” Jackson started typing and then slowly shook his head as he clicked the mouse.

  “It doesn’t look like it…but leave that with me and I’ll see if I can’t find out.” Jane chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. She didn’t like the sound of leaving something with Jackson, but she was too interested in Charles Lincoln’s art collection to say no.

  “Okay…but don’t go telling everyone I was asking, I don’t want anyone else getting the wrong idea.”

  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0162JCFVO

  ***

  A sample of my book, Fight For Love

  http://www.amazon.com/Fight-Love-M-L-Ray-ebook/dp/B01BSUG752

  * * *

  Prologue

  “Are you really going to do this?”

  “Huhuh,” Zoe replied to her best friend, Mason. She’d known him for four years and their friendship had developed fast. They had tried dating but quickly realized they didn’t click as a couple and were better off as friends.

  “You’ll do great. Don’t be nervous.”

  In her second year at Cornell University, Zoe Dunlop had added a second major to her studies. It was rare, especially for a woman, to do a double major but she did it. She knew her future responsibilities depended on her doing well and she wanted to be prepared for the ultimate challenge of running the company that would one day be hers.

  In one year, she would officially become her father’s protégé; he would guide and train her to take over when he retired. It was a huge responsibility and she wasn’t sure she would be able to handle it. Zoe wanted to do her father proud but she also wanted what other girls her age wanted; to go on dates, party, and have fun. That was part of what the college experience was supposed to be about. But she wasn’t afforded that privilege.

  Her father had no one but her and she could not let some stranger run the business her father had sacrificed so much for. The only other person Steve could rely on was his best friend, David Warner, whom she had known most of her life as Uncle David. He had joined the company nearly fifteen years earlier when his own business failed (he didn’t like to talk about it so she wasn’t sure of the exact circumstances regarding how or why his business had failed, but then, so many do). With a specialty in accounting, he was asked to head the Accounts department and served on the Board of Directors.

  Originally, she had opted for a Bachelor of Science degree in Software Engineering, hoping to work at an entry-level position in her father�
��s company. She had thought that if anyone should succeed her father it should be one of the members of the Board or that they should be the ones to make the decision when the time came. When her father said he wanted her to take over and was adamant in the face of the list of cons she produced for him, she added Business Management and Consultation as a second major. She would go on later to complete her Master’s Degree.

  “I don’t know if I’m ready Mason. Why don’t you come with me?”

  “I would love to do that. But as you know, my father is plotting for me to marry his friend’s daughter in order to secure a merger.”

  Mason often spoke of his father and the role he expected him to play. Mason wanted to start his own accounting business, somewhere far away from his father. But loyalty was something he was renowned for, so as the time neared for him to graduate he had plunged into turmoil about his future.

  “Is she pretty?” Zoe teased.

  “Why don’t we elope? I know there isn’t much chemistry between us but we love each other. Maybe the passion will come later,” Mason pleaded.

  She was almost tempted to marry her friend to save him. Marrying Mason wouldn’t be so bad. They’d have a great marriage except for the sex part. She wondered too if that might come later but she didn’t want to do anything to disappoint her father and marriage to a man he didn’t know would be rocking the boat. She had no plans for eloping either. The last time she tried that, it turned out to be a disaster.

  “I can’t. I love you but my dad is depending on me. I can’t let him down.”

  * * *

  Chapter 1

  Zoe’s phone was ringing and she was about to reach for it when she caught sight of the yellow stoplight and braked suddenly. She hoped to answer it when the light was red. Zoe was seriously against talking on the phone whilst driving so she was hoping it would be a quick call that she could complete while she waited for the light to turn green.

  Someone bumped into her BMW and the phone slid off the dashboard and onto the floor. “Damn it!”

  This was annoying. She’d never been in an accident before and now some moron had hit her car. Pulling over to the curb, she grabbed the cell phone and saw she’d missed a call from her father. He was probably calling to ask what was taking her so long. And now it would take her even longer to get there. Angrily, she stepped out of her vehicle, coming face to face with the worried looking fellow unfolding himself from the car behind her.

  He was over six feet tall, wearing a grey suit with his golden brown hair hanging in his eyes and brushing the collar. She thought, This guy obviously has no idea where the barber is. It’s amazing he can see anything. He towered over her with his broad shoulders and angular features. His well-defined and inviting lips caused her to pause, briefly. Then something began to tick inside of her.

  “Are you crazy?” she screeched at him, tearing her eyes away from his face.

  She was tired, hungry, and needed to see her father. This was not what she expected her first hours back to be like. Zoe had just completed four years at an east coast university and was coming home to the west coast for the first time in a year and she was coming home for good. She had opted to have her car left at the airport garage so she could pick it up and drive directly to the restaurant where her father would be waiting.

  Steve Dunlop was the President of Dunlop Corp., a company specializing in computer software and hardware. The plane landed at approximately eleven forty-five and she was supposed to meet her father at twelve thirty for lunch. Now this moron was making her later than she already was.

  It was a beautiful California summer and she had been looking forward to a pleasant drive. She wanted to smack this imbecile upside the head for ruining it but instead stared him in the eye. Her look was hot enough to roast a chicken but Aiden’s gaze was quite cool in return.

  “I’m sorry. You braked so suddenly I—” his lips began to move and for a second she looked at them again, but her anger was more than enough to keep her from getting distracted.

  “Your insurance papers please,” she interrupted. Zoe was impatient and not in any mood to hear apologies or excuses.

  The man seemed to be disturbed about the accident for he had a worried look on his face. “Please, can we settle this without the insurance? I—” he started but Zoe cut him off once more.

  “Why would I do that?” She looked him in the eye. They were bluest eyes she’d ever seen.

  “Miss, please. I’ll pay for it out of pocket. It’s barely a scratch.”

  Did he just say it was barely a scratch? “Are you serious,” she asked him with incredulity in her voice. Zoe took a long look at the man who couldn’t be more than five years older than she was. His tie was askew, his suit a bit creased but his car was the newest model Lexus. It was incongruous; he looked like something the cat dragged in so why was his car so expensive? It didn’t matter. She would rather have nothing to do with him. “I’d rather deal with your insurance. You are insured, aren’t you? You didn’t steal it?”

  Aiden couldn’t help but notice how rude she was. Is it always the beautiful ones who are the rudest, he thought. Or is it just that I bring out the worst in them. “That’s my company’s car ma’am,” he explained, looking embarrassed as he told her.

  Ma’am? Zoe thought. “What an idiot,” she muttered under her breath.

  “I can pay for the damage,” he repeated. “I’ll give you my number and address.”

  Without warning, she turned her phone to Aiden and began taking photos of him and his car, taking special care to get a clear shot of his license plate.

  “Just so the police can find you in case you try to run away,” she scoffed. He quickly scribbled his name, address, and telephone number on a piece of paper, rolling his downcast eyes. Spoiled brat, he thought to himself.

  “I’ll send you the bill… Aiden,” she told him, glancing at his name. He didn’t look like an Aiden. Aiden was a name that belonged to a bad-boy; this guy was obviously a geek. She could smell “accountant” on him. Who the hell named him, she wondered.

  She looked at the scratch on her tail end and knew it wasn’t as bad as she was making it out to be, but for whatever reason Aiden rubbed her the wrong way. It was unlike Zoe to be so unreasonable, however, something within her was ticking towards an explosion and, though it almost certainly had nothing to do with the poor man, being bumped by Aiden gave her the excuse to lash out. She’d never felt this internal build-up of pressure before and didn’t know how to handle it. She could feel Aiden’s blue eyes burning into her as she scrutinized the scratch. It made her angry that he would just stand there looking at her.

  “What are you staring at now?” She screeched at him while silently asking herself, what’s the matter with me?

  “Nothing,” he responded calmly. “I’m sorry.” Aiden averted his eyes. He was actually waiting for her to let him leave. He didn’t want to upset her more by just turning away so he waited for her to calm down and get in her car. However, the woman seemed to be getting angrier and he couldn’t understand it. The scratch is microscopic, so why is she so mad?

  A little out of breath and out of sorts Zoe angrily got into her car where she momentarily rested her head on the steering wheel, messing up her auburn mass of hair. “What’s the matter with me?” she muttered to herself. “Get a grip Zoe.”

  Composing herself, Zoe raised her head and smoothed her hair using the rearview mirror. As she was about to start the ignition she heard a tap on her window. “Jeez, what now?” It was the pesky accountant.

  She slid the car window down halfway, keeping a short barrier of glass between them. Visions of news reports about road rage flashed through her mind; though of the two of them, she was the one who was over-reacting. “What do you want?” She asked venomously.

  “Are you all right?”

  “What?” she was thrown off guard by the concern etched on his face. His cool eyes had warmed and his voice was calm. There was something about his tone t
hat made her ears tingle. “I’m fine, thank you.”

  He stood there while the window slid back up; his eyes seemed to penetrate the glass and pierced her soul. Frustrated, she hastily pulled away from the curb and headed towards the restaurant where her father was undoubtedly already waiting for her. As she drove off the tires gave a screech and Aiden could swear he saw smoke on the pavement.

  She took a glance in the rearview mirror and saw a shrinking Aiden get into his car and slowly pull away. What was it about him that made her so mad? Was it his laid back attitude? Was it his attire or the fact that he was just too damn nice? She couldn’t quite figure it out. Not wanting to see him again, she decided to get the paint job done as soon as possible and have the detailer send the bill to him directly. By the looks of it, it would cost no more than a hundred dollars to retouch where he had bumped.

  Aiden smiled to himself as he left the curb. That woman was something. She must be having some kind of bad day, he thought to himself. She seemed upset and he was fairly certain it had nothing to do with his bumping her.

  As he drove towards his grandmother’s house he smiled, recalling the image of her auburn hair shining in midday sun and the fiery glow in her green eyes. She was a vision and there was something familiar about her. Her pouting lips were beautifully curved on her heart shaped face, accentuated by her pert little nose. It was then he remembered he had failed to ask her name.

  Suddenly realizing she was well above the allotted speed limit, Zoe eased her foot off the gas and began to calm herself. Taking a few deep breaths she tried to relax. Music, she thought. Music will do the trick. So she turned on the radio. Country music? No, she wasn’t a country fan. How about some rock? She shot that down as well. The goal was to help her relax, not rev her up more. Maybe some classical will work. So she put in a cd and let the notes of Strauss wash over her.

  Taking another glance in the mirror she realized how disheveled she looked. It was now ten minutes past the hour. Could she make it home, change, and be at the restaurant by twelve thirty? What was the shortest route home? She couldn’t think of any way to get there and back in time so she decided she would just have to freshen up in the car.