Contracted To Love

“What?” David ran his fingers through his hair. “How soon?”

“Sooner than you think. Let’s just say that Christmas cruise I’ve been promising your mother might very well be happening this year.”

David gasped as his father walked out.

“Are you kidding me? Christmas is four months away!”

“Yup! And I need a new CEO by then,” Taggert called out without turning around, leaving a confused David standing there.

What the fu*k is happening today, he wondered as he sat down at the table, rubbing his temple.

He got up with the intent to pace. Pacing always helped him think, but it wasn’t working. His legs just couldn’t seem to move. All he could do was stand in place for a few minutes before he sat back down. He buried his head in his hands and felt a headache creeping in. He had to find a wife in four months. Not a girlfriend. A wife.

David had always known his father to be a man who held family values close to his heart but until that morning, he didn’t know that Taggert Favre expected family values to be held up at any cost. Somehow in the back of his mind David understood why this was important to his father. He was in his forties. He was a billionaire with properties all over the country and a few more in the Caribbean but he was always hopping from one property to another, never really settling down long enough to call it home. All he ever did was spend some time in one of the houses in the company of the woman he was seeing… no, banging… at that moment, and then after a few glorious days, the flame would fizzle out and he would settle back into work before doing the same thing all over again. In all that time, David had always thought himself complete. He’d done what many in Fortune 500 could only dream of. Favre Securities had always been a great company. One of the best, actually, and for it to make the move from traditional security to financial security… it was a risky move but it had only made David’s name greater. He wasn’t just a genius on Wall Street. He was also the most sought-after businessman in the Western Hemisphere. As far as he was concerned, he was complete. He didn’t need a wife and children to complete him. After all, there were no longer any good women left. That’s why he thrived on models and socialites. And as far as children, he gave generously to a number of orphanages. The children there adored him. That was why he did the only human thing he was known for: go to the orphanages and spend some time with those children.

The only thing David would never admit to was the fact that he preferred the orphanages. Those children looked at him as some kind of savior. The innocent look in their eyes… it was priceless. The children were all seven years and under. They were young enough to look at him with the childish wonder that would never leave their eyes. There were only two children over the age of seven: a girl Marcie, eight years old and a boy Xander, almost ten years old. David had taken a special interest in the two, especially since they were always overlooked when it came to adoption. Older kids were a menace, so said parents looking to adopt. They wanted babies, a fresh start. Three-year-olds were fine, five-year-olds too. So, David made sure they were both enrolled in the Blair Academy, one of the best schools in New York. If they weren’t going to get a family placement then David was going to see to it that they got the best education.

So, when it came to children, David had them. Marcie, Xander and the other eighty or so children in the orphanages. The question was where in God’s name he was going to find a woman to marry. And in less than four months.

He was still deep in thought when his mother walked into the room to call him to the table. But the look on his face must have given away that there was something troubling him.

“What is it?” she asked, worried. “What happened?”

“I have to find a woman and make her my wife in four months.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

David nodded.

“Yeah, I have to be married before father retires or I’ll be cut out of the business. The business I helped build, mother,”

Sarah’s face softened.

“Is that why you look so distraught?” she asked and David forced a laugh.

“Wouldn’t you?”

Sarah let out a laugh.

“Mother, I chose a life of bachelorhood because there are no women out there for me. Not ones with the values needed to build a home.”

Sarah smiled and reached for her son’s hand.

“Don’t let that trouble you, David. I will see your father hand over the family business to a stranger over my dead body.”

David shook his head.

“What are you going to do?” he asked. “It’s not like there’s a woman out there waiting for me to marry her,” he started and Sarah smiled. “What’s that smile for? Are you getting me one of those mail order brides?” he asked and Sarah shook her head.

“No, nothing like that. I intend on finding you a woman right here in America. She’s much closer than you think.”

David felt even more confused but his mother had piqued his interest.

“Who?” he asked.

“Why don’t you just come outside and let us celebrate your birthday? I’ll take care of everything else. I promise.”

David raised an eyebrow.

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?” he wondered out loud.

“Honey, have I ever let you down?” Sarah asked as they headed out to the table in the courtyard.

                                                            *****

Marilyn Smith was very much like her daughter Michelle. Her name was once a well-known, and it still was, even though she was older now. Her name was well-known in New York s prominent social circles as well as the business field for a number of reasons. It might have been the fact that she was the first African American CEO at a time when people hadn’t even heard about feminism or female empowerment. There was also the fact that she was the brains behind The Smith Foundation, a non-profit that saw to it that women in third world countries became self-sufficient with business ventures that also supported sanitation needs.

Marilyn Smith could very well be mistaken for a woman in her twenties. The pilates, yoga and cardiovascular exercises she took so much pride in had seen to it that she maintained a perfectly healthy and toned body. Her vegetarian diet had her looking younger than ever. She was in a black pencil skirt and a yellow silk sleeveless blouse paired with black red bottom heels when she walked into the Restaurant Levine to meet her good friend Sarah Taggert. She was still not so sure why Sarah had asked for the meeting. After all, the two had been together just a couple of days earlier at the country club. Whatever it was that made Sarah call for a meeting so soon must be of great importance.

                                                                        *****

Sarah Taggert sipped on her chardonnay as she waited for Marilyn to arrive. She’d already placed her order, and Marilyn’s, too but their food would only come once Marilyn had arrived. The hunger pangs tempted Sarah to ask the waiter to bring her food. She would only be eating for a couple of minutes before Marilyn arrived, right?