Scarlet looked at the pristine black car that pulled up to the curb and sighed. She had been the chosen victim forced to attend the retreat Lucas had invited them to for the weekend. Turns out Ethan’s international travels trumped her spending time with Logan. She had bargained with everything she had but in the end, Ethan had boarded his plane and she was going to the Bahamas. The driver came towards her and cheerfully took her bag and stowed it in the trunk. She opened the car door and almost dropped her bag when she saw Lucas sitting in the back seat.

“I couldn’t get you a car, so I decided to come get you myself.” He said

She stood there on the sidewalk contemplating whether she should get in or not

“I’ll stick to my side,” he said

Scarlet said nothing but slid into the vehicle and held her head straight. She was still in a bit of shock, but she had been steeling herself for the weekend. A few more minutes cooped up with him wouldn’t make much difference.

“How have you been?” he asked,

“I’ve been alright.” She replied

“I had no idea this was your company.” He said, “I was surprised to see you there.”

“I can imagine.” She replied.

There was silence for a minute.

“And your family?” he asked

“They’re alright” she replied although the only person who still spoke to her was her sister. “and yours?”

“They’re ok.” He replied, “my father died about a year ago. My mother and sister took it pretty hard.”

She looked over at him for the first time since stepping into the vehicle. She knew he loved his father and that whatever had happened must have been traumatic for him.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” She replied,

“They must go sometime” he replied, “it’s the way the world goes.”

She shrugged but she was unconvinced of his apathy. It was clear that he wasn’t handling this situation all that well.

“Thank you for coming this weekend by the way, I’m sorry Ethan couldn’t make it.” He said

“It’s fine.” She replied, “we decided that one of us had to come and I picked the short stick.”

She wasn’t trying to conceal the way she felt about being around him. In fact, she meant to make it very obvious.

“Thank you regardless” he replied

More silence.

“It’s been so long since we last spoke” he began, “you’ve done well for yourself? What’s it been like these last five years?”

She turned and looked over at him and found him staring at her quite intently. Their eyes met and suddenly the years fell away and she was the bright-eyed girl she had once been. There was nothing beyond him and she had been too caught up in him to see the signs. Shrugging off the unwelcomed nostalgia, she shook her head.

“You don’t need to pretend to want to know anything about me.” She said, “it’s quite fine for us to remain as we were all these years. Better yet, I think that would be for the best.”

She registered the shocked expression on his face but didn’t wait for him to say anything. Instead, she averted her gaze out the window to watch the landscape passing by. It was all a blur and so she focused on her son. He was with Cecile for the weekend. When she told him about her trip, he had protested and cried and screamed but she had promised to carry home a toy for him which had only calmed him enough to stop the crying. She had tried to take him on her international trips but there were certain places she could never take him.

They continued in silence until they got to the airstrip. It wasn’t the airport as she had expected but a private plot that she knew he, or at least his family, owned. His riches still surprised her, but she knew it was a combined effort of all his ancestor’s business decisions and now he was adding to the legacy.

“We’re here,” he said as the car pulled up to the aircraft.

She didn’t wait for her door to be opened but opened it herself and stepped out into the brisk wind. The driver swerved when she stepped out of the car and went to the trunk to unload her bags instead.

“This way,” Lucas said holding out his hand for her to take. She sidestepped him and walked towards the entrance to the plane. She climbed the steps and realized that the small aircraft had already been boarded by whoever else was coming with them. She looked around and a face caught her attention; it was the woman she had seen clinging to Lucas that night. She did her best to hold back the sneer, but she couldn’t help it. The woman only looked at her with interest.

“You should take a seat,” Lucas said coming up behind her.

Eyeing the remaining seats, she decided to take hers beside a smiling cubby faced woman who was smiling up at her. She walked over to the seat and slumped down into the seat.

“You have something better to do than enjoying the Caribbean sun?” the woman asked thoughtfully.

The question made Scarlet smile. She had always wanted to go to the Bahamas, in fact, she had been planning to visit late this year with Logan. It had been her childhood dream and for a short time, it had been the place she envisioned visiting on her honeymoon. She didn’t mind going there, she just didn’t want to go with Lucas.

“I’m just a bit unprepared.” She replied, “this was a bit last minute.”

“Oh, I get you,” the woman said flashing her a look of understanding, “poor Lucas can never get it together sometimes. He’s trying to get it together after his father died you know.”

She looked at Lucas who was sitting next to the woman she knew didn’t like her. He had told her his father died but she didn’t really care, she didn’t want to know anything about him or his family.

“Hopefully he gets it together soon.” She replied, “I’m Elizabeth by the way.”

“I’m Scarlet” she replied, “I hope he gets it together as well.”

She felt a hint of curiosity which she had tried to shrug off and so she decided to get some more information on the man she once knew.

“Do you work for him?” she asked

“Sorta” Elizabeth replied, “he bought out my nurseries and renovated a floor in his building so that mothers can have their young children in the office.”

Scarlet was a bit surprised to hear this. There weren’t many companies that didn’t discriminate against women who were mothers and even less who made investments like these into their employees like that.

“What’s that like?” she asked suddenly intrigued

“Well we have a nursery and a kindergarten” the woman replied, “it’s better than anything I ever owned. He gives us anything we request to make the place good for all the children.”

“And how does this work for the mothers?” she asked

“They come by whenever.” The woman replied, “I think they feel good knowing their kids are just an elevator ride away.”

“It must get noisy?” she asked

“The floor is noise proof.” The woman replied,

“Sounds like he thought of everything.” She replied thoughtfully

This was the Lucas she remembered. He was insightful, meticulous and caring. Somehow some parts of him had remained the same.

“He didn’t really think of everything, but he was always open to advise. That’s the part that matter and the part that makes him a much better than his father was.” Elizabeth replied,

“Did you know Lemu,” she stopped herself, she didn’t need anyone knowing that she knew the old man, “his father I mean?”

“No, but when I came to the company I heard stories. I can’t believe a man like Lucas came from a man like him.”

Scarlet scoffed. Although Lucas was the better version of his father, he was still his father’s son and was capable of the same evils.

“They’re more alike than you could imagine,” she said to herself.

“So, what are you doing here?” Elizabeth asked

“I own a party planning company he’s trying to acquire. I think he means to convince me here.” Scarlet replied,

“Oh yes, I’ve heard some mumblings about that.” The woman replied, “I hear it was the dying wish of the old man.”

Scarlet had a moment of shock before she regained her bearings.

“What do you mean?” she asked

“I heard that Lucas was told to acquire the company, or he wouldn’t be able to fully inherit his father’s legacy.” She replied, “from what I can tell, it was very sneaky of his father to drop that in last minute. The old man was going senile.”

Scarlet let out a long breath and sat back in her chair, so this was why he had insisted on buying their company. There was no rationality behind it. He wanted to acquire it because he had to. The thought suddenly hit her like a pile of bricks. She was all that stood between him and inheriting his fortune. How the tides had changed.

“That’s interesting,” Scarlet replied suddenly feeling empowered by the knowledge.

She wasn’t crazy for vengeance and she was the last person to try to harm anyone, but she was suddenly all too aware of the power she held; she would make it as hard as she could for him to acquire their company. It would be too easy. Just as soon as the thought came, she was ashamed. If he made a reasonable pitch it would be foolish of her to reject him. Sure, her company was doing great, but the trends were showing that the industry for planners was dwindling. They were handing by their good reputation and her knack for keeping clients.

“Well, I hope you like him, he’s a good man,” Elizabeth said flashing her curious glance

Scarlet tried not to scoff as she realized the woman must have thought she liked Lucas which was why she had asked so many questions. She would have to do better at being discrete from now on.

She felt as if she had been placed here on this earth for this specific reason. She lay her head on the back of the seat as the plane took off. She was going to make it as hard as possible for Lucas to acquire her company and she would have fun doing it.