Cry Me A River by MoonliteCrescndo

Mandatory Preclude

I never really liked work. In fact, it slightly bothered me when I got to that immortal age of sixteen and my father decided it was time to start me in the family business. I mean, I guess it was okay for the first month...okay, more like after the first hour I was ready to hit myself with my silver plated stapler (a starting gift from my dear old father). But of course, I would never ever hit myself for two reasons: a Kingston never publicly abuses himself (among other things) and it would ruin my face, a face that had recently lured a girl into my bed.

Hey! I was sixteen, okay? Lay off.

All guys are a sack of hormones at that age.

Anyways, since I couldn't escape work it turned into an obsession for me.

Years passed.

The girls didn't mean anything to me anymore. I no longer wanted to hit myself with my gold plated stapler (a promotion gift from my dear old father).

The numbers and figures entranced me.

Instead of whispering seductive words into a woman's ear I shivered at the mention of words like "Nasdaq" and "price ratio."

My life was centered around one thing and one thing only: business.

I took my father's company on the dot-com highway and to quote Linus Larabee, "changed a multi-million dollar business into some real money."

Men were in awe of my cold-hearted business skills and sometimes-ruthless maneuvers. I had memorized the look people wore the day after I took over their company. My father died when I was around twenty-five. It didn't faze me for he had retired from the company a few years before.

It was my company now.

And what a company it was.

I held stocks in all major businesses around the world--most of which I owned. You know how it is said the world is owned by but a few large names and labels...Disney, Aol-Time-Warner, etc? Well, my company was fast on its way to becoming a part of the top rung--the elite of the elite.

My company's final struggle to the top was banking on the biggest deal I have ever made in my entire life. It offered so many possibilities beyond even my comprehension and my hands itched to close the deal.

But there was one catch I wasn't predicting. Looking back on it now, I can see where everything went askew. Where everything changed.

Where my life as I knew it disappeared.

And strangely my whole downfall hinged on one petite woman.

If I only knew...