Like Father... Like Son Read online

  Like Father…

  …Like Son

  Copyright © Helen Brown 2022

  ISBN Softcover: 978-0-6451512-5-1

  eBook: 978-0-6451512-6-8

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without the permission in writing by the copyright owner.

  Unless otherwise stated Scriptures quoted here are from the King James Version (Authorised version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, copyright 1983 by the Zondervan Corporation.

  Any people depicted in stock imaginary provided by Shutterstock are models and are being used for illustration purposes only.

  Published by: Reading Stones Publishing

  Helen Brown & Wendy Wood

  Woodwendy1982.wixsite.com/readingstones

  Cover Design: Wendy Wood

  For more copies contact the publisher at:

  Glenburnie Homestead

  212 Glenburnie Road

  ROB ROY NSW 2360

  Mobile: 0422 577 663

  Email: [email protected]

  Like Father…

  …Like Son

  Helen Brown

  Reading Stones Publishing

  1

  Ben sat back in his chair. He smiled a self-satisfied smile. He had achieved what he wanted; he had taken over from his father, David. Yes, it had been by stealth and somewhere deep inside him, he knew that what he had done was wrong. He would have been here one day anyway, who cares how it happened.

  His father only had himself to blame, every time, he, Ben, had made suggestions about changing things or doing things differently he would just tell him to be patient, he would be able to implement things when he was in charge, but right now he should be looking at how things work and maybe he might change his ideas later. It wasn’t his fault that his father was taking too long to hand it over. He had tried to do things the nice way, by suggesting that his father retire early and spend more time with his mother, something he knew she had wanted, certainly when she was younger, however, over the years she had found ways to fill in the spare time that weighed on her with charity work.

  He clearly remembered the moment that he had decided to try and dethrone his father. He had got bored sitting in his father’s office at the age of ten and he had gone for a walk around the building. Harry, one of the business’ board members, was in his office and Ben had wandered in and asked him what he did for his father. Harry had looked at him over the top of his glasses and said ‘I’m the Chief Financial Officer and ideas man, the fuel if you like, that makes this ship run. I have ideas that will make it a good business, a better business, however, your father is at the steering wheel, and he turns it in the direction that he wants it to go. What this business needs is a man at the helm who will allow it to be the greatest business around. I hope that one day, you and I will be able to work together and turn this mighty ship around, but I guess I’ll be too old for that by the time your father steps down.’

  ‘But dad says I’ll be here one day’

  ‘Yeah, right!’ the bitterness in Harry’s voice was clear even to his ten-year-old’s ears.

  ‘Are you saying that he is lying to me?’

  ‘Well, no, but he has changed over the years, and he wants to control everything himself and that will include you, my boy, take my word for it. You will just be his puppet even when he lets you work here.’

  ‘But he said’.

  ‘I know,’ Harry sat thinking for a while, ‘What is your favourite colour?’ he asked with a glint in his eyes.

  ‘Blue.’ Ben shot back.

  ‘I’ll tell you what, you go and tell him that the walls of the office next to his would be nice if they were pale blue instead of that green, as it’s going to be your office one day you should have a say in what colour it’s going to be, and then come back and tell me what he says.’

  Ben had done exactly what Harry had suggested and his father had looked at him as if he had two heads and told him there were more important things to spend money on. When Ben had returned to Harry’s office, he gave him an “I told you so” look, and Harry suddenly seemed like his best mate. Over the months and years until he was eighteen, Ben had spent a lot of time in Harry’s office and had soaked up every business idea that he fed him. That was where he had first laid eyes on Gloria. She had bounced into her father’s office one day, wearing a very snug fitting light blue outfit. Ben was smitten at first glance. It was her seventeenth birthday, and Harry had casually dropped that information into the conversation and insisted that he and Gloria go out for lunch, his treat, in a classy restaurant that he knew she liked. It had given him a taste of the high life that he craved and after Gloria had told him that her father didn’t really need to work because her parents had other streams of income making them independently wealthy, it occurred to him that by marrying Gloria he would have access to more of the same. He had pursued Gloria with determination from that day on, despite the objections of both his parents. They had married on her eighteenth birthday, Ben having just past his twentieth. That was just over a year ago.

  Besides, Ben mused, there is a lot of prestige attached to being the youngest Chairman in the area, regardless of how you got there. There was a certain amount of satisfaction in seeing the look of surprise on his father’s face when the board broke the news to him that he was being replaced by his own son. He hadn’t visited his parents since that momentous board meeting when his coup had taken place. He didn’t really want to see the look of disappointment that he knew would be on his mother’s face. She was still a sweet woman with a heart of gold, and if he had any regrets at all, it was that she would be caught in the crossfire between him and his father.

  2

  The third anniversary of his take-over had arrived and Harry, Mavis, his wife, and Gloria would help him celebrate with dinner at his favourite restaurant in a couple of hours. He was going to meet them there, however, he suspected that they were more interested in celebrating the fact that Gloria was now six months pregnant, and they were going to be grandparents. Gloria was going to be a mother, the thought almost filled him with dread, as he had no idea how she would handle it.

  They had married quickly, just a year from their first meeting. His father and mother had opposed the marriage. Maybe they were more intuitive than he was, but he had been determined to marry her; she was a large part of the scheme to dethrone his father. When he met her, she had been so charming, like his mother. Gloria had kept a lid on her demands until he had managed to unseat his father, then, once his position was secured in the business, another side of her nature became evident. She was still very charming in front of her parents, at functions, even in public, but at home, oh boy! nothing suited her. She was constantly needing new clothes and jewellery, the car upgraded, holidays, dinners at fancy restaurants, and if he said no, or even wait, there were tears, tantrums, days of sulking, and accusations about him not loving her enough. In short, she was a spoilt brat, but she was still the daughter of the most influential member of the board. He needed to keep Harry, on side if he was going to keep his position as Chairman. If Ben crossed him or made him cranky, he would turn on him, just as he had on his father. So, divorcing Gloria was not an option, at least not until his father-in-law was kind enough to die, but sadly, he was fairly young and in good health.

  Despite all this though, he derived a great deal of satisfaction from knowing that Gloria was pregnant. She hadn’t wanted children, and if he was honest, it was hard for him to make love to her after listening to her whinging most evenings. When they did make love, it had turned
into a very stilted act, and she was always very careful to make sure that precautions were taken. It had taken some devious moves on his part, just like the moves he had made on his father, but the outcome was that she was with child, something he had wanted.

  His In-laws had been nagging them for a grandchild for some time and he wanted an heir, partly to keep them happy and cement his position in the business, but also if he was honest, he wanted his wife to give him something he couldn’t get himself and a child was the only thing that fitted the bill. His plan had been simmering around in his head for some time and he knew that he would have to be patient, but he would seize the opportunity when it arose.

  Six months earlier, they were to attend a party. While they were getting ready, he noticed that Gloria had a new dress and when he asked her why she had bought it when there were so many new clothes in the dressing room, her response had simply been, because she wanted it. It was a figure-hugging red affair that he had to agree made her look very desirable. Blue might be his favourite colour but red on Gloria made her look stunning, as he had advanced towards her, with desire burning in his eyes, she giggled coyly at him and reminded him that those at the party were waiting for them. He felt the anger rising inside him, how dare she tease him like this and not give him the enjoyment that he wanted when he gave her so much. He pushed the anger down, tonight he would have his way, but he knew that he had to be careful, if he made a wrong move, his plan would come unstuck big time.

  On the drive to the venue, he formulated his plan. They arrived at the party and Gloria worked the room, flirting with the men and being her most charming with the women. He made sure that the waiters keep her glass full, he wanted her well and truly mellowed with wine. He also moved around the room, keeping a very close eye on his wife without actually looking at her, pretending to drink but making sure he stayed stone-cold sober, he’d need his wits about him later.

  When he was ready, he deliberately engaged his in-laws in conversation. He started to complain about a headache. He knew that Gloria wouldn’t want to leave as they had been there only for a few hours, and the party would most likely go on into the early morning. He knew that he couldn’t afford to look like they were being rude by just leaving but he was determined that they would be home earlier than usual. His In-laws had risen to the occasion superbly, insisting that they get a taxi to take he and Gloria home, after all, Gloria was way too drunk to be driving. He made suitable noises of regret but inside he was cheering. He had developed some serious acting skills over the years and now he played his script to an Oscar Award winning level. Being home after midnight was not what he wanted when he was planning to bed his wife against her wishes and so they left, albeit with Gloria moaning about not being able to stay. He had even managed to keep the act up until they had arrived home. Gloria was sulking, the way he knew she would, but once inside the door, she’d declared that she was going straight to bed. He indicated that he would stay downstairs for a while, making her feel safe to retire.

  He silently climbed the stairs, discarding most of his clothes on the way up and walked into the bedroom, just as she was trying, fairly unsuccessfully, to remove her dress. His “headache” was gone and the anger he had felt earlier was again rising. Her protests lacked the intensity that he was expecting as he stepped up to help, the alcohol had reduced her normal defences and made her more responsive. His anger dissipated as he realised that she was actually giving him the come-on, so, it wasn’t long before the hunger inside of him was satisfied. Since that night, if he wanted his needs met, making sure wine was on the table was the easiest way to achieve it.

  Of course, she had been horrified when she discovered that she was actually pregnant, but the joy expressed by her parents and the pampering that she was given by other women in their circle, helped her to accept that she had to go through with it, however, the complaining at home was an even bigger issue now, which meant that he was often staying late at work in order to avoid the barrage that met him every night when he got home. The day she found out that she was carrying twins would go down in their history as the night when she really created a scene. It was a wonder the neighbours hadn’t called the police on them. She was now six months pregnant, and her doctor had a policy of not revealing the gender of the babies, claiming that the scans were too unreliable, so they would have to wait until they were born to find out if they were having two boys, two girls, or one of each. He was hoping for a boy and a girl.

  ****

  Ben sat back; the food had been very enjoyable as always; they had dined here so many times that they were on a first name basis with the staff and owners. So, why was he suddenly overcome with this strong feeling of dreariness? He had stopped listening to his in-laws going on again about how they were going to enjoy being grandparents and all the things they were going to spoil the babies with. What was happening to him? Not that many years ago, he had strived so hard to be in this position, yet here he was, sitting in his favourite restaurant, in an expensive suit, having driven here in a Bentley, and suddenly, he was aware that not only was he bored but this lifestyle had lost its lustre. There had to be more to life than the accumulation of things, power, and prestige. Suddenly he realised that his parents had had a better quality of life when he was a baby without all the trapping that he had. Maybe he was starting to grow up somewhat. There was one big problem for him though, he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, just walk away from this life, that to some extent, he realised was being forced on him by his father-in-law. I’m like a bird trapped in a large, gilded cage. I’m free to move around as long as I only flutter between the office, home, and these sorts of functions. If I really wanted to spread my wings and do something completely new there would be just no way that would be allowed. What would he do? If he was free of this cage he was in, what new venture would he tackle? With suddenly clarity he realised that it would probably be much the same thing as he was doing now, it’s just being locked in this rut that had him so down. He loved the business, negotiating deals and the satisfaction of seeing signed contracts on his desk. It was more the idea of having the freedom to say no occasionally that appealed to him but with Harry’s control the way it was, it just didn’t seem possible. Would there ever be a time when he could have both the good things that came with this lifestyle as well as those things that he now knew that people like his parents had.

  ‘Ben are you alright?’ Mavis asked quietly.

  ‘Yeah, I’m just feeling tired. It’s been a big week’. He smiled wanly at his mother-in-law. She never said much, but just now, he had the feeling that this woman kept her finger on the pulse of things more that anyone gave her credit for but then he dismissed it as being unlikely.

  3

  The twins, a girl, and a boy, now fifteen, had arrived safely and they had named the boy John which was Harry’s middle name. They had thought about naming him Harry, but he had to work with his father-in-law and having two Harry’s could create confusion. The girl was given the name Elizabeth. Although it was his own mother’s name, it was also Mavis’ middle name making it easier to pretend that the twins had been named only after that side of the family, looking as if Ben’s family were cut out of the picture all together.

  Gloria took to motherhood much better than he had hoped. Yes, she had demanded that servants were employed, but she had stopped nagging him about having the house updated every few months. Instead, what she required were things for the kids, but he was happy to indulge them rather than Gloria. He had no plans to bring John into the business, after all, that was how he had learnt the skills to upstage his father and he wasn’t taking the risk of John being able to do the same. He was planning on being the Chairman for a very long time and keeping John away from the business was going to ensure that would happen. John hadn’t shown any interest in the business anyway, he was quite happy to reap the rewards of being a successful businessman’s son and make the most of the good life that it provided.

  ****

  Da
vid watched as the two young people walked in his direction. It didn’t take long for him to get a fair idea as to who they were. A lump formed in his throat. It was as if Beth was walking towards him, just as she had so many times when they were at school together. He shook his head as if to clear it. It couldn’t be, Beth had been gone for more than two years now and she had been a mature woman when that had happened, but the girl was the spitting imagine of her. She had the same beautiful features, light brown hair and high cheek bones, of her grandmother, sadly, he noted that she didn’t quite have the same gentle look about her, there was a hardness in her eyes that affected her face and most likely her attitude. The young lad, well, he was tall and had a familiar look too, that of his father. He had a swagger that spoke of cockiness rather than confidence and an arrogance about him that made David feel afraid and sad at the same time. Deep down inside him, he knew these two were his grandchildren. He had not met them; they had been born after his son had cut ties with him, but he knew who they were.

  They probably wouldn’t even see him. As a homeless person, he was invisible. They would most likely just walk past and not even look in his direction, but he couldn’t help but stare at them.

  What happened next would confuse and hurt so badly. The young man, David didn’t even know his name, spotted him looking their way.

  ‘What are you looking at old man?’, the tone of his voice was so spiteful, as if he didn’t deserve to be alive.

  ‘I’m just thinking what a fine strong man you are’, David replied, ‘what’s your name?’

  ‘John, why would you want to know?’, John was looking closer at the man in disgust. David knew that he seriously needed to have a bath and some clean clothes, but he wasn’t comfortable with the way John was looking at him.