"She who walks the floors of Hell
          finds the key to the gates of her own Heaven,
                     buried there like a seed."

--Segovia Amil

~~~~

Vivienne had bought two puzzle sets, one for Emma and one for Jason. They were too old to solve puzzles by now but she didn't know what to buy them as presents. Maybe next time she would buy Jason a violin and a guitar for Emma.

Being twins they shared almost the same interests like solving puzzles, singing and drawing. The only difference in their interests would be that Jason loved to play the violin while Emma loved to play the Guitar. She was more of a Rock person.

Vivienne parked her BMW X5 in the parking lot and killed the engine. Stepping out of the car gracefully she hurriedly climbed the steps like a child excited for her Christmas present and rang the doorbell. It was David who opened the door.

David was in his early fifties. At 5'10, with his light brown hair and sparkling blue eyes he looked younger than his age. He was a baseball fan and never missed out on any game.

Previously he used to work at the Henderson INC. but then he got fired. Some money had gone missing from the company and he got blamed for it. But it was not his fault, he hadn't stolen the money. He was trapped into this by his own friend who was also his collegue. Why bad things happened to good people?

Vivienne had tried to help him out, she had even hired a private investigator but she couldn't help him. That man had cleaned all his traces that could have proved that it was he who had stolen and not David . She would always feel guilty for that.

David had saved her from those evil people but she couldn't save him. So, she had even offered him the job as her P.A but he hadn't taken it. He had said that fashion and all was not his thing. In place of him Marissa had taken up the job. Now David had his own hardware store and he said that he was content with it. It was quite popular in the area.

"Hey kiddo! How are you doing? Haven't seen you in a long time". He ruffled her hair and engulfed her in a bear hug.

She huffed, "Okay that's enough for now. You will get the whole day to interrogate me. Now let me in."

"Oh almost forgot. Come on in," he beamed with laughter.

The house was nothing special. With four bedrooms, one kitchen, a lawn area and a garden it looked similar to the other houses in that area. But it felt like home. I had never had a home. She sighed.

"Let me have a look at you." He took her at an arms length and observed her. "You look good and you have grown up. How are you really Vivi?" His voice was full of concern.

"I am doing fine, David. You don't have to worry anymore. I keep on telling Marissa the same thing but she never listens to me."

"We can't help it Vivi . We have seen you at a bad time. We can't stop caring for you."

"I know. Look, I am sorry. I know you both care for me but sometimes- I don't know what it is- I kind of feel overwhelmed, that's all. I am really happy that I have the two of you." She smiled sadly. Vivienne plopped down on the sofa, making herself comfortable.

"Okay, no more sad look. So tell me Vivi, how's work going?"

"It's good. We have a presentation this Tuesday. If we win this deal, our funds will get a boost of 1 billion." She explained the details to him.

"1 billion? That's too much money. Why will this guy named Nicholas Rodriguez pay such kind of money? What's in it for him? This doesn't sound good, Vivi. Maybe you should get it checked."

"You worry too much David. He can pay the money, so he came up with the deal. He is a rich boy. You know it was him, who came up with the deal. It's a win-win situation for us. If the deal gets signed, we would supply free samples of the textiles, clothes and all and if he likes those he buys the finished products and he gets a 8% share. Meaning, he would be the owner of 8% of Sensual Senses. We can work side by side. He owns the second largest company that produces machines, all kinds of machines that are needed in the designing and textile business. So if the deal gets signed his company supplies 20 free machines each month."

"Still I don't feel good about this, Vivi. You are giving away 8% of your company, seriously? What if somehow he acquires the whole of it? What will you do then?".

"Don't worry David. It won't go to such lengths. I won't let him." No, she would never let any man have the power over her. She had built Sensual Senses with her own sweat and blood. She could not let a rich man trick it out of her hands.

"How is Jason by the way? Marissa said he had come up with a stomach bug."

"He is good now, went to his violin classes and Emma is at the ballet school. They would be back any minute now."

"Vivi, when did you come?" Marissa sashayed out of the kitchen.

"Just now. So you made every one of my favourites?"

"How can I forget? I put the apple pie in the oven. Now go, I have made the guest room ready." Marissa was always bossy, giving away instructions.

The guest room had been her room once. She had spent all those days lying on the bed. She looked around, the room looked the same. The same old golden curtains with fringes at the bottom, the same old night stand with the Egyptian lamp, which they had bought from an antique shop, the walls were newly painted grass green. It looked beautiful and cheery.

There was even a picture of her on the wall. She observed it closely. She was smiling down at the camera, she looked happy. Her eyes were shining with delight and her lips were curved into a toothy grin. She was wearing a yellow dress. She noticed that her hair was tied up in a high ponytail and some loose curls were flowing down the sides of her head.

She touched her hair; it was no longer long, thick and shiny instead it was cropped to her shoulders. She had black hair but now they were dyed honey blonde with streaks of dark brown. She had changed everything about her, even her eye colour. Her eyes were coal black but now wearing lenses made them look dark grey.

Changing into a pyjama and a top she settled on the bed. It was still soft. When she was younger she used to jump on it, she smiled thoughtfully.

Jason and Emma came squealing into the room.

"Vivi!!"

"Hey you two, stop squealing. I have got presents for both of you. Look it's not much. I didn't know what to get for you two."

She handed them their presents. Both of them were concentrated on opening them.

"Wow! Puzzles," both of them said at the same time.

"Thanx Vivi ! We love them." They came over to her and hugged her tightly.

"Next time I'll get you a violin and a guitar. Jason, you okay now? Stomach bug gone?" She ruffled his hair lovingly. It was the same light brown like David.

"Yeah! I killed it" he said proudly.

"Oh Emma ! Don't you look like a barbie doll." Emma blushed at the compliment.

"Hey you three, lunch's ready." Marissa called from the kitchen.

***

Vivienne had never eaten so much in her life. Marissa had prepared everyone of her favourites as she had promised. She always loved the apple pie Marissa made, it tasted heavenly.

With nothing to do, she thought of writing in her diary. But she couldn't do that. With no proper education she didn't know much about written words or how to put words in proper meaningful sentences. She could speak fluently though. Marissa helped her with everthing; starting from paperworks to creating presentations.

She had always loved to paint. Even when she lived in India she used to paint but her father had never appreciated it. Whenever she went to him with her painting and asked him how it was, he used to take it from her hands and tear them apart and would ask her to get away from his sight.

Once he had beaten her so badly that she had ended up in the hospital with a broken arm and a bleeding nose. She had always wanted to impress her father, she wanted him to love her. She never knew why he hated her so much, and now she could never know.

He was a brute, a devil. She was never going to think of him ever again.

***

Time had passed quickly and it was already Tuesday.

"Don't worry Vivi . We are going to get this deal," Marissa said patiently.

"Still, I am feeling nervous. What if we lose?"

"I trust you Vivi. You can do this."

"Okay, get ready he's here."

♡♡♡♡♡

Hella fellas! Surprise! I updated a new chapter. Don't forget to vote and do leave your comments. You can email me your feedback at [email protected]. I would  be very happy to hear from you. What do you think? Is Vivienne going to win this deal or has Nicholas already planned out something to trick her? Keep reading to find out what happens. The next chapter will have all the answers to your questions and it will be updated soon. Happy reading!