Crippling Love

Chapter 1

Elaine clutched her shoulder bag tighter than ever as she walked down the wide hallways of LES corp. LES corp was the biggest tech corporation in Los Angeles and it showed. From the large, tall and shiny skyscraper, to the well dressed staff that littered the hallways, it was evident.

Elaine knew from the moment that she had been summoned by her father, Something serious was about to happen. The foreboding crawling up her spine, forming a pit of uneasiness in my stomach heightened as she briskly made her way up to the oval shaped front desk.

She stopped in front of the desk and looked up at the receptionist.

"Good morning," Elaine said softly.

The tall, dark skinned woman, dressed in a suit skirt and a jacket tore her eyes away from the desktop in front her and fixed her attention on

Elaine.

“Welcome to LES corp, how may I help you today?” the woman beamed with a courteous smile plastered on her lips.

Elaine tucked away strands of her chestnut brown hair and forced a smile.

“I’m here to see Mr Anderson, uh I’m pretty sure there’s a meeting scheduled for me.”

The woman frowned a bit and her eyes scanned Elaine from head to toe. Elaine could tell that she was sizing her up. That was understandable, seeing as she was dressed in casual clothing. How could a plain Jane like her have a meeting scheduled with the famous CEO? The receptionist switched her gaze back to the screen and began clicking away at the keyboard.

As Elaine patiently waited for her, the anxiety building up in her chest grew by each passing minute. The wait became excruciating and unbearable. Elaine felt like she had been stripped of her breathing and the air around her suddenly became dense, causing her to gasp for air. “Ma’am, are you okay?”

Elaine blinked and exhaled sharply.

“I'm fine,” she replied quietly, feeling embarrassed at the sudden panic attack she was having.

The woman gave her a weird look and went back to staring at the desktop screen.

“I'm sorry but there’s no reservation for this time. Whats your name?”

“Elaine…Elaine Anderson.”

The woman glanced at the desktop screen and shook her head.

“Still no reservation ma’am. Are you sure you set up a meeting with Mr Anderson?”

Elaine mulled over her question and frowned. She had only gotten a call from her father, he never mentioned anything regarding keeping a reservation for her.

“Typical,” Elaine muttered under her breath with a scoff.

It was stupid of her to expect a reservation from her father.

“I apologize, but since there are no reservations, you cannot meet with Mr Anderson. I’ll kindly ask you to l-”

“Oh? If it isn't Elaine!” a loud raspy voice boomed.

Alerted by the voice, Elaine made a sharp turn and her eyes fell on a familiar face.

“Mr William, its nice to see you again," Elaine greeted with a forced smile.

William chuckled loudly and placed a hand on Elaine’s shoulder.

“its good to see you too!” he beamed.

Elaine stared up at the tall, slim made who stood beside her. The middle aged man was her father’s secretary, and she had known him every since she was a child. He has always been nice to her, but there was something about him that made her feel uncomfortable.

“What brings you here today? Here to see your father?”

Elaine nodded sheepishly.

“Apparently, he wants to have a word with me, but there is no reservation set up.” William waved his large hands in the air, dismissing her words.

“You don’t have to worry about something as trivial as reservations. You're family. You can waltz into his office whenever you like.” Elaine grimaced and clutched her bag tighter, her eyes roaming the marble floor. Family,huh,she thought.

“Follow me," William urged and headed towards a row of elevators at the very end of the hallway.

Elaine followed closely behind him, her eyes scanning the whole building as they went by. They reached the elevator and hopped in as soon as it slid open.

“So how have you been? I always ask Mr Anderson about you, but he doesn’t like talking about anything relating to you.”

Elaine swallowed and shifted uncomfortably.

“i’ve been doing fine thank you," she replied flatly, feeling apathetic towards the conversation.

But William kept babbling on.

“I also heard that you’ve job hunting? How has it been going for you? I’m sure its been hard. Why don’t you come work here? I’m sure Mr Anderson would put in a good word for you, and also….”

Elaine immediately zoned out from his incessant chattering and her eyes wandered around the elevator until it stopped on the red numbers, that indicated each floor. She watched persistently, hoping and praying that they would reach their destination soon. After a few minutes that felt like hours, the elevator came to a rest and the entrance slid open.

Elaine stepped out quickly, grateful that she didn’t have to listen to William chatter all day. They walked down the busy office and Elaine was taking in the whole atmosphere. It was all new to her.

They went by an array of desks, each one isolated in a square compartment. The air was filled with sounds of telephones ringing, people chattering and printers expelling material. Everyone one seemed so busy, without a time to spare.

Elaine gave the busy area one last look as they cut a corner. The hall way they had entered was much smaller and much more tranquil in contrast to the recent areas they had passed.

William came to a halt in front of a door and pushed it open slowly. Elaine froze at the sight of a woman sitting in the office chair. She made a sharp turn to William and glared at him.

William shrugged and returned her glare with an apologetic look.

“I never did specify if your father was available or not.”

Elaine bit her inner lip and watched him walk out of the office.

“You’re late,” the woman’s icy voice rang through the office.

Elaine turned to the woman and swallowed.

“I'm sorry…mother.”

The woman clicked her tongue and her red lips curled up into a snarl.

“I thought I told you never to call me your mother.”

“You made an exception for when we’re in public.”

The woman gazed at Elaine with stern, aqua blue eyes.

“We’re all alone here so address me as Sylvia, the way you always do.” she said.

Elaine nodded solemnly. This much was to be expected. As an illegitimate child, born from another mother, Elaine experienced things like this on a daily basis. It wasn’t a foreign concept to her neither did it hurt her in any way.

“Your father is not here as you can see. He is in an important board meeting so I’ll pass the information on to you.”

Elaine could hear her heart hammering loudly in her chest as she watched Sylvia reach for the desk drawer and rummage around for something.

She pulled out a file and tossed it on her desk.

“Read this," Sylvia said as she motioned for Elaine to come closer.

Elaine complied and walked over to the desk. She picked the file up and began to skim through the first page. As she flipped the pages, her face grew paler, and paler. She blinked twice, rereading each line of words over and over again.

She looked up at Sylvia with wide eyes and gawked at her, disbelief written all over her face.

“What…what is this?” she could barely utter.

Sylvia tilted her head to the side, her jet black hair swaying as she did.

“I knew you were dumb, but are you autistic too? Do I have to explain plainly written words that are easy to understand?” Sylvia mocked with a frown on her face.

Elaine read the words again, for clarification before looking back up at Sylvia.

“This is contract for an arranged marriage. You want me to get married?” Sylvia linked her fingers together and propped her chin on top of it.

“Yes. You’ll be getting married to Mason Ramirez.”

Elaine felt like she had taken a hard blow to the face. The bombshell that had been dropped on her was taking a long time to digest.

She knew who Mason Ramirez was, anyone would. He was one of the most popular formula one racer in Los Angeles at least, was. “As you know his father has been a long family friend and business partner to us, its only natural for us to agree to this deal.” Elaine shook her head and scoffed.

“But Mason Ramirez is a cripple.” she said in protest.

“And that is exactly why his father is arranging a married a marriage for him,” Sylvia said dryly.

Elaine was overcome by awe, but that feeling slowly grew into anger. Why did she have to agree to such a ridiculous deal? An arranged marriage? Elaine would never agree.

“I don’t understand why I am the one being forced into this. Since Mr Ramirez is a long time friend, wouldn't it be ideal to let Kayla get married to his son instead?”

Sylvia’s eyes twitched and she folded his arms. Elaine had definitely hit a nerve

“That is not for you to decide.”

Elaine clenched her fists and exhaled to quell her rising ire. She had a very acute idea why her step sister, Kayla was not the candidate for this marriage.

Elaine wasn’t having any of this. She flung the file down on the desk and folded her arms while staring down at Sylvia.

“I refuse to agree to this. I wont get married to someone I don’t know, much less a cripple and put my life in jeopardy.” she said bluntly.

Sylvia shot up from the chair as her eyes flashed with anger and shock. She walked over to Elaine and stood in front of her, pointing her manicured nail at her face.

“Do you think you have a choice in this?” she seethed.

Elaine refused to be intimidated by her presence. She was much older now and the fear she had for her step mother when she was younger had dispelled greatly.

“I have a choice, mother and I will not get married to Mason.”

Before Elaine could react, Sylvia landed her hand on her cheek, slapping her hard on the face. Elaine went wide eyed as she placed hand on her throbbing cheek.

“Who do you think you are? Have you forgotten who took you in when your wench of a mother died? Have you forgotten who put a roof over your ungrateful head?” Sylvia spat, her face wrinkled with disdain.

The reality Elaine had run away from, had hit her once again. She had assumed that she was freed from the shackles when she moved away and got her own apartment, but she was, and would always remain the illegitimate child.

Sylvia stepped back from Elaine and began to regain her composure.

“Now, I wont repeat myself again. Sign those papers," Sylvia commanded.

Elaine trudged over to the desk, feeling utterly defeated as she picked the file up. Sylvia handed her a pen and watched her intently.

Feeling the weight of her stare, Elaine did as she was told and signed on the columns that required a signature. As she scribbled her signature on the last column, Elaine felt as though she had signed her life away to a stranger.

She took a few minutes, staring at the document and the signatures she had written on it.

Sylvia snatched the file out of her hands and shoved it back into her desk drawer.

“You’ll be called once again when it is time to finalize everything.”

Elaine was mute. She could not utter a word, or retaliate anymore.

Sylvia flopped back on the leather chair and crossed her legs in an elegant manner.

“Now, get out of my office.”