One or the Other

One or the Other

Speculations ran high as the seven people sat in deafening silence. You could almost hear the dust fall that is if there was any dust in this room. Everything was polished to perfection. A large mahogany table set center of the room with seven ergonomically correct chairs for the seven attendees. Only three people knew the purpose of this unusual meeting. The other four had no idea why they were there.

Just as the clock struck noon, Attorney Martin Stephens rose to close the large double doors. As he returns to his seat, he clears his throat to speak. “I know you all are wondering why you were chosen to be here. It is with great sadness to inform you that Alexander Maximum Castillo is no longer with us. He has been missing for four weeks and the search and recover has been called off indefinitely. Therefore, in the event of his demise, his wishes were to gather the four of you and read his will. His personal assistant Emma and her inter Maxlee will be conducting the remainder of the meeting.” He motions for them to come forward.

Emma and Maxlee moved to the front of the room. Emma spoke with a shaky voice appearing visibly distraught about her boss being gone. “In front of you are two items. A little black book and $20,000. You have the choice of one and only one. So, choose wisely. We will convene back here in 24 hours to hear your decisions. That is all for now. We will see you tomorrow. Oh yeah, one more thing do not look inside the black book.”

The four people were at a loss for words as they made their way out the building. “Why do think the food truck lady was here? I know why the three of us were. We were Alexander’s top employees,” said Bill. “I had better get that position he promised me!”

“Bill how could you be so cold hearted?” asked Paulo. “The man is gone and all you can think about is being CEO”.

“You got that right I have worked to hard to watch it all slip away because he has died.”

Emma and Maxlee had the communication center turned on so they watch and listen to the three men. “Grandfather has had his suspicions and now so do I.” Maxlee said.

“Yeah, it’s a shame to think that one of them or all of them had plotted against Alexander” Emma replied.

Hannah had no idea why Mr. Castillo would include her in on the of the reading of his will. Sure, he had always been very generous to her but that was not a good reason for him to leave her anything. She already knew that she would take the money. It would save her food truck.

They went their separate ways in bewilderment. All except for Bill, he was anxious. He thought he was going to control Alexander’s massive empire.

Twenty-four hours later, they reconvened in the conference room. Emma and Maxlee stood before them as they took their seats.

“Good morning, everyone. I hope you had a good night’s rest and that you are prepared to give us your choices”, Emma said. “We will start with Mr. Trey Atkins. What is your decision?”

Trey answered, “I will take the book.”

“Ok, you can return the $20,000 to Mr. Stephens, please. Now tell us if opened the book?”

“No, I have not opened it.”

“Mr. Paulo Ramirez, what say you?”

“I will take the book.”

“Did you open it?”

“No.”

“Please return the money as well.”

“Now Mr. Bill Dawson, what will your choice be?”

“Of course, I will take the book. Who wouldn’t?”

“Did you open the book?”

“No.”

“Return the money now.”

“And Ms. Hannah Sumpter, what will you be choosing?”

“I will take the money. It will save my food truck.”

“Will you return your book to Mr. Stephens now?”

“Sure.”

“Now that the formalities are taken care of, we want to inform you that we know if any of the books were opened. We placed sensors in the spines of each book. Once it was opened it transmitted a signal back to us. The reason you were asked to not open them was a trust exercise. There is nothing in the book that Bill had but the other two have a $500,000 bonus plus promotions. Grandfather decided to see if you are trustworthy.”

“Wait, what? Grandfather?”

“Yes, grandfather. I am Alexandrea Maxlee Castillo. He brought me in to be his eyes and ears in the office. I have learned some interesting things. Now if you will excuse me, I have something to get from my desk.”

Upon her return, there was someone else with her.

“Alexander! I thought you were dead.”

Alexander replied with a scowl on his face, “I know Bill. You sabotaged my boat or so you thought. What you did not know is that I had cameras with audio installed 6 months ago. I thank God that did. I overheard you plotting against me. So, I knew when I went sailing what you were up to. I bought another boat and took an extended vacation. The authorities have been alerted, and they are on their way to arrest you. As for Paulo and Trey, there will promotions for you. And Ms. Sumpter you were included because you are my sister. We were separated because mother died not long after you were born. The first time I saw you I thought of how much you look like our mother. I immediately got the picture of her out and saw the resemblance. I hired an investigator, and he collected your DNA and the results show that we share the same DNA. Welcome to the family!”