"Mitchie phone!" My mother called through the house. Walking down the stairs, I began to wonder who could be calling. I entered the living room and my mom handed me the phone.
"Hello?" I asked into the receiver.
"Yes is this Michelle Devonne Torres?" A guy said formally.
"Yes this is she." I replied. "How may I help you?"
"I'm your father's lawyer. I'm calling to inform you that your father has passed away," he said somberly. My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.
"My father?" I asked. I watched my mom's head perk up immediately at the mention of the man she had once loved enough to have a child with.
"Yes Miss Torres. In his will, he left his business, Torres Records, to you," he informed me. I was speechless. My father, whom I never got to know, had left me a record company?
"He left me his record company?" I asked, voicing my thoughts.
"But Miss Torres...there is a catch," the lawyer said hesitantly.
"What do you mean by a catch?" I asked cautiously.
"He stated in his will that before you can inherit Torres Record, you must marry," the lawyer said, sounding incredibly uncomfortable. I almost dropped the phone after receiving this information.
"I-I don't...who do I have to marry?" I asked. My mother's eyes narrowed in confusion. I mouthed a simple "Tell You Later" to her and she nodded her head in understanding.
"I would rather not tell you this by phone. Is it possible for you to stop by Torres Records in about an hour and we can discuss it then?" he asked me.
"Uh, sure. I'll talk to you then I guess," I said still shell-shocked from the information I had just been given. He said okay and we then hung up. My mind was swimming with thousands of questions. I have a father?
He was my father? I get to run Torres Records? He wanted me to marry somebody? I have to marry someone I don't know? Can my life get any worse?
"Who was that?" My mom asked, but I knew that she knew exactly who it was. I want to hate her for not telling me my father was Steve Torres, owner of Torres Records. But I can't.
"Uh a lawyer saying that my father left me Torres Records but that I have to marry someone before I can run it," I informed my mother bluntly. She went wide eyed at the mention of marriage, but shook it off.
"Mitchie I...I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner about your father. He told me not to tell you because he didn't want you to suffer when he left this world. He thought he was going to die sooner but things turned out
differently," my mom said, tears rushing down her face. I rushed over to her and hugged her.
"Mom if he didn't die, then why didn't he ever come looking for me?" I asked. My mom sighed and gave me a small, sad smile.
"Sure he didn't die when he thought he would but that didn't mean he wouldn't. He had cancer so whether he lived or die was a mystery. They just...caught it too late to change it. The important thing that you need to know is that he loved you dearly, even if he only saw you when you were a baby," I looked at my mom and sighed.
"I got to get ready. I'm going to meet up with that lawyer. I need to know who I have to marry," I went to my room and changed from my normal clothes to more formal ones. As soon as I was done I was out the door. It took me almost an hour to get ready so the faster I was out the door the sooner I'll get to Torres Records.
I drove into the parking lot of Torres Records. The building is huge from the outside and I can't help but wonder how the inside looks. I parked my car and headed toward the front doors.
The inside was amazing. As I was admiring the inside I hit something, or someone rather,, and almost fell on the floor but someone caught me before I made impact with the ground. I looked up at my savior and I felt my jaw slacken as I peered into the eyes of the one person I didn't ever think I would see again. I couldn't help but roll my eyes when I saw the frustrated face of Shane Gray.
"Next time watch where you're going!" He spat at me and let me go. I scoffed.
"Who said there was going to be a next time?" I retorted. He gave me a death glare which I returned and walked away. I looked for a receptionist but didn't find one so I walked a little further in and there was one there.
"Uh miss?" She looked up and smiled. I smiled back. If someone is nice to me I'll be nice in return. That's how I am. You could say I'm kind of like karma. You do something good you get something good in return but if you do something bad you…well you get the point.
"How may I be of service?" The receptionist asked, her sweet tone relaxing me a bit from my encounter from Shane Gray.
"I'm looking for Steve Torres's lawyer. He called me and told me to meet him here at Torres Records. So do you know where I might find him?" The receptionist nodded and grabbed the phone. She dialed a number and was listening to the person talking. She hanged up the phone.
"Go up to the last floor. The first door you see is the office." I smiled and thanked her. I walked to the elevator. I walked back when I remembered I didn't know her name.
"Uh miss what's your name if you don't mind me asking?" She smiled.
"My name is Catherine." I gave her a small smile and said my goodbyes before going to the elevator. I pushed the button that I thought was the last floor of the building. It's a pretty big building it has 20 something floors. The doors opened and I walked out. I only saw one door. I knocked and heard a come in. I did as told. I walking and rolled my eyes again as my eyes landed on Shane Grey. I looked over and saw a balding man in a nice gray suit. I immediately assumed this was the lawyer. Ignoring Shane's presence, I focused my attention on the reason I was here.
"Michelle it is nice to finally meet you. Your father talked a lot about you." I forced a smile.
"Yeah I guess he did. So let's get to the point, shall we?" I asked getting to the point and ignoring Shane in the process.
"Ah, yes. Well your father's wishes were that you and your husband would run Torres Records together," he told me. I nodded.
"So…who am I marrying?" I asked hesitantly.
"He's in this room actually," the lawyer said, sipping on his glass of water. My eyes went wide.
"I'm marrying you?" I asked in shock. His eyes went wide and he almost choked on his drink.
"No! No, you are marrying him." He corrected and pointed to Shane. My stomach fell, I was afraid of that. I think I would rather marry the lawyer.
"I am not marrying that guy!" I exclaimed. Shane looked amused, though his eyes showed nothing but hatred.
"What you don't want to do your daddy's wishes?" Shane asked me. I looked away and took a deep breath.
"I would like to but I just can't marry someone so full of themselves like you!" I spat. He looked taken aback by my outburst.
"Really like if I would want to marry someone like you! I could be anywhere but here," he replied, his voice full of venom. I laughed humorlessly.
"Really? Than what are you doing here?" I asked. He looked away.
"That's what I thought!" I retorted at his lack of response. He turned around and gave me a look.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, anger bubbling up in him.
"It means you have no friends you have no one to go to but you band mates. It means you act like a jerk but you really aren't one." I whispered the last part.
"You don't know me you…. you-"
"Enough! The both of you are to be married no matter what! You," He said pointing at me, "are going to run Torres Records! And you!" He pointed at Shane. "You will do this for me and for your brothers!" I looked at the lawyer confused.
"He is your son?" The guy nodded. My jaw dropped in shock. I would have never guessed that they were related in any way.
"Your father and I were close friends. When he found out he had cancer he came up with this idea that you would marry my one of my sons. I picked Shane because he was the closest to your age and because…" He stopped mid-sentence I sighed and closed my eyes, memories rushing to me. I shook them off and opened my eyes again.
"I know where this is going…just please, don't continue. I'll marry Shane. I'll try to be civil with him, just don't continue" I begged. He gave me a sympathetic look and nodded. Shane on the other hand had a confused look on his face. I just shrugged it off, he doesn't need to know anyway.
"You can go but you guys should know you'll both be living with each other starting Monday."
"WHAT?" Both Shane and I chorused. We gave each other deep glares of hatred.
"It's final! You both, starting Monday, will live together." Mr. Grey said sternly.
"But that is two days from now!" I complained.
"Yeah so? You both have a choice: either you move in to your father's mansion together or you, Mitchie, move in with Shane and his brothers. What's it going to be?" Hard choice: Live with Shane along and risk becoming a suicide case or live with people that I have a chance of getting along with. I think I'm going to have to go with the latter of the two.
"Live with Shane and brothers" I said and looked at Shane.
"What?" He snapped.
"Is it ok with you?" I asked annoyed. He gave it a thought and nodded. I nodded and stood up.
"Well…it was nice to…no…this was an interesting meeting and I will be seeing you both on Monday," I said, the spite and venom seeping into every word. I walked out of the room and closed the door. I leaned against the door, trying to catch my breath and stop the tears from coming up. I heard some muffled voices behind the door. I heard the voices begin to escalate into a full out screaming match between father and son. I heard my name get tossed around by Shane, being smashed together with some not-so-nice other names. I felt the first tear slip and I bit my lip to keep from it emerging from my throat. I quickly made my way to the elevator and made my way out of Torres Records, unsure about the future.