Charlie Swan was a hard-working man. He fought hard for something he wanted, and usually got it. But luck couldn't always be on his side. That was why he, after a series of misfortunes, found himself with a huge debt to the boss of his company.
He first got a loan from his friend when he found work on some special case and thought he could double the money. He'd pay back his loaner and spend the money on his two favourite things: his wife, Renee, and his daughter, Isabella Swan. But everything went wrong, and he found himself somehow owing Billy Black, the guy who originally lent him the money, way more than what he originally took. He tried to pay the money with his life savings, but the small amount he was able to save during his thirty-five years of work were barely enough to cover a small portion of the amount he had to repay. After admitting to his wife what he had done, she encouraged him to ask for help from his boss Edward Masen multi-millionaire and owner of the furnishing company Charlie worked at. What Charlie had never imagined, was his boss's reaction. He thought Mr. Masen would at best say that he understood what the employee went through, that he'd try to help him with a bit of cash. He never, not in his wildest dream, planned for his employer to propose to pay the ENTIRE thing.
The offer seemed too good to pass so the only logical thing he considered doing was accepting it. He thanked Mr. Masen and promised he'd do everything in his power to give him back the money.
The old man replied simply: "Don't worry. We'll find something."
Charlie couldn't wait to go home and tell his wife the good news so he was surprised when a look of curiosity mixed with anxiety
When their seventeen year old, Isabella, asked her parents what was going on, they did not want to worry her. Instead, they told her that her father had gotten a few days off.
Bella knew that something was up, but she shrugged it off thinking that if they wanted her to know, they would have told her.
Six years had passed and Bella forgot about the secret her parents were keeping. Nothing in her life had changed and although her parent's behaviour was a little weird after that day, everything returned to normal, so she didn't think that, whatever was going on, affected her dad's life that much.
Charlie, on the other hand, had to change a number of things to make up for the mistake he did years ago. He started working extra hours and had to make huge cutbacks financially and Renee got a job, much to her husband's dismay.
By the time Bella was twenty-three; her dad had paid back a significant portion of what he considered as a loan, and he couldn't wait to be done with it. Mr. Masen was a very powerful man, and the sooner he was free from him, the better.
When Mr. Masen asked his assistant to call Charlie because he needed to talk to him about "private matters", the poor guy thought that his past had come back to bite him in the ass.
After an awkward greeting, the fifty-year old red haired man behind the very expensive office chair jumped right into what he wanted.
"I know that I promised you that you could take your time with returning the money, but, I fear that at this rate, we are never going to be able to settle our accounts. So I was thinking, the other day, and I came up with a settlement that would please both of us. I have a son, Edward Jr. He's twenty-six, a couple of years older than your daughter, I believe?"
Charlie, not understanding what his daughter had to do with anything, answered nonetheless: "Yes, sir."
"Well, he is a young man of many talents but he has a bit of a mind of his own. And I'd like him very much to settle down. For that to happen, he should meet people more...mature. That is more than I can say about his present company. From what I've heard about Miss Swan, she's exactly the type of woman I had in mind. Who knows? Maybe she'd have a good influence on him."
"I don't get it. You'd free me from my debt if we set my girl and your boy up?"
"I was thinking about something more permanent than a couple of outings."
"What do you mean, sir?"
"Well, maybe if we gave them a little push, they wouldn't be that reticent to try to work it out, don't you think?"
"I guess"
"I would provide them with a house, a job, pretty much everything they both would need. Of course, I'd give them sometime before the wedding-"
"What wedding? They are getting married?" Charlie asked with what could only be described as a very surprised tone.
"Yes, that is the deal" Mr. Masen gave the man in front of him some time to get used to the idea. After a couple of minutes, after Charlie found usage of his speech again; and to the surprise of Mr. Masen who thought he was going to at least have some questions, he said:
"Deal"