Journey To The Ultimate Gift: Let The Journey Begin
a/n: Hey fanfictioners! I'm xrainy, or as I go by in FF, Autumn and this is my first story ever. So I'd really appreciate it if you'd review and that if you spotted any grammar or spelling mistakes...that you'd be nice about it :P Please let me know what you think, readers' opinions are very important to me. This chapter will be written in third person POV, but the next ones will all be in Chad's.
disclaimer: This story is the SWAC version of The Ultimate Gift -both the movie and the book (I'll mix aspects from both). So if you already saw it or read it, you might know what happens. Then again, I'll try to change some stuff. I don't own Sonny With A Chance, The Ultimate Gift or anything else mentioned in this story.
warning: This chapter is just an introduction, so some of you might find it boring. Also, Sonny will appear until chapter 3 or 4. Just thought I should say that :P Now on to the story!
"Mr. Hamilton?"
Marshall Hamilton, a lively senior in his eighties, looked up from his mahogany desk just to find his assistant, Joy Bitterman. Marshall noticed that Joy's expression had despair and pity written all over it. He stood up straighter and frowned.
"What is it, Joy?" Marshall asked.
It was then that he noticed that Joy wasn't carrying any kind of document or correspondence like she usually did when she walked around the Hamilton & Hamilton building –one of Boston's most famous law firms.
Joy slowly walked toward the desk and sat on the chair across from him. After sighing, she looked down and shook her head. "He's gone, Mr. Hamilton. He's gone."
Marshall remained silent for a long moment.
She simply couldn't be talking about Howard Cooper. But for some reason, Marshall knew she was talking about his best friend.
Howard and Marshall had met when they had just graduated college. When they were still young and didn't have the large amount of money they had now. They had had the privilege of meeting each other when they were still working hard for the billions they had now. And for that reason, he knew Howard too well. He knew that Howard was stubborn, strong and generous –and that he couldn't be dead.
How could his best friend be dead?
Marshall stood up and walked toward the window of his office, where he could see all of the city of Boston.
Putting his feelings aside, he turned back into his usual lawyer-self. "Alright. Uh…call all of Howard's family members and tell them how sorry we are about their loss. Also inform them that the date of the funeral will be left for further notice. Last but not least, prepare the Panhandle Oil and Gas Company for the slam of press they're going to get."
"Yes, sir," Joy replied. When she was about to leave, though, Marshall heard her take a deep breath and say, "I'm so sorry for your loss, Mr. Hamilton."
And with that, Joy left the room in a hurry.
After making sure that Joy wasn't lingering near the door, Marshall let his face fall into his hands.
Two weeks later, Joy and Marshall found themselves attending the happiest funeral they had ever been at.
It was raining, but Marshall could still spot the greedy smiles of Howard's selfish sons. Even though their generous and thoughtful father had died, all they could think about was the inheritance they were going to receive.
Oh, if they only knew what they had coming.
All of a sudden, a black sports car with rock music blasting to full volume stopped near the funeral area. Out came a handsome nineteen-year-old with blonde hair and sunglasses.
It was Chad Dylan Cooper, Jack's –Howard's late-son–child.
Ruth Cooper, Jack's ex-wife, rapidly walked across the site to meet her son and whispered-hissed to him, "You're late."
Chad simply shrugged. "I had things to do and people to see."
Ruth remained silent as Chad walked past her and toward the mob of people surrounding Howard's tombstone.
"Wow, Chad has really grown," Joy commented, inspecting the teenager as he snapped gum.
"I wonder if his attitude would've been different if his father was here," Marshall thought out loud.
Joy smirked. "His attitude is about to change this night."
Joy and Howard shared a knowing glance and then focused their attention back to the priest.
After what seemed like seconds, Marshall found himself standing in front of a bunch of greedy relatives for the will reading. All of Howard's sons were rubbing their hands excitedly and whispering things to their children with a smirk on their faces.
Marshall cleared his throat. "Before I start reading the will, I would like to say how sorry I am for your loss. Howard was a good friend of mine, and if it weren't for him I wouldn't be here. I would like to-"
"Yeah, could you start reading now?" Jack Cooper, Howard's oldest son, interrupted.
Marshall pressed his lips together and gave him a curt nod. "Alright, then. Even though this will is entirely written in Howard's words, it is as legal as it can be."
One of Jack's sons rolled his eyes. "Blah, blah, blah."
Marshall noticed that Joy was trying hard not to snap something at the kid. He cleared his throat and began to read. "To Jack Cooper, my eldest son, I leave my company, Panhandle Oil and Gas which is currently worth $600 million."
Audible gasps could be heard around the room and Marshall witnessed as Jack kissed his wife and his children high-fived each other.
"However, since Jack never had any interest in the company while I was alive," Marshall continued, "the company's decisions will be made by the board, which has been very helpful to me in the past years. Jack will be the sole owner of the company, though."
"What?" Jack shrieked. His face had instantly morphed from happy to angry and confused.
"The directors will-"
"Yeah, yeah, I understand that part," Jack told Marshall, his face red with fury. "But can he really do that? You know what, I would like to explore all of my options."
"That is your only option," Marshall replied.
Before Jack could protest, Joy said, "It was Mr. Cooper's wishes that as soon as a relative received his or her share of the will that they left the office instantly."
Jack's blue eyes widened as he turned to look at Marshall. "Can she talk to me like that?"
Marshall held up the will. "It's all in here."
Jack opened his mouth but no words came out. Instead, he simply stormed out of the room as his family rapidly followed behind.
After hearing the door slam, Marshall resumed his reading. "To my other son, Steve Cooper. I leave to his care and management my ten-acre cow farm."
After sensing that Marshall wouldn't continue reading, Steve frowned. "A cow farm."
Marshall nodded.
Steve slammed his hand against the table. "My brother receives all of the company, and I receive a cow farm?"
Marshall nodded once more. "That's right."
Steve grabbed his daughter's hands and stood up as his wife glared at Marshall.
And so, Marshall continued reading the will to the disgust and to the pleasure of some. After every one was gone, only one person remained in the room.
Chad, who was slumped down on his seat with his feet on top of the table.
His blue eyes inspected Marshall angrily. He grabbed his leather jacket and stood up. "You don't have to look. I know that the old man didn't leave me anything."
As soon as he was about to leave, though, Marshall stopped him. "There is something for you."
Chad stopped.
"Something special."
Chad slowly turned around and pointed at himself.
"Yes, you," Marshall affirmed with a smile.
After inspecting Marshall once more, Chad slowly walked back to his seat and slumped down once more.
After a few seconds, Joy emerged into the room with an elegant wooden box. She handed it to Marshall, who opened it and removed a small DVD from the inside.
Chad raised his eyebrows. "That's it, a homemade movie. Great!"
Marshall and Joy chuckled.
"This isn't just any 'homemade movie', Chad," Marshall informed him.
He stood up and inserted the DVD in a small plasma TV on the wall. After instructing Joy to dim the lights, he pressed a button in a small control and sat back down.
For a while, there was just static. Until the image of a smiling Howard Cooper appeared in screen.
Even though he was dead, Howard could still bring energy into the whole room, one of Howard's many qualities.
Marshall felt Joy pat his shoulder lightly.
"Hello, Chad. I guess that you're watching this because my eternal sleep has already arrived," Howard said with a light smile. He sighed and resumed, "I'm sure that you're watching this with my favorite lawyer and his trusted assistant, Joy, right? That would mean that they're following instructions."
As Howard chuckled lightly, Marshall couldn't help but smile.
"Now, before I begin, I would like to apologize to Marshall and Joy for what they went through today. I can only imagine how my dear family reacted to my will," Howard said with a grimace.
Marshall and Joy grinned.
"Young man," Howard addressed Chad. "I know that you saw the way your relatives behaved today. I hate to say this, but I've made the biggest mistake in my life with them."
Howard paused for a moment. "I wasn't born to a rich family like you were, Chad. I was born to a widowed woman who worked feeding pigs at one of the poorest farms I have ever seen. I worked every single day for everything I had. For my clothes, my food, medicines, school…every day I woke up to work my butt off. And when I finally became the millionaire I am now…or was, I still worked. But I didn't want my family to work everyday. I wanted them to enjoy their childhood…so I let them do nothing. I gave them everything they asked for every time, and that's the reason why my family is what it is right now."
Howard smiled. "And that is why your inheritance will be different. You'll earn it."
"Earn it," Chad repeated.
Howard chuckled. "Yes you will, Chad!"
Chad glanced at Marshall, who was smiling with a nod.
"There will be a series of, well…gifts. You'll work for all of them, and they will only be granted to you if Marshall and Joy think that you did a good job. These gifts will lead you to your final price –the ultimate gift. Now, Chad, these gifts may or may not be easy to get. So I'll let you decide if you'll truly work hard for them. I'll give you two weeks to think, and if you decide that you want to follow this journey, then you'll return to this office in fourteen days. Hope to see you here."
And just like that, the screen turned black.
Marshall inspected Chad, who was biting his lower lip as he stared at his hands. He looked once more at the TV screen and after a few seconds, stood up and left the room.
Joy turned to look at Marshall, who was still looking at the door.
"He'll come back, Joy. I can bet all of this company that he will."
a/n: What could these gifts be? Will Chad really return to earn his inheritance? I'll try to update this week as soon as I can. And even if I can't do so on school days, you should always expect an update every weekend!