Originally this was suppose to be the last chapter but an idea sprung up for what I hope a better ending and I entirely scrapped the old one and re-wrote this one.
Enjoy!
Sandrock Investments
The charity was on Friday that week. The same day, newspaper around was printing a major headline in the financial world.
The charity event was held at Romefeller Tower, in one of the major conference hall.
Dorothy had risen early and had the television blaring in the background as she prepared herself for the day. The headline news went first. The anchor went on to say, "It's official, Sandrock Investment stocks sky rocks." Hearing the headline news, Dorothy turned up the volume and watched.
"The owner is a billionaire. But seriously, who is this person? We have been following this captivating investor for a long time, but no one has yet the slightest clue on who this individual is. He has not done anything to break the law but his investing decisions are tactfully planned. Financial and economists are just diving to understand how he or she does it."
For the most part a passport photo of an unknown person with a big question mark in the middle was pictured on screen emphasizing the successful unknown thrilling investor. A graph depicted the growth rate of Sandrock Investments, showing the money amount on the y-axis and the months on the x-axis.
Dorothy turned the television off.
He arrived alongside many well to do people, dress in a suit and carrying a thin computer with him. He barely took notice of the numerous people reading the breaking news on the streets and talking about the billionaire Sandrock Investor. He went in, showed his invitation card and sat down not knowing how to find Dorothy but suspecting she must be there to host the event. It was in the grand reception hall with seats line up in rows and the platform at the front. Refreshments were provided on both sides of the hall.
He surmise that he can probably catch her at the end. Chatters surrounded him and he survey the room full of people that seem to be acquainted with each other. He wonder vaguely was this some Romefeller cult as people looked at him like he was a new member to the club. He straighten his clothes.
Surprisingly, a few people did try to strike a conversation with him. They asked who invited him to the event. Did that really matter, he thought, maybe they were making sure he was in the right place, but apparently it did. Upon replying that Dorothy personally invited him trigger a profound effect as the men or women quickly soften up and talked to him openly as they reassess his connection to the Romefeller family and in turn position.
Gods, he was not in any way part of Romefeller. He figured a personal invite from Dorothy made him closest to Romefeller as other formal invitation was sent out on behalf of the Romefeller Foundation. Dorothy was also the one hosting the event. And this is what you are trying to get into are you Quatre? No! I just want the girl.
Sadly, he disappointed any future friendships or partnerships as he had nothing much to say leaving others to think he was another inner circle of Romefeller aristocrats.
I suppose I can network right here thought Quatre. The room was full of elite people in New York. But he was never the one for that. Least said and fewer acquaintances, the safer Sandrock Investments will be.
The last couple of days were a drag for Quatre. He wanted to know but also did not know at the same time what Dorothy feelings were. Neither texted each other or emailed. He hope today can lead them somewhere.
The charity was part of the Romefeller Foundation raising money for children of less fortunate and third world countries. Speeches were made, videos were shown, and a luncheon was provided at break. Quatre lined up and speculated on what the rich eat. It was not sandwiches and finger foods but a buffet where you laden your plate with food. The food was from the upscale restaurant located in the middle of Romefeller Tower and it had a good selection, pastas, lasagna, chicken, roast beef, potatoes, fruits, bread, yoghurt and others. Quatre found it quite stifling considering they were just shown videos of the poor.
Quatre tried to get close to Dorothy several times but there was always a ring of people from her to him. Once he thought he made eye contact with her but she quickly turn away to talk to someone else.
The wall of people allowed Quatre to reflect the reality of things. Everything was a mistake, she doesn't want to be with me, he thought. No, she is just too busy to deal with you. For all he know, the kiss may have had less impact on her than it had on Quatre. After unsuccessful attempts because Dorothy was clearly too preoccupied for such a trifle matter, Quatre quell his heart to stop over thinking the situation.
He walked back to his seat and sat lonely for the rest of the event. At the end, he made one last attempt to approach her but realize there was a whole line of people waiting to talk to Dorothy and the press as well. There was no way he was going to get near. He doubted that she wanted to discuss that matter this evening nor would he want to in such an overly public forum. So he sat at a nearby seat, open up his laptop as people walk around him. From there he made his donation to Romefeller Foundation and quietly left.
Dorothy was exhausted after the long day. However, there were just a couple of more things left to do.
She was next to her executive assistant. Tapping away on the computer, the assistant said, "There is a lot of money raised this year."
"That is good to hear."
"Bring out those envelopes to print out the thank you letters and invitations for our top ten donors," Dorothy instructed.
Her assistant did as she was instructed and commanded the system to pull up the list of the top ten donors and statistics. "We beat the last year record of fundraising by a good twenty percent Dorothy."
"Really?"
"Yes, due in part by one particular donor." Her executive assistant was scrolling through the list and then gasp.
Dorothy, standing beside her assistant, looked down from her papers. "What?"
"This year highest donor is from Sandrock Investments at thirty million." Thirty million was a lot considering these were individual or family donations and the most was usually a couple millions.
Hearing the name of the donor made Dorothy heart stop. They did not accept corporate donation but clearly whoever Sandrock Investment owner was aim to indicate this personal donation was from him, whoever he is.
The assistant went on to say, "Wow, who ever knew. Is this Sandrock person first philanthropy to celebrate being a billionaire? I'm pretty sure he hasn't donated anything as of date, whoever he is. Did he want us to report it on the news to add to his ever growing image?"
All Dorothy did was stared at the screen as her mind raced. Sandrock Investments's owner was in the building today, underneath everyone noses as the media and surrounding guests constantly gossip about him or her. With further thought, the owner did not need to be physically in the building, they did accept outside donation but the ones at the forum were usually the ones who contributed substantial amount.
"How are we going to invite the owner Dorothy, there not a single address listed and he or she is the number one donor."
Dorothy thought for a moment. "I will take care of that, just invite the other nine to the thank-you dinner."
"Okay. Should we give him publicity for thanks instead?"
Dorothy thought only briefly and said, "No."
Dorothy went towards her desk to view the fundraising list for herself. Browsing along she saw Quatre's name, ranked twenty-one at five million. She was not surprised at Quatre's amount and then suddenly remembered him.
Quatre. She had forgotten about Quatre today.
Wrong.
She did not forget him. She was just too preoccupied today for the execution of the fundraising event when the past two nights, all she kept thinking was about him. He had came, she saw him trying to get close to her but so many officials and guests wanted to talk to her. Then there was the media. Even when she made her speech, she was acutely aware of where he sat. She was mindlessly searching him out when she made the speech and when she did, she could not help but constantly look his way and around only to drift back to his area. He probably thought she was trying to avoid him after what happened two days ago. She thought she had a glimpse his disappointed look. No, she thought, he probably felt that she did not want him at all, yet...
How was she going to respond to him. Even she surprised herself with her impulsive action to kiss him back. This was getting into trickier bounds. She supposed she would ask him to meet up and apologize for not acknowledging his presence today and thank him for his contribution that beat eighty percent of all other donors. Good thing I invited him.
As she headed back up the floors to her home and prepared for bed, a small plan was brewing in Dorothy's head as she consider the possibilities. Two can play this game Quatre.
Quatre could say he was in the least, feeling disappointed. Dorothy had not messaged him at all afterwards even though he deeply hoped she would come to him that night but of course he must have been fantasizing.
He watched the news that evening as he sat in his office, eating his dinner. Nothing new was reported that he did not know having been at the event, but it was reported that they beat last year donation by twenty percent. He thought there might be a mentioning of a certain donor but that was not reported at all. Darn. He wanted to see Dorothy's reaction. He purposely donated twice, once under his own name to allay suspicions and the other in his alias investor name, in other words, himself again. He had hoped, upon seeing that, it would prompt Dorothy to come and tell him about it since he knew how Dorothy was following his news. And he certainly did not contribute a small amount either.
He went to bed feeling his friendship with Dorothy was winding down real fast. The feeling was heighten when he received an email the following day from Dorothy telling him that she was going to be away all of next week for business meetings.
At first, Quatre absorb the meaning hard for he was not a stupid boy to know what this meant. Cleary, Dorothy was keeping a distance from him already after he made a move and was too afraid to have a real encounter. And yet, the other side told him that she simply had business meetings. Just have to keep waiting Quatre. You get your chance.
That week went by slowly for Quatre. He kept thinking elaborate ways to see Dorothy again. Of course, there was always the option of revealing who he really was; Dorothy was totally going to dig that right? What a coincident, she just so happens to have millions and billions too, she would not care. It would not work.
If he knew all along that becoming a billionaire would feel no different than he was less than a year ago, he would not have put so much effort. He had been driven since high school, his goal of being a billionaire investor on wall street. He never knew that upon obtaining his goal, it did not change anything at all except that he was richer than the day before. He shook his head in frustration and felt the urge to a sinister laugh. Money was certainly not bringing him any happiness. Especially when you the girl you want has just about everything too.
The foundation of his investments was solid. He just really needed to monitor his portfolio now. Should he acquire other companies he wasn't so sure. It will get out of his hand to manage such a large capital for one individual and he would need to expand. He was not interested in that and was content to just manage his own and live day by day sounded adequate to him. And send some money back to his father now that he had more than enough for one person.
He went strolling around the streets of Manhattan instead that week. He even dare venture all the way to Romefeller Tower and asked for Dorothy and have the assistant at the desk inform him that she was in deed, not in Manhattan. That trip was meant to silence his doubts that she was purposely avoiding him and it eased him up for the rest of the week to await her return.
Arriving home after a Thursday trek, he checked his mailbox before heading indoors. The first one was the electricity bill, the second was some advertisement, the third was a small flyer and the last one captured his attention in recognition of the Romefeller Foundation symbol on the envelope.
Automatically assuming that it was from Dorothy, he quickly opened up the crisp fine paper only to read the acknowledgement and sincere gratitude for his donation to the charity event. His energized eyes closed in when he realized what the paper was about and dropped it on the table. Of course Dorothy would not send him a letter to meet up, she had never done that and that be way too formal among friends. He was getting ahead of himself. He went to work instead to rid her off his mind.
Friday came and he was working away on his computer. He took a sip off his tea and placed it back on the saucer when a familiar ping indicated that he just received an email. Switching the screen to his inbox, his heart thudded when he saw Dorothy Catalonia name as the sender and a wave of emotions went through him in a second.
He quickly read over the message and felt a small swell of happiness when he realized that he would get to see Dorothy again without him initiating anything. Upon scanning the message over again, a small panic went through him when he saw the proposed meet up location next Tuesday.
Central Park. How revealing would that be? Didn't Dorothy want to keep themselves out of the paparazzi eyes? Central Park was the one and only park on Manhattan Island stretching through two dozen intersections, was as public as it can possibly be.
Thoughts swarm his head. Maybe she not shy on becoming public with it. Does this mean a yes on her part? Was she even daring to expose themselves when they have not really settle things with each other?
He rather prefer something away from the public eye but he did not want to sound like a coward to reply saying he was too scare to even take a walk in the park. Quatre knew this meeting was vital, he could not back out and offend her. But there's bound to be someone recognizing Dorothy if they walk around Central Park. And he would be next to her.
No, he cannot allow his fear override his will to see her. Knowing full well that Sandrock Investments owner was in a high stake of revelation he decided it did not matter.
If Dorothy was willing to go out in public with him, he decided to make bolder move on his part.
He saw her before she noticed his arrival. Though she had taken some effort to hide herself behind a pair of shades and a stunning brim hat over her head, he was certain that he could always spot her out of any crowd. In his eyes, there was always a glow around her. She held on to a purse and wore a comfortable dress and walking shoes. A week without seeing her, at that moment, was way too long.
Sensing his arrival, she turn in time to meet him and noted that she was able to perceive him when he was near to her. He wore a standard business casual ware she was accustoming to seeing him in. Beige pants with a black jacket over top. They were meeting at the 79th street entrance and she planned to walk northwards of the park.
She smiled up to him as he approached. He seemed to crimson already at the sight of her. How easy is that Dorothy.
"Hi," he said meekly.
"Hi Quatre, how are you?"
"Good. How was your trip last week?"
Leading the way, Dorothy started walking with Quatre beside her. "I won't call it trip. Business meetings are not consider leisure. But it was fine."
"Where did you go to?"
"Europe." She did not say that she saw Relena and during her whole meeting with her, she never once mentioned Quatre to her friend.
Quatre. He was becoming a pressing problem at hand lately without her realizing. How was he able to smoothly enter her comfortable life and cause chaos she was not so sure. She wanted to settle things with this man who she was sure had eyes for her. She knew what was probably on Quatre's mind as they stroll around the park.
Not once did she mention about the kiss in the car. In fact, the conversation that was happening was as if the kiss never happened and they were just friends. They were walking pass The Reservoir of the park. It was a beautiful day and the sun shone brightly, reflecting off the waters and the scenery around the pond. He was steadily building up the courage, sensing the need to take initiative again.
They stop and stare out across the waters to the greenery and buildings across.
She spoke. "Did you receive the letter from Romefeller?"
"The thank you card? Yes, I did."
"Well I like to thank you again personally for coming out and donating." She turn towards his face and he wonder did she give personal thank-you to every donor or just made an exception for him. This isn't all about business right?
He looked at her. "I apologized for not talking to you that day, I was very preoccupied."
He nodded in understanding. "I saw. It's alright." Though the pang in his heart told him it was not.
"Your amount was not a small donation at all. I wanted to treat you to dinner sometime when you are free to show my appreciation?"
As inviting the invitation was, he told himself that he should be the one treating her to dinner. And I'm always free when you are concern Dorothy.
"That won't be necessary," he shook his head, "It was donated for the cause and I will happy so long as you put the money to good use," though he knew this was still an opportunity to continue seeing her.
It was about time to cut to the chase.
He started, "About the night of the concert -." He was abruptly cut short.
Dorothy raised a hand, looked him in the eyes and looked away. He felt the dread already seeping in.
Lowering her hand and facing the water she spoke. "I'm sorry if I lead you on Quatre. I will be honest and say that I have been thinking a lot about you lately, even all of last week. I acted impulsively that night. It was a mistake. I rather us to remain just friends."
Just friends.
Quatre felt that someone punch him in the gut and shot him directly at his tender heart. She did not feel the same about him. He decided to clarify it by asking straight up since they were already talking about it.
"Would you go out with me?"
He heard her intake of breath, surprised that he said the words straightforwardly. After a small moment which Quatre resigned as hesitation she said, "No. Not right now."
Right now? What did that mean? But he lost all reason. His brain was only processing the fact that Dorothy was rejecting him right here, wide out and in the most public place of all, Central Park. Guess he was never going to walk the only park in Manhattan to avoid a particular bad memory.
He tried again regardless. Right now meant he had a chance in the near future. Right? "Is there any reason? Or anything I need to do?"
But Dorothy was already shaking her head with downcast eyes. "No. It's not your fault. It's just I don't want to date."
His chest tighten and he took a step back. Clearly, Dorothy did not know that she held his heart and was squeezing it. He looked down to calm and remind himself to breathe. His hands were fisted in his pockets and it brush against a case. He grip the case with his hand hard to transfer his pain to it without showing too much outside. That was useless now that Dorothy was refusing him. And there is a good half of a walk left that he would now endure.
"Are you alright?"
What a stupid thing to ask thought Quatre because obviously he was not. He waited so long, so long, so very long he bet Dorothy did not have the slightest idea. Never did he tell the world his second reason that out of all the places in the world, he decided to settle in Manhattan. He knew it was a far stretch but he tried anyway and got this close…this close. His heart was crippling.
Refraining from showing the hurt in his eyes he replied, "I'm okay. Let's walk." He turn back the path they were following. He needed to before he started running off as a coward boy back from high school.
As they continue the walk, he forgot all his worries about whether there were reporters lurking or if anyone recognize Dorothy. He was too distracted to care. In fact, he rather have someone spotting them and making news about them.
The light mood from before dissipated and he was tense. Dorothy felt the change in him and instinctively felt sorry and almost went about retracting her comments right there and then. But she kept up a strong front though it did not help the situation.
She looked at him, alert and intense eyes looking far ahead. His hands were stuff in his pockets and his movements were stiff.
The rest of the walk and conversation became painful. Quatre replies became short and curt though he did try to remain nice like he always is when he realized that he was making things hard. The chatter and movement around them became deaf to Quatre's ears. His mind was tossing in the air from rejection that he never felt since he never had asked anyone before.
Approaching the end of the walk, at the North Entrance of the park, Dorothy could say she was visibly relieved. Sad and stiff Quatre was certainly not a happy sight to see. She felt awful for making him feel this way but at the same time observing in quiet amusement. He looked sad at first but later on she rather term the word angry replacing the disappointment she was expecting. And angry Quatre was quite a pleasant surprise to see though he kept most of the unknown anger to himself.
She had arranged for her chauffeur to pick her up and the car was waiting at the side of the street. They made their way towards her car.
"Well that is it for today Quatre, thank you for coming."
Quatre, looking distant still, nodded. She waited for him to look up but he did not.
Sighing, she pulled out an envelope from her purse. "This is for you," she said as she moved the envelope to his line of vision and he slowly looked up.
With a numb hand, he grasp the coarse envelope a bit too hard that it scrunch from his hold. "Okay." Feeling the need to say more, "Have a safe drive back," he said without fully meaning it.
His eyes were fill with emotion and he looked at her in such longing betraying his beautiful features, almost begging, for her to reconsider her earlier decision. Yes, beautiful and you just rejected him Dorothy. She pushed the thought aside.
"I will. Thank you for coming out today."
He would not have if he knew it was going to turn out like this.
"I will see you soon." With that she got into her car and it started off.
He looked down at the envelope in his hand. Was this another thorough rejection letter? Detailing why they could not be together? If it was that she could have just handed this from the start but being personal about it was always better. He supposed.
Expecting just that, and with a wrenching heart, he opened the envelope that had his name nicely scribe on the front by Dorothy's calligraphy. She had nice writing. Who would have known?
He unfolded the paper, one-third down and one-third up.
His eyes froze as he became transfixed on the first word and the rest of the letter.
Dear Sandrock Investments,
A contact was not provided in our records along with Sandrock Investments donation, so I decided to hand you this in person.
Thank you for your donation to the charity event hosted by Romefeller Foundation. Your thirty-five million dollars will be ensured to be used to the fullest potential and you will be given reports on how it is spent. Many lives depend on donations such as yours to make the world a better place.
Annually, our top ten donors are invited to a thank-you dinner reception entirely hosted by Romefeller. You are ranked as the highest donor for this year event and I decided to make an exception for you. To express my sincere gratitude and appreciation of your contribution I, Dorothy Catalonia, personally invite you to a private dinner tomorrow at my home in Romefeller Tower at 6:30pm. My attendant will be aware of your presence and you simply need to tell her.
I will be waiting for you.
Till tomorrow,
Dorothy Catalonia
His mind, moments before dripping in melancholy, was now alight with, out of all things, cold fear.
He did not donate thirty-five million under Sandrock Investments name. The amount added his personal contribution.
The buzz of the usually busy streets of Manhattan became muted to his ears as his eyes darted down the path that Dorothy left, somehow expecting her to be right there to explain the letter.
But she was not there. She already left.
Instead, what became noticeably prominent was the gleam of sunset radiating off the top of Romefeller Tower, far down the very road where Dorothy was heading home.
He was certain not a single soul knew. He had been meticulously careful.
It was impossible.
No way. Out of all people.
How did she know?
