The only excuse I have for not updating sooner is gasp "Real Life" got in
the way of my over-active imaginary one. . Yeah, yeah, it sucks to be me.
Oh, forgive my mangling of the French language. It's been a while since
I've studied it. My French reading is now limited to cereal boxes and food
labels.
Josh, if you don't sue me, I'll let you wear the boots for a while. I'll eventually let you have Oliver back.
Chapter Three
"And Captain Crunch is waving farewell..."
For a family inhabiting the same country, there could not have been more of a distance between the members. Oliver Seaton Trask lll was consumed with business affairs. He met with businessmen from all over the European Union. The meetings were long and took place in private clubs, far from prying eyes. Any principles Oliver Seaton Trask lll may have ever learned, disappeared behind these closed, exclusive doors where the business was conducted and young girls were the commodity exchanged.
Oliver Seaton Trask lV sat in salle de classe, tuning out le professeur droning on about les oeuvres de Shakespeare. Titus Andronicus... Would that be how his life ended up? With Oliver serving his tongueless, handless mother a pie filled with the remains of his father? A man who sucked the life out from those around him? Oliver dismissed the thoughts. They were weak. His father thought Oliver was weak. While Oliver Seaton Trask lll brutally exploited the weaknesses of others for his own gain... "A bloodsucker of sleeping men..." Oliver Seaton Trask lV learned from the foibles of those around him, subtly feeding, deriving strength for the battles ahead.
For Davina Carlisle Trask, France was her haven from her loveless marriage. She indulged in the best it had to give her. The Red, the Burgundy, the Bordeaux. The rich cuisine was a necessary evil, remedied by weekly colonic irrigation.
When she and her husband entertained business associates, the Trask family put on their finest display. They were the portrait of the perfect family. Loving partners for life blessed with the perfect son. As real as the picture that graced the yearly Christmas cards that were sent out. They all knew their roles.
There were times that Davina Carlisle Trask wished that her life was more than a series of one-act plays, but to achieve that the cost would be too great. She would have to leave her 1994 Doumaine de la Pousse d'Or enhanced world and she didn't have the strength for that. Oliver Seaton Trask lll had seen to that.
Oliver Seaton Trask lV lay back against the arms of the couch, his legs comfortable entwined with Manon's. They were kindred spirits, somehow drawn together, finding each other without looking, by-products of circumstance and unfortunate timing. They were considered to be nothing more that "necessary evils" by those who were supposed to love them more than life itself. They were two children being consumed by their own families, their souls absorbed in a feeding frenzy of power, greed and indifference.
Oliver and Manon had an undefined relationship. She was beautiful and her beauty would serve her well as she searched later for what had been denied her. They weren't friends. Friendship was an emotional burden they were ill-equipped to bear. They had never kissed and would never do so. They rarely talked, enjoying their silence. They were just together. A reminder that their situations were not unique. This knowledge prepared them for the games which they had been forced to play.
Oliver Seaton Trask lll stared out the window of his office. The view displayed in front of him was magnificent. Paris at night. Anyone else would have drank in it's radiance. To Oliver Seaton Trask lll, Paris was a path he would follow to reach his goal of owning the Carlisle Hotel empire. His wife had been so easy to manipulate. He spoke the right words, his acts of love and devotion were award winning. In the end, she all but begged him not to sign the pre-nuptial agreement that "Daddy" insisted upon. If it was what Davina truly wanted, Oliver Seaton Trask lll would do it for her. The document was burned, she defied her father. Daddy's little girl was in love, for real this time.
Oliver Seaton Trask went back to his ebony desk, glancing at the contracts he had signed. Four more hotels to be built. A trip to Malaysia to inspect the building site and partake of the attractions not found in the tourist guides. He picked up a small yellow post-it note. He recognized Davina's handwriting. He crumpled the paper, a reminder of a meeting at L'ecole St. Therese, regarding their son.
Her son.
His seed.
Nothing more.
Oliver Seaton Trask lV stared at the man sitting across from him. His academic counselor requested a meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Seaton Trask lll to discuss their son's substandard academic performance. Oliver Seaton Trask lV was unfailingly polite to the counselor, the boy's eyes piercing through him. The counselor spoke quietly to Oliver, reminding him of his potential. The man looked at the clock and licked his lips again. Oliver's staring unnerved him. Oliver spoke the words he knew the counselor wanted to hear, never taking his eyes off him. His smile was too bright as he excused his parents' absence, not that he expected them to come. A half hour had passed before the counselor dismissed Oliver. Oliver Seaton Trask lV didn't bother to hide the self-satisfied smirk as his academic counselor spoke about rescheduling the meeting. Oliver mentally sacrificed his first pawn. A well timed accusation by Manon and the man in front of him would be the first casualty of the game.
Davina Carlisle Trask tipped the handsome young sommelier generously. Her husband was not the only Trask with desires. The difference for her is that all liaisons were mutually beneficial. She paid well for services rendered. She took only what was given freely. No coercion, no commitment, no guilt. She picked up her glass, swirling the deep red liquid. It was a fine choice. He was a fine choice. The taste of him lingered. She finished her wine as she waited for the tub to fill. The warm water washed away all traces of him, leaving her with the memory of being desired, of being worth of affection.
Davina Carlisle Trask sank deeper into the water. She thought briefly of calling her son, to ask if his father had met with the counselor. She knew the answer. She thought briefly of a small child, intense blue eyes like hers and dark hair like his father's. She had believed she wanted a child. The pregnancy was no accident. Fertility drugs taken under the guise of being birth control made her pregnancy possible. A last ditch effort to keep a man she thought she truly loved. His reaction to her pregnancy stunned her. Oliver Seaton Trask lll raged for days, insisting she terminate the parasite inside her. It was then she realized that her husband married her for money. She had married him for love.
David Carlisle cut his daughter off financially when she married, but it didn't matter to her. She had her trust fund that had been invested wisely and now reaped the monetary benefits. Oliver Seaton Trask lll never knew of this. He believed her family's money would be his. It was just a matter of time. David and Julianna Carlisle were thrilled with the prospect of an heir. They never knew that their son-in-law had done everything in his power to coerce his wife into ending the pregnancy, but in the end the choice was made for Davina. She might have acquiesced to her husband's demands only because she believed she was nothing without him. What saved Oliver Seaton Trask lV's life in utero was a doctor's report, mistakenly sent to the wrong office of the Carlisle Hotel head office. A twist of fate that allowed him to grow to full term. David and Julianna Carlisle would not be denied their scion.
Davina Carlisle Trask was ill-prepared for motherhood. She had her body surgically reconstructed two weeks after the caesarean section left her scarred. Her child had defiled her body. Her temple. She would not absolve him of that sin. She did however, hire the best caregivers for Oliver Seaton Trask lV. It was the best she could do. Even though his birth was not the child's fault, she couldn't help but blame him for the problems his existence brought her. What was once a mutually beneficial arrangement was now just a tolerable cruelty. Who could hurt whom the most.
Oliver Seaton Trask lll and Davina Carlisle Trask knew where the weaknesses were. Their Achilles' heel. Oliver Seaton Trask lll stayed in a loveless marriage to obtain the prize due him. The Carlisle Hotel empire. Davina Carlisle Trask stayed in the marriage to punish him. He would never see the inner sanctum of the CEO office he desired. The empire would eventually belong to her son. Even without a pre-nup, Oliver Seaton Trask lll would not receive what he thought was owed him. Half of her trust fund perhaps, but nothing more. The real prize was their son. Through him, Davina Carlisle Trask would have control. Oliver Seaton Trask lV was a King on the chessboard.
Oliver Seaton Trask lV watched from his dormitory room window as the former academic counselor loaded the last of the boxes in his Citroen. He felt no remorse, yet he didn't feel victorious. He didn't feel at all. He was learning well. The lessons constantly surrounded him, taught to him by his parents. He was an apt pupil. Once the game was completed, he would be the puppet master.
Josh, if you don't sue me, I'll let you wear the boots for a while. I'll eventually let you have Oliver back.
Chapter Three
"And Captain Crunch is waving farewell..."
For a family inhabiting the same country, there could not have been more of a distance between the members. Oliver Seaton Trask lll was consumed with business affairs. He met with businessmen from all over the European Union. The meetings were long and took place in private clubs, far from prying eyes. Any principles Oliver Seaton Trask lll may have ever learned, disappeared behind these closed, exclusive doors where the business was conducted and young girls were the commodity exchanged.
Oliver Seaton Trask lV sat in salle de classe, tuning out le professeur droning on about les oeuvres de Shakespeare. Titus Andronicus... Would that be how his life ended up? With Oliver serving his tongueless, handless mother a pie filled with the remains of his father? A man who sucked the life out from those around him? Oliver dismissed the thoughts. They were weak. His father thought Oliver was weak. While Oliver Seaton Trask lll brutally exploited the weaknesses of others for his own gain... "A bloodsucker of sleeping men..." Oliver Seaton Trask lV learned from the foibles of those around him, subtly feeding, deriving strength for the battles ahead.
For Davina Carlisle Trask, France was her haven from her loveless marriage. She indulged in the best it had to give her. The Red, the Burgundy, the Bordeaux. The rich cuisine was a necessary evil, remedied by weekly colonic irrigation.
When she and her husband entertained business associates, the Trask family put on their finest display. They were the portrait of the perfect family. Loving partners for life blessed with the perfect son. As real as the picture that graced the yearly Christmas cards that were sent out. They all knew their roles.
There were times that Davina Carlisle Trask wished that her life was more than a series of one-act plays, but to achieve that the cost would be too great. She would have to leave her 1994 Doumaine de la Pousse d'Or enhanced world and she didn't have the strength for that. Oliver Seaton Trask lll had seen to that.
Oliver Seaton Trask lV lay back against the arms of the couch, his legs comfortable entwined with Manon's. They were kindred spirits, somehow drawn together, finding each other without looking, by-products of circumstance and unfortunate timing. They were considered to be nothing more that "necessary evils" by those who were supposed to love them more than life itself. They were two children being consumed by their own families, their souls absorbed in a feeding frenzy of power, greed and indifference.
Oliver and Manon had an undefined relationship. She was beautiful and her beauty would serve her well as she searched later for what had been denied her. They weren't friends. Friendship was an emotional burden they were ill-equipped to bear. They had never kissed and would never do so. They rarely talked, enjoying their silence. They were just together. A reminder that their situations were not unique. This knowledge prepared them for the games which they had been forced to play.
Oliver Seaton Trask lll stared out the window of his office. The view displayed in front of him was magnificent. Paris at night. Anyone else would have drank in it's radiance. To Oliver Seaton Trask lll, Paris was a path he would follow to reach his goal of owning the Carlisle Hotel empire. His wife had been so easy to manipulate. He spoke the right words, his acts of love and devotion were award winning. In the end, she all but begged him not to sign the pre-nuptial agreement that "Daddy" insisted upon. If it was what Davina truly wanted, Oliver Seaton Trask lll would do it for her. The document was burned, she defied her father. Daddy's little girl was in love, for real this time.
Oliver Seaton Trask went back to his ebony desk, glancing at the contracts he had signed. Four more hotels to be built. A trip to Malaysia to inspect the building site and partake of the attractions not found in the tourist guides. He picked up a small yellow post-it note. He recognized Davina's handwriting. He crumpled the paper, a reminder of a meeting at L'ecole St. Therese, regarding their son.
Her son.
His seed.
Nothing more.
Oliver Seaton Trask lV stared at the man sitting across from him. His academic counselor requested a meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Seaton Trask lll to discuss their son's substandard academic performance. Oliver Seaton Trask lV was unfailingly polite to the counselor, the boy's eyes piercing through him. The counselor spoke quietly to Oliver, reminding him of his potential. The man looked at the clock and licked his lips again. Oliver's staring unnerved him. Oliver spoke the words he knew the counselor wanted to hear, never taking his eyes off him. His smile was too bright as he excused his parents' absence, not that he expected them to come. A half hour had passed before the counselor dismissed Oliver. Oliver Seaton Trask lV didn't bother to hide the self-satisfied smirk as his academic counselor spoke about rescheduling the meeting. Oliver mentally sacrificed his first pawn. A well timed accusation by Manon and the man in front of him would be the first casualty of the game.
Davina Carlisle Trask tipped the handsome young sommelier generously. Her husband was not the only Trask with desires. The difference for her is that all liaisons were mutually beneficial. She paid well for services rendered. She took only what was given freely. No coercion, no commitment, no guilt. She picked up her glass, swirling the deep red liquid. It was a fine choice. He was a fine choice. The taste of him lingered. She finished her wine as she waited for the tub to fill. The warm water washed away all traces of him, leaving her with the memory of being desired, of being worth of affection.
Davina Carlisle Trask sank deeper into the water. She thought briefly of calling her son, to ask if his father had met with the counselor. She knew the answer. She thought briefly of a small child, intense blue eyes like hers and dark hair like his father's. She had believed she wanted a child. The pregnancy was no accident. Fertility drugs taken under the guise of being birth control made her pregnancy possible. A last ditch effort to keep a man she thought she truly loved. His reaction to her pregnancy stunned her. Oliver Seaton Trask lll raged for days, insisting she terminate the parasite inside her. It was then she realized that her husband married her for money. She had married him for love.
David Carlisle cut his daughter off financially when she married, but it didn't matter to her. She had her trust fund that had been invested wisely and now reaped the monetary benefits. Oliver Seaton Trask lll never knew of this. He believed her family's money would be his. It was just a matter of time. David and Julianna Carlisle were thrilled with the prospect of an heir. They never knew that their son-in-law had done everything in his power to coerce his wife into ending the pregnancy, but in the end the choice was made for Davina. She might have acquiesced to her husband's demands only because she believed she was nothing without him. What saved Oliver Seaton Trask lV's life in utero was a doctor's report, mistakenly sent to the wrong office of the Carlisle Hotel head office. A twist of fate that allowed him to grow to full term. David and Julianna Carlisle would not be denied their scion.
Davina Carlisle Trask was ill-prepared for motherhood. She had her body surgically reconstructed two weeks after the caesarean section left her scarred. Her child had defiled her body. Her temple. She would not absolve him of that sin. She did however, hire the best caregivers for Oliver Seaton Trask lV. It was the best she could do. Even though his birth was not the child's fault, she couldn't help but blame him for the problems his existence brought her. What was once a mutually beneficial arrangement was now just a tolerable cruelty. Who could hurt whom the most.
Oliver Seaton Trask lll and Davina Carlisle Trask knew where the weaknesses were. Their Achilles' heel. Oliver Seaton Trask lll stayed in a loveless marriage to obtain the prize due him. The Carlisle Hotel empire. Davina Carlisle Trask stayed in the marriage to punish him. He would never see the inner sanctum of the CEO office he desired. The empire would eventually belong to her son. Even without a pre-nup, Oliver Seaton Trask lll would not receive what he thought was owed him. Half of her trust fund perhaps, but nothing more. The real prize was their son. Through him, Davina Carlisle Trask would have control. Oliver Seaton Trask lV was a King on the chessboard.
Oliver Seaton Trask lV watched from his dormitory room window as the former academic counselor loaded the last of the boxes in his Citroen. He felt no remorse, yet he didn't feel victorious. He didn't feel at all. He was learning well. The lessons constantly surrounded him, taught to him by his parents. He was an apt pupil. Once the game was completed, he would be the puppet master.