First off, thank, thank, thank for the reviews. Sorry this one is going up late. Luckily midterms are over now so I've got some time to write before the finals-scramble starts. Thank you Onelastchapter for the advice. Writing for pre-exisiting characters isn't my strong suit (hence the second generation fan fiction) but I will try my best. Hale won't be appearing for another few chapters so I have time to work on him. In the mean time I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'd love you hear from you in the reviews. Thank you for being so understanding when my posting schedule gets messed up. I am determined not to let this story fade off into nothing as working on it has really gotten me excited about writing again. Side Note: I need new reading material so if you guys happen to be working on a fan fiction make sure to mention it in your review so I can follow your stories :) Enjoy
Natalie awoke to the clang of bells reverberating on the inside of her temples and blindly reached out to slap the snooze button before realizing it was the chimes of Westminster, her ringtone.
The bells died out and Nat let her head drop back onto the pillow willing herself back to sleep but her phone erupted into another chorus of bells as dozens of texts streamed in. Unwilling to open her eyes, Natalie's brow scrunched up in confusion. There was no way she was getting that many texts at this time of day. Was the phone broken? She didn't recall dropping it lately. Well, there was that one time in Tokyo when she was scaling the side of that office tower but that was weeks ago.
The chimes morphed into the 1812 overture and Natalie's eyes flew open. James' ringtone. She scrabbled for phone with sleep-drugged hands but didn't catch the call before it went to voicemail. Natalie scanned over her texts, looking for any messages from him. Had something gone wrong with the prep for the heist?
Nat nearly dropped the phone when it erupted into another series of chimes as more messages poured it.
One from Susan screamed across the screen in all caps 'CONGRATS! YOU'RE GOING TO DO AMAZING!'
Susan knew something Natalie didn't. Something Natalie apparently should. Natalie was officially worried.
As the baffled teenage girl scrolled down on her phone she realized the stream of congratulations was endless.
So happy for you girl!
Does this mean we'll actually be seeing you around London now?
Congratulations! And you're so young too! But I know you can do this. We're all routing for you!
Don't forget the little people. Kidding! Congrats, Natalie.
Natalie's eyes caught on Eric's name. Good Moring Miss CEO. Congrats, Natalie. Guess this means I won't be seeing you around for a while. Not like a busy CEO has time for little old me.
Why didn't you tell me this was why you were so busy?
CEO?
Natalie franticly flicked open her laptop, tapping on the space key impatiently as she waited for the stupid thing to boot up. She pulled up the Telegraph but didn't have to look any further because starring out of the screen was Natalie. Her lips pulled back into a reluctant smile, wavy hair cascading over the crest of Abercorn Academy that was embroidered on her cardigan. As school photos went, it wasn't that bad.
But Natalie couldn't focus on that fact as it was the title that had paralyzed her. 'Heiress to West Industries to Take Over Company at Age Seventeen'. Her tired eyes flew over the text, only picking up phrases at a time. "George West the fourth stepping down as CEO….Plans to retire to his London home with his wife…when asked about the sudden change in command, West Industries employees claimed they had no idea Miss West would be taking over…. stocks have already taken a hit revealing the fact that some investors doubt the stability of a company under the management of a youth."
"Mia!" Natalie called. She jumped to her feet and ventured out from the safety of her bedroom to find Mia.
Mia had been with the family since Natalie was two. Technically her job description said maid, but mother, sister, best friend would all have been more accurate.
But Mia was nowhere to be found and Natalie's voice echoed through the empty flat. Her phone was assaulted by another round of chimes and Nat couldn't tell if it was the vibrations or if her hands were really shaking.
Get a grip Nat, she mentally chastised herself, thieves don't have shaky hands. It's bad for business.
After a few moments of confusion Natalie stopped stumbling around the flat and decided the best thing was to call her father so he could sort all this nonsense out. Or maybe she should just call West Industries' Media team directly so as not to waste time. She wasn't sure how the newspapers got this strange idea that she was now CEO, but the media team would be able to set them straight. In fact they were probably already all over it. Natalie settled on calling her father first, but the call went to voice mail. Six times.
The seventh call was cut off before it had even rung twice and a text followed. "Can't talk right now, Natty. I'm sure you're very excited as I'm sure you've seen the news. Call your mother and her assistant will set up a lunch date for the three of us." The message was followed by a pathetic smiley face. The smiley face put Natalie over the edge and she was in the mist of throwing the phone across the room when the 1812 Overture rang out in protest.
She scrambled after the phone, "James?" Natalie hated herself for the way her voice cracked.
"I'm on my way," he answered.
"To London?"
"Just going through security now. My flight leaves in an hour."
"You don't have to do that, Jay."
"I want to."
"Thank you. But really its okay. I'm okay," she tried to assure him.
There was a long silence.
Natalie groaned, "Yeah, I don't believe me either."
"Did they give you any warning?"
"None. Or at least none that I picked up on. Dad was talking a lot about the company at the dinner party. How it had been in the family for generations. I don't know, maybe that was supposed to tip me off, but this is a little strange isn't it?"
"Strange is a good word for it."
"I don't understand how everyone knew before I did. " Natalie made her way to the kitchen, plopping down at the table where she was confronted by another frontpage.
James warned her, "Don't look at the newspaper."
"Too late. The front page? Don't you think that's a little much," Natalie's walking form was plastered on the front page of The Guardian. A headline was dashed across the top reading 'London Heiress To Takeover Multi-Billion Dollar Company At 17'. Resisting the urge to read a few lines of the article, knowing full well that it would paint her as an ill prepared, bubblehead Natalie slid the paper away from herself.
"Wait," she said, "You're not in London. How did you find out so fast?"
"Google alert."
"You have a Google alert on my name?"
"I have one set up for every member of the crew. Needless to say you're mentioned more then the rest of the crew combined. Multiplied by a thousand."
"I have a sick feeling its going to get worse," Natalie stared down the newspaper with a look of disgust. "How many times has your name popped up on a Google alert?" She asked out of curiosity.
Natalie could hear the smirk in his voice, "Never."
"Well, aren't you just the golden child of stealth."
He chuckled through the phone, "My flight lands at 2:40 your time."
"Thanks, Jay."
There was a click and he was gone. A sort of panic seized Natalie as the silence set in. The reassurance James left was drowned out by the relentless feeling of pressure bearing in from all sides and another round of chimes from her phone. Natalie wanted desperately for James to keep talking and might have succumbed to calling him back if Mia hadn't toppled into the kitchen, groceries piled high in her arms.
"Oh your awake. I'm sorry, love. I wanted to be here when you woke up. There's something I have to tell you."
"Its alright, Mia. I know. I saw the paper." Natalie relieved the small woman of her load, saying, "You didn't have to carry all that by yourself. I could have gone to the market with you."
"You haven't looked outside yet, have you?" Mia's tone was ominous.
Natalie groaned at the thought of paparazzi. "How many?"
"Too many," she answered in distaste. Patting Natalie's face reassuringly Mia did her best to whip up a smile. "There now, don't you worry about them. Sit down and I'll get started on breakfast."
Nat pulled the woman into a hug. "Thanks, Mia. For everything."
"For you, love, anything in the world."
Mia started constructing breakfast, determined that if Natalie only had a hearty English meal in her she could face down the world.
Natalie dared a peak out the window. "James isn't going to like the paparazzi. How am I going to get to Spain unnoticed when they're standing outside my door?"
"Don't look at me, love. I'll have nothing to do with it." Mia refused to even acknowledge Natalie's illegal hobbies.
"They'll give up by Friday won't they? I mean what's there to report? I never do anything exciting."
"If only that were true," Mia muttered. "Enough about that. You have more important, less illegal things to think about. After all you are soon to be CEO of West Industries. Did they really say nothing at all about it?"
"I would have told you if they had. I suppose Dad's always been an act first think later sort of person though."
"I for one think this is completely irresponsible. Honestly! Handing over such a large responsibility to a 17-year-old girl. You should be studying and going to class, not assessing the stock market!" Mia carried on for several minutes that way, slashing at the scrambled eggs with such force that most of the eggs were now on the stove top as opposed to in the actual frying pan.
"Don't take it out on the eggs! It's not their fault. Nor is it mine, so if your done murdering breakfast let me take over." Natalie gently took the spatula from Mia's hands before she could begin her assault on the sausages.
"I just worry, love," Mia sighed, "Don't they understand the pressure they are putting on you?" She began to nervously shift through the papers laid across the kitchen table, shuffling and reshuffling the bills and homework assignments. "And what about Cambridge? You were supposed to be sending in your application next month."
"I can still go to Cambridge. Besides, I might not even get in."
"Natalie, you can't run West Industries from a dorm room."
"Yes, I can. And I will. Or there's always Stanford. Dad has been talking about expanding further in the US. Having the CEO there to oversee the expansion would be a benefit. Or Colombia. That way I could be closer to the crew."
"You can't move to New York. That's too far."
Natalie was too excited by the idea to hear her. "I could finally see that old movie theater in Brooklyn Dmitri is always talking about. And Siena and I have been meaning to get brunch but we're never in the same city for long enough. She mentioned she was thinking about getting a place. We could be roommates."
"Nat, love,"
"On second thought, she'd probably want to move in with Mac."
"You can't move to New York, Natalie," Mia's tone was shrill.
"Why not? I could run the company from there."
"You'd be all alone, love."
"I'd be with the crew."
"But your family's in London."
"What family?" Natalie laughed.
"Me," Mia may have been twenty years Natalie's senior but in that moment she sounded like a little girl.
Natalie wished she could shove the words back into her mouth. Of course Mia wouldn't want her to leave. They were practically sisters. "Mia, I'm-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. Really,-"
"Its all right." The small woman titled her head back to prevent the tears from tumbling down her cheeks. "I always knew there would come a time when you wouldn't need me anymore. I suppose you haven't really needed me for years."
"No, no, Mia, no!" Natalie jumped into damage control mode. "I'll always need you. I'm not moving to New York. I was just- you know, playing around."
"I know, love. I know you wouldn't do that to me. Sometimes I worry, that's all."
After a prolonged hug and a dozen reassurances that she wasn't going anywhere any time soon, Natalie stepped back and let Mia take over the cooking. Natalie decided now was not the moment to mention that she would be heading to Madrid for the weekend and opted for slightly less distressing news, "Oh, James called just before you got back. He's on his way."
"That boy again? But I thought you might want to stay around the house with me today."
"Well, James can come here then," Natalie offered.
Mia frowned. "Don't think just because you're a CEO now that the rules change. None of your 'strange' friends will step foot in this house so long as I'm around."
By 'strange' Mia meant thieves, con artists and all those practicing any form of illegal activity. Unfortunately that made up most of Natalie's friend base. "Alright, alright. We'll go else where then. And Dad told me to call Mom's assistant to book lunch."
Mia's nose crinkled in disgust. "No, you don't have to talk to that disagreeable woman. You let me handle that call." Even at seventeen years old, Mia was still trying to protect Nat from the likes of the snarky assistants. Not that Natalie minded. If she had had to talk to Cecilia, or any of her mother's other minions she might have snapped.
Mia motioned to the overcooked eggs, "Alright, grab a plate, love. Step one, breakfast. Step two,-"
"Rule the world in heels?"
Mia kissed Natalie's forehead, "That's my girl."
While Mia distracted the press at the front door, Natalie fled several blocks on foot before hailing a cab, successfully escaping the notice of the press. She made her way to the Marylebone tube station, careful to ensure that she wasn't being followed. Having descended the seemingly endless staircases, Natalie noted the time as she rushed down the corridor. Two minutes. Her plaid skirt and blazer flapped wildly as the trains blew into the station, stirring the stale air. Natalie rounded the archways to platform four and stopped short as she spotted him from across the tracks. James was no longer a just boy from a strange dream but he wore the same half smile he had almost months prior, standing in the London drizzle.
Natalie was reminded of where they were as the train thundered into the tunnel, breaking their gaze. She hurried down the platform, sprinted up the steps, over the bridge and onto the adjacent platform. The last few passengers were ducking inside the carriages, the doors about to close when Natalie broke into a run. She let her hair stream out behind her as she dashed towards the rear of the train, away from the press and the madness of it all. Natalie made it into the second last carriage as the electronic doors swept shut with a satisfactory whoosh. Catching her breath, Natalie smiled at the only other passengers in the carriage, a small boy and his grandmother, as she weaved passed them to the back door.
There was an innocent gasp from the boy as Natalie slid open the door that said 'Do not Open' and slid out from the safety of the carriage to the next while the darkness of the tunnel screamed by. Shutting the door with some effort, the thunder of the rails was blocked out once more and Natalie turned with a smile of relief to see James, completely alone, rise from his seat.
"Hello," Natalie breathed.
He smiled and the world outside the tube seemed to vanish into the darkness of the tunnel. "Hello." In a matter of seconds they had been whisked away from the platforms of St. John's Station, away from the press, from the school and the may eyed crowds of tube station with no idea where they were headed or when the world would catch up with them.
Don't forget to review! Also I realize at this point you're probably thinking something along the lines of "So basically you're just copying the plot of the last Heist Society novel? Yeah, real original there Eckles" But wait! I promise that Natalie's taking over the company is not the main plot (really its just a side note). I know its taking forever to get to the actual story and believe me I more then anyone want to get there but for now I ask for is your patience :) Thanks for sticking with me. It means the world -George&Eckles