I narrowed my gaze at Steve Marks and got tickled by the goose pimples that ravaged my body.
“I beg your pardon. My name is Brian Patrick. All my life I have been going by the name Brian Patrick. I don’t understand what you mean by my name being Mike Don.” My jaw clenched and eyes narrowed at him.
Steve Marks interrupted, “You are Mike Don and not Brian Patrick. You are the true heir to the Saint Don Conglomerate. The world richest man, Saint Don, who happens to be your father, will be excited to see you again…” his voice was enveloped with enthusiasm.
Steve Marks started pacing up and down. He drifted to the telephone and dialed some numbers.
“Am I unto my protocol officer?” Steve asked once the receiver picked from the other side.
“Get the cars ready and inform my pilot to get the jet ready too. Mike Don and I want to pay Chairman Saint Don a visit in New York…”
My jaw pulled down and I paced to him, “Talk to me Steve Marks. Who do you say I am? Take a look at me. Do I look like the true heir to the Saint Don conglomerate? Why would you engage me in such blasphemy?” my voice shrieked.
He walked up to me, held my shoulders and sounded, “Today I am a fulfilled man. I am happy I found you healthy and alive. Your father can’t wait to see you, boss.”
“My father?” I retorted and followed him about as he gathered his luggage.
“Yes your father, Saint Don. He will be the most fulfilled man to know his son Mike Don is still alive,” his face lit with pessimism and I scowled my face confusedly.
“I am not Mike Don,” I corrected yet again and stroked my hair. My parents named me Brian, and they died three days ago. My name is Brian Patrick and not Mike Don. You told me, the world richest man is my father. How can this be? You are getting, me confused and scared. What is the need visiting Saint Don in New York, we are only going to fool ourselves over there.”
“Perk up, boss once you get there you will understand the story I just told you. You will comprehend quickly and nothing will seem as mirage to you.”
“But …” I dared to protest yet further and Steve Marks gestured at me.
“Be of good cheer, boss. I am in control of everything here? He raised his gaze at the ceiling, shook his head and added, “My heart is full of joy today that I am fulfilling my promise to saint don.”
I raised a brow at him and got even more anxious as I asked, “What promise did you make to him?”
Uncertainty hung in my eyes as our gaze locked.
The next thing he said was, “Shall we go, boss.”
This was more than a mirage to me. Steve Marks was getting me scared with this revelation…
I had an opportunity to get on a private jet for the first time in my poverty-stricken life and it was an honor to know that it was for the sake of returning to my true father, Saint Don a man I never thought I would set my eyes on after the wedding of his son Zion Don to my ex wife, Melissa…
When we got to Saint Don Villa his protocol officer directed us to one of his yachts, where he had been lodging for six months now.
Upon getting there we were ordered by his aides to return home since Saint Don wasn’t in the right frame of mind to entertain visitors.
“I am not a visitor,” Steve Marks had protested, “Did you tell him Steve Marks is here?” he asked the security.
“Yes I did sir and he nagged about not interested in seeing your ugly face,” the security replied.
My frown shot angrily at the security before I gazed upon Steve Marks with an inspective eye. He patted me on the shoulders, “You don’t have to bother, Mike Don…”
The security paused and turned around once he heard the name, “What did you just call him?” he asked Steve and pointed at me.
Steve replied, “Mike Don, of course, he is the true heir to the Saint Don conglomerate…”
He wasn’t yet through with his statement when the security bowed at my feet and hailed, “Boss! Your father will be glad to see you again after all these years.”
I stared at the security with utmost bewilderment. I glared at myself and noticed I was still in my rags and with dirty, unkempt hair and mustache. Isn’t that enough to convince this security that I wasn’t close to being a boss let alone an heir?
“We will lodge in this yacht until we see your father,” Steve said, paced to the security who was busy pulling the luggage, “Take me to my cabin.” He said to the security.
I was still scared, “Are you sure Saint Don is my father? You seem to know him in person like you claimed. He is too powerful a man to be called my father. His true heir is Zion Don, not Brian Patrick. Are you sure it is not the reason he has refused to see us?”
Steve Marks interrupted me with a laugh. “You don’t seem to amaze me, boss. I know his pain. Saint Don is still mad at me. He is still pained. He is yet to forgive me after the accident that took the lives of his wife and son some years ago. He had sent me to jail because of that and never wanted me to be out of jail. But I made him a promise to find his true heir. You are the true heir not Zion Don. Stay put, soon you will know if I am telling a lie or not,” he said to me.
I stared at him thoughtfully, wondering about the metamorphosis that was about to happen in my life…