A View From The Dark, Pt 2

The morning brought a beautiful sunrise. The view from the bedroom window was little short of spectacular. The beach stretched for miles, with only a few boathouses interrupting the sandy marriage of land and sea. He had spent many hours peering from this window, imagining what lay ahead of him. The sheer magnificence of the estate was often overwhelming. The ocean and mountain views were breathtaking, the scale of the estate was not immense, because many of the surrounding estates were far larger, rather it was the attention to detail that set the Black estate apart from the others. The Black estate had another distinguishing feature, unlike the rest of the estates which bore large nameplates with titles such as “Harrington, ESQ” or “Dr. Kennedy”, there was no nameplate, the only writing on the gate was a simple brass number that denoted the address.

“I can’t believe you, Robin” she said quietly as he began to dress for the day. “What if somebody heard us?” she asked with in a tone that indicated worry with a hint of mischievous intrigue. “There was only one soul here” he said. Her expression changed from worry to confusion. He walked over to her, whispered in her ear “ours”, gently kissed her and slinked into the lavatory. She could not contain her glow. Though her hair resembled something from a film noir horror library, her beauty began to radiate throughout the room.

Mr. Black was an uncommon man. A somewhat average looking man, not short, but not tall by any means. Slightly round, but not fat. He was muscular, but in a pleasant way. His intelligence set him apart from the rest. He was very outspoken, but often quiet. He spoke his mind, but always elegantly. He was a mystery. The world had lost touch with him for a number of years; it was within this time that he purchased the estate. He had purchased the estate from the widow of a very wealthy lawyer. She decided to sell after her husband passed and move to a smaller home. Mr. Black decided to rebuild most of the house to his liking, replacing columns of plaster and wood with marble, and removing pine floors in favor of more exotic hardwoods as well as marble and slate.

Sarah and Robin had known each other years before but drifted apart. In their absence from each other, they both occasionally wondered about the other. Sarah and Robin were often considered to be in different leagues. She limited her courtship to suitors who were well dressed, mysterious and most of all, well off. At the time, Robin was none of these. During the years when Sarah and Robin were close, he was frequently in financial distress, dressed in a manner that could only be described as “unique” as well as being more enigmatic than mysterious. For most of her youth, Sarah was undecided as to her path in life. She decided that she wanted to further her education, so that fall she enrolled in a university anthropology program. While examining foreign cultures, her heart was captured by a young man who brought with him the world, a promising career, the looks she desired and what she thought was the kind of personality she desired, strong and dominant. Through the years of her education she lost touch with Robin, mostly because of her enthrallment with Todd. “In Todd We Trust” was written sarcastically across the last piece of correspondence from Robin, a letter postmarked from a small village in Peru. “I’ve realized my purpose, I’m living my dream right now, alone in the Andes, nobody bothers me, I bother no one”. From that day, she had never seen him, until today.

When Todd was a child, he always had the best. His parents spared no expense in dressing him with the finest designer clothing, every new toy that he lusted for and of course, his birthday parties were always a who's who of the playground. His life was always filled with “friends”. All his life he was surrounded by people, “popular” as he liked to call it. Most of the schoolchildren called him a “stuck up little prick”, but never to his face, they liked the perks of his so called friendship. Friendship was something that he never understood. For Todd, friendship was a commodity, it was purchased by gifts, tokens for the arcade and best of all, parties at his parents house. The Holmbreck house, Todd's parents estate. Mr. Holmbreck, the bigshot lawyer, believed that in order for his son to love him, it required frequent gifts and the use of bribery to end tantrums. Todd learned from an early age, he gets what he wants.

The grand estate of Mr. Black was somewhat a social hub. He frequently hosted parties attended by all types, bankers, lawyers, doctors and a community of artists. It should be noted that even though the estate was the social hub; it had little to do with Mr. Black. He was a somewhat poor host, as he would frequently desert his guests, but they never seemed to mind, as he was rarely involved in their conversations, even when present. This was not for a lack of trying, rather it stemmed from the origins of the conversations, mainly events at the local country club. If there was something that Mr. Black enjoyed less than inserting his tongue in an electrified light socket, it was golf. This was not because he was a poor golfer, Mr. Black was quite a good golfer. He just despised the game itself. He owned two sets of golf clubs, mostly out of necessity, because on occasion a charity golf tournament would arise, or business would be discussed over the back nine.

Todd proposed to Sarah on their one year anniversary. His formality was something out of a Victorian romance. He first asked her father for her hand in marriage, and then consulted them as to the manner in which he should propose. Through the selling of some of his stocks, he procured a ring. These stocks were mostly meaningless anyway, just something his grandfather left him, besides what was he to do with stocks in some outdated oil company, “technology is on it’s way up, besides the commodity market will never heat up like this” he thought to himself as he waited for his broker. A magnificent blue diamond surrounded by white diamonds, immaculately set in platinum and gold. The ring itself took 2 months to make. From the moment they started dating, Todd had dreamed of this moment. He had returned to school, again, needing to finish some odds and ends, again, to obtain the career he had boasted about. “Only formalities, sweetheart” he said as he finished washing dishes, “I just need to fill in a few empty spots in my resume, that’s all”. With all the empty spots he had filled in his resume, it was a wonder that there was any paper showing at all.

Sarah was aglow when Todd presented the small silver box. “Of course I will, my love, of course I will” she replied, wrapping him in a warm embrace and placing a soft, passionate kiss on his lips. She could not be happier, the man of her dreams just proposed to her with the most amazing ring she had ever seen. “It even fits perfectly” she quipped, turning her finger to watch it sparkle in the light. The next day at school, she was surrounded by a large crowd of people everywhere she went. “Look what Todd just gave me” she proclaimed to the masses, as people scurried to see the small fortune wrapped around her finger. “Honey, I just called to say I love you, my fiancée” she said with extra emphasis on the “fiancée”. Her skin glowed with excitement for two weeks and the smile rarely left her face. She only stopped for a moment to think “I wonder what Robin is doing…probably just sitting feeling sorry for himself again.” She did not believe what she thought, but it made her feel better. When she returned home, Todd had planned a surprise engagement party for her.

Robin sat in his small hut on the side of a mountain in the Peruvian Andes sipping his green tea and talking business with a Peruvian businessman. “So, you think you can make it big here” Robin said to the slender gentleman. “Si, I thinks that we have a big opportunity right in our backyard” he said with a heavy Spanish accent. “How much?” asked Robin outright, he was not the sort of person to skirt this sort of issue. “Well, sir, five hundred American dollars will make you a partner” the man replied. “Five hundred bucks, eh? Well, it’s only money, I suppose, what do you expect the return to be?” Robin said in a somewhat arrogant and aloof manner. “Well, sir, if you are a partner, we will ensure that you get an equal share” the businessman said. “I don’t want an equal share, I want a good return, if you can guarantee me ten percent then I will pay you in cash right now” Robin replied, shifting his body forward, nearly leaning over the table. “It’s a deal; I will ensure that you receive at least ten percent, thank you, oh, thank you. Nobody believes that we can do this, you will not be sorry, sir, we will not disappoint you” the businessman said with great excitement. Robin passed the gentleman the money, and in return, he received a document entitling him as a partner in the venture. Robin had become a very well respected man in the village, for he was the richest man around. He spent two years working nearly to death to save; he bought a one way ticket to the Peruvian Andes and began his career as a financier.