The Headless Chicken - Part 1

Flavia was always diligent, and hardworking, right from an early age, he was self confident and brilliant. Coming from a humble household his father worked as a mechanic while his mother was a clerk at their local Church. Coming from a close nit community where everyone literally knew the other, he could not get the chance to become a wild goose. Flavia was not exceptionally brilliant as you would imagine, but his attitude and hard-work put him in an above average position academically. Socially he was a bit of an introvert but he always expressed himself well when he needed to. 

Growing up into his teens, he wasn't really that much of an adventurer, his adolescent years were full of focusing on studies, sports, specifically basketball and athletics, and finally he was quite active in Church, a great pianist in that regard. Flavia was quite exceptional in business studies and quite good with mathematics as well, he was the family book keeper at this point, and as a firstborn, he had the burden of chiseling the characters of his juniors, three brothers and two sisters. His Aunt Joan was quite some adventurer, her escapades could only be compared to rodio show chaser, whenever she was around, she was clearly the life of the party, with her obvious demeanor, she loved huge wigs, excess makeup and big fury coats, she was rather kind hearted as well, knowing when to put her humble character she was loved by Greg, Flavia's dad, despite her all out attitude and show stopping presence, Joan was quite a great chef and could whip some delicious meal out of anything available in the fridge and garden, she was also a great singer who despite being an obvious  country music enthusiast, whenever she was in town on Sunday, the lead singer open handedly handed her the mic and Church was Churching. Joan's sister was the firstborn and by extension Flavia was the first child of the siblings, Joan loved the boy with her all, with the obvious different personalities, people could never quite get how this two could never get enough of each other, whenever Joan was around, Flavia and her were literally all over each other, he followed her and kept her company in the kitchen and with unending stories that even their parents did not know their son had. She brought quite some personality out of him.

One Saturday afternoon, a huge Escalade drove into their compound, black in color and clear windows as if the driver wanted to be clearly seen, the vehicle rolled in and Greg who was at that time fixing his garden picket fence stood up, removing his cowboy hat and wiping sweat from his forehead using his shirt, he wondered whom this was, the sun was blocking his eyes so he could not quite see who it was, however he wondered to himself if he could be able to fix such an updated car. The car soon stopped and at this time Flavia his mom and the other kids were outside, ready to welcome the visitor, as it came to a halt, Joan disembarked, with a broad smile she shouted "howdy fam", the kids ran to her as Flavia and his dad moved in to say hi to the corporately dressed, tall polished driver who came out from the driver's side. They exchanged salutations hugs and pleasantries before the Flavia and the driver Mark ferried the shopping they had bought from the SUV. As soon as they settled inside, Joan pulled her sister to the kitchen, excited and all as usual, she informed her that she was engaged to Mark, excited and showing her the huge diamond rig in her finger and were to soon get married, Harriet, Flavia's mom was more overwhelmed than shocked. They settled in and she introduced Mark to the family, on the fire outside, Mark realized his fiancees connection to the Flavia, the three were left out there with Joan singing melodiously tunes and Flavia playing the guitar tunes to the songs. By this time Flavia had finished high school and was at the verge of joining college, Mark asked him of his college and course choice and career ambitions, when Mark had that Flavia was a business enthusiast who wanted to major in financial accounting, his eyes shone brighter, he smiled and encouraged this, promising the young man an internship as soon as he was ready, they all retired to bed at almost midnight as Flavia put off the fire not to attract foxes.

Three and a half years later, Flavia was graduating, with a executive business degree majoring in financial accounting and a minor in Italian, the whole community was there to celebrate with him, and so was his beloved aunt, her two twins and Mark, now her hubby. Mark was exceptionally excited and pulled him aside literally offering him a job on the spot all expenses covered, Flavia had mixed reactions but greatest of them an unmatched excitement for the gift his rich uncle had bought him, a neat 1969 SS Camaro which his own father mechanically refurbished and painted to new courtesy of Mark. A week later, Flavia received a phone call, on the other side a recruiter from XeN Capital Consultants, this were Mark employers, he got invited for a direct hire meeting in two days by the CEO, he was quite elated and finally his dreams were coming up. Two days later he drove himself to the company which was about two hundred miles away with his new muscle car, he was neatly dressed in a tie with a folder holding his certificate and transcripts, he was ushered in and proceeded to the CEO's office. He was grilled on his career ambitions and knowledge in accounting, after all the serious talk the CEO stared briefly at Mark, as if to signal him for something, Mark immediately stood up and leaning close to Flavia he spoke, "now listen young man, the position you are coming in for is a direct role, you are to report directly to me as the VP, we are however wondering if you can keep your job a secret." He continued "you will handle, how can I put this, unique clients and books and your discretion will determine your growth, do you understand this?" Flavia shook his head, he looked blank, he understood the assignment but was sensing some sort of secret agenda behind all this, the CEO smiled, "he will understand soon enough, congratulations son, your uncle will fill you in as you go on, have yourself a goo day", said the CEO, signaling the end of the meeting shaking the young man hands, Flavia and his uncle went out, Mark went on in a low tone, "you will start working next Monday, I will fill you up on the rest as we go when you come to sign the contract on Sunday at my house, oh and another thing, Joan had discussed with your parents on the possibility of  you moving in with us, you cant be driving two hundred miles each day to and from work, they agreed but the ultimate decision lies with you, is that okay?" Flavia was dumbfounded by all this, "it is okay, I mean I will think about it, I mean yes!" said Flavia, Mark smiled, removed his paper clip and counted five notes of a hundred dollars and tucked them into Flavia's shirt pocket, "for gas kid, drive safe".

Saturday morning and Flavia was driving through the palm beach estates, admiring the beautiful scenery and houses, he followed the map through to a butterfly gate from where he could not see the house, he phoned his aunt who opened the gate remotely, he drove in marveling at the sites around him, the house was a huge mansion, marble white in color, sitting in the middle of well manicured lawn, he cruised through the driveway seeing his aunt, her kids and his new boss emerging from the house to receive him, he parked  in front of the house and Mark helped him carry his suitcase inside. "This house is huge!" he thought to himself, "welcome home Flavia" said Camila, a lady in a help's uniform and obviously so, the house manager, receiving the suitcase from Mark, "follow me to your room please" said Camila, Flavia followed her as her aunt was obviously overwhelmed by the twins request and Mark was on a call which seemed rather official, he walked towards the living room as Flavia went upstairs. On reaching the room, Camila gave a comprehensive orientations on access, meals, laundry and other utilities, he further promised a house and compound tour the next day, he left him to freshen up. Entering the bathroom, it was literally anther room, Flavia wondered if this was for a single human, he had barely recovered from the shock of seeing how big his bed was than he was now staring at huge jacuzzi and shower in a room four times his college room. He was soon soaked in the jacuzzi and having he time of his life, greatly bedazzled by literally everything.

It had been three months since Flavia got his new job, he was confirmed soon enough and was literally on auto pilot, he understood the tasks that were given to him, though they were residing from the same location, he barely saw Mark as he was traveling most of the time, the twins also had a strict schedule and with him working late hours, they could only catch up during the weekend. Flavia's room was knocked, "come in", he responded, they exchanged pleasantries with Mark who visibly had just arrived home from a trip, "I'd like to invite you fo a meeting in two days, it's a client I'd like you to handle their account, do you have a passport?", asked Mark, "yes, yes I do, I got one when we were going to Italy for coursework!" responded the elated Flavia, "great, you will need it, have a good evening!" said Mark as he left the room. 

By now Flavia was used to this high life so when he saw a limo picking them up for the trip, he wan not shocked in any way, the valet put their bags in the boot and off they went, both of the travelers were either on their phones on glimpsing outside, and with minimal conversations they enjoyed the ride to the airport, on reaching there, they headed to the private air wing where a Gulfstream G650 was sitting pretty, waiting for them, Flavia was in a real world movie, they boarded, both in sharp suits, they looked like serious business moguls, they were soon taxing and the plane took off on no time, the plane had two pilots, a captain and co-pilot, a cabin crew and the two passengers. "You love the plane don't you?" Asked Mark "I actually do" marveled Flavia, "it's mine" said Mark in passing as he peeped through the window, Flavia who was siping water got chocked in shock he coughed, the cabin crew rushed into the passenger cabin to assist, Flavia came down and she left, "are you okay now?" asked Mark, "yes I am" replied Flavia, "good, you can own one yourself in less than five years", Mark responded as he went back to sit down, sipping his champagne he continued, "remember during the interview what I told you? Not everything you see around you is as black and white, our unique clients are in lets say non conventional mainstream business, they are sidelined by mainstream banks and financial institutions, that gap there is where we come in", Mark continued, "our biggest clients are in not so properly regulated industries like gold mining, candy barons and military suppliers", at this point Flavia was in confused and in shock as well, he wondered why a candy baron of all people could not have a conventional bank in charge of his or her financials, he didn't understand half of it, but was to be schooled soon enough. The chit chat continued for a while before both retreated to watching movies, covering their ears with inflight top range noise cancelling Bose headphones. Almost six hours into the flight, the attention light lit, they entertainment screen also displayed the attention icon, the captain went ahead, "Lady and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have officially reached our destination in Colombia. As we prepare for landing, I kindly ask all passengers to return to their seats, ensure their seatbelts are securely fastened, and remain seated until we have come to a complete stop. Thank you for choosing to fly with us, and we hope you've had a pleasant journey. Sit tight, buckle up, and enjoy your stay in Colombia!", Flavia's eyes opened wide open, Mark looked at him with a weird smile as he buckled up.

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