Chapter 49: RICHARD

Remembering what was - could drag like a dead weight. Recollections of the past, like an anchor pulling one down to the darkest depths.

And of all times, I had to recall all these minutes before I faced the most annoying pricks on the planet.

If it was in my power, I would have canceled today's board meeting. Too bad I didn't have veto power.

It's been two minutes since Vera delivered my father's message. Two minutes that have stretched like forever with wraiths of times I wished to forget. Times I wished to erase.

Gathering the pieces of my broken self, I rose to go chair my board meeting. This wasn't the first time, neither will it be the last, my past will always haunt me. It will always stalk me, like a shadow - always near, always present.

There's this ridiculous notion about being broken. People assume one can be mended, that the pieces of one's shattered self could mend with time.