The Last Option

The alarm clock rang and he reached out to turn it off; he had been awake for a long time but did not want to get up until it rang, his eyes fixed on the ceiling, thinking. Beside him, his wife woke up too and turned to him, putting her arm across his chest and stroking the sparse hair he had.

"Don't you want to get up?" she asked him, seeing that he made no move to stand up. "Today is your first day at your new job and you shouldn't be late."

"Yes, I know," he replied, caressing her hand in turn. "According to Thomas, I have to take him and his wife to a doctor's appointment today, around nine in the morning." "You must thank Thomas for recommending you for this job, he appreciates you very much."

"Yes, officially today goes into retirement, the poor old man can no longer drive, although he didn't want to admit it. Mr. Hicks was very insistent, and he finally agreed." "We have to make him and Laura a thank you dinner."

"I hope the pay is good, we have many debts, especially the rent, we already owe three months. The landlord has been very considerate in giving us more time." "You'll see that it's good, you will work for one of the richest and most powerful men in New York, and perhaps in the country."

"That's what scares me, you know? I don't know if I will be able to function in that world of rich and uptight people."

She giggled.

"What's funny? Are you making fun of me?"

"No, my love, you are thinking that you will be with these people all the time; you're just chauffeuring Mr. Hicks, I don't think you'll rub shoulders with them a lot." "Well, I'm still a little nervous. I hope I do everything right, and Mr. Hicks will like me."

That said, he got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower, while his wife snuggled against his pillow, taking advantage of sleeping a little more until he came out of the bathroom.

Bernard Sullivan and his wife Margaret had a happy and stable marriage; he was thirty-four and she was thirty, with three married years. Despite the difficulties, they had managed to consolidate their love and move on together, maintaining a bit of optimism and hope for a better future. The first difficulty they faced was being alone in a huge, ruthless and fierce city like New York, since they both came from a small town in northern Arkansas and after getting married, they decided to seek better opportunities for development and economic growth, choosing to the big apple as the city where they would find them.

That was their first year there, and the best opportunities, they believed, had not yet presented themselves, trying to survive with small jobs that contributed very little to the family economy. She, dedicated to being a half-day waitress in a small cafe, and he a security officer in a pawn shop thanks to his height and corpulence acquired as a Navy Seal during his time in the Navy.

They had rented the little house where they lived with the little savings they had, and they got their daily sustenance with the little pay that their jobs brought them. Fortunately, they had the support of many of their neighbors, including the elderly couple who lived next to them, Thomas and Laura Peterson, who saw them as the children they never had. Old Thomas was the chauffeur for a prominent businessman, working for him for thirty years and earning his affection to the point of offering him a carefree and dignified retirement. Seeing himself now retired, the old man proposed Bernard to take his place with Mr. Hicks, his employer, and the latter readily accepted, offering to start immediately. And there he was, in his new job, and leading him to what would be his boss from now on, somewhat nervous and restless, since he had not worked as a driver before.

Nathan Hicks was not what Bernard expected, his friend Thomas never described him to him and for some strange reason he thought he was also an old man. But to her surprise, Nathan Hicks was a young man, forty-two, energetic-looking and well-groomed, typical of a wealthy businessman. At first he thought that he would find a despot and implacable billionaire, used to mistreating anyone who was not at his level and who got everything he wanted. But Nathan Hicks was not even remotely that, rather he was attentive and cordial with everyone, and especially loving with his wife, which Bernard realized when he took them to medical consultation.

Nathan Hicks' fortune came from the mining business, specifically gold and diamonds, and from an extensive chain of jewelry stores across the country, with its headquarters and operations center in New York. His company, Southern Hilltop Gold, was among the top ten mining companies based in the USA, with a long and interesting history in the area since the beginning of the 20th century, and which was traditionally managed by the Hicks and Randall families, which owned sixty-five percent of the shares of the same, and whose head were Nathan Hicks, his sister Rebeca and their cousin, Louis Randall, a ruthless man for business and with a despicable and self-centered personality, capable of taking ahead whoever crosses his path.

Nathan's sister, Rebeca, was constantly out of the country, enjoying life and her fortune in travels and exotic pleasures, with no other concern than changing her lover from time to time, once the one on duty was no longer her useful to satisfy her whims and eccentricities in bed. She was the carefree of the family, with no time or desire to dedicate herself to the family business, which Nathan successfully led.

They had reached the doctor's office, located on Fifth Avenue. Bernard saw the name: New York Fertility Center, and immediately realized that Nathan and his wife were having trouble having children. Seeing his surprised expression as he opened the Bentley's door for them, Nathan patted his shoulder after exiting the vehicle.

"Yes, Bernard," he said. "Now you know it too, but I'm going to tell you something: it's a secret. I'll talk to you later." With that said, Nathan and his wife entered the fertility center, while Bernard prepared to wait for his new employers.