Here is a short extract from the story: Chapter 3, Trust. This is when you first see the relationship between Jonas Savage and his father, Tony Savage. Jonas works in the company, Teneta, which governs the world, and Tony Savage, (referred to as Savage) is the Executive of the company, making him the most powerful man on the planet. Aliona Watford is the daughter of Samuel Watford, an old friend of Savage's who was the President of the company and turned on him 16 yeas ago, so was killed. In this chapter, Jonas brings the lost will of Samuel Watford to his father, in an attempt to get his father's attention.
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Tony Savage watched Aliona and Jonas leave the building. His office had a large window on three of the four walls, as the room took up the whole end of one floor. Savage could see every single person that entered or left the Teneta HQ. Savage loved to feel powerful. Although there was a whole department monitoring just that, he liked to see it for himself; it gave him that extra knowledge.
Savage had been studying his son. He had seen Jonas flirting with Aliona; he had seen Jonas pull Aliona off of the path and out of sight. He had noticed that every day, Jonas would escape as soon as possible, usually accompanied by Aliona. It intrigued Savage. Savage did not understand his own son. Savage did not like this; there were several things Savage did not understand, but when it came to Jonas, he would be expected to at least care about him. Savage told himself that it was not his fault, as Jonas had grown up with his mother. Up until Jonas started working in Teneta, Savage had hardly known him, he had no need to. Now Jonas was working, Savage was his boss. It was an excuse for them to not show any public affection or interest. Their relationship was a lie.
“You would think,” Savage said to himself, “that I would be proud to have a son so distant, so strong. Have I got this wrong? Have I stopped him from being the person he wants to be?”
Savage shook his head clear,
“No,” he thought, “I don’t care and neither does he. I can work with him. He chose to come here for a job. Maybe he just wants to get to know me better?”
Savage pulled away from the window and collapsed into his chair, placing his head in his hands. What Jonas had shown him earlier had shaken Savage. Thinking of Jonas, he concluded, must be a side effect. Savage knew his thoughts were not yet clear.
Jonas had chosen to bring his findings to Savage, he had been worried. Jonas hadn’t even known what it meant. Therefore Savage knew he had a duty to tell Jonas what he had uncovered, what must happen next.
Running through the events in his mind, Savage could hear Jonas enter his office, he could see him walk purposefully up to his desk and slide the document swiftly across the surface to catch Savage’s attention. Savage remembered looking up at his boy and laughing, confused,
“What do you call this?”
“I found this” said Jonas, “I don’t know what it means; I thought Samuel Watford was dead.”
Savage cautiously swept up the piece of paper and held it to his eyes, scanning quickly across the front. The document was obviously important, the paper had been crafted carefully and the contents written out by hand. Opening it up, the words had seemed to shout out at him. ‘Last Will and Testament’, it read.
“Where did you find this?” snapped Savage,
“In a filing cabinet, it had been slipped into an old pile of receipts. I wondered why it was there.” Jonas shuffled nervously, “What does it mean about Aliona?”
“Go, boy!” shouted Savage. His eyes tore through the document, freezing in the middle. Jonas hadn’t moved,
“What’s the Mendacii Key?” he retorted, “What does it have to do with Aliona? I thought you would know!”
Savage slammed his fist down on the desk, shaking,
“The Mendacii Key was destroyed 14 years ago, what does this mean?” Savage said to himself, distressed,
“What?” said Jonas, trying to get his father to listen, “Tell me!”
“Go!” bellowed Savage, standing up and pointing towards the door. Jonas had stared into Savage’s face, shook his head slowly and spun on his heels. Savage sighed,
“Forget this happened, and don’t mention it to anyone,” Savage said, his voice still hoarse from shouting. Without acknowledging his father, Jonas pulled open the door and strode out. Savage remained standing for a few moments before sinking into his chair again, feeling sick.
Jonas had left the building, 10 minutes after the standoff, accompanied by Aliona. Savage felt a fire beginning to burn inside him as he pictured Jonas with Aliona, the daughter of Samuel Watford. Had Savage made a mistake in being so harsh to his own son? There was no other way, concluded Savage; Jonas must know what the will meant and what it had to do with Aliona. Otherwise, Savage feared his own son could turn on him, just as his old friend Samuel Watford had done.
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