Chapter Eighteen
"Yeah, Brent, meet my husband, Maxwell Stephens. Max this is my cousin Brent," she introduced. Max smiled in relief. So this was her cousin? He came forward to shake hands with him.
"You got married and didn't invite us?" Asked another man who looked identically like Brent.
"Sorry Trent, it happened so suddenly that we couldn't call anyone," she apologised.
"That's ok. A treat will do. So when are you giving us a treat?" Said Kenneth approaching the group.
"Tomorrow's dinner?" Carol suggested and they all agreed. She introduced her cousins to Max and they all sat down to dinner. After dinner, they sat chatting. From their discussions, Carol had an idea that they weren't doing well financially. Brent's job didn't pay very well. It was their only source of income. Trent was out of job as the last company where he was working shifted to Texas. Kenneth did part time small jobs to run his education. Aunt Cecilia had to leave her work at a restaurant due to health issues.
"Aunt Cecilia, I want all my brothers to work in dad's company on my behalf. We would share the profit. Let us do the legal formalities before I leave. Stanley had been collecting all the profit for himself over the last five years. I want Brent to manage the company along with Stanley. Trent could look after production with his engineering background. And Kenneth could work as a marketing intern till his education is over. Then take over the marketing department. What do you say?" She asked.
"That would be wonderful, dear. But what about you?" Asked aunt Cecilia.
"I'm not interested in engineering. Also I would be living in Vegas permanently. It won't be possible for me to come every month. So we could have a 25-75 % split of the profit. I'll keep 25% while all of you keep 75%," she suggested.
"Are you sure, dear? We can manage with 25%," said aunt Cecilia.
"I'm very sure. I don't need so much. You four need it more than I do, aunty, " she said.
"Carol is right, aunty," said Max.
"Thanks Car. I truly appreciate what you're doing for us," said Brent.
"Yes, thanks a lot," said Trent.
"It's ok guys. It was dad's company and you guys have an equal right to it as I do," she said.
"We'll go to the office tomorrow and you guys can start immediately. In the meantime we'll have the papers ready," said Max and they all agreed.
They retired to aunt Cecilia's room for the night. Aunt Cecilia would sleep in Kenneth's room while he went to Trent's room to sleep.
Carol just freshened up and changed into her pajama shorts and top. Max went to the ensuite for a shower. Carol looked around the room, it was so neatly arranged. She looked up at a wall where a collage of many photographs decorated the wall. She walked close to the wall and looked at the photographs. There were childhood pictures of aunt Cecilia with Carol's dad and her grandparents. There were childhood pictures of her cousins too. Carol smiled as she checked each and every picture. There was a picture of Carol's mom with aunt Cecilia.
There were pictures of aunt Cecilia with her husband too, her uncle Harvey. She remembered them coming to their house once every month. They would stay for the weekend and she could play with her cousins. It would be so much fun.
There was a picture of aunt Cecilia with uncle Harvey's family. She looked closely. Yes, the background was exactly the same as that of the family picture she saw in Max's mom's album.
She checked closely. Yes, the young woman standing next to uncle Harvey was indeed Max's mom. That's where she saw her. At uncle Harvey's house. When she had visited long time back, she had seen photographs of Max's mom in his house. She remembered clearly now. Max's mom was uncle Harvey's older sister who had eloped with a man. No one knew what became of her after that.
Carol sat down on the bed. Cecilia Jones, Harvey Jones, Margaret Jones. Right. She was right.
Max showered and came out of the en-suite and stared at her. "What happened? You look like you've seen a ghost," he remarked.
"I remembered where I'd seen your mom," she informed him. He was wearing his sweatpants and towelling his hair dry. He stilled and looked at her.
"Where?" He whispered, holding his breath.
"Look at those pictures?" She said, indicating the wall. Max turned to look at what she was pointing. He went forward and checked the pictures. Carol pointed the family picture of uncle Harvey. "This is aunt Cecilia's husband, uncle Harvey. Don't you think the background is the same as that in your mom's album?" She asked and Max concentrated hard.
"Yes, you're right," he said, looking closely.
"Look at this picture. This woman beside uncle Harvey looks like your mom. Doesn't she?" Carol asked and Max stared at the picture.
"Yes, she does," he said.
"Their surname's Jones too. I went to their house when I was a child. I had seen her photographs. She had eloped with a man and no one knew where she went," she informed him.
"Maybe she went to Las Vegas and the man betrayed her. She was reduced to work as a maid at dad's house. But where did she go after giving birth to me?" Asked Max, with a worried expression.
"Maybe she returned home. Maybe aunt Cecilia knows. We can ask her tomorrow, " suggested Carol.
"Yes, let's ask her tomorrow morning," agreed Max.
They couldn't sleep till late at night. They discussed Stanley. They discussed the company's future. They discussed his mom. It was late by the time they dozed off to sleep.
The next morning they woke up late. They quickly got ready and went to office with Brent, Trent and Kenneth. Max's lawyer joined them there. Stanley joined them ten minutes later. He wasn't happy with Carol's cousins joining the company but he had no choice. They discussed the departments that each could head. They segregated the work. Each collaborated with their repective department heads and took over. Kenneth joined as a trainee in the marketing department.
The profit sharing terms and conditions were laid down. The legal formalities would be done once the previous profits were deposited into Carol's account.
Carol and Max returned home for lunch while her cousins stayed back at office. They thought it was the best time to speak to aunt Cecilia about Max's mom.
