The Circle of Fate

A Broken Promise

 (October 17, 1995)

            He stood proudly with his shoulders back, a successful businessman, staring out his office window on the third floor of the Edwards Building in Richmond, Virginia. The night sky was illuminated with lightning as it tore through the darkness, accompanied by an orchestra of thunder. The rain was coming down with great fury, causing the drops to pound against the window like drumsticks against a cymbal.

This witness to nature’s spectacular event was a tall, slender, good-looking man. At six foot one with straight black hair and hard, chiseled features, he engulfed the room, a monument among the greatest of men.  His dark blue eyes and full, immaculately trimmed beard completed the look of a powerful man — feared, liked, and respected by those who knew him. His accomplishments as a successful architect and investor had made him a wealthy man. Starting from nothing but a dream and ambition, he had spent the last ten years building his business into a multimillion-dollar company.

As he reminisced about the beginning and his struggles against what seemed fantastic odds, he now stood here living his dream. He had gained great community respect, which is normally granted by such wealth. However his most valuable possession, forgotten along the way, was now threatening his very purpose of obtaining his goal. Through the years of hard work, diligence, and self-sacrifice, he was able to get his unstable company to a profitable state, but he unintentionally neglected the ones he loved. The last ten years rushed by in a blur with a string of late nights, working weekends, and broken promises. He was now faced with the most important decision of his life: retire or possibly lose his most prized possessions forever.

He turned his head and stared at the picture of his wife and daughter sitting on the corner of his desk. They were the fuel that had fed his burning fire of ambition that consumed the last ten years of his life. His wife, Janelle, was a very strong-willed woman, and yet very gentle, with a heart as pure as gold. She stood five foot five, petite with long black hair, green eyes, and a smile that would melt any man’s heart. That smile was what captivated him one lonely night at Charley’s Bar thirteen years ago. A few dances, a little wine, and she sank the hook; there was no escaping her. It was not long after they were married that his daughter Amy was born. She was a love child brought into this world by them. Her presence had strengthened their family bonds, bonds now weakened by time and threatened by success.

This tormenting feeling of regret overwhelmed him as he stood there staring at the picture. His wife was beautiful, and he remembered the fun they once shared. The last two months were spent in countless arguments about the business, broken promises, and how much time he spent at the office. His daughter was now nine and he realized how little he knew her. Last night, Janelle spent hours arguing about his persistence in avoiding Amy by hiding at the office, and how much more its importance seemed to be. How Amy was growing up without a chance to know her father. How he had made promises to her that he did not keep, and how this was affecting her.

A crack of thunder and blinding light brought his attention back to the window. As he stood there, staring into the evening sky, the same thoughts kept swimming through his mind. Trying to determine who was the best suited to manage his business; one he could trust, on